Memoir is more than just a recounting of the past — it's a creative act that shapes memory into meaning. This six-week, self-paced course explores memoir as an art form grounded in mindfulness. In-depth lessons, reflective writing prompts, and compassionate guidance, will show you to tell your story with honesty, emotional resonance, and literary craft.
You’ll join a small group of up to 12 writers where you can share your responses to the prompts in the private forum space. Each weekly lesson guides you through essential elements of writing memoir with depth and integrity:
The Memoir as Art to create a literary work from your life
Writing the Truth with courage and care
Understanding The Fallibility of Memory in writing your truth
Learning What Matters and What Doesn’t in story selection
Portraying Real People as Characters ethically and vividly
Finding your unique Voice in Memoir — the bridge between your past and present self
Whether you’re writing for publication or self-discovery, this course provides a mindful, nourishing space for your stories to unfold.
You’ll receive:
Six in-depth lessons written by Amanda Saint — read her article about the course and writing memoir.
Three 1-hour live Zoom lessons with guest teachers (info below and replays sent too)
Writing prompts and exercises to discover and deepen your story
A compassionate, spiritually attuned approach to memoir craft
Lifetime access to all materials
Join us to turn memory into meaning, and meaning into art.
Course tutor
Amanda Saint is the founder of The Mindful Writer, which originally started life as a newsletter on Substack in 2023. She is an author and writing coach dedicated to helping writers find their voice and keep the love of writing alive, while using their stories to create positive human connection.
With many years experience in the publishing industry, she believes that writing is a journey of self-discovery, and she helps people to embrace their creativity through courses, workshops and 1-1 coaching. Amanda's approach combines mindfulness with creative writing, providing a supportive community where every writer can thrive.
Amanda is the author of two novels, As If I Were A River (2016) and Remember Tomorrow (2019) and a novella-in-flash, Pressure Drop (2024). Her short stories, flash and micro fictions have been widely published in journals and anthologies, and placed and listed in many international prizes, including the Mslexia Flash Fiction Prize and the Fish Flash Fiction Prize. She has been nominated for Best Small Fictions 2023 and in 2024 had four stories selected for Top in Fiction. She writes life and memoir pieces on her Substack.
18th October 15.00 UK
Memoir is more than memory — it’s about listening to what the body has been carrying all along. In this hour-long workshop, you’ll be gently guided to step out of the mind’s noise and into the body’s knowing. We’ll explore how scenes emerge when we stop trying to force the story and instead let it find us. This is writing as release, as revelation. You don’t need to know what your memoir is “about” — only that something in you is ready to speak.
Eleanor was born in London, educated at Westminster School and studied History of Art at Manchester University where she was distracted from finishing her degree by a trip to India. She was lost and found for the next twelve years, starting a commune, building a stone circle, and travelling through Asia, Australia, Africa and America before finally settling down to write. Her acclaimed debut novel, A Perfect Explanation, (Salt Books) was long-listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize. She writes prolifically on Substack where she has serialised three books to date: A Memoir in 65 Postcards and two novels: In Judgement Of Others and Fallout.
1st November 15.00 UK
How can we write about our lives truthfully without upsetting others? This is a lesson Ros has been learning over the last twenty years; including getting it wrong. Compassion is essential, but what if you don’t feel it? What if you still feel injured and angry? Mindful memoir moves us through our hurt so that the process of writing our memoir becomes truly healing for us without being injurious to others. Borrowing some key skills from novelists, this interactive workshop will show you how you can transform pain into insights through the alchemy of writing.
Ros Barber has been teaching creative and life writing for over 25 years. Her critically acclaimed novel The Marlowe Papers (2012) won the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award, and was longlisted for the Women’s Fiction Prize. Her popular memoir-focused Substack is How to Evolve.
11th November - 15.00 UK
TeriLeigh sees the world—and words—through a blend of neurological superpowers (synesthesia, hyperacusis, and aura perception). She approaches language as a multi-sensory adventure as for her, words aren’t just letters on a page; they are vibrant colours, resonant sounds, and profound energies that shape our lives.
She writes four Substack publications where she explores everything from mindful communication, relationships, and personal growth to the enchanting power of language and fostering authentic creative communities.
In the final week of the course, she will host a San Kalpa intention setting session to help guide the writing of your memoir after the course has ended.