Explore memoir-writing from start to finish as a wild, creative and body-led practice. Learn practical somatic techniques to tell your real, raw stories — with guidance from 30+ skilled memoirists and writing teachers.
Join us online, September 29th - October 3rd
for current and curious memoir-writers
Explore memoir-writing and creative non-fiction writing techniques
that help you stop feeling stuck — and finally start, shape, and share your memoir
Learn how to write your life stories in a way that feels creative, honest and supportive, with sessions on outlining, overcoming writer’s block, craft, revision, promotion and more.
During this free 5-day virtual Workshop Series you’ll:
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Discover various forms of memoir-writing and ways to write and revise your personal stories
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Tap into the wisdom of your body through writing (and discover how memoir-writing is connected to your healing)
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Finally get started (or unstuck from where you stopped) and write with delight and enthusiasm
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Discover ways to tell, share and promote your personal stories
Get your free ticket and learn from 30+ memoir writers, editors and writing teachers.
Each one brings a distinct voice, real-world experience and practical techniques to help you write the stories that matter most.
Meet your Memoir-Writing Guides
Just look at this stellar lineup of kind skilled memoirists and writing teachers joining us for Dirty Messy Alive: Embodied Memoir-Writing Workshop Series!
Over our five days, you’ll explore everything from outlining, craft and revision to writer’s block, nervous system overwhelm, and how to work with your body as part of your writing (and healing) process.
Getting Started, Writing the Dirt and the Dirty
We begin with the dirt. Soil. Substance. The messy matter that makes things grow. Then we dive into the dirty — the stories charged with shame, guilt, pleasure and confusion.
And of course, desire. The ache that pulls you to the page.
These sessions will help you identify the stories that won’t leave you alone, and give you ways to start writing them with courage and clarity.
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Write it Anyway: A Tarot-Led Writing Workshop for Tender Writers Who Feel Afraid to Begin
Giselle Vriesen (She/They), Author, Tarot Reader & Writing Teacher
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Writing with Creative Intelligence: How Story Energy Bypasses Logic
Sarah Selecky (She/Her), Author and Master Writing Coach
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Shifting Resistance and Writer's Block Using Your Body (working with trauma and your nervous system)
Janelle Hardy, host, creator and teacher of transformational memoir-writing course, The Art of Personal Mythmaking
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Rest and Write: Reclaiming Your Inner Voice
Gursharn Rait (She/Her), Rest Mentor and Storyteller
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Your Body Is Your LIfe Story: Core Principles of Embodied Writing
Jeannine Ouellette (She/Her), Writer and Writing Teacher
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Breathing Through Chaos to Clarity
Lucie Forster, Transformation and Breathwork Specialist, CEO of VANA Breathwork App
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Sitting With The Bones: Talking to the Dead as Memory Keeping
Charlotte Henay, Ph.D, Memory Keeper, Deathworker, Recovering Academic
Navigating Challenges and the Messy Middle
What do you do when the writing gets tangled? When you’re overwhelmed by traumatic memories, too many drafts, too many voices, too much doubt?
What happens when you don’t know how to write about someone without betraying them — or yourself?
These sessions offer tools, perspective and lived experience to help you move through the murk and keep going.
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The Orgasmic Writing Practice: A Sensual Method for Hitting Your Creative Sweet Spot Every Time You Write
Shawnrey Notto (She/Her), Sensual Embodiment & Creativity Coach
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The Invitation of Pain: Navigating our Body Stories
Ali Emerald (She/Her), Chronic Illness Somatic Embodiment Coach
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Writing What You Don't Know: Imagination, Recreation & the Ethics of Making Sh*t Up
Allison K Williams, Editor & Retreat Leader
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Muscle Memory: Writing Memoir Through The Body
Mikala Jamison (She/Her), Cultural critic, Writer/Reporter
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What You Need to Know About Revision
Racquel Henry (She/Her), Writer, Editor, and Writing Coach
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Writing Emotion In Memoir
Traci Skuce, Writing Mentor
Writing the Alchemy of Being Alive, Animated and Alert
Writing about beauty, pleasure and awe is anything but frivolous. These stories matter too.
Aliveness is part of your story — and it deserves ink.
These sessions explore uncommon ways to approach memoir — where language lights up, where wonder lives, where the writing itself becomes a way to remember why you're here.
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The Art of Auto-Ethnography: Exploring Culture, Subjectivity & Technology Through the Looking Glass
Treena Orchard (She/Her), Associate Professor & Author of Sticky Sexy Sad: Swipe Culture and the Darker Side of Dating Apps
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Graphic Memoir
Tom Hart, Graphic Memoirist; Director, Sequential Artists Workshop
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Choosing the Right Narrative Structure for Your Memoir
Rhonda Douglas (She/Her), Writing Mentor, Host of The Resilient Writers Radio Show
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Rebuild the Past, Reveal the Truth: Worldbuilding for Memoir Writers
Heather Davis (She/Her), Certified Book Coach & Podcaster
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3 Character Arcs for Memoir
Megan Fuentes (She/Her), Story Coach
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Memoir Process Deep Dive: The Start to Finish Process of Writing your Memoir
Margo Steines (She/Her), Writer & Creative Coach
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A Memoir in 52 Prompts
Mary Adkins (She/Her), Founder of The Book Incubator
Claiming, Writing and Sharing Your Stories
Who are you on the page?
What makes you a compelling narrator of your own life?
And how do you hold your truth with integrity — as the character and the author?
In these sessions, we’ll explore how writing and sharing your stories isn’t just important — it’s necessary. And how submissions, self-promotion and publication are a part of that process.
You’ll get insight into how to refine your voice, be seen, and stand in your story.
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Outline Your Memoir Using Fairy Tale and Myth as Your Guide Workshop
Janelle Hardy, host and creator/teacher of transformational memoir-writing course, the Art of Personal Mythmaking
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How to Find Places to Get Your Writing Published Using Chill Subs
Benjamin Davis (He/Him), Co-Founder of Chill Subs
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The Art of Chaos: A Memoir-Writing Journey of Healing and Transformation
Nicole Dolan (She/Her), Memoirist & Depth Psychologist — Helping Writers Transform Life into Story
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Your Stories in Your Hands: Stress-Free Self-Publishing
Rachel Harrsion-Sund, Self-Publishing Strategist
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Talking About Yourself Publicly: Social Media and Marketing for Memoir-writers
Shelby Leigh, Bestselling Author and Marketing Teacher
As you can see from these thoughtful and wide-ranging presentations and workshops, this is not your average writing event.
It’s a uniquely curated experience designed to nourish, stretch and awaken your memoir-writing practice.
Join us for the Dirty Messy Alive: Embodied Memoir-Writing Workshop Series to learn from 30+ skilled (and kind!) memoirists and writing teachers, and explore how to write your real stories with craft, honesty and aliveness.
Inside Dirty Messy Alive you’ll explore the many options and forms memoir can take.
From body-deep truth to finely tuned craft, we’re not offering one way to write your story — we’re offering dozens.
So you can find the one that fits.
Meet your host
Hi! I’m Janelle Hardy.
I’m a writer, somatic healing practitioner and transformational memoir-writing teacher.
My writing path began in childhood. I had my first byline at 17, with a monthly column in the Yukon News about life as a Canadian exchange student in Japan.
My healing path began not long after — seeking relief from intense shyness, chronic fatigue, social isolation, jaw tension and relentless tummy trouble.
Eventually, I stopped trying to “push through” and started listening to my body. And it changed everything.
Now, I teach memoir-writing through the lens of the body, myth and memory — because writing and somatic healing together offer a kind of relief I didn’t know was possible. A kind of truth-telling that leaves you more whole, not less.
I’m the creator of The Art of Personal Mythmaking, my transformational memoir-writing course, and the host of annual events like this one, the Healing Through Writing Festival and the Stories from the Body Writing Challenge.
All of which is to say: you’re in very good hands with me :-)
I care deeply about the people I serve.
I trust this work. I trust the body. I trust the writing. And I trust the incredible lineup of skilled (and kind) memoirists and writing teachers joining us inside Dirty, Messy, Alive.
But most of all, I trust you. Your desire to tell the truth. To get raw. To get real.
To get dirty, messy, and alive.
Claim your free ticket and join us to start, write and share your memoir with supportive writing processes and fascinating craft-of-writing sessions to guide you.
What to expect
When and Where
Dirty, Messy, Alive: the Embodied Memoir-Writing Workshop Series runs from September 29 to October 3.
Each day, you’ll have access to a range of presentations and workshops you can choose from.
This event is 100% virtual — attend from anywhere in the world with internet access and a desire to write what’s real.
Sessions with Skilled Memoirists and Writing Teachers
You’ll hear from over 30 writers, editors, and teachers — all bringing different perspectives and lived experiences to the page.
Expect wide-ranging, practical sessions on topics like:
Outlining your memoir using fairy tale and myth
Writing from the body
The art of autoethnography
Healing through story structure
And much more
Your free ticket gives you access to every presentation during the summit.
Private Event Community
You’ll also be invited into our private online space - a vibrant, kind-hearted community of writers on a similar path.
This is where you’ll connect with other attendees and speakers, ask questions, share discoveries, and feel less alone on the memoir-writing journey.
Chances to Win
We love a little playfulness alongside the depth.
Participate during the summit to win prizes, connect, and celebrate the creative process.
Watch for your BINGO card and join us in the community space for all the ways to join in (and win).
Upgrade for a Supportive Experience
After signing up, you’ll have the option to upgrade to the All Access Pass — with lifetime access to every session, $1,000+ in speaker-contributed bonuses, and other supportive goodies.
We’ll share the full details once you’ve registered. This upgrade is optional but highly recommended.
Plus! Apply for a full Scholarship to:
The Art of Personal Mythmaking
This is my signature live program — a six-month journey where writing meets body-based healing, mythic storywork, and creative reclamation.
Together, we:
Work with trauma-informed, body-rooted writing prompts
Use myth and fairy tale as powerful mirrors and guides
Write toward the first draft of your memoir — in community
As an attendee of Dirty, Messy, Alive, you also get first dibs to
to sign up for one of 36 spots in the next live round, which starts October 28th.
One of those spots will be awarded as a full scholarship, covering the entire $4500 USD tuition.
If you're ready to write your memoir — and heal through the telling — this might be the next right step for you.
Dirty, Messy, Alive was created with your memoir-writing path in mind.
This isn’t just a workshop series.
It’s a gathering rooted in trust - trust in you.
In your discernment. In your hunger for growth. In the wisdom of your body, your creativity, and your stories.
Dirty, Messy, Alive is about writing, yes — but it’s also about exploring. It’s about inviting in depth, curiosity, confidence, and alternative, embodied approaches to memoir.
It was created specifically for sensitive, thoughtful, creative writers like you. People who:
love writing and other creative practices
feel the pull to shape life experiences into story — but keep getting stuck
are hungry to grow beyond what their cultures, societies and families have told them they are
sense the potency of memoir-writing as a transformational path
Have stories they’ve held inside too tightly for too long
Don’t want to write alone anymor
This event is here to offer you embodied, experiential ways to write your personal stories, and write them with truth, care and courage.
Come explore what’s possible when you stop holding back.
Enrich yourself with the Dirty Messy Alive: Embodied Memoir-Writing Workshop Series
Have questions? Here are some answers.
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You’ll learn (and try) a wide range of supportive writing processes and simple memoir-writing techniques from 25+ skilled healers and writers.
We’ll cover a wide range of experiences that support (and hinder) your memoir-writing, and how to create transformation and flow in your writing journey by working with the challenges instead of against them.
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If you’re curious about memoir-writing, if you enjoy writing and stories, this event is for you!
We’ll be specifically talking to people with a desire to work with their life stories and write their memoir.
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The Dirty Messy Alive: Embodied Memoir-Writing Workshop Series runs from September 29th - October 3rd. Live calls are typically at 8am, 9am, 11am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm and sometimes 5:30pm, all Pacific Time.
Once you sign up you’ll have access to the full event schedule.
You’ll also be able to join our private online community after you register.
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The event's presentations are a mix of pre-recorded and live elements. All recordings and replays are available for the four days of the festival, with your free ticket.
I encourage you to attend live if you can!
Set aside time during the event week to attend the live sessions, watch the pre-recorded presentations, and participate with others who are healing through writing.
However, if you’re not able to attend all of the sessions live, go ahead and grab your free ticket because you’ll have the opportunity to upgrade to the All Access Pass for extended access to all of the presentations.
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Your free ticket includes access to each of the presentations for the duration of the event.
If you need more time, you can always upgrade your ticket to the All-Access Pass after registering, which will give you extended access to the presentations along with exclusive live sessions during the event week and premium bonuses from our speakers.
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About half are live and half are pre-recorded.
Once you sign up you’ll get access to the full schedule.
All live presentations will be uploaded and available as replays right after they’re taught.
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No.
When you register, you’ll be added to the Dirty Messy Alive: Embodied Memoir-Writing Workshop Series' email list so I can send you updates for the event and links to each day’s presentations.
After the event is over, you’ll continue to hear from me, Janelle Hardy, but you can unsubscribe at any time.
Each of the speakers will have free resources available that you can access by providing an email address, but the speakers will not get your email address unless you choose to give it to them specifically.
That way, you only hear from the people you really love and don’t have to worry about getting added to 25+ email lists that you’re not interested in. 😬
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Yes.
All presentations have closed captioning.
Please reach out if there’s anything we can do to ensure you’re able to enjoy this event: jaha @ janellehardy.com
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If you still have questions, I encourage you to go ahead and sign up.
Your questions will will likely be answered during the event or in the online community, which you’ll be able to join right after getting your free ticket.
However, if you need to ask a question before registering, feel free to send an e-mail to me at jaha @ janellehardy.com or via DM on instagram @janellemackinnonhardy