Weaving Memoir: Writing and Structuring Personal Stories with Kris Kneen

People often think a memoir must go from A to B in a timeline that marches with a calendar. In this innovative memoir workshop, Kris Kneen will take you through a different process of structuring your memoir, enabling you to highlight connections and repetitions that would be lost using any other method.

Applications close: 5pm (AEDT) Wednesday 15 July 2026
Dates: 6:00-8:00pm (AEDT) Fridays, 21 August – 23 October 2026
Delivery: Online
Fees: $1550 or $1450 for Varuna alumni
Places: 8 participants will be selected for each class (small group)

People often think a memoir must go from A to B in a timeline that marches with a calendar. In this innovative memoir workshop Kris Kneen will take you through a different process of structuring your memoir. The work will be a weaving of several different stories across different timelines that are organised by a unifying theme. This method is more like making a basket than building a wall and allows the author to highlight connections and repetitions that would be lost using any other method.

This is a method that Kris has used successfully in their three memoirs, Affection, The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen and Fat Girl Dancing.  It is a method that frees the author from the straightjacket of linear time and allows you to chase a theme through different parts of a life.

This ten-part masterclass will generate everything you need to create a short personal essay or a part of a book-length memoir. The method used for this short stand alone essay can be adapted across a larger book-length project.

This course will feature two Q&A sessions with award-winning writers Kristina Olsson and Anthony Mullins.

This is a small group program for 8 participants.