Scenes from memory, overheard conversations, to-do lists, letters and instant messages, all of these ephemera can be used to generate work in the tradition of Life Writing. Originally coined in the 1980’s to describe a feminist, documentary approach, we consider the term in this course as it applies to poets, playwrights, nonfiction and autobiographical fiction writers interested in radical, precise authenticity. Inspired by writers such as Audre Lorde, Maggie Nelson, Kim Ji-young, and Édouard Louis, students develop a documentary and journaling practice and develop material collected over the semester into a final project of poetry, prose, or hybrid genre work.É