Clarification about Kimberly's writing workshops...
Hey folks, you may have noticed that I work with both Corporeal Writing and Hugo House to offer online classes about memoir, meaning, and memory a few times a year. People often ask how the classes are different, so I want to tell you, and also let you know we still have space available for the last 4-week class of 2025 which starts this Saturday…
The Hugo House workshops are three hours each. No need to sign up for these if you’ve already taken the 4 week class. If you want a short shot of inspiration and a new way to think about memory and how we write from our lives, they’re a great choice. Both the content from Crimes and Perversions and Making Meaning from Memory are covered in the 4 week course at Corporeal.
In the 4-week class, we have time to learn, write and reflect. It’s my favorite format for this content. You can choose to listen and work at your own pace, or you can do the homework I offer, share in class, offer and receive feedback in the group. The sessions are recorded so you can return to them later (though I feel strongly that you join us on zoom if you’re able - every person is important to the experience.)
From a past participant…
“Dark is an excellent instructor - her pedagogical approach is inviting, flexible, and provocative (as well as trauma-informed). I really appreciate how she maximized each 2-hour session (a robust mix of activities). She cultivated a spacious vibe for class members to ask questions, step up to read, and to offer meaningful feedback. There was also a good-humored nature to some of the discussions that were about difficult subject matters - but never in a way that was minimizing or dismissive (a feat!). I hope to take another class with her in the future.”
Corporeal Writing Workshop - Memoir the process
This series focuses on process and understanding how we frame what has happened to us in our lives, how we can use writing as a method of inquiry in order to access and enhance memory. We’ll consider cultural and spatial context for our stories, in addition to corporeality. Read more about the class on the registration page.
From a past participant…
“Kimberly is incredibly thoughtful and I learned more in this class than all of my previous classes combined. She is so full of creative thoughts and perspectives. Her explanations really make you think about how things are connected and what drives people to read, resulting in how we as writers can make more engaging writing. Will definitely take more of her classes.”
Hugo House: Making Meaning From Memory
Click the link to read more about this course and sign up. Here’s another comment from.a past participant.
“Wow. Fantastic ideas, amazing presentation. What a warm and dynamic instructor. Thank you! I learned a lot. I'm also grateful for all of the practical prompts and exercises that she gave us to help us get to the meaning in the memoir.”
Hugo House: Crime and Perversions
This September 27 class will soon be available for registration…
Memoir (and other personal writing) most often focuses on the writer's memories and version of events - and in our own minds, we're usually pretty great. Still, complex storytelling requires that we're not always the heroes of our own stories. In this 3-hour workshop, we'll explore strategies for re-constructing memories of our own crimes and perversions, and how our actions and emotions may play out from the perspective of significant others in the story. We'll explore the disjunctures of personal narratives that may be joyful, yet carry social stigma or negative connotations, and how to nuance personal and social interpretations for readers. We'll explore how to write about taboo topics in ways that engage readers with more than shock value, forward the plot-line, and lead to relatability rather than ending up cringe.
One participant said,
“So many prompts were new to me and I've taken a lot of classes. My favourite was ways of opening up a story that you've told the same way over and over.”
I hope this description of these recurring classes is helpful Please get in touch if you have further questions…