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	Lon Otto Passionate Revision—Fiction & Narrative Nonfiction One-Week Workshop June 14–19 The Traveler’s Story—Literary Nonfiction & Fiction One-Week Workshop June 21–26 Biography Passionate Revision—Fiction & Narrative Nonfiction One-Week Workshop June 14–19 After the sweaty business of producing the draft of a story, novel, or nonfiction book, many of us want nothing more than to roll over and go to sleep. Yet that’s exactly when things can get really interesting. This course begins with the understanding that much of what makes revision difficult involves emotional barriers, and that successful revision draws on equally passionate, deep-seated resources, as well as specific strategies and techniques. Intended for writers working on a novel, short story collection, or narrative nonfiction book such as a memoir, the workshop will explore an array of practical revision strategies. Through various exercises, you will apply those strategies to portions of your own work in progress, looking for ways of making it more convincing, engaging, coherent, and original. The larger purpose of the workshop and individual conversations is to develop practices that will help sustain you through the long and potentially exhilarating work of revising a book-length manuscript. The Traveler’s Story—Literary Nonfiction & Fiction One-Week Workshop June 21–26 Factual and imaginative writing about travel has captured a wide, devoted readership from ancient times to the present. Travel provides us with intense, complex experiences, unfamiliar settings, interesting characters, and the heightened self-awareness that comes from dislocation. The structure of journey can give shape to a story, essay, or book. During this weeklong voyage of engaged writing, reading, and individual conversations, we will explore techniques for using the experience of travel as subject and theme. We will study examples of great travel writing in published fiction and literary nonfiction, and examine our own travel experiences—exotic or apparently ordinary—looking for elements that lead to powerful and original writing. Through exercises drawing on your previous experiences and new observations, we’ll rummage through the baggage we lug along to new places, scrutinize our traveling companions, and unfold the maps of memory and imagination. If we’re lucky, we’ll get lost and discover new worlds, including (and this is one of the secrets of great travel writing) the worlds within ourselves. Biography Lon Otto (Ph.D., Indiana University) has published two collections of stories—A Nest of Hooks (University of Iowa Press), and Cover Me (Coffee House). His writing is in Flash Fiction, Townships, American Fiction, Best Words, Best Order, and Flash Fiction Forward. He has lived in Costa Rica, taught in Mexico, Spain, and Portugal, and is Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he teaches writing and literature.

	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