Memoir In a Year – In Person

with Jami Nakamura Lin

THIS IS THE YEAR TO WRITE YOUR MEMOIR

Our Memoir in a Year program will help and support you during the long road from plotting to composition to revision and beyond. It’s a unique opportunity to join a writing cohort, study craft, workshop key scenes, measure your progress, and meet deadlines.

It’s a chance to devote an entire year to your project, giving it the attention and effort your work deserves. Memoir writer Jami Nakamura Lin will help you through the drafting process, whether you want to complete a draft, make revisions, or push yourself toward your own page goals.

Writing a memoir can be tough. You explore the past, examine your experience, write about the people and places close to you, overcome doubts or fears, and shape all of this into a narrative that connects with readers…

Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone!

This program will meet in person for the 2026-27 cohort.

APPLICATIONS OPEN AUG. 4 – SEPT. 7, 2026

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!

Jami Nakamura Lin is the author of the illustrated speculative memoir The Night Parade (Mariner Books/HarperCollins), which won the 2024 Chicago Review of Books Award in Nonfiction. The Night Parade was named a “Best Book of 2023” by the Boston Globe and Vulture/New York Magazine and received starred reviews by Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews.
Jami has received fellowships and support from the National Endowment for the Arts / Japan-US Friendship Commission, Macdowell, Yaddo, Folger Shakespeare Library, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, We Need Diverse Books, the Illinois Arts Council, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, among others. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Sewanee Review, Passages North, Food + Wine, Good Housekeeping, and many other publications. She teaches for the McCormack Writing Center (formerly Tin House), StoryStudio, and Writing Co-lab, and has guest lectured at Northwestern, the University of Illinois- Chicago, Carlow University MFA, and other universities.
Her work interrogates mythology, monstrosity, madness, and motherhood, and is influenced by Japanese, Taiwanese, and Okinawan folklore (and her experience living with bipolar disorder and ADHD). She is currently working on a speculative novel. www.jaminakamuralin.com

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Students at any stage of memoir drafting are encouraged to apply. You may be anywhere in the first draft – some students may have 200 pages; others may have nothing more than an idea and a first sentence. Work of any length is welcome. 

Participation in a workshop is not a prerequisite for this course. If you are newer to this process, but feel you have the ability, submit your writing and let us decide. We will work with you if you are ready to take the leap, and have a strong voice and POV.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Specific topics covered during the class sessions include:

  • The Core: Diving deep into our work to excavate the hot molten core of the story in order to refine our themes, motifs, and reasons for writing.
  • Shape & Structure: Investigating the multiple ways we can transform our memoir fragments and scenes into a full, cohesive manuscript with a distinct throughline.
  • Storytelling Engines/Propulsion: Discovering different narrative “engines” and craft techniques to figure out our own distinct way we can help engage our readers and propel them to the end of our book.
  • Narrative Distance: Examining the distance between you-now (the narrator) and the you-then (the character) — and the sometimes slippery borders between the two.
  • Process: Figuring out how to best create—and sustain—the momentum needed to finish our memoirs. We will look at how we can develop a writing process, a writing life, and a writing career.
  • Caring For Ourselves and Our Stories: Learning how we can best take care of ourselves through this writing process—and how can we delve into the past.
  • Inspirations: Developing a “bookshelf” of the things (books, music, art, etc) that inspire us and the works we want our book to be in conversation with.
  • Other topics include style, voice, outlining, imagination and speculation, dialogue, research, ethics, revision, publishing, and community-building. This class is a living, breathing organism, and we can tailor readings/topics towards the needs and desires of the students.

PLEASE NOTE: This application-based class is selective. We are looking for students with talent and drive, though familiarity with the workshop process or previous experience writing a book is not mandatory. This program is for memoirists who are ready to make a strong commitment to their work, and our waitlist for the course is typically very long. Students will be expected to participate in the full program.

HOW IT WORKS

Students will meet monthly for three-hour sessions to discuss craft, solve drafting challenges, workshop scenes, and share some snacks and beverages. In between class sessions you’ll have plenty of time to write and generate new work while still staying in touch via StoryStudio’s private online class forum.

We’ve structured this program to provide maximum benefit without demanding too much time away from focusing on your own work. In addition to workshopping short scenes in class, participants will meet individually with Jami for 100-page manuscript reviews.

Students enrolled in this course will receive 60% off all Master Classes throughout their time in the program, with no limit on how many classes you take. (Recent and upcoming writers include Alexander Chee, Pam Houston, Vu Tran, Garth Greenwell, Laura van den Berg, Kaveh Akbar, and Nick Flynn, among others.)

The class also includes a half-day offsite spring writers retreat, where you can spend the day writing and thinking, with breaks to mingle at lunch and over drinks with students in our other In-A-Year workshops. Additionally, throughout the year we will organize two optional evening social gatherings to be scheduled between Jami and the cohort as desired. As a writer in our Memoir in a Year program, you’re considered a “VIP” at the studio with early-bird access to programs and events.

Throughout the course, you’ll have access to a private online forum for exchanging additional work and sharing articles and links of interest. And most importantly, these courses provide accountability check-ins to report your progress and struggles, and keep you writing.

YOUR WRITING COMMUNITY

Whether you’re already drafting query letters to send to literary agents or just focusing on revision, your cohort will provide the structure, companionship, feedback, good humor, and emotional support to help you see your project through.

You’ll also join StoryStudio’s larger community—in person and on social media—where you can connect with students from other classes, receive “first chance” invitations to special programming, and stay informed about literary events around the city.

The Memoir in a Year program has been going for ten years strong, and you will have the opportunity to benefit socially and professionally from a wonderful network of alumni, many of whom are experiencing publishing success.

The program fee is $2,750. 

This tuition includes:

11 sessions, meeting once per month for 11 months
A 100-page manuscript review with Jami Nakamura Lin
Discounts to our Master Class series
A private online chat forum
VIP status at the Studio
A literary community to take well beyond this program

2026-27 Schedule Meets on the Following Dates on Thursdays, 6:30pm – 9:30pm Central:

October 15
November 12
December 10
January 14, 2027
February 11, 2027
March 11, 2027
April 8, 2027
May 13, 2027
June 10, 2027
July 8, 2027
August 12, 2027

HOW TO APPLY

APPLY HERE!

APPLICATION WINDOW OPEN AUG. 4 – SEPT. 7

This course is limited to 12 students and is submission based.

  1. You will be asked to submit a 10-page writing sample in a .doc or PDF. The sample can be an essay or memoir excerpt. 12-pt font and double-spaced is preferred.
  2. Someone who submits on the first day has the same chance as someone who submits on the last day, so don’t worry, and don’t rush.
  3. Payment isn’t due until after the application period is closed and acceptances have been sent out. We are happy to discuss payment plans with students who are accepted.
  4. NOTE: You can use this application form to apply for either our online cohort with Dionne Ford, or Jami Nakamura Lin’s in-person cohort, or asked to be considered for both cohorts. Instructors will coordinate in screening these dual-applications.

The next cohort will begin in October 2026. Please subscribe to our newsletter to get the most up-to-date information. When applications open, we will update this page as well. To be notified when details are available, please put your name on our waitlist and we’ll contact you.