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Memoir Reading and Writing Workshop
This is a complete set of instructions, roles, norms, procedures, rubrics, and extensions for any Memoir Workshop
Selected Memoir Workshops
Public Domain or Freely Accessible Memoirs
1. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Author: Frederick Douglass (1845)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23
Internet Archive (scans + formats):
https://archive.org/details/narrativeoflifeo1845doug
2. My Bondage and My Freedom
Author: Frederick Douglass (1855)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/202
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/mybondageandmyfr00doug
3. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Author: Olaudah Equiano (1789)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15399
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/theinterestingna1789equi
4. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Author: Harriet Jacobs (1861)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11030
Internet Archive (original 1861):
https://archive.org/details/incidentsinlifeo1861jaco
5. Up From Slavery
Author: Booker T. Washington (1901)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2376
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/upfromslavery00washrich
6. The Story of My Life
Author: Helen Keller (1903; includes Annie Sullivan’s letters)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2397
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/storyofmylife00kelluoft
7. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Benjamin Franklin (written 1771–1790, first published 1791)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/148
Standard Ebooks (professionally formatted):
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/benjamin-franklin/the-autobiography
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofb00fran
8. The Confessions of St. Augustine
Author: Augustine of Hippo (c. 397–400)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg, Pusey translation):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3296
Internet Archive (multiple editions):
https://archive.org/details/confessionsofstau00auguuoft
9. Twenty Years at Hull House
Author: Jane Addams (1910)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1325
Internet Archive (with photographs):
https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsathul00addauoft
10. Slave Narratives
Author: Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1938
Full Text
mesn-060.pdf
Memoirs by Theme & Era
World War II & Holocaust
Civil Rights & Race in America
Immigration & Diaspora
Indigenous / Native American Memoirs
LGBTQ+ Memoirs
Women’s Lives
War & Conflict
Addiction, Trauma, Mental Health
Contemporary / Popular Memoirs (Broad Appeal)
Short / Student-Friendly Memoirs & Essays
1. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Author: Frederick Douglass (1845)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23
Internet Archive (scans + formats):
https://archive.org/details/narrativeoflifeo1845doug
2. My Bondage and My Freedom
Author: Frederick Douglass (1855)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/202
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/mybondageandmyfr00doug
3. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Author: Olaudah Equiano (1789)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15399
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/theinterestingna1789equi
4. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Author: Harriet Jacobs (1861)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11030
Internet Archive (original 1861):
https://archive.org/details/incidentsinlifeo1861jaco
5. Up From Slavery
Author: Booker T. Washington (1901)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2376
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/upfromslavery00washrich
6. The Story of My Life
Author: Helen Keller (1903; includes Annie Sullivan’s letters)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2397
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/storyofmylife00kelluoft
7. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Benjamin Franklin (written 1771–1790, first published 1791)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/148
Standard Ebooks (professionally formatted):
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/benjamin-franklin/the-autobiography
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofb00fran
8. The Confessions of St. Augustine
Author: Augustine of Hippo (c. 397–400)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg, Pusey translation):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3296
Internet Archive (multiple editions):
https://archive.org/details/confessionsofstau00auguuoft
9. Twenty Years at Hull House
Author: Jane Addams (1910)
Full Text (Project Gutenberg):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1325
Internet Archive (with photographs):
https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsathul00addauoft
10. Slave Narratives
Author: Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1938
Full Text
mesn-060.pdf
Memoirs by Theme & Era
World War II & Holocaust
- Night — Elie Wiesel
- All But My Life — Gerda Weissmann Klein
- The Diary of a Young Girl — Anne Frank
- Survival in Auschwitz — Primo Levi
- The Hiding Place — Corrie ten Boom
- When Broken Glass Floats — Chanrithy Him (Khmer Rouge, similar tone)
Civil Rights & Race in America
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X — Malcolm X & Alex Haley
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings — Maya Angelou
- Born a Crime — Trevor Noah
- The Warmth of Other Suns (narrative nonfiction with memoir sections) — Isabel Wilkerson
- Heavy — Kiese Laymon
- The Beautiful Struggle — Ta-Nehisi Coates
Immigration & Diaspora
- The Distance Between Us — Reyna Grande
- Funny in Farsi — Firoozeh Dumas
- The Latehomecomer — Kao Kalia Yang
- Persepolis — Marjane Satrapi (graphic memoir)
- When I Was Puerto Rican — Esmeralda Santiago
- The Best We Could Do — Thi Bui (graphic memoir)
Indigenous / Native American Memoirs
- Lakota Woman — Mary Crow Dog
- Heart Berries — Terese Marie Mailhot
- Black Elk Speaks — Black Elk (with Neihardt—semi-memoir/oral history)
- Indian Horse (semi-autobiographical) — Richard Wagamese
- Crazy Brave — Joy Harjo
LGBTQ+ Memoirs
- Fun Home — Alison Bechdel
- Redefining Realness — Janet Mock
- Boy Erased — Garrard Conley
- Tomorrow Will Be Different — Sarah McBride
Women’s Lives
- Educated — Tara Westover
- Wild — Cheryl Strayed
- Hunger — Roxane Gay
- The Glass Castle — Jeannette Walls
- Becoming — Michelle Obama
War & Conflict
- Between Shades of Gray (semi-memoir) — Ruta Sepetys
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier — Ishmael Beah
- The Last Girl — Nadia Murad
- Reading Lolita in Tehran — Azar Nafisi
Addiction, Trauma, Mental Health
- The Liars’ Club — Mary Karr
- The Body Keeps the Score (not a memoir—includes memoir case studies) — Bessel van der Kolk
- An Unquiet Mind — Kay Redfield Jamison
- Girl Interrupted — Susanna Kaysen
Contemporary / Popular Memoirs (Broad Appeal)
- The Year of Magical Thinking — Joan Didion
- Crying in H Mart — Michelle Zauner
- Eat, Pray, Love — Elizabeth Gilbert
- Shoe Dog — Phil Knight
- Greenlights — Matthew McConaughey
Short / Student-Friendly Memoirs & Essays
- “The Jacket” — Gary Soto
- “Fish Cheeks” — Amy Tan
- Persepolis (graphic memoir excerpts work well)
- The House on Mango Street (vignette-style, autobiographical elements) — Sandra Cisneros
- Boy: Tales of Childhood—Roald Dahl