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Off Campus Writers' Workshop - OCWW

Tim Bascom - Expand Your Essay Horizons: An Introduction to Multiple Forms

  • January 29, 2026
  • 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
  • REMOTE - ZOOM ONLY

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The personal essay is perhaps the most flexible of literary genres, sometimes leaning toward fiction in a storytelling fashion but often leaning toward journalism or scholarship or even poetry. In this session we will reference examples that illustrate the options available to a nonfiction writer, including the narrative essay, the reflective essay, literary journalism, and the lyric essay. We will experiment with braiding and segmenting through guided exercises and prompts and discuss when one form or mode of writing might be more suitable than others. Our aim is to find inventive ways to generate new material or reimagine works in progress.   

TIM BASCOM is the author of a novel, two collections of essays, and two prize-winning memoirs about years spent in East Africa as a youth: Chameleon Days and Running to the Fire. His essays have been selected for the anthologies Best Creative Nonfiction and Best American Travel Writing, receiving editor prizes from The Missouri Review and Florida Review. His short fiction has appeared in journals such as Zone 3, Front Range Review, and Flint Hills Review. Bascom received his MFA from the University of Iowa and taught creative writing for 20 years at the college level. He currently directs the Kansas Book Festival.

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