Iowa Summer Writing Festival


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Workshop Descriptions & Instructors Marilyn Abildskov Mary Allen Kate Aspengren Thomas Fox Averill Nancy 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 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 Swander Mary Vermillion Kris Vervaecke Ashley Warlick Michelle Wildgen Bart Yates	Amber Dermont Plot and Action in the Short Story: A Workshop Weekend Workshop June 13–14 Have I Got a Story for You: Short Fiction Workshop One-Week Workshop June 14–19 Biography Plot and Action in the Short Story: A Workshop Weekend Workshop June 13–14 Plot is often described as character in conflict. But how do writers translate this conflict into action? How do writers make things happen in their fiction? How does action reveal meaning and how does this meaning resonate beyond the plot of the story? In this class, we will workshop student short stories up to twelve pages in length with a specific eye toward plot and action. We will consider how each story might benefit from scenic development and dramatic enactment. Our discussions and analysis will pay careful attention to pacing, compression, back-story versus “now” story, structure and retrospection. Have I Got a Story for You: Short Fiction Workshop One-Week Workshop June 14–19 We are going to do something very dangerous in this class: we’re going to workshop and revise our short stories. Each student will bring in a piece of his or her own short fiction up to twenty-five pages in length for our class to consider and discuss. Through intense and thoughtful analysis of structure, dramatic enactment and narration, we will determine a variety of strategies for revision. We’re going to strive to make these characters, settings, and plots so credible and engaging that we and others would prefer to spend our time exploring them than do just about anything else. The class is open to anyone who has written a story and is in need of a workshop. Biography Amber Dermont’s short stories have recently appeared in American Short Fiction, Crazyhorse, Open City, Tin House, Zoetrope: All-Story and in the anthologies Best New American Voices, Best American Nonrequired Reading, and The Worst Years of Your Life. A graduate of The University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Amber received her Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Houston. She is an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia.

	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 19, 2009