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Catalog: Summer 2010 Catalog
Four week classes (summer only)One-Day and Two-Day Classes
One-week intensive classes (summer only)
Poetry
Prose
Reading Classes
Writing Classes
Four week classes (summer only)
When Teens Fall in Love: Writing Young Adult Romance
Falling in love. It’s the topic that is most often explored in young adult novels. So, how do we dive into the complexities of writing about that special teen romance? From that first meeting to the final breakup, we’ll explore how to write young adult romance by looking at young adult romance novel excerpts ranging from older titles such as “Seventeenth Summer” and “Summer of My German Soldier” to more contemporary ones such as “Perfect Chemistry” and “Prada and Prejudice.” The class will include writing exercises designed to help you create a story about the all encompassing teen first love.
Instructor: Mindy HardwickMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Monday, July 26, 2010
Mondays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
S- Happens
But why? For writers, it is in sentences that we find truth—both in writing and reading.This summer, we’ll sharpen our pencils and excavate, find purpose behind our pain, extract emotional wisdom from our travails.We will mold our memories into short and long works of art and then hone those works for the world to see. When we’re not writing, we’ll read “Survival Stories; Memoirs of Crisis” edited by Kathryn Rhett, which includes the astonishing memoirs of writers Lucy Grealy, William Styron, Rick Moody, Reynolds Price and more.
Instructor: Roberta Brown RootMeets: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Felt: Synesthesia & Poetry
“If I had some paints handy, I would mix burnt sienna and sepia for you as to match the color of a ‘ch’ sound . . . and you would appreciate my radiant ‘s’ if I could pour into your cupped hands some of those luminous sapphires . . .” (from “The Gift” by Vladimir Nabokov). Synesthesia is a confusion of the senses. The blue note comes courtesy of a crosswire of sound and sight. With exercises for generating new writing—we’ll investigate the five senses, as well as the elusive sixth. We’ll bring the summer wind into sight.
Instructor: Melanie NoelMeets: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesdays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class Has been canceled. Please contact the Registrar at 206-322-7030 for further details. General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
What Are You Laughing At?
Why is it funny when David Sedaris likens the Christian belief in God to the French belief that a giant bell delivers Easter candy? Why do we giggle when Lauren Weedman plumbs the depths of her subconscious to see what dwells there and only comes up with: ‘Am I crazy, or are rice cakes with cottage cheese and hot sauce the perfect snack?’ We’ll read these and other nonfiction humorists and explore the ways they tell personal stories while cracking us up in the process. During class we’ll play with using such techniques as exaggeration, surprise, self-deprecation and incongruity to tell our own stories while making our readers laugh so hard it hurts.
Instructor: Wilson DiehlMeets: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesdays, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 8 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Extreme Makeover: Novel Edition
Some authors love revision and others dread it, but there’s no doubt that it’s crucial for engaging readers and selling the work. We’ll discuss revision techniques and tools, work together to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, examine the agent/editorial revision process, and look for ways to find and hone the story you’re really trying to tell. Since we’ll be doing hands-on review, analysis and revision homework, writers with a complete draft or a substantial start will get the most from this class.
Instructor: Joni SenselMeets: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
The Write Club—A Pugilistic Approach to Writer’s Block
Jack London said, “You can’t wait for inspiration—you have to go after it with a club.” In this class we will do just that. We will create a noncompetitive atmosphere in which we’ll employ various “take-no-prisoners” strategies designed to free your imagination and get those elusive words on paper. You will find yourself in a “critic-free zone” in this class; we will spend 80% of our time writing for its own sake, and you’ll leave with lots of ideas to work with for the rest of the summer. Prompts, exercises and readings provided. Check inertia at the door!
Instructor: Pete MacDonaldMeets: Thursday, July 08, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursdays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
One-Day and Two-Day Classes
Thirty Ways to Tell the Story
In this fast-paced afternoon, we’ll zoom through two-and-a-half-dozen writing exercises, finding the best way to get words on the page. If there’s a story (factual or otherwise) you’ve been itching to tell, this is your chance to anchor those words on the page. Multimedia writing prompts—questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, objects, even scents—will help us open the dusty drawers of memory, wish and imagination. Each participant will leave with a mad draft that’s ready for a first revision.
Instructor: Wendy CallMeets: Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Saturday, July 10, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Take-Away Poetry: Creating & Printing Poetry Broadsides
Learn about broadsides—in terms of literary content and typography. Expect craft conversations and exercises. Create poems for handheld broadsides. Leave with two printed broadsides of your own poetry. Learn to trust what you write. All students will have the opportunity to send one poem to our graphic designer, John Berry, before class begins as part of our work with broadside forms. Also, all students will receive a follow-up e-mail after class ends as a summary of their work. If possible, bring a laptop with Wi-Fi capability.
Instructors: JT Stewart, JD BerryMeets: Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Saturday, July 10, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Writing Your Memoir: What to Say, What Not to Say
Three questions every would-be memoirist ponders: “Do I have to wait until my family dies before I write my memoir?”; “Do I have to tell the whole truth?”; and “Do I need to get approval from everyone I know as I write it?” The answers: “No, no and hell no.” Writing your memoir does not mean narrating your whole life; instead it involves choosing one specific theme or struggle in your life to explore. In this class you will choose the theme you want to explore, map out the characters and time frame to focus on, discuss the arc of the struggle and leave the class with a clear idea of what you will—and won’t—say in your memoir.
Instructor: Corbin LewarsMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Rocking the Rejection: “I’m sorry Mr. Kipling…”
“ … but you just don’t know how to use the English language.” Rudyard went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. So there. Learn to rock those rejections with humor and dignity. Reassess (have feelings, move on), research (right piece to the right place), revise (perfect queries), and re-submit (industry overview, submission tracking system)—all inspired by the instructor’s madly popular “Get Published” workshop. Open to all prose writers, of any level.
Instructor: Alle HallMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Out Loud: Writing in Performance
In this class, we will build a bridge from our writing on the page to the live audience we encounter in readings and performance. We will begin to wield our voices as tools to connect with others through comedy, vulnerability and urgent need. We will explore character and relationship to more deeply reveal our intentions. Part of class will be spent generating work through free-writes and interviews; then, each member of the class will have the chance to workshop a piece of written material out loud. Participants may come with existing pieces to perform or use material from the class.
Instructor: Marya Sea KaminskiMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $95.00
Members: $85.50
Write Write Write
Create free-writes and learn to mine them for poems, stories, personal essays and memoir by using Bender’s three-step response method and applying elements of craft, including finding your writing’s internal occasion, using images and metaphor to develop a distinctive voice, writing dialog and relying on organizational forms and play to move your pieces forward. Whether this is your first time in this class or you are returning, you’ll leave with a notebook of writing you’ll want to continue working on, including pieces almost ready to send out. Whether you’ve been writing awhile and need a jumpstart, are finding your way into particular material or are new to writing and need the key to creating pieces that please you, this class will help.
Instructor: Sheila BenderMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
At Play: Re-Envisioning Your Poems
How do you successfully critique your work once you’ve created it? How do you know when the inspired piece you’ve written is ready for public consumption? Creating the work was fun, imaginative, freeing, but the revision process seems arduous, tedious, overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. In this class, we’ll employ creative and entertaining techniques to help you plow through those many drafts of your work in order to arrive at its final stage. Specifically, we’ll evaluate your work’s point-of-view, its poetic line, the function of form, and qualify its diction, tone and musicality.
Instructor: Janee BaugherMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class Has been canceled. Please contact the Registrar at 206-322-7030 for further details. General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
A Check-In Class for Writers: Autobiographical Writing
Did you have breakfast? There’s no need to look any further for inspiration. Every event is a window to all our stuff. We will make a list of all events from the last 10 days, choose one (or more) event, mind-map it, help another person to read our map, ask them for navigation coaching, edit, expand, add detail, mess with the POV, explore metaphor, add astonishment and make sure we’re implicated in all wrongdoings. And, if you like, perform it, or read it solo and get direction for simple narrative-altering options.
Instructor: Matt SmithMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Poetry Salon
In the spirit of a salon, we will spend an afternoon that is slightly off balance, rich with awkward silences and pregnant pauses, and full of inspiration as we move through writing exercises that will generate several first drafts. Salons, which flourished in the 1920s in Europe and the US, were gatherings of artists and intellectuals that sparked, among other things, the beginning of the artistic movement we know as Surrealism. Bring your journals, your questions, your open mind, your smoking jacket and your sense of adventure. We will make up some of our own writing exercises, as well as do several exercises made famous by those who wrote before us.
Instructor: Sarah VapMeets: Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
All in a Flash: Tracing the Bolt Path of the Short-Short Story
Ah, the short-short, celebrated as the ultimate literary form for our attention-span challenged times. But what new views of the very short story might we discover if we studied examples of it both classic and modern, considered its cultural contexts and tried our hand at writing our own “flash” fictions in an afternoon? In this course, we’ll read stories and prose poems under 750 words, from older authors such as Borges and Francis Ponge up through the latest “tweet”-length fiction being published on blogs like nanoism. Then we’ll write one or more of our own contributions to this fascinating genre. PLEASE NOTE: The print catalog states incorrectly that this class meets from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The correct time is 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. We apologize any inconvenience this error may cause.
Instructor: Cara DiaconoffMeets: Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
One-week intensive classes (summer only)
Memoir & Family History as Literary Art
Memoir has produced some of the most brilliant prose, yet it also produced dreadful, dishonest or self-serving writing. Come learn how to take your memoir or family history into beautiful language that is a pleasure to read. Several books read before class will serve as role models. You will be inspired by abundant literary exercises designed to awaken your memories. We will discuss your projects and challenges.
Instructor: Susan ZwingerMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Thursday, July 08, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Beginning Poetry Workshop
This week-long workshop is open to anyone with an interest in writing poems, but it’s particularly for those who haven’t written much before. An intensive but relaxed regime of readings (with particular attention to Emily Dickinson and Adelia Prado), discussion, writing exercises and critiques will help participants take creative risks and focus on the infinite possibilities of sound, rhythm and metaphor. Participants will write and revise at least three new poems by the end of this summer workshop.
Instructor: Ed SkoogMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Thursday, July 08, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 8 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
The Best American Poetry from 2006 to 2009
Based on the Scribner’s anthology “The Best American Poetry of 2006” (and that of 2007, 2008 and 2009, edited by Billy Collins, Heather McCue, Charles Wright, and David Wagoner, respectively) we’ll cover one year per class meeting. We’ll read, we’ll critique, and we’ll try to define what makes these poems “the best.” (It is not necessary to buy the books.)
Instructor: David WagonerMeets: Monday, July 12, 2010 - Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Writers’ Chop Shop
Do you have old pieces of writing in a drawer that you’ve been meaning to get back to? You know the ones—they contain some element that still excites you, a great character or the perfect first line, but overall just don’t go anywhere. In this class we will salvage the parts that still excite you from these abandoned epics and noble failures, and combine them with new elements from myth, history, current events and even visual art to create compelling stories and plays that really take off.
Instructor: Stephanie TimmMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Poetry, Power & Performance
In this poetry performance workshop we will generate new work by writing to prompts, and then create powerful performance by adding musical/theatrical elements. We will study work by Audre Lorde, Gil Scott-Heron, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Chrystos, and will consider how poetry, especially performance poetry, can be used as a cultural force and as a form of resistance. We will explore different strategies of incorporating rhythm, music, movement and drama into our performance. Participants will all perform their poetry onstage at the conclusion of the workshop. Beginners welcome.
Instructor: Storme WebberMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
In Search of Duende
What is it and how to foster it in our own poems? We’ll read and discuss Federico Garcia Lorca’s famous essay on the concept of duende, and try to come to an understanding of what the elusive term might mean. Traditionally in Andalusian culture, it was largely applied to gypsy music and to Flamenco dance. “All that has dark sounds has Duende,” wrote Andalusian cantor Manuel Torre. What does it mean to the poem? This is a writing and reading class and we’ll do some of both each day. Suitable for all levels of experience.
Instructor: Judith RocheMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Instant Short Stories, Just Add Water
Let’s write some short stories! In this class we’ll race against the clock to get our creativity flowing. You’ll be provoked with a number of writing prompts and given a time limit to complete your story. Can you finish it in 20 minutes? 10? A minute? Thirty seconds? Discussions about story arcs, dialogue, pacing, dramatic irony and when prose is actually poetry are sure to ensue. We’ll also look at examples of flash or micro fiction, including works by Gary Lutz, Amy Hempel and others.
Instructor: Ryan BoudinotMeets: Monday, July 26, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 10 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
If We Don’t Tell Our Stories, Who Will?
America is a nation of immigrants. We all have a family line that began elsewhere. Where is that elsewhere? What is your story of that elsewhere? What is your story about America? If we don’t tell those stories, no one else will. We’ll search for those stories through in-class writing and readings of immigrant narratives in prose and poetic form. Each day, our writing will build upon the work of the previous day, with a goal of ending the workshop with a draft of a memoir-style essay or poem on how your life connects with America’s immigrant narrative.
Instructor: Himanee Gupta-CarlsonMeets: Monday, July 26, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Poetry
Beginning Poetry Workshop
This week-long workshop is open to anyone with an interest in writing poems, but it’s particularly for those who haven’t written much before. An intensive but relaxed regime of readings (with particular attention to Emily Dickinson and Adelia Prado), discussion, writing exercises and critiques will help participants take creative risks and focus on the infinite possibilities of sound, rhythm and metaphor. Participants will write and revise at least three new poems by the end of this summer workshop.
Instructor: Ed SkoogMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Thursday, July 08, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 8 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Felt: Synesthesia & Poetry
“If I had some paints handy, I would mix burnt sienna and sepia for you as to match the color of a ‘ch’ sound . . . and you would appreciate my radiant ‘s’ if I could pour into your cupped hands some of those luminous sapphires . . .” (from “The Gift” by Vladimir Nabokov). Synesthesia is a confusion of the senses. The blue note comes courtesy of a crosswire of sound and sight. With exercises for generating new writing—we’ll investigate the five senses, as well as the elusive sixth. We’ll bring the summer wind into sight.
Instructor: Melanie NoelMeets: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesdays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class Has been canceled. Please contact the Registrar at 206-322-7030 for further details. General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Take-Away Poetry: Creating & Printing Poetry Broadsides
Learn about broadsides—in terms of literary content and typography. Expect craft conversations and exercises. Create poems for handheld broadsides. Leave with two printed broadsides of your own poetry. Learn to trust what you write. All students will have the opportunity to send one poem to our graphic designer, John Berry, before class begins as part of our work with broadside forms. Also, all students will receive a follow-up e-mail after class ends as a summary of their work. If possible, bring a laptop with Wi-Fi capability.
Instructors: JT Stewart, JD BerryMeets: Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Saturday, July 10, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
The Best American Poetry from 2006 to 2009
Based on the Scribner’s anthology “The Best American Poetry of 2006” (and that of 2007, 2008 and 2009, edited by Billy Collins, Heather McCue, Charles Wright, and David Wagoner, respectively) we’ll cover one year per class meeting. We’ll read, we’ll critique, and we’ll try to define what makes these poems “the best.” (It is not necessary to buy the books.)
Instructor: David WagonerMeets: Monday, July 12, 2010 - Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Rocking the Rejection: “I’m sorry Mr. Kipling…”
“ … but you just don’t know how to use the English language.” Rudyard went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. So there. Learn to rock those rejections with humor and dignity. Reassess (have feelings, move on), research (right piece to the right place), revise (perfect queries), and re-submit (industry overview, submission tracking system)—all inspired by the instructor’s madly popular “Get Published” workshop. Open to all prose writers, of any level.
Instructor: Alle HallMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Poetry, Power & Performance
In this poetry performance workshop we will generate new work by writing to prompts, and then create powerful performance by adding musical/theatrical elements. We will study work by Audre Lorde, Gil Scott-Heron, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Chrystos, and will consider how poetry, especially performance poetry, can be used as a cultural force and as a form of resistance. We will explore different strategies of incorporating rhythm, music, movement and drama into our performance. Participants will all perform their poetry onstage at the conclusion of the workshop. Beginners welcome.
Instructor: Storme WebberMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
In Search of Duende
What is it and how to foster it in our own poems? We’ll read and discuss Federico Garcia Lorca’s famous essay on the concept of duende, and try to come to an understanding of what the elusive term might mean. Traditionally in Andalusian culture, it was largely applied to gypsy music and to Flamenco dance. “All that has dark sounds has Duende,” wrote Andalusian cantor Manuel Torre. What does it mean to the poem? This is a writing and reading class and we’ll do some of both each day. Suitable for all levels of experience.
Instructor: Judith RocheMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
At Play: Re-Envisioning Your Poems
How do you successfully critique your work once you’ve created it? How do you know when the inspired piece you’ve written is ready for public consumption? Creating the work was fun, imaginative, freeing, but the revision process seems arduous, tedious, overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. In this class, we’ll employ creative and entertaining techniques to help you plow through those many drafts of your work in order to arrive at its final stage. Specifically, we’ll evaluate your work’s point-of-view, its poetic line, the function of form, and qualify its diction, tone and musicality.
Instructor: Janee BaugherMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class Has been canceled. Please contact the Registrar at 206-322-7030 for further details. General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Poetry Salon
In the spirit of a salon, we will spend an afternoon that is slightly off balance, rich with awkward silences and pregnant pauses, and full of inspiration as we move through writing exercises that will generate several first drafts. Salons, which flourished in the 1920s in Europe and the US, were gatherings of artists and intellectuals that sparked, among other things, the beginning of the artistic movement we know as Surrealism. Bring your journals, your questions, your open mind, your smoking jacket and your sense of adventure. We will make up some of our own writing exercises, as well as do several exercises made famous by those who wrote before us.
Instructor: Sarah VapMeets: Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Prose
When Teens Fall in Love: Writing Young Adult Romance
Falling in love. It’s the topic that is most often explored in young adult novels. So, how do we dive into the complexities of writing about that special teen romance? From that first meeting to the final breakup, we’ll explore how to write young adult romance by looking at young adult romance novel excerpts ranging from older titles such as “Seventeenth Summer” and “Summer of My German Soldier” to more contemporary ones such as “Perfect Chemistry” and “Prada and Prejudice.” The class will include writing exercises designed to help you create a story about the all encompassing teen first love.
Instructor: Mindy HardwickMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Monday, July 26, 2010
Mondays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Memoir & Family History as Literary Art
Memoir has produced some of the most brilliant prose, yet it also produced dreadful, dishonest or self-serving writing. Come learn how to take your memoir or family history into beautiful language that is a pleasure to read. Several books read before class will serve as role models. You will be inspired by abundant literary exercises designed to awaken your memories. We will discuss your projects and challenges.
Instructor: Susan ZwingerMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Thursday, July 08, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
S- Happens
But why? For writers, it is in sentences that we find truth—both in writing and reading.This summer, we’ll sharpen our pencils and excavate, find purpose behind our pain, extract emotional wisdom from our travails.We will mold our memories into short and long works of art and then hone those works for the world to see. When we’re not writing, we’ll read “Survival Stories; Memoirs of Crisis” edited by Kathryn Rhett, which includes the astonishing memoirs of writers Lucy Grealy, William Styron, Rick Moody, Reynolds Price and more.
Instructor: Roberta Brown RootMeets: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
What Are You Laughing At?
Why is it funny when David Sedaris likens the Christian belief in God to the French belief that a giant bell delivers Easter candy? Why do we giggle when Lauren Weedman plumbs the depths of her subconscious to see what dwells there and only comes up with: ‘Am I crazy, or are rice cakes with cottage cheese and hot sauce the perfect snack?’ We’ll read these and other nonfiction humorists and explore the ways they tell personal stories while cracking us up in the process. During class we’ll play with using such techniques as exaggeration, surprise, self-deprecation and incongruity to tell our own stories while making our readers laugh so hard it hurts.
Instructor: Wilson DiehlMeets: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesdays, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 8 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Extreme Makeover: Novel Edition
Some authors love revision and others dread it, but there’s no doubt that it’s crucial for engaging readers and selling the work. We’ll discuss revision techniques and tools, work together to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, examine the agent/editorial revision process, and look for ways to find and hone the story you’re really trying to tell. Since we’ll be doing hands-on review, analysis and revision homework, writers with a complete draft or a substantial start will get the most from this class.
Instructor: Joni SenselMeets: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
The Write Club—A Pugilistic Approach to Writer’s Block
Jack London said, “You can’t wait for inspiration—you have to go after it with a club.” In this class we will do just that. We will create a noncompetitive atmosphere in which we’ll employ various “take-no-prisoners” strategies designed to free your imagination and get those elusive words on paper. You will find yourself in a “critic-free zone” in this class; we will spend 80% of our time writing for its own sake, and you’ll leave with lots of ideas to work with for the rest of the summer. Prompts, exercises and readings provided. Check inertia at the door!
Instructor: Pete MacDonaldMeets: Thursday, July 08, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursdays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Thirty Ways to Tell the Story
In this fast-paced afternoon, we’ll zoom through two-and-a-half-dozen writing exercises, finding the best way to get words on the page. If there’s a story (factual or otherwise) you’ve been itching to tell, this is your chance to anchor those words on the page. Multimedia writing prompts—questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, objects, even scents—will help us open the dusty drawers of memory, wish and imagination. Each participant will leave with a mad draft that’s ready for a first revision.
Instructor: Wendy CallMeets: Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Saturday, July 10, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Writing Your Memoir: What to Say, What Not to Say
Three questions every would-be memoirist ponders: “Do I have to wait until my family dies before I write my memoir?”; “Do I have to tell the whole truth?”; and “Do I need to get approval from everyone I know as I write it?” The answers: “No, no and hell no.” Writing your memoir does not mean narrating your whole life; instead it involves choosing one specific theme or struggle in your life to explore. In this class you will choose the theme you want to explore, map out the characters and time frame to focus on, discuss the arc of the struggle and leave the class with a clear idea of what you will—and won’t—say in your memoir.
Instructor: Corbin LewarsMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Rocking the Rejection: “I’m sorry Mr. Kipling…”
“ … but you just don’t know how to use the English language.” Rudyard went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. So there. Learn to rock those rejections with humor and dignity. Reassess (have feelings, move on), research (right piece to the right place), revise (perfect queries), and re-submit (industry overview, submission tracking system)—all inspired by the instructor’s madly popular “Get Published” workshop. Open to all prose writers, of any level.
Instructor: Alle HallMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Out Loud: Writing in Performance
In this class, we will build a bridge from our writing on the page to the live audience we encounter in readings and performance. We will begin to wield our voices as tools to connect with others through comedy, vulnerability and urgent need. We will explore character and relationship to more deeply reveal our intentions. Part of class will be spent generating work through free-writes and interviews; then, each member of the class will have the chance to workshop a piece of written material out loud. Participants may come with existing pieces to perform or use material from the class.
Instructor: Marya Sea KaminskiMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $95.00
Members: $85.50
Writers’ Chop Shop
Do you have old pieces of writing in a drawer that you’ve been meaning to get back to? You know the ones—they contain some element that still excites you, a great character or the perfect first line, but overall just don’t go anywhere. In this class we will salvage the parts that still excite you from these abandoned epics and noble failures, and combine them with new elements from myth, history, current events and even visual art to create compelling stories and plays that really take off.
Instructor: Stephanie TimmMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Write Write Write
Create free-writes and learn to mine them for poems, stories, personal essays and memoir by using Bender’s three-step response method and applying elements of craft, including finding your writing’s internal occasion, using images and metaphor to develop a distinctive voice, writing dialog and relying on organizational forms and play to move your pieces forward. Whether this is your first time in this class or you are returning, you’ll leave with a notebook of writing you’ll want to continue working on, including pieces almost ready to send out. Whether you’ve been writing awhile and need a jumpstart, are finding your way into particular material or are new to writing and need the key to creating pieces that please you, this class will help.
Instructor: Sheila BenderMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
A Check-In Class for Writers: Autobiographical Writing
Did you have breakfast? There’s no need to look any further for inspiration. Every event is a window to all our stuff. We will make a list of all events from the last 10 days, choose one (or more) event, mind-map it, help another person to read our map, ask them for navigation coaching, edit, expand, add detail, mess with the POV, explore metaphor, add astonishment and make sure we’re implicated in all wrongdoings. And, if you like, perform it, or read it solo and get direction for simple narrative-altering options.
Instructor: Matt SmithMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Instant Short Stories, Just Add Water
Let’s write some short stories! In this class we’ll race against the clock to get our creativity flowing. You’ll be provoked with a number of writing prompts and given a time limit to complete your story. Can you finish it in 20 minutes? 10? A minute? Thirty seconds? Discussions about story arcs, dialogue, pacing, dramatic irony and when prose is actually poetry are sure to ensue. We’ll also look at examples of flash or micro fiction, including works by Gary Lutz, Amy Hempel and others.
Instructor: Ryan BoudinotMeets: Monday, July 26, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 10 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
If We Don’t Tell Our Stories, Who Will?
America is a nation of immigrants. We all have a family line that began elsewhere. Where is that elsewhere? What is your story of that elsewhere? What is your story about America? If we don’t tell those stories, no one else will. We’ll search for those stories through in-class writing and readings of immigrant narratives in prose and poetic form. Each day, our writing will build upon the work of the previous day, with a goal of ending the workshop with a draft of a memoir-style essay or poem on how your life connects with America’s immigrant narrative.
Instructor: Himanee Gupta-CarlsonMeets: Monday, July 26, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
All in a Flash: Tracing the Bolt Path of the Short-Short Story
Ah, the short-short, celebrated as the ultimate literary form for our attention-span challenged times. But what new views of the very short story might we discover if we studied examples of it both classic and modern, considered its cultural contexts and tried our hand at writing our own “flash” fictions in an afternoon? In this course, we’ll read stories and prose poems under 750 words, from older authors such as Borges and Francis Ponge up through the latest “tweet”-length fiction being published on blogs like nanoism. Then we’ll write one or more of our own contributions to this fascinating genre. PLEASE NOTE: The print catalog states incorrectly that this class meets from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The correct time is 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. We apologize any inconvenience this error may cause.
Instructor: Cara DiaconoffMeets: Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Reading Classes
The Best American Poetry from 2006 to 2009
Based on the Scribner’s anthology “The Best American Poetry of 2006” (and that of 2007, 2008 and 2009, edited by Billy Collins, Heather McCue, Charles Wright, and David Wagoner, respectively) we’ll cover one year per class meeting. We’ll read, we’ll critique, and we’ll try to define what makes these poems “the best.” (It is not necessary to buy the books.)
Instructor: David WagonerMeets: Monday, July 12, 2010 - Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Writing Classes
When Teens Fall in Love: Writing Young Adult Romance
Falling in love. It’s the topic that is most often explored in young adult novels. So, how do we dive into the complexities of writing about that special teen romance? From that first meeting to the final breakup, we’ll explore how to write young adult romance by looking at young adult romance novel excerpts ranging from older titles such as “Seventeenth Summer” and “Summer of My German Soldier” to more contemporary ones such as “Perfect Chemistry” and “Prada and Prejudice.” The class will include writing exercises designed to help you create a story about the all encompassing teen first love.
Instructor: Mindy HardwickMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Monday, July 26, 2010
Mondays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Memoir & Family History as Literary Art
Memoir has produced some of the most brilliant prose, yet it also produced dreadful, dishonest or self-serving writing. Come learn how to take your memoir or family history into beautiful language that is a pleasure to read. Several books read before class will serve as role models. You will be inspired by abundant literary exercises designed to awaken your memories. We will discuss your projects and challenges.
Instructor: Susan ZwingerMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Thursday, July 08, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Beginning Poetry Workshop
This week-long workshop is open to anyone with an interest in writing poems, but it’s particularly for those who haven’t written much before. An intensive but relaxed regime of readings (with particular attention to Emily Dickinson and Adelia Prado), discussion, writing exercises and critiques will help participants take creative risks and focus on the infinite possibilities of sound, rhythm and metaphor. Participants will write and revise at least three new poems by the end of this summer workshop.
Instructor: Ed SkoogMeets: Monday, July 05, 2010 - Thursday, July 08, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 8 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
S- Happens
But why? For writers, it is in sentences that we find truth—both in writing and reading.This summer, we’ll sharpen our pencils and excavate, find purpose behind our pain, extract emotional wisdom from our travails.We will mold our memories into short and long works of art and then hone those works for the world to see. When we’re not writing, we’ll read “Survival Stories; Memoirs of Crisis” edited by Kathryn Rhett, which includes the astonishing memoirs of writers Lucy Grealy, William Styron, Rick Moody, Reynolds Price and more.
Instructor: Roberta Brown RootMeets: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Felt: Synesthesia & Poetry
“If I had some paints handy, I would mix burnt sienna and sepia for you as to match the color of a ‘ch’ sound . . . and you would appreciate my radiant ‘s’ if I could pour into your cupped hands some of those luminous sapphires . . .” (from “The Gift” by Vladimir Nabokov). Synesthesia is a confusion of the senses. The blue note comes courtesy of a crosswire of sound and sight. With exercises for generating new writing—we’ll investigate the five senses, as well as the elusive sixth. We’ll bring the summer wind into sight.
Instructor: Melanie NoelMeets: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesdays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class Has been canceled. Please contact the Registrar at 206-322-7030 for further details. General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
What Are You Laughing At?
Why is it funny when David Sedaris likens the Christian belief in God to the French belief that a giant bell delivers Easter candy? Why do we giggle when Lauren Weedman plumbs the depths of her subconscious to see what dwells there and only comes up with: ‘Am I crazy, or are rice cakes with cottage cheese and hot sauce the perfect snack?’ We’ll read these and other nonfiction humorists and explore the ways they tell personal stories while cracking us up in the process. During class we’ll play with using such techniques as exaggeration, surprise, self-deprecation and incongruity to tell our own stories while making our readers laugh so hard it hurts.
Instructor: Wilson DiehlMeets: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesdays, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 8 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Extreme Makeover: Novel Edition
Some authors love revision and others dread it, but there’s no doubt that it’s crucial for engaging readers and selling the work. We’ll discuss revision techniques and tools, work together to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, examine the agent/editorial revision process, and look for ways to find and hone the story you’re really trying to tell. Since we’ll be doing hands-on review, analysis and revision homework, writers with a complete draft or a substantial start will get the most from this class.
Instructor: Joni SenselMeets: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
The Write Club—A Pugilistic Approach to Writer’s Block
Jack London said, “You can’t wait for inspiration—you have to go after it with a club.” In this class we will do just that. We will create a noncompetitive atmosphere in which we’ll employ various “take-no-prisoners” strategies designed to free your imagination and get those elusive words on paper. You will find yourself in a “critic-free zone” in this class; we will spend 80% of our time writing for its own sake, and you’ll leave with lots of ideas to work with for the rest of the summer. Prompts, exercises and readings provided. Check inertia at the door!
Instructor: Pete MacDonaldMeets: Thursday, July 08, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursdays, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Thirty Ways to Tell the Story
In this fast-paced afternoon, we’ll zoom through two-and-a-half-dozen writing exercises, finding the best way to get words on the page. If there’s a story (factual or otherwise) you’ve been itching to tell, this is your chance to anchor those words on the page. Multimedia writing prompts—questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, objects, even scents—will help us open the dusty drawers of memory, wish and imagination. Each participant will leave with a mad draft that’s ready for a first revision.
Instructor: Wendy CallMeets: Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Saturday, July 10, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Take-Away Poetry: Creating & Printing Poetry Broadsides
Learn about broadsides—in terms of literary content and typography. Expect craft conversations and exercises. Create poems for handheld broadsides. Leave with two printed broadsides of your own poetry. Learn to trust what you write. All students will have the opportunity to send one poem to our graphic designer, John Berry, before class begins as part of our work with broadside forms. Also, all students will receive a follow-up e-mail after class ends as a summary of their work. If possible, bring a laptop with Wi-Fi capability.
Instructors: JT Stewart, JD BerryMeets: Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Saturday, July 10, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Writing Your Memoir: What to Say, What Not to Say
Three questions every would-be memoirist ponders: “Do I have to wait until my family dies before I write my memoir?”; “Do I have to tell the whole truth?”; and “Do I need to get approval from everyone I know as I write it?” The answers: “No, no and hell no.” Writing your memoir does not mean narrating your whole life; instead it involves choosing one specific theme or struggle in your life to explore. In this class you will choose the theme you want to explore, map out the characters and time frame to focus on, discuss the arc of the struggle and leave the class with a clear idea of what you will—and won’t—say in your memoir.
Instructor: Corbin LewarsMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Out Loud: Writing in Performance
In this class, we will build a bridge from our writing on the page to the live audience we encounter in readings and performance. We will begin to wield our voices as tools to connect with others through comedy, vulnerability and urgent need. We will explore character and relationship to more deeply reveal our intentions. Part of class will be spent generating work through free-writes and interviews; then, each member of the class will have the chance to workshop a piece of written material out loud. Participants may come with existing pieces to perform or use material from the class.
Instructor: Marya Sea KaminskiMeets: Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $95.00
Members: $85.50
Writers’ Chop Shop
Do you have old pieces of writing in a drawer that you’ve been meaning to get back to? You know the ones—they contain some element that still excites you, a great character or the perfect first line, but overall just don’t go anywhere. In this class we will salvage the parts that still excite you from these abandoned epics and noble failures, and combine them with new elements from myth, history, current events and even visual art to create compelling stories and plays that really take off.
Instructor: Stephanie TimmMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Poetry, Power & Performance
In this poetry performance workshop we will generate new work by writing to prompts, and then create powerful performance by adding musical/theatrical elements. We will study work by Audre Lorde, Gil Scott-Heron, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Chrystos, and will consider how poetry, especially performance poetry, can be used as a cultural force and as a form of resistance. We will explore different strategies of incorporating rhythm, music, movement and drama into our performance. Participants will all perform their poetry onstage at the conclusion of the workshop. Beginners welcome.
Instructor: Storme WebberMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
In Search of Duende
What is it and how to foster it in our own poems? We’ll read and discuss Federico Garcia Lorca’s famous essay on the concept of duende, and try to come to an understanding of what the elusive term might mean. Traditionally in Andalusian culture, it was largely applied to gypsy music and to Flamenco dance. “All that has dark sounds has Duende,” wrote Andalusian cantor Manuel Torre. What does it mean to the poem? This is a writing and reading class and we’ll do some of both each day. Suitable for all levels of experience.
Instructor: Judith RocheMeets: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Write Write Write
Create free-writes and learn to mine them for poems, stories, personal essays and memoir by using Bender’s three-step response method and applying elements of craft, including finding your writing’s internal occasion, using images and metaphor to develop a distinctive voice, writing dialog and relying on organizational forms and play to move your pieces forward. Whether this is your first time in this class or you are returning, you’ll leave with a notebook of writing you’ll want to continue working on, including pieces almost ready to send out. Whether you’ve been writing awhile and need a jumpstart, are finding your way into particular material or are new to writing and need the key to creating pieces that please you, this class will help.
Instructor: Sheila BenderMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
At Play: Re-Envisioning Your Poems
How do you successfully critique your work once you’ve created it? How do you know when the inspired piece you’ve written is ready for public consumption? Creating the work was fun, imaginative, freeing, but the revision process seems arduous, tedious, overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. In this class, we’ll employ creative and entertaining techniques to help you plow through those many drafts of your work in order to arrive at its final stage. Specifically, we’ll evaluate your work’s point-of-view, its poetic line, the function of form, and qualify its diction, tone and musicality.
Instructor: Janee BaugherMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class Has been canceled. Please contact the Registrar at 206-322-7030 for further details. General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
A Check-In Class for Writers: Autobiographical Writing
Did you have breakfast? There’s no need to look any further for inspiration. Every event is a window to all our stuff. We will make a list of all events from the last 10 days, choose one (or more) event, mind-map it, help another person to read our map, ask them for navigation coaching, edit, expand, add detail, mess with the POV, explore metaphor, add astonishment and make sure we’re implicated in all wrongdoings. And, if you like, perform it, or read it solo and get direction for simple narrative-altering options.
Instructor: Matt SmithMeets: Saturday, July 24, 2010 - Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
Instant Short Stories, Just Add Water
Let’s write some short stories! In this class we’ll race against the clock to get our creativity flowing. You’ll be provoked with a number of writing prompts and given a time limit to complete your story. Can you finish it in 20 minutes? 10? A minute? Thirty seconds? Discussions about story arcs, dialogue, pacing, dramatic irony and when prose is actually poetry are sure to ensue. We’ll also look at examples of flash or micro fiction, including works by Gary Lutz, Amy Hempel and others.
Instructor: Ryan BoudinotMeets: Monday, July 26, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Min: 10 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
If We Don’t Tell Our Stories, Who Will?
America is a nation of immigrants. We all have a family line that began elsewhere. Where is that elsewhere? What is your story of that elsewhere? What is your story about America? If we don’t tell those stories, no one else will. We’ll search for those stories through in-class writing and readings of immigrant narratives in prose and poetic form. Each day, our writing will build upon the work of the previous day, with a goal of ending the workshop with a draft of a memoir-style essay or poem on how your life connects with America’s immigrant narrative.
Instructor: Himanee Gupta-CarlsonMeets: Monday, July 26, 2010 - Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $165.00
Members: $148.50
Poetry Salon
In the spirit of a salon, we will spend an afternoon that is slightly off balance, rich with awkward silences and pregnant pauses, and full of inspiration as we move through writing exercises that will generate several first drafts. Salons, which flourished in the 1920s in Europe and the US, were gatherings of artists and intellectuals that sparked, among other things, the beginning of the artistic movement we know as Surrealism. Bring your journals, your questions, your open mind, your smoking jacket and your sense of adventure. We will make up some of our own writing exercises, as well as do several exercises made famous by those who wrote before us.
Instructor: Sarah VapMeets: Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40
All in a Flash: Tracing the Bolt Path of the Short-Short Story
Ah, the short-short, celebrated as the ultimate literary form for our attention-span challenged times. But what new views of the very short story might we discover if we studied examples of it both classic and modern, considered its cultural contexts and tried our hand at writing our own “flash” fictions in an afternoon? In this course, we’ll read stories and prose poems under 750 words, from older authors such as Borges and Francis Ponge up through the latest “tweet”-length fiction being published on blogs like nanoism. Then we’ll write one or more of our own contributions to this fascinating genre. PLEASE NOTE: The print catalog states incorrectly that this class meets from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The correct time is 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. We apologize any inconvenience this error may cause.
Instructor: Cara DiaconoffMeets: Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Min: 5 Max: 15
This class has expired General: $96.00
Members: $86.40