Compelling memoirs share one virtue: Their authors tell the truth. That is what makes writing them so challenging and demanding of courage. In this workshop, you will be guided to finding that truth and giving it voice. You'll be rescued from the pitfalls of showing off, sentimentality, and fear of hurting feelings.

Barbara Lazear Ascher was a personal essay columnist for the New York Times and is the author of four books of nonfiction. One of those, Landscape without Gravity, was a memoir of death. She is now working on her second memoir. She has taught writing at the University of Chicago and in the MFA writing programs in Bennington College and Goucher College.

The Writing Life events in 2014 were generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence.