Writing the Body in Memoir: How to Work with What Our Bodies Know
November 12, 2026 6:00 pm
A memoir workshop with Savala Nolan at Local Economy
Oakland writers have a thoughtful one on the calendar Thursday, November 12, from 6 to 8 pm at Local Economy.
Savala Nolan, author of Good Woman: A Reckoning and Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body, will lead a writing workshop on how the body shows up in memoir. Even when the body is not the main subject, it is still there, carrying memory, stress, joy, shame, pain, movement, and all the small signals that shape a story.
Local Economy has the feel of a good Oakland gathering spot: casual, close, and better suited to real conversation than big stage distance. This seems like the right setting for a workshop that asks writers to slow down and pay attention to what they already carry.
The evening will include examples from writers who use the body in sharp and honest ways, plus a hands on writing exercise. Nolan will also talk through hard questions, including what it means to write from a body that has been judged, ignored, or made complicated by the world around it.
Go if you are working on memoir, essays, family stories, or personal writing that keeps circling something you have not quite named yet. Bring a notebook, a pen, or a laptop. And maybe bring a little patience with yourself too.
Even when they aren’t the center of the story, our bodies are an essential, inescapable part of any memoir. There is no life experience from which to write unless there is a body moving through the world, collecting memories, and translating them to the page.
Savala Nolan, author of Good Woman: A Reckoning and Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body, leads this writing workshop.
How do we draw from and contend with the body in order to craft memoir that is honest, fresh, and potent? What can our bodies tell us that our minds cannot? What if we don’t like our bodies, or live in a society that doesn’t like our bodies–how do we work with that? This talk will include concrete ways to approach these questions, examples of embodied writing from a diverse selection of celebrated authors, and a skills-building exercise to put the pieces together.
Remember to bring a pen and notebook or laptop, whatever your preferred writing implement is.