Workshop Descriptions & Instructors

BK Loren

Putting the “Creative” into Nonfiction: A Nonfiction Writing Intensive
One-Week Workshop July 8-13

Word Yoga: Exercises to Stretch, Strengthen, and Allow Your Fiction to Breathe
One-Week Workshop July 15-20

Biography

Putting the “Creative” into Nonfiction: A Nonfiction Writing Intensive
One-Week Workshop July 8-13

Creative Nonfiction has been getting some flak recently for being more fiction than non. In the wake of the fray (or the “Frey,” as it were) we creative nonfiction writers may have become confused: where is the “creative” in the nonfiction? In this course, we’ll learn how to push beyond the “this happened, and then this happened next” doldrums in creative nonfiction. We’ll explore how and when the imagination comes into play in nonfiction, and also look at how to give shape to a “true” story that, like most of “true” life, has no shape (other than the boring blob of everyday living). Come prepared to write a lot, to explore how your own mind works on the page, and to loosen up a little—in other words, to put the creativity back into your creative nonfiction. All forms of creative nonfiction are welcome!

Word Yoga: Exercises to Stretch, Strengthen, and Allow Your Fiction to Breathe
One-Week Workshop July 15-20

Is your prose a little tight, or unfocused, or just plain stuck? While traditional yoga encourages your body to be stronger, more flexible and fluid, Word Yoga does the same for your writing. Each exercise in this weeklong intensive will address a specific aspect of writing: finding a fresh voice, developing character, addressing tension, creating fresh images, avoiding trite language, playing with point of view, and more. Expect to leave the class invigorated, and with a fresh outlook on how to weave words into fiction or essays. The exercises are designed for beginning and advanced writers alike. You’ll also have the opportunity to piece together some of the exercises into a story or essay by the end of the course. Though we’ll share our writing in class, this is not a traditional workshop. Come prepared to write a lot.

Biography

You can read BK Loren’s short fiction and essays in Orion Magazine, The Best Spiritual Writing of 2004 and 2012, The Future of Nature, Berkeley Fiction Review, Yoga International, Between Song and Story, and many other anthologies and periodicals. She is grateful for the many awards and fellowships that allow her to spend her days writing. This year, she has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes. Her first book was commissioned and published by Lyons in 2001. Her novel Theft will be published by Counterpoint in 2012. She is currently completing a second novel and a collection of creative nonfiction essays. For more information, check out www.bkloren.com.

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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