Iowa Summer Writing Festival


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Workshop Descriptions & Instructors Faith Adiele Mary Allen Kate Aspengren Thomas Fox Averill Nancy Barry Timothy Bascom Linda Bendorf Venise Berry Bruce Bond Michael Dennis Browne Susan Taylor Chehak John Dalton Thomas K. Dean Amber Dermont Kelly Dwyer Hope Edelman Josh Emmons Katie Ford Patricia Foster Laura Fraser Cecile Goding Douglas Goetsch Kevin González John Griesemer Sands Hall Christine Hemp Jim Heynen Rick Hillis Charles Holdefer Richard Jackson Cheryl Fusco Johnson Wayne Johnson Bret Anthony Johnston Daniel Khalatchi Zachary Lazar Carolyn Lieberg BK Loren Fritz Mc Donald James McKean Gordon Mennenga Katherine Min Sharelle Byars Moranville Michael Morse Barbara Robinette Moss Marc Nieson Shannon Olson Lon Otto Juliet Patterson Anjali Sachdeva Sarah Saffian Sam Samuels Leslie Schwartz Sandra Scofield Mary Kay Shanley Carol Spindel Karen Subach Mary Vermillion Ashley Warlick Jan Weissmiller Bart Yates	Kelly Dwyer Generating Fictional Ideas Weekend Workshop June 14–15 Plotting The Plot: Novel Weekend Workshop June 21–22 or Weekend Workshop July 12–13 Novel Ideas One-Week Workshop June 22–27 Stinky Magic: The Middle Grade Novel Weekend Workshop July 19–20 Biography Generating Fictional Ideas Weekend Workshop June 14–15 You’ve set aside an afternoon to do nothing but write. The laundry’s done, the phone’s unplugged, you’re sitting in front of your computer/yellow legal pad, a cup of coffee/tea beside you, and: nothing. In this weekend workshop, we’ll generate ideas through various in-class exercises and explore ways in which these ideas might turn into stories or novels. We’ll work on beginnings for the ideas we like best and share our results with one another, asking questions such as: What might this character do? Where might the plot be heading? What might be interesting ways to pursue the language or voice evoked? We’ll also work on generating momentum, so that a compelling first paragraph might lead to an interesting conflict. Throughout it all, we’ll try to remember that as difficult as the struggle sometimes is, we’re writing because it’s fun. By the end of the weekend, you’ll have enough characters, plots, and opening lines to break through the most pernicious writer’s block. Plotting The Plot: Novel Weekend Workshop June 21–22 or Weekend Workshop July 12–13 “I don’t work with plots. . . . Plot implies narrative and a lot of crap.”—John Cheever I too eschewed plot for some time, believing that it was an element beneath the attention of the serious literary writer, the domain of potboiler novelists, something mechanical and lowly. Then two things happened: I realized that I wanted to have more readers, and I wrote a plot outline for the first time. To my surprise, I found the exercise immensely helpful. In this workshop, we’ll do various exercises to help us develop and deepen our plots. We’ll work on ways in which our plots might arise out of character, and we’ll discuss issues such as how to create more intensity and how to juggle and integrate more than one plot at a time. This workshop is for writers of all levels. Our primary focus will be on generating new material. Novel Ideas One-Week Workshop June 22–27 Perhaps you feel you have a novel in you. Perhaps you even have a number of pages, but feel thwarted by the seemingly Herculean task of structuring a novel. Perhaps you’re asking yourself: now what? It has been said that there are three rules to writing a novel but that, unfortunately, no one knows what they are. Still, we can probably agree that a novel should have a compelling beginning, an idea inspiring enough to sustain the writer through many drafts, and that a general outline or skeletal plot might come in handy. In this workshop, we will concentrate on generating novel ideas, on creating characters and conflicts, on writing an outline and finally, the beginning of a novel. We will then share our results with one another in a supportive and constructive workshop environment. This class is for those who are struggling to write a novel, those who are thinking about writing a novel, and those who have always wanted to write a novel but were afraid to try. Stinky Magic: The Middle Grade Novel Weekend Workshop July 19–20 Princesses and unicorns. Talking beasts. Fourth-graders who want to kill their little brothers. This is the territory of the middle grade novel, those books written for 8–12 year olds, who are in the period of what is often considered “the golden age of reading.” In this workshop, we’ll do exercises and engage in discussion on elements such as how to develop plot, deepen characters, improve dialogue, and create setting, and we’ll also spend some time discussing general guidelines for this genre. After this workshop, you should come away with some ideas about what makes a strong middle grade novel, as well as some ideas for how to write—or continue to write—your own. This workshop is for writers of all levels. Our focus will be on generating new material. Biography A graduate of Oberlin College and The University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Kelly Dwyer has written two novels, The Tracks of Angels and Self-Portrait with Ghosts,both published by Penguin Putnam Inc., and two children’s books, Sophie’s Magical Windmill and The Dream Tree,published by ArchitectureKIDS. She has been awarded a Michener/Engle Fellowship, a Wisconsin Arts Board Grant, and a Library Association Award for Outstanding Novel written by a Wisconsin Writer. Kelly lives in Baraboo, Wisconsin, with her husband and young daughter.

	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 11, 2008