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	Maudy Benz Bringing Your Novel to Life One-Week Workshop July 12–17 Instant Connection: Authoring a Blog Weekend Workshop July 18–19 Biography Bringing Your Novel to Life One-Week Workshop July 12–17 Literary writers often say novels “call out to be written,” and that a novel’s world becomes a meaningful relationship to which the writer owes faithful devotion. This class will encourage the pursuit of such deep relationships between us as writers and our works. The goal will be to enliven our prose with sensual detail and sensate emotion that match the stories we have to tell. Emily Dickinson said, so accurately, “There is no Frigate like a Book!” Thus, our goal this week will be to fashion works that transport readers into freshly evoked fictional worlds. Participants will actively dig deeper into their craft, while acquiring the tools to do so. Daily writing exercises, in and out of class, and readings by established writers that illuminate the gist of those exercises, will inform our own work. We’ll cover the essential techniques of fictional craft: character development, voice, style, writing in scene, the passing of time in story, pacing, plot, setting, and dialogue. Because today’s fiction must pry readers from the maws of cyberspace, we’ll press ourselves to create characters who “live on the page.” Up to twenty pages of new work by each participant will be discussed in roundtable style in workshop. Exercises will be critiqued by the instructor, and individual conferences will be tailored to each member’s stated goals. All novelists—beginners and advanced—are most welcome. Instant Connection: Authoring a Blog Weekend Workshop July 18–19 Do you long to reach an audience from whom you’ll receive an immediate response? Does your writing seem to you more urgent, more intimate, than the literary prose you read and admire? If so, this weekend workshop on how to start your own blog may be perfect for you. Instruction in our class will be both hands-on and informational. We’ll survey different types of blogs—from the well-known political blog that actually earns an author real income (often through advertising), to blogs about every arcane subject imaginable. We’ll look at the literary blog and blogs that have become successful novels. We’ll discuss the nuts and bolts of putting your blog online, and demonstrate essentials such as adding photographs to text and using “key words” to attract search engines, such as Google. We’ll take inventory of the ever-growing circle of au courant bloggers and their blogs, including eminent persons we all recognize as well as unknowns who magically draw readers in. Finally, we’ll do some blogging of our own. Writers of all levels, both fiction and nonfiction, are welcome to bring their innovative, passionate, and zany ideas to this blog-fest. Biography Maudy Benz earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Bennington College. Her first novel, Oh Jackie, was a 1999 New York Times Book Review Notable Paperback. Maudy is the author of a collection of short stories, Dear Princess Di. Her stories have appeared in The Virginia Review, Ontario Review and Sing Heavenly Muse!, among others. Her memoir “Eng and Chang: A Love Story” was published in Oxford American Magazine. As a journalist, Maudy has covered culture for numerous newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Post, The News and Observer, The Independent, Metro Magazine, and The Charlotte Observer. She has taught creative writing at Duke University, St. Andrews College, and Appalachian State University, and for many years as part of the Festival. Currently, Maudy blogs about her son, who was seriously injured in a car accident in 2007. Now 19, he shares a home with Maudy just outside of Manhattan, where he receives medical treatment and Maudy works on a novel entitled Love Between the States.

	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