Art and Craft: the Northwestern Summer Writers' Conference 2009

Conference Schedule
August 12 - 14, 2009

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

The Joy Joy Joy of Repetition
S.L. Wisenberg

Our bodies and our lives are based on repetition--from the beating of our hearts to the brushing of our teeth. In this workshop we will ponder repetition in our lives and work, and explore ways that we can use it as a source for writing. Repetitious tasks often become rote. How can we break open Habit and see afresh? We will also examine repetition as a key part of written work; writers use it variously as muse, chorus, unifier, structural element, appeal to the senses, and more. We will read successful examples of prose and poetry that make sure of repetition, and then write in class. We'll also talk about ways that various forms of repetition can restrict as well as liberate us. We will read published examples aloud, write, and brainstorm. This is for writers at all levels.

Friday 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm Workshop D
Telling What Happened: Diary-Writing
Cornelia Spelman

Thursday 10:15 am - 12:45 pm Workshop D
Workshop: The Art of Sentences
James O'Laughlin

Beginning fiction writers often set their sights on finishing a story, on resolving the story's tensions, on moving their character through some kind of change. But they often forget what writers often remind us is at the heart of their craft: sentences. From Gustave Flaubert to contemporary American short story writer Charles D'Ambrosia, fiction writers have often asserted that writing sentences is what they really do. In this workshop, we'll look closely at sentences to see how they build fictions, or how, to use Eudora Welty's phrase, writers "make reality real" with sentences. We'll look closely at form, at interconnections between structure, length and rhythm, to see how individual sentences pull readers in, and create a plausible, believable world. We'll discuss examples from a wide range of story writers and also excerpts from Tufte's Artful Sentences and Le Guin's Steering the Craft.

Wednesday 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm Workshop A
Insta-react with children's book author Carolyn Crimi
Carolyn Crimi

Award-winning children's book author Carolyn Crimi will critique picture books during this interactive workshop. The first part of the session will be devoted to the dos and don'ts of picture books. The second part of the session will focus on critiques. Please bring two copies of your picture book manuscript to share in class. Manuscripts should be no longer than four, double-spaced pages.

Friday 10:15 am -12:45 pm Workshop A
Finding the Story
Garnett Kilberg Cohen

How does a writer find and generate material to write about? And, once the material is located, how does a writer go about mining and shaping the material into a compelling narrative? This seminar will devote time to both of these questions. Also, about one fourth to one third of the session will be spent writing in response to creative prompts. Class participants are also free to bring in a piece that they have already written, and would like to see discussed (whether or not these pieces are uses in the session will depend on time constraints), and everyone will have an opportunity (if he/she chooses) to have at least a portion of his/her in-class work critiqued.

Friday 10:15 am -12:45 pm Workshop B
Not Me: Creative Nonfiction Without the "I"
S.L. Wisenberg

So often we think of creative nonfiction as memoir, as a record of the experience of the author. This workshop will serve as introduction to creative nonfiction that has voice and point of view, but is not about the life and travails of You. We will look at and discuss examples, brainstorm, and write a few beginnings.

Thursday Workshop B
Building Characters
Jodi Cohen

"How you do what you do is who you are." Joe Bill, Annoyance Theatre
Someone who's chopping vegetables madly or in a dreamy trance creates two different scenarios. In this workshop we'll explore what characters do, how they do it, and how that reflects on their attitudes and emotions and ultimately what's at stake. Using simple writing exercises we'll apply improv principles of working with our ideas, noticing where an idea takes us and letting our work change moment to moment. Come with a character you want to examine more closely or create characters in the workshop. Unlike previous Improv for Writers workshops, this one will be solely sitting and writing.