W46 Writing the Blank Spaces: Hybrid Forms and Autofiction in Memoir
Friday, February 14
9:00–10:30 a.m.

$110.00

WRITING WORKSHOP | Tara McGuire | Memoir & Personal Essay

In stock

Description

“Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible.”
—Francis Bacon

When Tara McGuire’s son Holden died of an overdose, she felt compelled to write about the effect his death had on her—even though she didn’t know what had happened. These “blank spaces” often block writers from engaging with and completing personal narratives in which some facts are missing.

More and more, writers are breaking through the confines of genre to create more meaningful, creative, and indeed, “truer” works that defy categorization.

This workshop will explore how to develop plot lines and shape scenes we have never witnessed. We’ll learn craft devices to help navigate uncertainty and the ethical responsibility of personal stories—for example, autofiction or what McGuire calls “informed fiction,” which is commonly used, and the “chain of responsibility,” where writers can intentionally hybridize plot to include fiction.

We’ll break down limiting beliefs, calm nerves, invigorate our memoir’s momentum, and be set free.

About Tara McGuire

Tara McGuire is a writer and broadcaster whose first book, Holden After & Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose, is a hybrid work in memoir and fiction exploring grief, motherhood, and the overdose crisis. Published in 2022, it was a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award and one of The Walrus Best Books of 2022. Her essays have appeared in Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, Geist, Room, Montecristo, The Tyee, and on CBC Radio. She has presented with and interviewed other writers at AWP 2023, The Vancouver Writers’ Festival, WORD Vancouver, the UBC School of Education, and the University of Washington’s creative writing program. Her essays have been shortlisted for several writing competitions and awards. McGuire works as a voice-over actor, keynote speaker, and freelance editor.