Virtual Young at HeART: Memoir as Sight and Sound

What: 6-week course on memoir writing

Who: Young at HeART

Where: Virtually

When: Sept 21-November 9th

Details: Just as acclaimed 19th-century artist Martin Johnson Heade captured visual and aural stimuli on canvas, so are the senses essential to the craft of memoir. In this six-week course, participants will each craft a memoir essay of 1,500 words and will consider such essential topics as: the narrative arc, describing a setting, creating a reliable narrator, and writing dialogue. The course will reference Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment, which highlights Martin Johnson Heade’s 19th century painting series of hummingbird and habitats. By exploring the artist’s commitment to the vivid representation of the natural world, participants will be encouraged to explore a similar pursuit in their own writing.

Emily Sachar is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of the memoir, Shut Up and Let the Lady Teach (Poseidon Press/Simon & Schuster), which chronicled the author’s year teaching public school in one of the most challenging urban New York City districts. Ms. Sachar has also written travel memoir for Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, and Cowboys & Indians, a West Coast lifestyle magazine. Her 15 years’ experience as a reporter at Newsday earned her more than 25 writing awards, including two as the prestigious grand prize winner of the Education Writers of America. Ms. Sachar teaches writing and art history through Bard College, NYU and the State University of New York.

$200 person, $150 members. Limited capacity; Advanced registration required at OLANA.org. Scholarships are available. For more information, please contact education@olana.org or call (518) 567-2170.

During the COVID-19 crisis, The Olana Partnership will refund registration before this program upon cancellation for any reason. Please note that The Olana Partnership reserves the right to cancel this program due to extreme weather or other dangerous conditions.