Spiritual Memoir

INSTRUCTOR: Phuc Luu

TIME: Four Thursdays, August 1, 8, 15, 22, 6:00–9:00 p.m. CDT

PRICE: Early bird price: $150 for members, $180 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Friday, July 26. After Friday, July 26: $180 for members, $210 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.

LOCATION: Online via Zoom

LEVEL: All levels

CAP: 15

How do you tell your story through the lens of your faith/spirituality? How does spiritual memoir differ from other forms of memoir? All people are spiritual by nature. We are connected to experiences that are inexplicable and ineffable. Love, relationships, the meaning of life – all are spiritual phenomena that both reach beyond and dive into the world as we know it. Spiritual memoir intentionally draws from our own particular religious and spiritual language. It plumbs the depths of what it means to grapple with the divine, the other, and the basis of human existence.

In this workshop Phuc Luu, author of Jesus of the East (part theology, part autobiography), will guide participants through exercises and discussions designed to:

1. Identify and use the language of spirituality
2. Expand our knowledge of what can be spoken about spiritually
3. Describe the abstract through the concrete
4. Reflect on the meaning of our religious/spiritual values and how this informs our writing
5. Explore how spirituality can be used to discuss issues of trauma, pain, and woundedness

This workshop will provide a foundation for writing spiritual memoir while also giving participants an opportunity to receive feedback on their work.

This event is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. This project is generously funded by the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and Mid-America Arts Alliance.

This project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.