The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Giving Shape: Retrospection & Projection in Personal Essays,” a workshop led by April Sopkin on Wednesday, August 12th from 6:00-7:30 PM EST. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event here
When we attempt to reiterate personal experience on the page, we often stick too closely to the facts and forget that the passage of time gives shape to the telling. We create “shape” in many ways, including a unique structure, imagery or sensory repetition, or playing with retrospective parallels. More than that, we forget that personal narrative is also about wonderment, and on the page this can look like an imagined projection of the future: hopes, assumptions, fears, expectations. In other words, the parts of the story that—before this point of arriving at the page—only existed within our hearts and minds.
We’ll use four essay excerpts to study how authors have used retrospection and projection in their work, then we’ll practice those same moves through guided prompts. Students will come away with a new or renewed understanding of specific craft mechanics and new angles to approach their own ideas.
While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly April Sopkin via Venmo @asopkin
April Sopkin writes fiction and personal essays. She was the 2024-25 writer-in-residence at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, and was awarded a 2023 Elizabeth George Foundation grant to support her in-process short story collection. Her work has appeared in Joyland, MIT Technology Review, Carve, and elsewhere. She was a 2019 Tin House Scholar and has won the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, the Patricia Aakhus Award, and the TSR Nonfiction Prize. She writes Something Out of Nothing, a regular newsletter about seeking meaning in a multifaceted life.
The Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is a writers residency and arts collective that hosts workshops, retreats, and residencies for writers in all genres including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, academic writing, playwriting, and more.
