Workshops
2024 Workshops:
(Schedule to come.)
Alyse Knorr:
The Art of Description
Bringing scenes to life and infusing characters with vitality, description plays a pivotal role in all forms of writing—be it poetry, fiction, or non-fiction. A well-crafted description is the spark that ignites the reader's imagination, allowing them to perceive, hear, touch, smell, and taste the story. In this workshop, we’ll delve into exemplary texts across genres by writers such as Jo Ann Beard, Natalie Diaz, and Beth Ann Fennelly in order to analyze the art of choosing specific details and the role of diction and metaphor in description. We’ll engage in writing exercises to learn how to choose details full of conflict and tension, how to determine what merits description versus what does not, and how to craft descriptions with deep thematic relevance.
Mining Memories
Embark on a thoughtful journey through the corridors of your mind in “Mining Memories.” Using examples by Edward P. Jones, Li-Young Lee, and Margarita Engle as our guides, we’ll delve into the art of retrieving and using personal memories as inspiration for your work in any genre. We’ll practice techniques for recalling memories via the senses and through association, and examine how to find and showcase the meaning inherent in those memories. We’ll also discuss questions such as, What if I don’t remember everything “correctly”? And: What if I remember difficult things? Discover the beauty inherent in even the most seemingly mundane of your life experiences, and watch as your past becomes a reservoir of inspiration for the tales you have yet to tell.
Anita Mumm
A Feast for the Senses: Writing to Immerse Your Readers
Adding more sensory detail to your writing can take it from ordinary to exceptional. In this workshop you’ll learn to use mindfulness and amplified awareness techniques to experience your surroundings through each of the five senses. Then, using examples from Eve Ewing, Colum McCann, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Wallace Stegner, and more, we’ll explore ways to translate that sensory awareness onto the page to create vivid scenes, memorable characters, or a particular atmosphere. Poets, novelists, and memoirists alike will gain tools for creating a richer experience for readers.
The Joy of Revision: Essential Self-Editing Strategies for Prose
Looking for ways to hone your revision process? This hands-on workshop teaches writers to look at their fiction or creative nonfiction as an editor would, on two levels: developmental editing (the big picture: characters, backstory, pacing, etc.) and line editing (the rhythm and flow of the prose). Find out what agents and publishers consider red flags in a writing sample and how to avoid them. We’ll look at how to make your opening pages multi-task to capture a reader’s attention. We’ll discuss how to tighten your prose without losing its poetry. Targeted exercises will help you learn to recognize pitfalls in your work and craft a much stronger next draft. Along the way, you might even discover that revision can be fun!
Mark Stevens
Curiouser and Curiouser
What keeps readers engaged? What pulls us along? Why does one story pique interest and hold our attention while others fall flat? Whether you are writing a fast-paced thriller or a thoughtful novel that leans literary, there are techniques to be learned about planting seeds in way that locks readers into your work and pulls them along from start to finish. We'll look at micro and macro strategies that maintain allure and intrigue. We'll discuss what readers are looking for in any story they pick up and we'll explore successful works with an eye on how writers set the hook and pull us in.
Lisa C. Taylor
Secrets, Lies, and Imperfect Truths: Writing as a Reality Check
Much of writing is conjuring: worlds, people, actions. What do you owe to truth as a writer? Nothing. Your characters will stumble, your poems may bend reality. In this workshop, we will concentrate on emotional not literal truth so that the secrets, lies, and imperfect truths bring readers into another world that may or may not feel familiar. Obstacles can include discomfort with taking risks with your writing and learning more craft. This workshop will address both. Different writers may speak to each one of you so we will share varied work from other writers. Writing can be a bridge between reason and emotion. It helps us to think and it validates our existence. Good writing leads us to question the status quo. Come on an adventure of discovery where the only truth is the one you imagine and animate through your writing.
(Schedule to come.)
Alyse Knorr:
The Art of Description
Bringing scenes to life and infusing characters with vitality, description plays a pivotal role in all forms of writing—be it poetry, fiction, or non-fiction. A well-crafted description is the spark that ignites the reader's imagination, allowing them to perceive, hear, touch, smell, and taste the story. In this workshop, we’ll delve into exemplary texts across genres by writers such as Jo Ann Beard, Natalie Diaz, and Beth Ann Fennelly in order to analyze the art of choosing specific details and the role of diction and metaphor in description. We’ll engage in writing exercises to learn how to choose details full of conflict and tension, how to determine what merits description versus what does not, and how to craft descriptions with deep thematic relevance.
Mining Memories
Embark on a thoughtful journey through the corridors of your mind in “Mining Memories.” Using examples by Edward P. Jones, Li-Young Lee, and Margarita Engle as our guides, we’ll delve into the art of retrieving and using personal memories as inspiration for your work in any genre. We’ll practice techniques for recalling memories via the senses and through association, and examine how to find and showcase the meaning inherent in those memories. We’ll also discuss questions such as, What if I don’t remember everything “correctly”? And: What if I remember difficult things? Discover the beauty inherent in even the most seemingly mundane of your life experiences, and watch as your past becomes a reservoir of inspiration for the tales you have yet to tell.
Anita Mumm
A Feast for the Senses: Writing to Immerse Your Readers
Adding more sensory detail to your writing can take it from ordinary to exceptional. In this workshop you’ll learn to use mindfulness and amplified awareness techniques to experience your surroundings through each of the five senses. Then, using examples from Eve Ewing, Colum McCann, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Wallace Stegner, and more, we’ll explore ways to translate that sensory awareness onto the page to create vivid scenes, memorable characters, or a particular atmosphere. Poets, novelists, and memoirists alike will gain tools for creating a richer experience for readers.
The Joy of Revision: Essential Self-Editing Strategies for Prose
Looking for ways to hone your revision process? This hands-on workshop teaches writers to look at their fiction or creative nonfiction as an editor would, on two levels: developmental editing (the big picture: characters, backstory, pacing, etc.) and line editing (the rhythm and flow of the prose). Find out what agents and publishers consider red flags in a writing sample and how to avoid them. We’ll look at how to make your opening pages multi-task to capture a reader’s attention. We’ll discuss how to tighten your prose without losing its poetry. Targeted exercises will help you learn to recognize pitfalls in your work and craft a much stronger next draft. Along the way, you might even discover that revision can be fun!
Mark Stevens
Curiouser and Curiouser
What keeps readers engaged? What pulls us along? Why does one story pique interest and hold our attention while others fall flat? Whether you are writing a fast-paced thriller or a thoughtful novel that leans literary, there are techniques to be learned about planting seeds in way that locks readers into your work and pulls them along from start to finish. We'll look at micro and macro strategies that maintain allure and intrigue. We'll discuss what readers are looking for in any story they pick up and we'll explore successful works with an eye on how writers set the hook and pull us in.
Lisa C. Taylor
Secrets, Lies, and Imperfect Truths: Writing as a Reality Check
Much of writing is conjuring: worlds, people, actions. What do you owe to truth as a writer? Nothing. Your characters will stumble, your poems may bend reality. In this workshop, we will concentrate on emotional not literal truth so that the secrets, lies, and imperfect truths bring readers into another world that may or may not feel familiar. Obstacles can include discomfort with taking risks with your writing and learning more craft. This workshop will address both. Different writers may speak to each one of you so we will share varied work from other writers. Writing can be a bridge between reason and emotion. It helps us to think and it validates our existence. Good writing leads us to question the status quo. Come on an adventure of discovery where the only truth is the one you imagine and animate through your writing.
2023 Workshops:
NICK ARVIN - Story in a Flurry: A Writing Rumpus
ALAN McMONAGLE - The Muddle and Beyond
ALAN McMONAGLE - Finding A Voice
LISA C. TAYLOR - Mortality as the Red-Winged Blackbird Alighting on a Telephone Pole
LISA C. TAYLOR - Leaps and Landings: Following Wildness in Whatever Form It Takes
MARK STEVENS - The Power of Now
MARK STEVENS - From Pulp to Meta
NICK ARVIN - Story in a Flurry: A Writing Rumpus
ALAN McMONAGLE - The Muddle and Beyond
ALAN McMONAGLE - Finding A Voice
LISA C. TAYLOR - Mortality as the Red-Winged Blackbird Alighting on a Telephone Pole
LISA C. TAYLOR - Leaps and Landings: Following Wildness in Whatever Form It Takes
MARK STEVENS - The Power of Now
MARK STEVENS - From Pulp to Meta