Speculative Memoir (five-week workshop)
July/August 2026 / Facilitated by Ern Rivera
Virtual, via Jitsi Wednesdays, July 8, 15, and 29, and August 5; time TBD
Overview
This workshop is a five-week/four-session version of the Intro to Speculative Memoir workshop held in June 2026.
We'll continue to explore speculative memoir, an emerging genre with its roots in a variety of experimental and interdisciplinary approaches to historical writing. In particular, this workshop will emphasize the genre’s historical roots as a means for engaging with histories that have been erased, destroyed, or otherwise distorted by different forms of power, oppression, and violence.
This more expansive foray into speculative memoir is intended for readers and writers who want to dissect a specific speculative memoir at length, as well as those who want support from other readers and writers with an ongoing creative project in the genre.
Together, we'll:
- read at least one novel-length work of speculative memoir in full;
- support each other in making progress on our own speculative memoir projects;
- implement strategies and prompts for writing speculative memoir ourselves, with opportunities to share our work with fellow workshop participants, if desired.
You can also elect to receive two to three pages of written feedback from me on any piece of speculative memoir writing you're currently working on. Feedback will be reflective and interrogatory rather than prescriptive, moving away from considerations of “craft,” and focusing instead on uncovering as many potential directions for your work as possible.
Content
During each 90-minute workshop, we'll discuss at least one of the following texts in full:
- The Story Game by Shze-Hui Tjoa;
- The Night Parade by Jami Nakamura Lin;
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado;
- Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde; and
- The Tale of Plagues and Carnivals by Samuel R. Delany.
We'll also consider the ethics of conducting archival work by looking at readings by Saidiya Hartman and her methodology of “critical fabulation,” as developed in Lose Your Mother, “Venus in Two Acts,” , and Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments. In the process, we'll consider how we can develop our own sets of personal best practices as we work on projects that can be logistically complicated, emotionally challenging, and creatively risky.
Ahead of each session, I'll send out prompts you can use to generate new drafts of speculative memoir works, or more casual reflections on the texts and ideas we're engaging with. At the end of each session, you'll have time to share this writing, with time for fellow participants to provide their own thoughts and reflections on your work.
Availability
This workshop will be held live on Wednesdays via Jitsi, with a break on the week of July 29 for participants to catch up on the readings and their writing.
An asynchronous version will be available via Itch.io after the five-week session is complete.