Credit: Bruce Newman
I’ll read micro-memoirs and lead diners through a creative writing exercise as part of this YAC event.
I’ll be a reader on the Thacker Mountain Radio road show at the Eudora Welty House
Join Beth Ann for this 2-hour class on writing flash non-fiction! https://www.porchtn.org/class/build-me-a-hummingbird-of-words-how-to-distill-your-life-into-a-flash
Location: Special Collections & University Archives at Vanderbilt University, 1101 19th Avenue, Nashville TN 37212
Beth Ann and musician Claire Holley have an evening of music and micro-memoirs at Vinyl Tap
https://www.porchtn.org/happenings/the-porch-visiting-writers-series-presents-beth-ann-fennelly-claire-holley
July 17-26, 2026—
Workshop: July 18
Craft Talk: July 25
I’m reading alongside David Baker, Maya Popa, and Owen Lewis!
https://bryantpark.org/calendar/event/poetry
in Columbus, MS, on Saturday, August 29 I’ll be the keynote from 12:30-1:30 and after the book signing I’ll teach a micro-memoir workshop from 2:30-4pm.
The festival takes place outside of DC on May 16. My event is in the Rachel Carson Pavillion.
I’ll be serving as a visiting writer for this lovely week-long conference in Seaside, FL
https://longleafwritersconference.com/faculty-and-visiting-writers/#
I’ll appear with Tom Franklin to accept a prize for “distinguished contributions to Southern Literature.”
Open to All: Tuesday, April 14 at 5pm
Patterson Hall, Room 456
The University of Memphis
I'll teach a fun interactive micro-memoir workshop at a bookstore called Paperhearts.
Build Me a Hummingbird of Words: How to Distill Your Life into a Flash
What should we do when we have the urge to write our stories but can’t figure out
how or where to start? This all-levels, interactive workshop provides strategies for
those seeking to answer this question. Our main strategy? Start small.
Our spirit animal for this class will be the hummingbird. The hummingbird is the only
bird that can fly forward, backward, sideways, and, for short distances, upside down.
Precisely because they are so small, hummingbirds can do things other birds can’t.Likewise we’ll look at tiny texts and study the things that they can do because they are
small. How can attention to the tiniest literary creations challenge and inspire us? How
can writing small trick us into writing our big stories?
Our time together will be a mix of craft talk, including insight into varieties of word-hummingbirdssuch as the monostich, the 6-word memoir, the aphorism, the ten-second essay, and the American Sentence. We’ll also cover the top ten things I’ve learned from writing tiny texts before rolling up our sleeves and generating my favorite short form: the user-friendly micro-memoir, an exciting hybrid that combines the extreme brevity of poetry, the narrative arc of fiction, and the truth-telling of creative nonfiction. We’ll be sure to save time for sharing our work with our fellow writers.
Class price includes a signed and personalized copy of the newly-released The Irish
Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs!
Friday, Feb. 20, 2026: reading at Univ. of AR Little Rock, Visiting Writers Series
March 25-27, The Oxford Conference for the Book, 4pm reading on flash at Southside Gallery with Steve Almond and Ira Sukrungurang
Hey y’all! Join me in New Orleans for this all-levels, interactive micro-memoir writing class! All class members get a signed copy of The Irish Goodbye: micro-memoirs!
March 13-14, New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane Univ.
March 13, 11-11:45 panel
The Ever-Curious Observer: Memoir as Life-Affirming Celebration Thomas Beller, Beth Ann Fennelly + David Weill, MD Moderated by: Jedidiah Jenkins
Square Books event Join us for the release of The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs (W. W. Norton)
I’ll be in conversation with Summer Anderson at Ladybird Books, 299 King St, Charleston, SC 29401
The Southern Festival of Books will have a special galley-giveaway of The Irish Goodbye! 1-2 pm, Saturday, the library!
Come spend a week with me on the coast of Maine to learn about, write, and workshop short-form nonfiction!
https://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/item/build-me-a-hummingbird-of-words-how-to-distill-your-life-into-a-flash/
Panel: The Explosion of Oral StoryTelling: The Power of Moving from Page to Stage
I’ll read poems Sunday Sept. 29 as part of the “Faulkner for All” gala in New Orleans.
I'll be part of Climate Aid's “Save Ancient Forests” concert and reading.
I’ll interview poets Clint Smith and Major Jackson Sat. Sept 15 in Jackson, MS.
I’l be in conversation with Randy Fertel' as he discusses "Winging It" at Octavia Books, 6 pm
I’ll be reading at my beloved alma mater for this gathering of women who’ve made an impact in thw world.
https://historicfarm.org/good-contrivance-writers-retreat/
