"Tell the truth but tell it slant," wrote Emily Dickinson, a phrase that might as well be the personal essayist’s mantra. Truth is at the core of personal essay, but for both the reader and the writer, the truth cannot simply be told head on — what we uncover about the truth and how we express it is what makes creative nonfiction memorable.

In this ninety-minute workshop, we’ll explore one way that creative nonfiction writers “tell it slant,” by appropriating an existing form (i.e. a how-to-article, an index, a shopping list, a thank you note, or in our case a Valentine…) as an outer cover to protect and reveal the sometimes difficult, but powerful, truth within. By taking the voice of an exterior form for an internal, maybe even elusive story, writers can begin to create an artifact out of their experiences, and will likely be surprised at what they discover about their own truth. We'll read a little and mostly write and sip some refreshments. Shake up your writing practice, get inspired to put a personal story to paper, and craft a “love letter” to someone, or something, that you may or may never send….