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	Lon Otto Passionate Revision—Novel & Narrative Nonfiction One-Week Workshop June 15–20 and July 27-Aug 1 Traveler’s Story—Literary Nonfiction & Fiction One-Week Workshop June 22–27 Biography Passionate Revision—Novel & Narrative Nonfiction One-Week Workshop June 15–20 and July 27-Aug 1 After the sweaty business of producing the draft of a 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. Intended for writers working on a novel or a narrative nonfiction book such as a memoir, the workshop will explore an array of 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, and original. The larger purpose of the workshop and individual conversations is to develop practices that will help sustain you through the long work of revising a book-length manuscript. Topics that might be discussed include “Fear, Loathing, and Infatuation,” “Recovering the First Spark,” “The Heat of Deep Revision vs. the Cold Shower of Editing,” and “Letting Go.” Traveler’s Story—Literary Nonfiction & Fiction One-Week Workshop June 22–27 Factual and imaginative writing about travel has captured a wide 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 week-long 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 (The 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 June 27, 2008