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 Ann Bauer Karen Bender Linda Bendorf Venise Berry Jonathan Blum Robin Bourjaily Michael Dennis Browne Sarah Busse Susan Taylor Chehak Maggie Conroy Thomas K. Dean Amber Dermont Kelly Dwyer Nick Dybek Hope Edelman Jill Esbaum Michelle Falkoff Hugh Ferrer Cecile Goding Douglas Goetsch Eric Goodman Sands Hall Christine Hemp Jim Heynen Charles Holdefer Jeremy Jackson Richard Jackson Rebecca Johns Cheryl Fusco Johnson Wayne Johnson Daniel Khalastchi Carolyn Lieberg BK Loren Sabrina Orah Mark Peter Markus Jacqueline Briggs Martin Malinda McCollum Fritz Mc Donald Madeline McDonnell James McKean Reginald McKnight June Melby Gordon Mennenga Sharelle Byars Moranville Michael Morse Beau O’Reilly Juliet Patterson Mark Jude Poirier Andrew Porter Kathryn Rhett Elizabeth Robinson Anjali Sachdeva Sarah Saffian Sam Samuels Lisa Schlesinger Sandra Scofield Mary Kay Shanley Robert Anthony Siegel Carol Spindel Karen Subach Nicholas Twemlow Anthony Varallo Mary Vermillion Kris Vervaecke Jeff Vintar Bart Yates	Hope Edelman Starting the Memoir: From Idea to First Ten Pages One-Week Workshop July 15-20 Biography Starting the Memoir: From Idea to First Ten Pages One-Week Workshop July 15-20 The opening pages of a book are do-or-die time for an author. They determine whether readers will stick with a story, and often whether they will buy a book. This course is for students of all levels who either hope to write a memoir or have started one already but are unsure about how to “hook” readers from the start. We’ll begin by talking about narrative structure to help us identify each story’s arc. Then we’ll discuss different methods for opening a memoir, looking at examples from published work by Frank McCourt, Alexandra Fuller, Joy Loya and Joan Didion. We’ll also examine the all-important opening paragraphs to see how different authors take that very first step. While you should arrive with a clear idea of the whole story you want to tell, we’ll focus only on a very clearly defined portion—the first ten pages. By the end of the week you should have several of those pages written and a blueprint for more. Biography Hope Edelman is the author of five nonfiction books, including the bestsellers Motherless Daughters, Motherless Mothers, and The Possibility of Everything. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines and anthologies, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Real Simple, Parade, and Self. She teaches in the M.F.A. program at Antioch University-LA and lives outside of Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.

	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 24, 2012