Looking Back, Moving Forward: Writing About Grief, Loss & Trauma

REGISTER NOW    $15.00 (early bird)

Unsure how to start writing about grief, loss, or trauma? Stuck midstream? Wondering how honest to be?

Robert Frost wrote, “no tears for the writer, no tears for the reader,” but how do we create effective stories from emotionally difficult material? Writing well about loss requires more than capturing slippery memory on the page – reflection must advance the narrative.

In this 90-minute seminar, we will look at elements of renowned trauma memoirs and examine how conflict and joy are put to work in powerful creative nonfiction.

Learn to move your writing forward by exploring strategies for writing about loss and trauma in pursuit of insight, wholeness, and connection to readers. We will end our day with a new understanding of the little-known continuation of Frost’s quote: “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.”

Includes Q&A and an “on-your-own-time” writing prompt.

In this webinar, you will:

• EXAMINE the nuts and bolts of craft in notable examples of memoir and essay about loss, grief, and trauma 
• EXPLORE narrative balance of research, memory, and imagination;
• DEVELOP confidence in your right to write your version of events. 

This webinar is a great fit for creative nonfiction writers of all levels who are

• seeking to create a compelling story from the experience of grief, loss, or trauma
• interested in crafting scenic writing
• creating narrative from researched facts and individual memory

Closed captioning is available. ✔
All registrants receive the recording. ✔

ABOUT YOUR PRESENTER

JESSICA HANDLER is the author of the novel The Magnetic Girl, winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize, a 2019 “Books All Georgians Should Read,” an Indie Next pick, Wall Street Journal Spring 2019 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer 2019 pick, and a SIBA Okra Pick. Her other books include Invisible Sisters: A Memoir, and Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss. Her nonfiction has appeared on NPR, in Tin House, Drunken Boat, The Bitter Southerner,

Questions? Please email Info@craft-talks.com