1:1 mentorship
The Unexpected Shape
Writing Academy
ACADEMY 101 COURSES
I’m here to help you do just that. With a passion for teaching and mentoring ambitious writers living with life constraints such as disability, chronic illness, and or caregiving and parenting, I find joy in sharing knowledge that's often hidden inside ivory towers. Teaching allows me to break down barriers and democratize information about writing and publishing, fostering and holding space for a community of informed and inspired writers—just like you.
On our Writing Courses page you'll find all kinds of ways that you can learn and work with me, an award-winning, best-selling author, from our famous free video class, the One-Day Writing Kickstart, to our beloved flagship, The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy, to one-on-one Mentorships. Can't wait to see you there!
— AUDRE LORDE
“There is no end to education."
Are you eager to unlock the secrets of the literary industry and/or elevate your writing?
as seen in:
I’m a writer and essayist—the author of the New York Times-bestselling essay collection The Collected Schizophrenias (2019), as well as the novel The Border of Paradise (2016), which was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2016 and one of Electric Literature’s Top 25 Novels of 2016; I was selected by Granta for their once-a-decade Best of Young American Novelists list of 21 authors under 40. The Collected Schizophrenias garnered the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, the Northern California Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, and the prestigious Whiting Award for nonfiction. I’ve also made appearances on the Today Show, NPR’s Weekend Edition, KCRW, the New York Times, the CBC, Flavorwire, and the New Yorker Online.
I am...
I'm also the founder of The Unexpected Shape, which provides different kinds of online education for ambitious memoir writers living with constraints of all kinds.
I want to help you.
You already contain all the ingredients.
Together, the work we'll do captures your raw potential and shapes it into something powerful and completely you.
You've hit a chronic illness flare. Here's what to do about your writing practice.
FREE GUIDE
Take our class, The One-Day Writing Kickstart—guaranteed to get you writing in one day.
FREE CLASS
You might want to start with one of these...
Or, you can take a deeper dive with...
READY TO write?
Memoir in Miniature: The Guide
A life doesn’t fit into 500 words—but a truth can.
A single, well-chosen moment can hold everything—emotion, meaning, resonance. That’s the magic of micro-memoir: shaping personal experience into something clear, sharp, and unforgettable.
Download my free 28-paged workbook to learn how to tell true stories in small spaces.
🧡 "Esmé's Memoir in Miniature workbook challenged me to start somewhere. — Alyssa E.
True story: I’m a New York Times-bestselling writer and my disabilities often get in the way of what I want to do.
Now, I help ambitious writers living with constraints of all kinds to master the skills they need to become more confident, skilled memoir writers—to write work that adds to the literary canon with freedom and joy.
You’re a writer and you’ve got ideas on top of ideas, a pile of pages, and life limitations that feel utterly insurmountable. Do you ever just need a way to build life as a working writer—without having to “overcome” the very limitations that shape your life?
Well, you’re in just the right place.
That’s where I come in.
To dig in into my work for ambitious writers living with life constraints of all kinds, including The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy and Mentorships, I recommend exploring the Writing Courses page.
