Aug 09, 2026 7 min read

Workshops & Seminars

Autography - Writing the Split Subject into Existence: A 10-week workshop

A Lacanesque Creative Salon Workshop with Kristopher Lichtanski, PhD (and guests)

We open our phones seeking connection or inspiration, but end up scrolling through an endless stream of noise: algorithmic outrage, curated personas, and hyper-monetized advice. In a world designed to keep us reactive, genuine human reflection has become a rare commodity.

I want to offer an alternative. I am opening up a bi-weekly space on Sunday mornings—not for a corporate webinar or a clinical lecture, but for an intellectual coffee break and creative salon.

Instead of losing another Sunday morning to the feed, I invite you to bring your coffee, bring your notebook, and join a small community of like-minded thinkers as we explore what it means to physically write ourselves into existence.

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Format: Bi-Weekly Live Online [Zoom] Seminars (5 Sessions × 75 Minutes) + 5 asynchronous guided discussions on the off-weeks + Dedicated Cartel Space for the entire 10 weeks. Language of instruction & dialogue: English. Supportive learning and creating environment / all levels of Lacanian knowledge and background are welcome. Active participation in a creative process is expected in this seminar. Space is limited.

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Dates: September 13 - November 14, 2026

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Live Zoom Sessions: 10:00am – 11:15am Pacific Time on Sundays 9/13, 9/27, 10/11, 10/25, & 11/8.

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Cost: $225 [or 3 monthly payments of $75]

Please convert to your local time zone before registering.

🌟 Patron-Level Support & Discounts

Consider supporting us at a Patron Level: Our Patrons and Contributors receive additional discounts ranging from 5% to 20% off all events, seminars, and workshops.

For full details, visit our Box Office.
Your unique promo codes will be emailed automatically upon completion of an eligible subscription or one-time contribution.

📚 Bundle & Save

Bundle this workshop with “Depression through a Lacanian Lens” (Fall 2026) and receive an additional $50 off!

Register for the "Autography" workshop

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Bundle: Register for both workshops and save $50

Registration for this workshop is now closed. Subscribe to be notified of the Spring 2027 offers and dates.

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

In standard literary terms, autobiography is the neat, historical narration of a life. But through a Lacanian lens, autography (l'autographie) is something far more radical: a creative, psychological act of self-construction, alienation, and trauma resolution. When we write "I," we create a fictional double on the page. We chase what language can never fully capture.

Drawing on my 30+ years of clinical practice and psychoanalytic theory—alongside the work of figures like James Joyce, Witold Gombrowicz, Witkacy, Bruno Schulz, Roland Barthes, and others—we will explore how we can use auto-theory, text, and performance writing to move past our defensive masks and construct a stabilizing Sinthome on the page.

From the topological perspective of Lacan's late work, we know that because the human body and language are constantly struck by shifting realities and real-life traumas, the R-S-I Borromean knot can slip. Maintaining psychic stability requires a persistent, creative practice—whether through art, writing, rituals, or idiosyncratic speech—to keep the fragile structure from fraying. Lacan called this supplementary topological structure, the fourth ring, Sinthome, which acts as a localized stitch (a supplementary fourth torus ring) that threads through the gaps of the failing or separated R-S-I knot rings.

Read more about autography here.

What to Expect:

75 Minutes of Focused Space on live Zoom sessions (every other week): 5 minutes to settle in with your coffee, 25 minutes of concept mapping, 30 minutes of live writing /creating prompts and text discussion, and 15 minutes of open Q&A.
Bi-Weekly Rhythm (10 Weeks Total): 5 live Sunday sessions spaced two weeks apart, giving your writing and thoughts room to breathe and incubate.
The Off-Week Discussion Forum & Open Cartel Space (10 Weeks): A dedicated online course shell and discussion forum hosted on Whop, housing additional supporting materials and space designed for asynchronous elaboration, collaboration, and peer exchanges.
No Pressure, No Jargon-Slings: Whether you are an experienced writer, an artist, or simply someone curious about Lacan, this space / workshop is designed as an accessible, deeply human and supportive space to connect, to think together, and to write out loud.

CURRICULUM AT A GLANCE

✨ SESSION 1:

The Written 'I' as Illusion — The Mirror Stage & The Split Subject

Foundations: The Ego vs. The Subject of Enunciation.

Theoretical Focus:

Lacan’s Mirror Stage (le stade du miroir) and the misidentification with an external, coherent image.
The clinical split between the Subject of the Statement (sujet de l'énoncé — the dead 'I' on the page) and the Subject of the Enunciation (sujet de l'énunciation — the living subject holding the pen).

Precedent Case Study:

Roland Barthes (Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes) shifting dizzyingly between "I" and "He" to sabotage the imaginary mask.

In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:

The Third-Person "Exorcism:" Details TBA

✨ SESSION 2:

The Agency of the Letter & The Fundamental Lack

Unconscious Mechanics: Empty Signifiers and the Chase for objet a.

Theoretical Focus:

"The unconscious is structured like a language" and the agency of the literal letter.
The fundamental lack (manque) and the objet petit a (the unattainable object of desire) as the engine of writing.

Precedent Case Studies:

Serge Leclaire’s clinical case of "Poor Lillian" (Poordjinn) and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz’s (Witkacy) algebraic canvas formulas (C+Co, T.B.) that replaced the romantic "artist's signature."

In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:

The Nonsense Cipher: Details TBA

✨ SESSION 3:

Autothanatography — Circling the Real & The Death Drive

Trauma & The Limit of Language: Writing the Unrepresentable.

Theoretical Focus:

Autothanatography: Writing about one's psychological death, grief, or confrontation with the Lacanian Real.
The Death Drive (Todestrieb) and structural gashes on the page where narrative logic collapses.

Precedent Case Study:

Louis Althusser (The Future Lasts Forever) attempting to use the Symbolic Order to suture a shattered ego following a catastrophic psychotic break.

In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:

The Structural Gash: Details TBA

✨ SESSION 4:

The Failing Father & The Mythological Suture

Paternal Metaphor: Constructing Symbolic Anchors.

Theoretical Focus:

Deficits in the Name-of-the-Father (Nom-du-Père) and the collapse of external authority.
Mythologization as a protective casing built around a structural abyss.

Precedent Case Studies:

Bruno Schulz (Cinnamon Shops) transforming the castrated, decomposing father into a surreal fairytale; Witold Gombrowicz (Diary/Ferdydurke) waging war against the "Mug" (Gęba) imposed by society.

In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:

The Mythological Re-Skin: Details TBA

✨ SESSION 5:

The Sinthome — Writing the Self into Existence

Integration: The Fourth Ring that Ties the Psyche Together.

Theoretical Focus:

Lacan’s Seminar XXIII on James Joyce: The Sinthome as a singular, creative knot that holds the psyche together when the Symbolic order fails.
Krystian Lupa’s "Scenic Suture" and performance text as a living laboratory for Full Speech (parole pleine).
Autography as a non-clinical, therapeutic anchor for modern isolation.

In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:

The Final Inscription: Details TBA

🛠️ Between-Session Mechanics (The Off-Weeks)

To keep engagement high without screen fatigue during the alternating "off" weeks:

Whop Classroom Hub: Participants submit their writing responses to the bi-weekly prompt.
Peer Echoes: Participants leave brief, reflective notes on one another’s texts—focusing not on grammatical critique, but on where they heard the voice of Full Speech or felt the presence of the Sinthome.
Synthesis: The host publishes an exclusive digest highlighting theoretical breakthroughs from the cohort's discussions.

🎥 Privacy & Recording Policy

To cultivate a brave, confidential, and uninhibited environment for personal reflection and sharing, live Zoom sessions will not be recorded by the host. If you miss a live meeting, session notes and discussion prompts will be posted in Whop Classroom to keep you connected and on track.

🎙️ Participant Recording & Ownership Policy

To maintain a safe, confidential space, participants are asked not to record the general Zoom sessions on their personal devices.

However, during designated reading or sharing times, you are fully welcome to record your own performance/reading of your written work using your personal device.
This ensures you retain complete ownership of your creative output, with the freedom to keep, archive, or delete your own recording at any time.

📋 Cancellation & Refund Policy

Payment: Full payment (or the first payment of an approved installment plan) must be received prior to the first day of the workshop.
Before the Start Date: You may cancel your registration anytime prior to the first day of the workshop for a full 100% refund.
Weeks 1–2: Once the course starts, you may cancel your registration during the first two calendar weeks (prior to the start of the second live Zoom session) for a partial refund of payments made, minus a $45 cancellation fee.
After Week 2: Absolutely no refunds will be issued after the start of the second live Zoom session.

💻 Technical Disclaimer & Zoom Notice

Remote offerings depend on third-party internet service providers across all participants joining the Zoom call, which may result in varying audio/video quality outside of the Host/Presenter’s control.

We are not responsible for any losses or missed session time caused by internet connectivity issues on the participant’s end.
If a major outage occurs outside of participants' control—including a loss of connectivity on the Host/Presenter's end—we will do our absolute best to offer a rescheduled session or make-up time if feasible.