“We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” Joan Didion begins in her seminal essay, “The White Album.” The essay explores a time in her life in which stories no longer make any sense. What happens when our stories stop making sense, when the narratives we carry, the experiences we’ve had, no longer feel like they’re enough? We do live in a world of chaos, lives of chaos, and if you’re anything like me that chaos can reflect on the page in a way which can seem confusing and daunting, lacking any structure and coherence.
Is it possible to bring order to the chaos, make it work on the page? Let’s take a look at some authors who have struggled with this very dilemma, have struggled during difficult times to stay afloat and have turned their personal, emotional, and external chaos into beautiful and moving collages that tell a story that moves beyond a single threaded narrative. Let’s explore our own scattered materials and see if we can find where the pieces fit on the page.
As always, our Saturday workshops are free and open to the public. Homemade pastries baked at a grocery store completely unaffiliated with GCC will be provided. Probably.
- What & Who: Bringing Order to Chaos, with David Martinez
- When: Saturday, March 3rd from 9:30AM to 11:30AM
- Where: GCC Main Campus, Room LA-141
- Why: Because who doesn’t want to birth a dancing star?
GCC Creative Writing 