Sudden Truths: Writing Flash Memoir and Super-Short Personal Essay 6-Week Zoom Workshop with Blaise Allysen Kearsley, Starts Wednesday, October 15th, 2025

Begins Wednesday, October 15th, 2025 The class will meet weekly on Wednesday nights via Zoom, 6:30PM  ET - 8:00PM Eastern Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us. Taught by Blaise Allysen Kearsley, a Black-biracial writer and teacher based in Brooklyn. Her writing has appeared in Catapult, Longreads, the Boston Globe, Electric Literature's The Nervous Breakdown, Elle, Midnight Breakfast, The Weeklings, and in the anthologies Mortified: Real Words. Real People. Real Pathetic, Nonwhite and Woman, and Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, And Abandoned Rock Operas. Blaise is a contributing editor at Vestal Review, the oldest flash fiction journal on the planet. Our focus in this workshop is figuring out how we might tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end—in just 500-1000 words. We'll explore the craft of flash memoir and personal essay and the ways in which the super-short form can enhance our writing practice, improve our skills, and contextualize our truths. We'll experiment with various word counts, generate ideas through in-class writing, and discuss structure, pacing, narrative thread, and the revision process within the context of micro stories. Writers will have opportunities to share their work for thoughtful, constructive peer and instructor feedback. COURSE TAKEAWAYS: Develop new writing skills and hone existing ones, dig deeper into the practice, understand and master the workshopping (feedback) process, generate solid story ideas, and experiment with a literary art that, as Anne Lamott would say, could fit inside a 5x5 picture frame. Find the stories you want to tell and the ones you didn't know you had in you, understand and master the workshopping (feedback) process, and how different authors navigate this complicated terrain. COURSE OUTLINE Week 1 - Truth Telling: the fluidity of memory and how to find your stories Week 2 - Ways of Seeing: constricting and expanding word count to explore observation, imagination + language Week 3 - Feeling + Form: examining pacing, situation, story, and structure Week 4 - The Collage Essay: practicing points of view and perspective Week 5 - The Braided Essay: playing with a three-part narrative Week 6 - The Hermit Crab Essay:  telling a story within a story TAKE THIS CLASS IF: You're finding the constraints of your current writing practice too limiting. You want exposure to a range of new approaches to bring to your writing practice. You want an expanded sense of what is possible in your work in 2025 and beyond! TESTIMONIALS: "I love the readings we do, and especially that they so often feature writers of color. The written feedback from you is always so helpful and in-depth. The prompts helped me to develop a lot of content. I always look forward to workshop nights -- it's a safe space to share." "Sudden Truths: Writing Flash Memoir and Super-Short Personal Essay with Blaise Allysen Kearsley exceeded my expectations. I learned a tremendous amount about personal essays mostly by example (which is much more interesting than by lecture). The instructor created a nurturing, supportive environment which isn't super easy in a zoom room. Before I started the class I wrote a personal essay on a difficult subject. I employed the second person. Although I never shared that essay in class, on the last day of the class, I looked that essay over and found I was ready, even eager, to claim my story by rewriting it in first person. This class did that for me." "I felt so often in college, that I was writing against these very confident men who were forthcoming about the problems within my work and style. Working in your group has been restorative and has allowed me to trust myself without fear of being torn apart." "Working with Blaise has made me a more confident writer. She's helped me to see my writing as a larger work, and creates a safe, inclusive, encouraging space to share and connect with other writers." "Blaise is such a skilled reader and editor, and her notes are always valuable. She offers wonderful perspectives, and assembles groups of writers with keen perspectives of their own." "I really loved the class. You treat every question with such a genuine desire to give the best possible answer and it made me happy every time. I admire that you focus on building people up. For someone like me, that means the world." "During quarantine I had to show up for myself and others who counted on me, even when I felt like all I wanted to do was hide under my couch. Being part of this creative group of writers saved me." "Sudden Truths: Writing Flash Memoir and Super-Short Personal Essays with Blaise Allysen Kearsley was such a good class! I especially loved the in-class exercises and Blaise's guidance over the six weeks. It truly exceeded my expectations. Thank you!" ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: This class meets weekly via Zoom. Come prepared for a super fun class with live interaction on Zoom each week and plenty of writing, reading, and talking! PAYMENT OPTIONS: You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout. Instructor: Blaise Allysen Kearsley Class size limited to 10 writers Begins Wednesday, October 15th, 2025 The class will meet weekly on Wednesday nights via Zoom, 6:30PM - 8:00PM Eastern Course is fully ONLINE.