All Student Success Letters
Jane Buyers
Dear Gotham,
In 2013, a few years after I’d left both my job and my husband, I attended my first Friday night Write-In. I gave myself one rule: whatever the prompt, write about my life. It was a test to see how honest I could be with myself. I was so reluctant that I always wrote in the third person and only referred to myself as “she.”
But the wonderful and talented Melissa Petro was so encouraging and inspiring that I kept coming back. When she offered a one-day Memoir Intensive, I attended.
Over the next ten years or so, I kept coming back to Gotham, in person and on Zoom. Memoir I, Memoir II, Memoir II Book, Nonfiction Book Proposal, Character, Plot 1: Mechanics, Plot 2: Machinations, Blog & Newsletter Writing, Memoir Doctoring…whatever I needed, Gotham offered.
I learned so much from gifted instructors like Melissa, Marie Carter, Nan Mooney, Emily Rapp Black, Roseanne Wells, Elizabeth Cohen, Jaime Karnes, Lisa Namdar Kaufman, and Tommy Jenkins… and of course, from the generous feedback of my fellow students.
Now, in 2026, my very personal—and first person—memoir Eight Septembers: A Woman on Wall Street from 9/11 to Lehman is being published by DartFrog Books on March 3rd!
I can’t say enough about the role Gotham played in teaching me the craft of writing, the vital role of critique, and the value of a safe space to explore with others traveling the same road. Thank you so very much!
Jane Buyers
