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	Thomas K. Dean Finding Your Place in the Personal Essay One-Week Workshop July 5–10 Biography Finding Your Place in the Personal Essay One-Week Workshop July 5–10 Who are you? Where are you? Is there much difference between these two questions? We make our places what they are. But our places also make us who we are. This fascinating dynamic is the basis of exploring place in the personal essay for this workshop. “Place” is the interactive web of the natural, built, social, and cultural environments in which we dwell. More than just sensitivity to setting, place-based writing explores the relationships between us as individuals and as a society to the world outside ourselves. In this workshop, we will explore how the purple sunset sky over a pond, or an old warehouse district full of broken windows, or a community action group meeting in a church basement, or even a shadowed corner in your house with the clock ticking in the background can be the basis for engaging, revealing, and compelling personal essays. We will critique works participants bring from home or write during the week, and we will do short writing exercises that we’ll share throughout the week. Biography Thomas Dean (Ph.D., The University of Iowa) is Special Assistant to the President for Communications and Research at The University of Iowa. He directs the Iowa Project on Place Studies and teaches with the UI Interdisciplinary Studies Division. Dean has published essays in regional and national publications. His books include The Grace of Grass and Water: Writing in Honor of Paul Gruchow (edited collection, Ice Cube Press, 2007) and Under a Midland Sky (essays, Ice Cube Press, 2008).

	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