Weaving Memoir: Writing and Structuring Personal Stories
People often think a memoir must go from A to B in a timeline that marches with a calendar. In this innovative memoir workshop, Kris Kneen will take you through a different process of structuring your memoir, enabling you to highlight connections and repetitions that would be lost using any other method.
Applications close: 5pm (AEDT) 21 July 2026
Dates: 6:00-8:00pm (AEDT) Fridays, 21 August - 23 October 2026
Delivery: Online
Fees: $1550 or $1450 for Varuna alumni. Payment terms are negotiable if you cannot pay the whole fee upfront
Places: 8 participants will be selected for each class (small group)
“Kris Kneen’s memoir course was extraordinary: both the structure, insights, writing prompts and depth of engagement with the wider field of memoir writing, with other writers in the course, and with what it opened up about my own project. I knew it would be good - but it was better”
-
People often think a memoir must go from A to B in a timeline that marches with a calendar. In this innovative memoir workshop Kris Kneen will take you through a different process of structuring your memoir. The work will be a weaving of several different stories across different timelines that are organised by a unifying theme. This method is more like making a basket than building a wall and allows the author to highlight connections and repetitions that would be lost using any other method.
This is a method that Kris has used successfully in their three memoirs, Affection, The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen and Fat Girl Dancing. It is a method that frees the author from the straightjacket of linear time and allows you to chase a theme through different parts of a life.
This ten-part masterclass will generate everything you need to create a short personal essay or a part of a book-length memoir. The method used for this short stand alone essay can be adapted across a larger book-length project.
This course will feature two Q&A sessions with award-winning writers Kristina Olsson and Anthony Mullins.
This is a small group program for 8 participants.
-
21 August, Session 1: Structured Weaving – a look at examples of memoir and fiction using a weaving method.
28 August, Session 2: Working with Themes – we will discuss linking themes for each person’s memoir and experiment with themes that might intersect with the life of the author.
4 September, Session 3: Writing from the body – In this session we will look at craft, writing from the body, using our senses to enrich the work. We will explore and experiment with sensual writing around the chosen themes.
11 September, Session 4: Writing the first thread – in this session we will generate work that will be the first thread in our woven memoir.
18 September, Session 5: Writing the second thread – in this session we will generate work that will be the second thread in our woven memoir.
25 September, Session 6: Guest speaker Anthony Mullins talking structure; Writing the third thread – in this session we will generate work that will be the third thread in our woven memoir.
2 October, Session 7: Guest speaker Kristina Olsson talking memoir; Plaiting – In this session we will cut up out threads and restructure our memoir finding themes and connections and highlighting them as we weave.
9 October, Session 8: Presenting our pieces – in this session half the group will present their work and receive feedback
16 October, Session 9: Presenting our pieces – in this session the second half of the group will present and receive feedback.
23 October, Session 10: Other threads – Looking at larger projects we will find visual ways to map the larger sections in a larger memoir project. How can our short personal essay be expanded or are there different / more appropriate organising themes and principles for a larger work.
-
Kris Kneen is an experienced mentor and facilitator, as well as the award-winning author of memoir— Affection and The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen — and fiction: An Uncertain Grace, Steeplechase, Triptych, The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine, Wintering, as well as the Thomas Shapcott Award-winning poetry collection Eating My Grandmother. They have written and directed broadcast documentaries for SBS and ABC Television. Their latest memoir is Fat Girl Dancing.
-
Entry to this course is by application. Writers will be selected based on the creative potential of their work, commitment to craft, openness to collaborating with peers and the balance in the group.
Course fees are $1550 or $1500 for Varuna alumni. Payment terms are negotiable if you cannot pay the whole fee upfront.
Applications close at 5pm on 21 July 2026. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their submission by 31 July.
Please refer to Varuna’s general submission guidelines for any questions on formatting your work.
Feel free to call 02 4782 5674 or email amy@varuna.com.au to discuss your application.
UPCOMING COURSES, FELLOWSHIPS AND EVENTS
