Iowa Summer Writing Festival


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Workshop Descriptions & Instructors Marilyn Abildskov Mary Allen Kate Aspengren Thomas Fox Averill Nancy K.Barry Timothy Bascom Kyle Beachy Karen Bender Linda Bendorf Maudy Benz Venise Berry Bruce Bond David Bouchier Michael Dennis Browne Maggie Conroy Mary Cross Thomas K. Dean Amber Dermont Janet Desaulniers Kelly Dwyer Hope Edelman Josh Emmons Jill Esbaum Sarah Fay Hugh Ferrer Katie Ford Geoffrey Forsyth Cecile Goding Douglas Goetsch Sands Hall Christine Hemp Jim Heynen Rick Hillis Charles Holdefer Richard Jackson Rebecca Johns Cheryl Fusco Johnson Wayne Johnson Daniel Khalastchi Carolyn Lieberg BK Loren Peter Markus Fritz Mc Donald James McKean Gordon Mennenga Sharelle Byars Moranville Michael Morse Barbara Robinette Moss Marc Nieson Shannon Olson Diana Ossana Lon Otto Juliet Patterson Kiki Petrosino Mark Jude Poirier Leslie Carol Roberts Anjali Sachdeva Sarah Saffian Sam Samuels Sandra Scofield Mary Kay Shanley Robert Anthony Siegel Carol Spindel Karen Subach Mary Vermillion Kris Vervaecke Ashley Warlick Michelle Wildgen Bart Yates	Kyle Beachy Writing beyond Realism (Even If Just Momentarily) Weekend Workshop June 13–14 Frontloading: The Crucial First Chapters of Your Novel One-Week Workshop June 14–19 Talking, Doing, and Seeing: Making a Scene in the Novel and Short Story One-Week Workshop June 21–26 Biography Writing beyond Realism (Even If Just Momentarily) Weekend Workshop June 13–14 Had he never seen the ghost of his father, Hamlet might have lived into old age, suspicious of his uncle, but likely more at peace. Or, had the guards and others not seen the ghost with Hamlet, we could more easily write his behavior off as mere madness. Either way, Shakespeare’s most famous ghost is remembered less for being “unrealistic”, and more for the way he sets the plot into action. In this generative class (not a workshop), we will consider the risks and potential rewards of stepping outside the strict confines of realism. How can we reconcile phantoms, figments, and apparitions with an otherwise natural, realistic story? Class time will be spent examining how authors have incorporated the “fantastic” into their prose, along with generating and sharing new work. Frontloading: The Crucial First Chapters of Your Novel One-Week Workshop June 14–19 This workshop will focus on the openings of novels, as well as the question of volume: how much plot, exposition, and character development can, or should, early chapters contain? Taking famous openings as examples, we’ll consider a novelist’s options in these their crucial “first impressions”. Students should plan to arrive with completed drafts of opening chapters, along with synopses of the novels from which they are taken. These will be workshopped with an eye for what they are doing well, and what they need to do better. Talking, Doing, and Seeing: Making a Scene in the Novel and Short Story One-Week Workshop June 21–26 It is the burning question behind any scene: how do you balance dialogue, action, and description? The answers, of course, depend on the desired tone and effect of the scene, along with its role in the overall project. This workshop will investigate the prickly nature of scene-making in a way that will serve both novelists and short story writers. We will read and consider examples of great and distinctly not great dialogue to answer questions like, how much is too much? When should it come, and how should it be broken up? Should it be stylized or realistic? Which is which? Throughout, we will treat dialogue as the “engine” of a scene, the crucial contact point between characters, the voicing of desire. In-class exercises and assignments will hone our ear for the rhythms of sharp, rich dialogue. In addition, each participant will be asked to submit one scene (between 1-10 pages) to the group for discussion in workshop, either a stand-alone piece or an excerpt from a larger work. Biography Kyle Beachy’s debut novel, The Slide, was published in February, 2009, by The Dial Press. Hailed as “Suspenseful, erotic, and terribly sad,” it is a ghost story, a love story, and a story of the American Midwest. Kyle received his M.F.A. from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. His short fiction has appeared in Otium, The2ndHand, and as a featherproof mini-book. Currently, he lives in Chicago and teaches writing and literature at The School of the Art Institute. His second novel is even more suspenseful, twice as erotic, and perhaps slightly less sad.

	Site Map \| Welcome \| Workshops by Session Date \| Workshops by Instructor Workshops by Genre \| Registration & Housing Information \| Registration Form Sponsored by the Division of Continuing Education Iowa Summer Writing Festival C215 Seashore Hall The University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242 Phone 319-335-4160 FAX 319-335-4743 iswfestival@uiowa.edu Last updated on February 10, 2009