Art and Craft: the Northwestern Summer Writers' Conference 2009

Conference Schedule
August 12 - 14, 2009

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Wednesday 9-10AM: PANEL A
Publishers Point of View: Inside Publishing
Anne Gendler
Panel members will cover the entire editorial process: from concept or receipt of a manuscript, to review and approval (independent press style), contract negotiation, revision and delivery of the final manuscript, launching to manuscript editors and marketing, and the editorial-production process to bound book.

Wednesday 9-10AM: PANEL B
Applying to the MA/MFA Program
Reginald Gibbons

Wednesday 9-10AM: PANEL C
Writing for Children/Young Audiences
Jim Aylesworth, Carolyn Crimi, Laurie Lawlor, Deborah Kraus (moderator)

Wednesday 10:15AM-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP A
Experiments in Prose
Peggy Shinner
What does form mean to the prose writer? How does the shape of the container shape the prose? How can form be liberating, rather than constricting? In this class, appropriate for all writers wanting to take a risk, we will immerse ourselves in some formal experiments. The list, the letter, the recipe, the obituary, the outline, the scientific abstract: each may provide structural and rhetorical possibilities. The emphasis will be on generating new work, though you can bring pieces in progress you wish to reenergize.

Wednesday 10:15AM-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP B
Writing the Personal Essay
Michael McColly
Relationships are the force that animates all personal essays. In this workshop we explore how writers build essays by consciously defining various relationships at work in an essay. Nature, travel, family, memory, society, the body, the mind are all common subjects writers focus on in an essay, but it's not just the subject they write about, it's the relationship over time they have with these subjects that really give the essay tension and texture. The workshop gives students a chance to experiment with a few subjects in writing exercises that help them develop material for their own essays. We will also look at a few passages of classic and contemporary essays to learn how writers use relationships in their work.

Wednesday 10:15AM-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP C
Storytelling
Rives Collins
Before we could write our stories down, we gathered in groups and told our tales orally. This workshop will explore bridges between the spoken word and the written story. Inviting writers to think of themselves first and foremost as storytellers, this workshop will involve exercises to prime the pump of memory, encouraging vignettes and stories to flow from a deep well of stored images and memories.

Wednesday 10:15AM-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP D
Children's Books
Jim Aylesworth

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.

Wednesday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP B
Insta-React: Fiction
James O'Laughlin, M.M.M. Hayes
Ever wish you could be there when the editor opens up your story or novel? Experienced editors will read aloud the cover letter, first paragraph, or stanza you submit and will then share their immediate responses, simulating the submission and response process.

Wednesday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP C
Insta-React: Non-Fiction
S.L Wisenberg and , Heather Momyer
Ever wish you could be there when the editor opens up your non-fiction piece? Experienced editors will read aloud the cover letter, first paragraph, or stanza you submit and will then share their immediate responses, simulating the submission and response process.

Wednesday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP D
Writing the YA Novel
Laurie Lawlor
One of the most vibrant, innovative genres being published today, young adult fiction is read and enjoyed by a wide range of ages--from junior high school and beyond. The compelling coming of age novel provides fascinating and rigorous challenges. This workshop will provide a brief overview of the some of the best contemporary YA from fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and realistic fiction genres. We will then explore in-depth character development in a hands-on writing exercise designed to create a memorable scene.

Thursday 9-10AM: PANEL A
Writers in Cyberspace
Kate Harding, Wendy McClure, and Claire Zulkey
As the Internet becomes an increasingly important part of the publishing world, working writers and editors have made it more and more a part of their professional lives. In this panel editors and writers will discuss the ways they have made use of the web, and explore the benefits and limitations of cyberspace. They'll cover blogs, on-line publications and web sites.

Thursday 9-10AM: PANEL B
Chicago Literary Scene
Jonathan Messinger and Fred Sasaki
Want to get more involved in the Chicago writing community? Panel members will share information about the vibrant literary scene in the Chicago area. Discussion will involve local publishing companies, reading series, non-profits, and more.

Thursday 9-10AM: PANEL C
Crafting the Non-fiction Book Proposal
Kevin Davis, Alex Schwartz, Sue Betz, Julianne Hill (mod.)
Description Forthcoming

Thursday 10:15-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP A
Parasitic Writing: Translation, Plagiarism, Subversion, Imitation, and Response
Judith Goldman
This workshop begins with the premise that as writers we are parasites, who feed off other writers in order to create our own works. We begin with the idea that as writers we are members of the literary community, and that we can turn to other works of literature when we need inspiration to create our own work. This class will examine ways in which we can use the work of writers who move us to form our own work. In this generative workshop we will steal, imitate, subvert, channel, and translate into our own languages (no foreign languages required). We will look at ways in which writers throughout history have responded to literature in order to create their own "original" and innovative works.

Thursday 10:15-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP B
Discovering the Soul of Your Character
Roger Rueff
At the core of every great story lies a main character with a well-defined want. In this workshop, you will use a new technique, developed by the instructor, for dissecting the wants of your characters, especially the main character - not for the purpose of sterile classification but as a means of laying bare their inner workings, guiding your story events along organic paths, and unveiling your story theme. Participants should come prepared to examine and share their in-progress stories.

Thursday 10:15-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP C
Travel Writing
Michele Morano
For some of us, writing about travel is even more fun than travel itself. This workshop will focus on advice for turning memorable travel experiences into vibrant, engaging essays. We'll discuss some of the broad issues involved in translating real-life travel onto the page and do a series of writing exercises meant to help you identify and begin crafting worthwhile material.

Thursday 10:15 am - 12:45 pm WORKSHOP D
Crafting Sentences
James O'Laughlin
Beginning fiction writers often set their sights on moving a character through some kind of change, on altering a story's tensions in some small way. But to get there convincingly, they must work at what Flaubert and countless other fiction writers since have acknowledged in varying ways as being at the heart of the craft: writing sentences. In this workshop, we'll look closely at sentences to see how they create fictions, or how, to redirect Eudora Welty's phrase, sentences are a means by which writers "make reality real." Drawing on examples from various short stories and novels (and Tufte's Artful Sentences), we'll look closely at form, at interconnections between structure, length and rhythm, to see how individual sentences can draw readers in, how they can create a believable world.

Thursday, 2-4:30 PM WORKSHOP A
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.

Thursday 2-4:30 PM: 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.

Thursday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP C
Fiction: First Chapter/Pages Diagnostic
Miles Harvey
What's the best way to begin a story? Addressing the difficulty of hooking your reader from the first line, this workshop will focus on issues of point of view, voice, character development, conflict, and the dramatic scene as it pertains to the opening sections of novel length material. Participants will read from their first chapters, and fellow attendees will discuss the strengths of these beginnings, and then respond with specific questions with an eye towards rewriting.

Thursday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP D
Nonfiction: First Chapter/ Pages Diagnostic
Alex Schwartz
What's the best way to begin a story? Addressing the difficulty of hooking your reader from the first line, this workshop will focus on issues of point of view, voice, character development, conflict, and the dramatic scene as it pertains to the opening sections of novel length material. Participants will read from their first chapters, and fellow attendees will discuss the strengths of these beginnings, and then respond with specific questions with an eye towards rewriting.

Friday 9 am- 10 am PANEL A
Writers Point of View: How I Got Published
Kevin Davis and Miles Harvey
Panel members are published writers who will share their personal stories of getting published, and the steps involved in the process: manuscript review, contract negotiation, revision, delivery of the final manuscript, and marketing.

Friday 9 am- 10 am PANEL B
Online Publishing
Jonathan Messinger, Caroline Eick and Susan Harris
Description Forthcoming

Friday 9 am- 10 am PANEL C
Submitting and Publishing Fiction with Literary Journals
Garnett Kilberg Cohen
Description Forthcoming

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.

Friday 10:15AM-12:45PM WORKSHOP C
A Memoir is More than Written Memories
Michele Weldon
Join award-winning author and assistant professor Michele Weldon in an active and fascinating workshop on how to artfully and masterfully tell your own story. Whether you intend to write essays or a book, you will learn key techniques for articulating the narrative of your life from organization to description and much more.

Friday 10:15AM-12:45PM WORKSHOP D
Capturing Character
Kevin Davis
What makes people interesting? How do you capture a person's essence? In this course, author and journalist Kevin Davis discusses various techniques that will help writers create better profiles and make them come alive. We'll cover interviewing, background research and the challenges – as well as opportunities – of writing profiles. Classroom exercises include interviewing and writing short pieces.

Friday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP A
Fiction: The Art of Dialogue
Janet Burroway
This will be a hands-on workshop with exercises designed to explore the relationship between character and voice, voice and dialogue, dialogue and action, text and subtext. When is dialogue dramatic? How can it do more than one thing at a time? How does it get to sound like talk? How can you make it sing?

Friday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP B
Writing in Today's Marketplace
Ellen Placey Wadey
This workshop is designed to help you establish and build your creative footprint. In today's market, poets and writers not only need to participate in but are often expected to direct the public aspect of their work. We'll look at social media -- blogging, Facebook, Twitter, websites, featuring in/presenting reading series, submissions -- all the avenues that can help you establish your presence in the creative mix.

Friday 2-4:30 PM: WORKSHOP C
Freelancing
Miles Harvey, Kevin Davis
Do you have what it takes to do freelancing work? Miles Harvey and Kevin Davis will lead this energetic panel wherein they share their experience as successful freelancing writers. The authors will give advice about how to break into freelancing, do's and don'ts of the profession, and will reveal other tips for writers who are curious about what freelancing is like, who want to give it a try themselves, or who are already freelancing themselves and would like to learn more about this challenging career.

Friday 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm WORKSHOP D
Telling What Happened: Diary-Writing
Cornelia Spelman
"Looked at broadly," wrote the late writer and New Yorker fiction editor William Maxwell, "what happened always has meaning, pattern, form, and authenticity." Brenda Ueland, author of If You Want to Write, advised us to "write freely, recklessly." In this workshop, diary-writing is valued as its own genre, but also as a writer's cupboard, from which fiction, non-fiction, and poetry can be created. Diary-writing and diary-reading are also therapeutic, offering a form of Freud's famous "talking cure." Participants will examine and discuss diary excerpts from both ordinary and well-known people, and are invited to bring a paragraph from their own diaries. A bibliography of diarists will be provided.