Writing Workshop on Hybrid Memoir with Justin Hocking on July 25th – Hoffman Center for the Arts

Saturday, July 25, 2026 1-4pm $100.00 (Scholarships Available) The Power of Shapeshifting: Healing & Transformation through Memoir Can writing heal us? How might we transform our experiences, memories, and identities on the page? During this interactive workshop, we’ll discuss and practice Expressive Writing—the evidence-based modality for healing originated by linguist and researcher James Pennebaker. We’ll also read and discuss excerpts from unconventional memoirs—including Carmen Maria Machado’s In The Dream House and Melissa Febos’ Body Work—in which the authors remake their own selves by renovating the shape and form of their personal narratives. Inspired by these works, we’ll experiment with several writing exercises designed to help us re-author ourselves and transform our own experiences into art. This generative writing workshop is open to all levels of experience. Bring your preferred writing implements – pen, notebook and/or computer/laptop. About Justin: Justin Hocking is the author of The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld: A Memoir, which won the Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction and was a finalist for the PEN USA Award. He also received the Willamette Writers’ Humanitarian Award for his work in publishing, writing, and teaching, and was named as one of “Ten Writers Who Made Portland” by Willamette Week. Along with an MFA in Creative Writing, he holds a BA in Psychology and a Foundations Training Certificate from the Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy. He currently teaches in the MFA and BFA Program in Creative Writing at Portland State University, and his most recent memoir, A Field Guide to the Subterranean, is a finalist for the 2026 Oregon Book Award. For more information about Justin, please visit his website. If you have any questions about this class, please reach out to Liam Whitworth, Executive Director, at liam@hoffmanarts.org.