In the course of the six weeks, we'll be reading two recent memoirs that focus on the theme  of escape (Geraldine Brooks, Memorial Days, 2025 and Glynnis MacNicol’s I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, 2024) and doing a deep-dive discussion about each of them: the craft elements and decisions that make each of them tick. These memoirs vary greatly in topic, theme, and tone: Brook’s flees to a remote island off of the coast of Australia in an effort to cope with the untimely death of her husband while MacNicol’s leaves New York City for Paris in search of adventure and pleasure—and yet they are both about escape and the search for answers. You'll also have the opportunity to produce and workshop your own writing, centered on the theme of escape, inspired by the lessons we learn from reading these books. (Although we’ll be studying two memoirs, you are welcome to write and workshop any genre.)

(Two notes: 1) Although you will get in class feedback from your instructor and peers during workshop, you won’t receive written feedback. 2) Although this class is currently scheduled to be online, if you strongly prefer an in person class in Raleigh, please email Arshia at asimkin [at] redbudwriting [dot] org with your preference request.]

Instructor: Arshia Simkin

Dates: Begins Tuesday, August 19 and runs every Tuesday for six weeks

Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Level: Beginner and above

8 seats max

Location: online

$615: true price

$349: subsidized price

$374, $399, $449: donate an extra $25, $50, or $100 to our scholarship fund

(Returning students receive 10 percent off).

A note on pricing:  the “true price” reflects the true cost of the class, which includes paying a fair wage to our staff and instructors, rental fees for the Redbud headquarters and for the community spaces where we host our classes, website and administrative/commerce fees, outreach and advertising to spread the word about our offerings, and the coordination and administration for our community classes, which serve people who could not otherwise access creative writing. We’re not a university or a large corporation and that means we don’t have an operating budget we can rely on; we’re proud to be a small, local, women- and minority-run business that is passionate about bringing the transformative power of the arts to our community. Your tuition helps Redbud with the critical work of keeping the arts accessible to the public. 

We also offer students a chance to donate to our scholarship fund. At check-out, you will be given the option of choosing a donor price. If you choose one of these prices, the extra $25, $50, or $100 will go towards scholarships for students who would not be able to afford our classes otherwise.  Thank you in advance for considering making a contribution to inclusivity and access!

Read the fine print, including our refund policy, here.