The Jacana Literary Foundation, together with Denis Hirson, is bringing back its highly successful memoir-writing workshops for a fourth time, but in a different way. Across four evenings, one each in September, October, November and December 2026, Denis will share his expertise in a series of engaging 90-minute online workshops. Each workshop session will focus on a different memoir before engaging in discussion with participants.  

The workshop series will explore the following memoirs:
Workshop 1: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal (2 September)

In each workshop, Denis will invite you to do the following:  

1) Explore how the writer has dealt with key issues such as language, structure, memory versus fiction, family history and the use of personal information.  

2) Do brief exercises inspired by the memoir in question.
3) Compare relevant aspects of the writer’s method with your own memoir writing, or with your thoughts about this process. 

4) Engage in dialogue about the authors’ methods and your own.   

Note: any reading you do will be very beneficial but is not absolutely necessary to participate in the workshops.