Faculty: Didi Jackson

In our time together, we will hone down each workshopped poem to its essential strengths. What image, metaphor, simile, etc. … makes a lasting imprint on the mind’s eye? What part of the poem could be let go?  Where is the best place to begin or end? Is the poem missing something crucial?  Does the poem provide a moment of critical vulnerability? We will focus our attention on the avoidance of cliché and how to spy the extraordinary in the everyday. With support, kindness, and respect, we will all commit to help make each poem a better version of itself.

Submission guidelines:

Please submit up to 7 pages of unpublished poetry.  Note, these poems or a revision of these same poems will be workshopped.  No new material will be accepted for workshop.

Required format for writing samples:

 

1. All poems must be submitted as one document, 7 pages max.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Manuscript must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
4. Title of each poem should appear in all caps, and each new poem should start on a new page.

Faculty: Major Jackson

In this revision workshop, we will discuss poems and offer feedback with an eye on aesthetic risk-taking. Please arrive to the conference with three poems, preferably 1-2 pages.  We will discuss strategies to push our drafts to next-level thinking and exploration. Students will enter a community of writers whose collective aim is to contemplate growth by way of radical experimentation.
 

Submission guidelines for application:

Please submit up to 7 pages of unpublished poetry.  Note, if accepted, the three poems for workshop must come from these 7 pages.  No new material will be accepted.
 

 
  Required format for writing samples:
 

1. All poems must be submitted as one document, 7 pages max.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Manuscript must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
4. Title of each poem should appear in all caps, and each new poem should start on a new page.

Faculty:  Michael Koryta

This workshop is open to writers working on a suspense novel, particularly one with a supernatural or paranormal element — think Shirley Jackson, Ira Levin, Stephen King, Megan Abbott, and Joe Hill. Our focus will be on the handling of core issues such as character, structure, scene building, and how supernatural suspense is built through grounded stories with emotional realism.

In a single file, submit up to 25 pages of a novel-in-progress, plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the book and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).

PLEASE NOTE:  we are reading to assess the strength and readiness of the manuscript for workshop.  What you submit here will be what you workshop during the conference.  

Required format for writing samples:
 

1. Accepting Word document only (.doc or .docx).
2. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
3. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial. 
4. Margins must be 1 inch.
5. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 pages of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Please submit manuscript + 1-p synopsis as a single file (with synopsis as final page).

Faculty: Andre Dubus III

If I teach nothing else in my writing classes, I teach this:  do not outline your novel or novella or short story or essay. Do not think out the plot, the narrative arc, the protagonist’s journey, whatever you want to call it. Instead, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation in which they find themselves. Do that, and I promise the story will begin to write itself with little need for the controlling hand of the godly, intelligent, well-read, and ambitious author. But how, precisely, does one go about this “excavation”?  And how, technically speaking, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”?  Come to this workshop, and I will seek to demystify those writerly tools and skills that time and time again, if they are sharp enough, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve, can penetrate the mystery of story itself.

Submission guidelines:

In a single file, submit up to 25 pages of the opening of a memoir-in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as the final page).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the memoir and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 26-50), include in your synopsis a summary of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).
 

PLEASE NOTE: we are reading to assess the strength and readiness of the manuscript for workshop. What you submit here will be what you workshop during the conference.

 Required format for writing samples:
 

1. Accepting Word documents only (.doc or .docx only)
2. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout.
3. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
4. Margins must be 1 inch.
5. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the one-page synopsis and contain a header or footer with page numbers and author's name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25pp will be read and considered.
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Please submit manuscript and synopsis as a single file.

Faculty: Luis Alberto Urrea

Paradise Writing Non-Fiction

A teacher I like calls our genre “Verity.” So, welcome to our Verity workshop. We will not only share our work, but we will also explore techniques that can make nonfiction as hypnotic as a juicy novel. Guess what:  the really good stuff is often hidden to readers. It’s a Jedi mind-trick.

In short—your writing is not only what is on the page, but also what lurks beneath the page – that shadow realm that can make your readers dream.

I’m going to show you the big river of story…even if your story is humble, closely observed. It doesn’t have to be a world-war. It can be about a grandmother’s hands. We will learn to love and trust what lies beneath. Expect great handouts, examples, and maybe some gifts.

Bring your best light. Bring your best shadow.

Don’t be shy. Do not fear.  We won’t let you fall.

 

Submission guidelines:

In a single file, submit one or more essays up to 25 total pages or the opening 25 pages of a memoir-in-progress, plus a 1-page synopsis (as the final page).  The entire submission should not exceed 26 pages (25 + 1p synopsis).  Synopsis should include if your submission is/are stand-alone piece(s) or part of a collection, where we are in the narrative if part of a longer work; and a brief paragraph summarizing the status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.).    
 

PLEASE NOTE: we are reading to assess the strength and readiness of the manuscript for workshop. What you submit here will be what you workshop during the conference.

Required format for writing samples:
 

1. Accepting Word documents only (.doc or .docx only)
2. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout.
3. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
4. Margins must be 1 inch.
5. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the one-page synopsis and contain a header or footer with page numbers and author's name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25pp will be read and considered.
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Please submit manuscript and synopsis as a single file.

Faculty:  Laura Lippman

Looking for the formula for writing great crime fiction?  Alas, it doesn’t exist.  But this workshop can help writers with novels in which a crime is the engine that moves the story forward.  Counter-intuitively, the emphasis will be on character, not plotting.  Crime novels work best when characters are true to themselves. Then again, per Raymond Chandler, it never hurts to send a man through the door with a gun.

Submission guidelines:

In a single file, submit the opening 25 pages of a novel in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the book and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).
 

PLEASE NOTE: we are reading to assess the strength and readiness of the manuscript for workshop. What you submit here will be what you workshop during the conference.

 Required format for writing samples:  
 

1. Accepting Word documents only (.doc or .docx).
2. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
3. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
4. Margins must be 1 inch.
5. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the one-page synopsis. 
6. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
7. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
8. If you submit more than 25 pp (25 of manuscript + 1-pg synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
9. Do not include title pages or dedications.
    

Faculty:  Stewart O'Nan

The class will be primarily a workshop. Students will read one another’s stories, interrogating character, action, language, ideas, and setting with an eye toward revision.
 

Submission guidelines:

In a single file, submit one or more short stories of no more than 25 pages total.  No synopsis necessary.
 

PLEASE NOTE: we are reading to assess the strength and readiness of the manuscript for workshop. What you submit here will be what you workshop during the conference.  No new material will be accepted.
 

Required format for writing samples:

1. Accepting only Word documents (.doc or .docx only).
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman and Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. Manuscript must be double-spaced and contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. If you submit more than 25 pages, only the first 25 pp will be read and considered. 
7. Do not include title pages or dedications.
8. Please submit in a single file.

Faculty:  Ana Menéndez

From Anecdote to Story in Three Days

That image you can’t get out of your mind. That anecdote you’ve been telling for the last 10 years. That thing that happened in 2003 that changed everything – all these can be the beginning of a moving and well-crafted work of fiction. This fully generative workshop will take you from telling a personal anecdote to crafting a working draft for a short story. We’ll discuss the difference between anecdote and short story, learn the most basic of story structures, and discuss motif, binary constructions, and other details that will help you deepen subsequent drafts. You’ll leave the three days with at least a rough draft and some basic tools that will allow you to continue shaping the story long after you return home.

 

Submission guidelines:

In a single file, submit a completed short story or a novel chapter of no more than 25 pages.  
 

Required format for writing samples:
 

1. File must be in Word (.doc or .docx only).
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman and Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. Manuscript must be double-spaced and contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. Do not include title pages or dedications.

Faculty:  Ann Hood

“The page is still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible,” Nabokov said of writing a novel. That’s our goal in this workshop—to bring that miracle of words that tells a story to the page. We will discuss the architecture of novels, the best ways to begin, the muddle of the middle, rising tension, character development, situation versus story, making characters breathe on the page, where to end, and more. Through examples from published novels and close reads of your own work, we will investigate, explore, and celebrate writing your novel.

Submission guidelines:
 

In a single file, submit the opening 25 pages of a novel-in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the novel and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide in the synopsis a summary of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).
 

PLEASE NOTE: we are reading to assess the strength and readiness of the manuscript for workshop. What you submit here will be what you workshop during the conference.
 

Required format for writing samples:

1. Accepting Word documents only (.doc or .docx).
2. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
3. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
4. Margins must be 1 inch.
5. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Please submit manuscript + synopsis in a single file (with synopsis as final page).

Faculty:  Alex Segura

This workshop will introduce interested writers to the nuts and bolts of the graphic novel medium, from pacing and script format to various genres within the form, an all-purpose tour of a beloved medium that touches on many aspects of the craft.   Artistic capability is not a prerequisite.  The focus will be on the story elements, the crafting of a high concept, and a loose breakdown of plot.  This is primarily a generative workshop, though applicants with experience in the genre will find much to gain.   (Submit either a completed short story; the first chapter of a novel, with a synopsis of the remainder; or a sample of work in the genre—25 pages, maximum.  Exact guidelines can be found on Submittable starting in August with the opening of our application period.)

Submission guidelines:
 

In a single file, submit either a completed short story, the first chapter of a novel, or a sample of work in the genre, plus a 1-p synopsis. 26 pages maximum including the 1-p synopsis.  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the novel and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.).
 

Required format for writing samples:

1. Word or PDF accepted.
2. Please include author's name and page numbers in the header or footer.
3. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
4. Synopsis must be a single page in 12-pt font, Times New Roman or Arial, and double-spaced. 
5. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
6. Do not include title pages or dedications.
7. Please submit manuscript + synopsis in a single file.

Faculty: Les Standiford

This workshop will focus on the structure of book-length projects–novel, memoir, or general interest non-fiction, either completed or in progress. Discussion will be guided by the principles of mythic structure and archetype, and will center on the clarity and substance of a summary of the project and the efficacy of the 25 pages that open the work.  Recommended reading:  Christopher Vogler, THE WRITER’S JOURNEY.  Joseph Campbell, HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES.

Submission guidelines:

 In a single file, submit up to 25 pages of a book-length work in fiction, nonfiction or memoir, plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the book and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 26-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).       

PLEASE NOTE: we are reading to assess the strength and readiness of the manuscript for workshop. What you submit here will be what you workshop during the conference.

 

Required format for writing samples:  

1. Accepting Word documents only (.doc or .docx only)
2. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
3. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial. 
4. Margins must be 1 inch.
5. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 pages of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Submit manuscript + synopsis as a single file (with synopsis as final page).

Faculty:  Sterling Watson

During our meeting, the participant and I will discuss the manuscript including my thoughts on what I think works and doesn’t work.  I will give the participant a brief report on the manuscript, which will be the basis for my spoken comments.  Additionally, I will provide the participant with a line-edited copy of the manuscript (participants may decline line-edits if they wish to).  Finally, we will address any questions that the participant prepares for the meeting.

Submission guidelines:

In a single file, submit the opening 35 pages of a novel-in-progress plus a synopsis.  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the novel and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).

Required format for writing samples:

1. Word documents only (.doc or .docx).
2. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
3. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
4. Margins must be 1 inch.
5. Manuscript must be double-spaced including the synopsis and must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If you submit more than 35 manuscript pages, only the first 35 pp will be read and considered.
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Please submit manuscript + synopsis in a single file.