The University of Iowa

Christine Hemp

Christine Hemp has aired her essays and poems on NPR’s Morning Edition, and a poem of hers has traveled over a billion miles on a NASA mission to monitor the pre-natal activity of stars. Her awards include a Washington State Artist Trust Fellowship for Literature, an Iowa Review Award for Nonfiction, and the Harvard University Extension Award for Teaching Writing. She is a speaker for the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau with her talk “From Homer to #hashtags,” which explores our evolving language. She is the author of That Fall (poems) and her debut memoir, Wild Ride Home: Love, Loss and a Little White Horse (Arcade/Skyhorse 2020), has just been released. She lives in Port Townsend, Washington with two horses, two cats, and one husband.

Instructor Events

Creating Character in Creative Nonfiction

Weekend June 20 to June 21 2020
Instructor(s): 
Christine Hemp

One of the challenges for the essayist and memoirist is translating real-life people onto the page, not the least of which is you: the main character. Even if you have a great story, readers need to trust the one telling it. Remember: you are both the writer and the narrator. In this generative weekend, you will learn how to propel your characters into moving, speaking, and creating tension in your story. You will also discover how your narrative voice can acquire a greater authority by revealing your own doubts, foibles, and epiphanies. Expect to write in and outside of class.

Wrestling with the Self in Memoir

Weeklong June 21 to June 26 2020
Instructor(s): 
Christine Hemp

This generative workshop is for any memoir writer (novice or advanced) eager to get a grip on who is telling your story. For example, you’re writing furiously about your mother; you’re proud of that scene where she kills and skins the rattlesnake in the kitchen sink. But that was before you found out she wasn’t your mother, before you knew what you know now. In other words, who exactly is the I recounting that long-ago event?