Memoir Workshop with Author Truong Tran

The Imagination of Memories or How To Exit (s)t: Exploring the Memoir as a Form
Free Workshop with Author Truong Tran

If you could, what would you say? What is enough? Who is responsible for the suffering of your mother or father? Describe a morning you woke without fear.

In this generative workshop, acclaimed author and artist Truong Tran invites participants to consider memoir not simply as the telling of stories, but as an act of questioning. Drawing inspiration from writer and philosopher Bhanu Kapil—who reminds us that writing is as much about asking as it is about telling—Tran will guide participants through a series of provocations designed to unlock hidden narratives stored deep within memory and body.

Together, we will:

• Ask and answer questions that bring forth the stories often tucked away.
• Explore the power of inquiry as a way to dislodge silence.
• Reflect on why we are the ones to tell these stories, and what it means to carry them.

By the end of this workshop, participants will leave with the beginnings of new writing, deeper self-reflection, and renewed commitment to their own narratives.

About the Facilitator
Truong Tran was born in Saigon, Vietnam. He is the author of seven poetry collections, including Book of the Other(Kaya Press, 2021), which won the American Book Award and CLMP’s Firecracker Prize in Poetry. His recent books include 100 Words (2021) and Looking and Seeing, Seeing and Looking (2023). A recipient of the Poetry Center Prize, Fund for Poetry Grant, and multiple California Arts Council and San Francisco Arts Commission grants, Truong is also a visual artist whose work has been widely exhibited. He lives in San Francisco and teaches Creative Writing and Visual Art at Northeastern University’s Mills College campus.

📅 Date & Time: Saturday October 11 from 2 PM - 4 PM CST
📍 Location: Apprentice Creative Space
💵 Cost: Free, registration required (class capacity is limited to 25)