The course meets online for six weeks on Wednesdays, starting on 3 August and ending on 7 September 2022 from 20:00-21:00 CEST. Class size is 6-12 people.

The lyric essay is a form of creative nonfiction that borrows lyrical devices from poetry and narrative techniques from fiction. Whether you already have a taste for the lyric essay or are completely new to the form, this course will open up fresh possibilities for your creative nonfiction.

Note: Because of its long duration, this course does not qualify for a member discount.

Lyric essays come in different forms and sizes. In this course, we’ll experiment with the braided essay, the collage, and the ekphrastic essay. Well also look at how to match form to topic and techniques such as segmentation and the madcap mindset of the Surrealists. The final class of this course will be devoted to revision. Each week we will unpack sample essays together and you’ll have the opportunity to write an exercise in your own time using the techniques discussed in class. You’ll receive written feedback via our online classroom from the teacher and your fellow students.

The course is taught by Karen Kao. She is the winner of the 2022 Kenyon Review Short Nonfiction Contest and a nominee for the Pushcart Prize, VERA, and Best of the Net. Her debut novel, The Dancing Girl and the Turtle (Linen Press 2017) is the first of a quartet of interlocking novels set in Shanghai. Her lyric essays have appeared or are forthcoming in the Kenyon Review, The Common, The Shanghai Literary Review and NUNUM.