TESTIMONIALS

“Thank you for offering the Small Story workshop. I generated so much material--seven handwritten pages!

I love three things about these workshops: they get me writing, the writing is unexpected and often funny, and I always want to continue writing once the workshop is finished. Maybe you should call a future workshop, The Springboard.

The other wonderful concept you introduced me to was that memories not only arouse specific emotions in writers but that the memories themselves are made up of a certain consistency or substance.

I loved it all. Thank you for the opportunity to make the connections I hadn't yet made and how they always lead to abundance. What you teach matters.”

—Leslie Tucker

“This was amazing. I was terrified to address anything. You pulled it out of me in such a patient and caring way. I now have a notebook filled with words. Thank you! Grazie!”

—Lisa Carlucci (Memoir Marathon)

“Edvige Giunta's "Write Your Memoir" course was one of the best writing workshops I've ever experienced! With her boundless ideas and prompts, Edi encourages writers to put their pen to paper -- and to keep going. Through her commitment to anti-racism and anti-sexism, she provides a safe, nurturing, and respectful space for writers to get personal on the page and with each other. Her suggested readings have continued to nourish me ever since. I'm eager to continue learning from her.”

—Christine Grimaldi (Journalist and writer)

“Of all the workshops I’ve taken recently, Edi Giunta’s has by far been the most enjoyable and most worthwhile. Edi is warm, generous, encouraging, and deeply insightful. Until taking her workshop, I’d never been a fan of prompts and considered them a waste of time, but Edi’s were provocative and truly generative, enlarging my thinking about the projects I was working on and leading me to new ways of thinking. And beyond her skills as a teacher, she’s exceptional at community-building. Highly recommended!”

—B.K. Jackson (Write Your Memoir)

“Edvige Giunta is a sherpa who leads your writing on its climb up the mountain as you discover what it has to say. She is the backbone of memoir exploration and ancestral expedition. From her, I have learned how a daily “climb” of 300 words leads in two weeks’ time to a structured essay, all with levity, light, and fun blended in the avventura. I look forward to more adventures with her as a guide!”

—Kirsten Keppel (Write the Cross-Generational Memoir)

"I can’t describe, although I should be able to, how this workshop and the previous one feed my soul, deepen my thinking, and center me. I still have work to do but this more than anything else gives me hope."

—Gabriella Contestabile (Write Your Memoir; Write the Cross-Generational Memoir)

“For the first time ever, I moved from a vague interest in writing memoir to a: “hey, I’m writing a memoir!” Thanks to Edvige Giunta’s excellent virtual classes, her expertly-guided writing assignments, and the encouragement of other writers. It’s an invaluable context for taking the leap.”

—Luisa Del Giudice (Write Your Memoir; Write the Cross-Generational Memoir)

“Edi Guinta's memoir workshops are well worth the take. I recently took a summer workshop because I needed a jumpstart back into the act of writing. Edi's Workshop allowed me to wake the muscle in my heart, my mind, and my hand. So worth it.”

—Loryn Lipari (Write Your Memoir)

“In a short 4-week period, Edi helped me gain confidence and new skills in writing memoir. My classmates were also an amazing group, many of them academics like me who were looking to transition from scholarly writing to more personal genres. Very highly recommended!”

—David Blackmore (Write Your Memoir)

Edi Giunta is quite possibly the best teacher I've ever known. She combines great intellect, originality, and dedication with a sense of openness and realistic expectations that are rare for anyone of the skill-set level she possess. Edi knows when to push you to achieve more, and she knows when to let you learn at your own gentle pace. She's a wise, patient, and passionate mentor; I don't think a better union of qualities exists to help a writer delve into the intense and rewarding work of writing memoir.

—Peter Covino (Author of Cut Off the Ears of Winter and The Right Place to Jump)

Edvige Giunta's memoir classes are safe and tight-knit creative spaces in which writers like myself have explored the genre with a sense of wonderment, community, and appreciation for the arts. I'm thrilled and empowered by all I've gained from working with her, for not only have I learned the craft but I've fostered enduring friendships and learned how to successfully submit and publish my work.

—Margaux Fragoso (Author of Tiger, Tiger)

Edvige Giunta is the sort of writing teacher we all wish to have: thoughtful and compassionate, experienced and wise, encouraging and challenging. Those who study with her come away changed as writers and as people. An award-winning teacher, a leading authority on memoir, and a memoirist herself, Giunta is one of the most importantly inspiring writing guides I know.

—Mary Cappello (Author of Swallow and Called Back: My Reply to Cancer, My Return to Life)

Edvige Giunta is a compassionate teacher who understands that writing work is one of the most productive ways to heal what ails you. Thoughtful, imaginative, and process oriented, Giunta teaches that work and time are the most important ingredients to assist each writer discover her or his authentic voice.

—Nancy Caronia (Co-editor of Personal Effects)

I always knew I liked to write but it wasn't until I took Edi's class that I began to own it. It was there that my voice was awakened…. What greater gift than the awakening of my writing voice? Thank you Edi for your gentle strength and guidance.

—Melida Rodas (Writer and artist)

Edvige Giunta has one of those sweet, clean brains, that doesn’t make a show of her ordinary brilliance. When she is discussing a writing idea you might have in two swift slices she cuts to the essence of what you have been struggling with for months. She makes it sound so simple, so clear, but it’s the deceptively incisive sensibility of hers that makes it clear and simple. It is what she says in that kind, supportive voice that makes you completely confident that this piece you’ve been working so hard to come to terms with suddenly seems not only doable, but inevitable. I wouldn’t have the writing life I have if I had not had the luck to stumble into the large embrace of this tiny, powerful Sicilian woman.

—Joanna Clapps Herman (Author of The Anarchist Bastard and When I Am Italian)

Edvige Giunta has built an intergenerational community of memoirists. Her understanding of the history and value of memoir in the world is vast, and her ability to gather a community where bonds amongst writers flourish is unparalleled. Many contemporary memoirs, each year, thank her in the credits. Give yourself the gift of being a part of her world.

—Annie Rachele Lanzillotto (Author of L is for Lion and Schistsong)

Il workshop di Edvige Giunta sul memoir è stata una bellissima esperienza. La scrittura di oggi è un tipo di scrittura verso la quale mi sono sentita totalmente impreparata: non per la struttura, ovviamente, ma per la potenza (a livello personale) dei contenuti, per la loro vividezza, per la sorpresa di trovarli ancora lì, anche se per anni non li ho mai ripescati. Mi è sembrato di ridargli una dignità, una forma, e lasciami anch'io modellare, o semplicemente vedermi sul foglio così come sono diventata portando dentro quel bagaglio per tanti anni.

—Lisa Di Battista (Scrivere il memoir)