Verso University Presents: Advanced Personal Essay Writing With Mary-Lou Weisman

Course Details

Best-selling author, personal essayist, and memoir writer Mary-Lou Weisman offers a four-session workshop for those who have had some experience in writing memoir and personal essay.

The four sessions will be on Wednesdays, every other week, 11 am-1 pm in Room 216 (McCall Room).

Classes will be held on the following dates: May 13 & 27, and June 10 & 24

Submission Guidelines

To be sure that you are ready for this advanced course, Mary-Lou will review a sample of your writing. Please email about 500 words, no more than a two-page, double-spaced sample of your memoir or personal essay writing, to Jennifer Keller at [email protected]. It may take a week or so to review submissions.

Class size is limited to 10. Fee: $25.

Note: Because there is usually a waiting list, acceptance is contingent on your intention to attend all classes.

About the Instructor

Mary-Lou Weisman has written three memoirs (Playing House in Provence, Intensive Care, and Traveling While Married), a biography (Al Jaffee's Mad Life), and a best-selling humor book (My Middle-Aged Baby Book). She also edited The Covid Chronicles, a collection of personal essays from one of her previous advanced writing classes at The Westport Library during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an adjunct professor, she has taught writing, both memoir and personal essay, at The New School, New York University, Manhattanville College, and at Westport and Norwalk Continuing Education programs.

Important Information About Verso University Classes

• Classes are usually structured as a consecutive series.
• Class size is often limited.
• Each series has a one-time fee registration fee covering all classes in the series.
• Registration is mandatory.
• The Westport Library wants to ensure that all interested students are able to participate in Verso University courses. If the registration fee is a barrier to entry for you, please contact [email protected].

Verso University is the Library’s lifelong learning and education initiative, serving up year-round offerings of classes, workshops, and lectures designed to further education and learning. Offerings run the gamut of educational opportunities, ranging from one-time lectures to ongoing courses to classes that meet weekly or perhaps monthly.

Verso University programs are made possible by the generous support of the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund.