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 Khalastchi 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	Bret Anthony Johnston Naming The World: A Weekend Of Fiction And Fiction Exercises Weekend Workshop July 19–20 and July 26-27 Advanced Short Story Workshop One-Week Workshop July 20–25 Biography Naming The World: A Weekend Of Fiction And Fiction Exercises Weekend Workshop July 19–20 and July 26-27 Writers from Ernest Hemingway to Alice Munro have used writing prompts and craft-based exercises to kick-start their fiction, and in that spirit, we’ll spend the weekend completing numerous exercises. Some of the exercises will aim to generate ideas and foundations for stories and novels, while others will engage specific elements of fiction (plot, characterization, dialogue, point-of-view, etc.) and offer a variety of techniques for negotiating the problems that plague fiction writers. We will also use the exercises to discuss and explore more sophisticated aspects of prose writing, such as narrative structure and voice, and to deepen our understanding of the writing process itself. The weekend will be fast-paced and intense, and the goal is to leave with loads of new fiction waiting to be written and some new, practical tools to help you write it. Advanced Short Story Workshop One-Week Workshop July 20–25 This course’s goal is to strengthen each writer’s fiction. By week’s end, you’ll read short stories the way magicians watch magic shows, with greater enthusiasm, skill, and maybe a dash of skepticism. Much of our time will be spent discussing the work of writers in the class, but we’ll also complete exercises and study work by established authors. In this craft-focused workshop, we’ll consider how/when to employ different elements of fiction writing—point-of-view, setting, narrative structure, plot, flashback, dramatization and exposition, dialogue—while celebrating each story’s particular merits and devising specific strategies for its revision. In addition to your story for workshop (please plan to send me a double-spaced story of up to 20 pages before class begins), you’ll be asked to write critically about your peers’ work. Your thoroughly considered comments and active participation in the workshop are paramount to our success. The workshop tone will be fair, honest, and lively. I will most vehemently encourage you to find your own voice, to be rigorous in your work habits, and to seek thematic clarity and stylistic beauty in your prose. Biography Bret Anthony Johnston is the author of the internationally acclaimed Corpus Christi: Stories and the editor of Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer. His work has been widely published in places such as The Paris Review, The New York Times Magazine, and Tin House, and in 2006 he received a National Book Award for emerging writers. A graduate of The University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he is the Director of Creative Writing at Harvard. For more information, visit www.bretanthonyjohnston.com.

	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 June 27, 2008