The Art of Writing Memoir: Fourth Series with Denis Hirson
Denis Hirson is back with four new memoir-writing workshops running from September to December.
The Jacana Literary Foundation, together with Denis Hirson, is bringing back its highly successful memoir-writing workshops for a fourth time, but in a different way. Across four evenings, one each in September, October, November and December 2026, Denis will share his expertise in a series of engaging 90-minute online workshops. Each workshop session will focus on a different memoir before engaging in discussion with participants.
Each workshop will take place on Zoom from 19:00 to 20:30 SAST. The total cost of all four workshops is R1500. Individual workshops cost R500 each.
The workshop series will explore the following memoirs:
- Workshop 1: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal (2 September)
- Workshop 2: Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (7 October)
- Workshop 3: Question 7 by Richard Flanagan (4 November)
- Workshop 4: Everyone is Present by Terry Kurgan (2 December)
In each workshop, Denis will invite you to do the following:
- Explore how the writer has dealt with key issues such as language, structure, memory versus fiction, family history and the use of personal information.
- Do brief exercises inspired by the memoir in question.
- Compare relevant aspects of the writer’s method with your own memoir writing, or with your thoughts about this process.
- Engage in dialogue about the authors’ methods and your own.
Note: any reading you do will be very beneficial but is not absolutely necessary to participate in the workshops.