Conference Schedule - Art and Craft: the Northwestern Summer Writers' Conference

*We reserve the right to alter the program as necessary.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

WEDNESDAY 9-10AM
Keynote: Rosellen Brown

WEDNESDAY 10:15AM-12:45PM: 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 10:15PM-12:45PM: WORKSHOP B
Writing and the Body
Michael McColly

WEDNESDAY 10:15AM-12:45PM: WORKSHOP C Closed
What Happens Next? In the Moment Storytelling
Jodi Cohen
As writers we tell stories on the page. How we decide what the story is about and what happens next isn't always a linear, easy or conscious process. In this workshop we'll hone our storytelling skills by inventing stories on the spot and in the moment with our voices and our bodies. By using simple exercises we'll learn how to: 1) jumpstart stories; 2) create stories that have a defined beginning-middle-end; and 3) use the ominous 'writer's block' to inform the story. The main goal is to play, have fun, collaborate and learn some basic, user-friendly storytelling skills that will help define a story and move it forward.

WEDNESDAY 1:45PM-4:15PM: WORKSHOP A
A Lot Less: The Short-Short Story
Daniel Borzutzky
This intensive workshop will focus on writing the short-short story, that playful, provocative form that exploded during the twentieth century and continues to be a vehicle for unique approaches to narrative, form, and style. The short-short is often treated merely as a shorter short story or as poetry without line breaks when, in fact, it attempts something altogether different and so could be considered its own form. In this generative workshop, we will look at and practice techniques such as use of innovative structures, ways to build conflict and tension in a small space, repetition, deletion of excess, and more. Students will emerge with first drafts of their own and new and stimulating ideas about short-shorts.

WEDNESDAY 1:45AM-4:15PM: 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.

WEDNESDAY 1:45PM-4:15PM: WORKSHOP C Closed
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 9-10AM: PANEL A
Writers in Cyberspace
Robert Archambeau, S.L. Wisenberg, Susan Harris, Danny Postel
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
Insta-React with Literary Magazine Editors
James O'Laughlin, M.M.M. Hayes
Ever wish you could be there when the editor opens up your story, novel or poem? 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.

THURSDAY 9-10AM: PANEL 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.

THURSDAY 10:15-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP A
Parasitic Writing: Translation, Plagiarism, Subversion, Imitation, and Response
Daniel Borzutzky
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 Closed
Literary Editing
James O'Laughlin
Beginning fiction writers often struggle to silence their internal "editor" in order to let the "creator" enough room to work. But after laboring to create a story it can also be difficult to fully resume the role of editor, however much, as writers of literary fiction, we need to to edit our own work. In this workshop, we'll discuss a few common obstacles to balancing the roles of writer and editor, and draw on advice from accomplished editors to conceptualize what's at stake in the process of literary editing. Then we'll look at specific strategies for editing a story, from things to eliminate such as abstract or vague language, "unnecessary specificity" and "unnecessary phrases of realization and discernment" (David Kaplan), to more complex matters such as sentence rhythm and the emergence of voice.

THURSDAY 10:15-12:45 PM: WORKSHOP C
Travel Writing
Michele Morano

THURSDAY 1:45-4:15PM: WORKSHOP A
Mini Narratives: Big Drama in Small Packages
Audrey Petty
We'll take a close look at a few mini-narratives and explore how big drama can be delivered in small packages. Try your hand at composing in these rich and diverse forms.

THURSDAY 1:45-4:15PM: WORKSHOP B Closed
Three Dimensional Characters
Jodi Cohen
Who wants to read about happy, well-adjusted people? We care about characters who are wounded and trying to heal, in search of something or trying to solve a problem. In other words, we care about people when there's something at stake. In this workshop we'll get out of our chairs (and out of our heads) to discover the ten 'back pocket' things you should know about each of your characters, why that matters and how that informs what happens to these people and the choices they make.

THURSDAY 1:45-4:15PM: WORKSHOP C Closed
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 9-10AM: PANEL A Closed
Inside Publishing
David Standish, Anne Gendler, Cynthia Sherry
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.

FRIDAY 9-10AM: PANEL B
Magazines, Grants, Colonies
S.L. Wisenberg
Do you wonder what is involved in applying for a grant or fellowship? Or whether or not a graduate program in writing is right for you? This informal symposium will help answer your questions about those topics as well as how to submit your work to the right literary magazine and how to gain admittance to an artists' colony.

FRIDAY 9-10AM: PANEL C
Books, Proposals, Agents, Contracts
Alex Schwartz

FRIDAY 10:15AM-12:45PM WORKSHOP A
Fiction: Object Lessons
Audrey Petty
In this workshop, we'll focus on object lessons: how objects can lend great works of prose immediacy, texture and dramatic weight. Through prompts and exercises, you'll unpack artifacts from your own life. Discover how a keepsake or a shelved leftover can unlock a vital story.

FRIDAY 10:15AM-12:45PM WORKSHOP B Closed
Writing the Dramatic Scene
Roger Rueff
The dramatic scene is essential to all forms of narrative. It is as important to the oral story as to the written story, novel, play, screenplay. But what makes a scene successfully dramatic? In this workshop we will explore the various and combined elements as they apply to the dramatic scene in general and to the specific needs of genre. Examples will be examined to tease out and make concrete that which makes each tick. Participants are encouraged to bring with them works-in-progress for a workshop devoted to constructive criticism in light of the earlier discussion. All narrative genres are welcome.

FRIDAY 10:15AM-12:45PM WORKSHOP C Closed
The Art of Creative Non-fiction Memoir
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 1:45-4:15PM: WORKSHOP A Closed
Fiction: The Art of Dialogue
TBA

FRIDAY 1:45-4:15PM: WORKSHOP B
Building Your Creative Portfolio
Ellen Placey Wadey
In this seminar we will talk about building a creative portfolio that serves as documentation of your talent and value as an author, academic, or performer and helps you assess how the different elements of a portfolio contribute to the development of your career. We will look at how building a supportive writing community, whether through hosting writers' chats online or publishing a magazine, increases your visibility as an author.

FRIDAY 1:45AM-4:15PM: WORKSHOP C Closed
Non-Fiction in Longer Forms
David Standish