“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” —Virginia Woolf

How do we render ourselves in our own work? Why should we? In this class, we will consider the first-person voice in nonfiction writing. Our remit is not the so-called "personal essay," which leads with "I," but rather essays that are subversively personal, where an author is alive on the page, in the midst of wide-ranging material. A first-person voice can both free and protect a nonfiction writer; it can enhance a political argument; it can channel the magic of fiction, of a flawed, human narrator. Moreover, it can ask a radical self-knowledge of the writer, to evoke that self on the page. To hone our own abilities and discernment in the deployment of this voice, we will read and study writers such as Eula Biss, Jenny Zhang, Zadie Smith, and Wesley Morris.

This is a four-week seminar that will involve close readings and paired writing assignments. It's intended for writers of all skill levels. Students can expect to leave the class with an idea of how to pitch and craft an essay that speaks to some large idea through a carefully calibrated first person lens.

About the Instructor

Mallika Rao is an award-winning writer of nonfiction. Her essays, profiles, criticism, and reporting have appeared in Believer Magazine, New York Magazine, the New York Times, and elsewhere. In addition to Writing Co-Lab, she teaches at Columbia University's School of the Arts, as an adjunct assistant professor in the creative writing program. Find out more at https://mallika-rao.com/

Student Testimonials

“No matter the subject, Mallika approaches nonfiction writing with deep thought, care, and a strong understanding of the tensions and mystery that permeate any human relationship. She’s a brilliant portraitist whether writing about a stranger, a family member, or herself—one who steers clear of the easy conclusions in favor of nuance. It’s hard to imagine a better teacher for a class on the difficult art of writing in first person.” — former student

“Mallika Rao is a strikingly thoughtful teacher. From the readings she selects, to the design of each session's format, to the insights she offers into others' writing and our own, every element of her class is meaningful and productive. What Mallika prepared for our class was so rich that I know I'm going to continue learning from this course for a long time to come. Being in her class has provided a rigor, possibility, and direction for my work that I'd been trying to find for many, many months. She also created a lovely community of writers in a brief period, which isn't an easy task. She is a fantastic teacher and a wise writer, and I would love the opportunity to be her student again.” — former student

The Radical First Person: 4 Session Creative Nonfiction Seminar with Mallika Rao