8-week Personal Essay & Memoir II starting wk of 5.4.26 – Dumbo
Instructor: Sarah Herrington
Begins wk of May 4, 2026 | meets 1x/week| wknight tbd 7-9pm
Location: Dumbo - 45 Main Street
Fee: $850 | returning writers receive a $50 discount
A writing sample is required for this class. Please include a 3-5 page sample with your application.
Through group discussion of student work, plus that of published authors, writers in this workshop will examine the art and craft of creative nonfiction. The focus will be on learning to understand and use a full range of literary techniques in order to tell a truly compelling nonfiction story. Topics such as the use of dialogue, the creation of scene, attention to style and how to craft structure from true events will be discussed. Participants will also spend time talking about the particular responsibilities that come with writing creative nonfiction. In-class writing prompts will be used to inspire and motivate students to produce new work.
This workshop is open to writers working on memoir and personal essays, and writers who have writing and workshopping experience are welcome to join.
Sarah Herrington is a writer, poet, editor, writing instructor and longtime yoga and meditation teacher. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times (Modern Love, Opinion, Anxiety, Solver Stories), the Los Angeles Times, Poets & Writers, Salon, Interview Magazine, Slice, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other outlets. She’s the author of four books on yoga (Penguin, Rodale/Random House) and is a regular contributor to Yoga Journal. Sarah holds MFAs from New York University, where she was a Goldwater Fellow in Creative Nonfiction, and Lesley University. Her nonfiction has been supported by the Community of Writers, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and NYU’s Graduate Research Initiative. She currently teaches writing at Fordham University and leads private workshops and mentorships for writers. Her work on yoga and ethics has been featured on NPR, CNN, and The New York Times.