Close to Life: Writing Short Essays
"Close to Life" is full enrolled. Please contact the office if you'd like to be added to the waitlist.
What do short essay writers do? We pay attention to what we see and feel. We reflect. In writing, we describe and weave what we know. Writing is generative. We forge new connections in our thinking and find ourselves falling through trap doors into deeper levels of understanding. In our word compositions, we arrive at fresh insights and offer these to the reader. As we write our own short essays in this class – perhaps as a practice to hone our memoir writing - we get to know our voice and learn how to craft our style. We find good words for our stories and let them come to life.
Faculty Bio
Christine Schoefer received her PhD from UC Berkeley with a dissertation focused on literature and politics. With two post-doctorate fellowships, she conducted research in Berlin and, afterwards, I worked as a Research Associate and adjunct instructor at UC Berkeley. Her work has been featured on NPR, in The Nation, Salon, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, and elsewhere in the US and also in Germany. Her Salon article Harry Potter’s Girl Trouble was taught in high schools across the US, and reprinted in anthologies and writing textbooks.
This is an In-Person-Only Workshop
- Classes meet in person at the Golden Bear Center, Suite 365, at 1995 University Ave., Berkeley
- Limited to 18 members
- You must be a current OLLI @Berkeley member to register. Learn about membership, including our fee assistance program.
Schedule Highlights
- Course starts on Tuesday, April 2, and ends on Tuesday, May 7
- Classes meet for 6 weeks, 2 hours per session (10–noon)
- All course materials will remain available to view and enjoy in Member Dashboards through May 31