Workshop Descriptions & Instructors

Marilyn Abildskov
Mary Allen
Kate Aspengren
Thomas Fox Averill
Nancy K.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
Barbara Robinette Moss
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 Vermillion
Kris Vervaecke
Ashley Warlick
Michelle Wildgen
Bart Yates

Mary Kay Shanley

Coming to Your Senses?Strategies for the Memoirist
One-Week Workshop
July 5–10

Helping the Beginner Take Smaller Pictures
Weekend Workshop
July 11–12

Biography

Coming to Your Senses―Strategies for the Memoirist
One-Week Workshop
July 5–10

You have this story, this memoir you want to share. Family and friends will read it, of course, but the likely majority of readers―thousands, perhaps?—will be strangers. So how do you connect with them? What will engage them with your story? For one thing, the commonality of senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Write about the comforting aroma inside the corner bakery, and readers smell cinnamon mingling with yeast. Write about diving into a lake in November and readers shiver. When the storyteller sees, hears, touches, tastes or smells something, the reader connects with “Hey, I’m with you.” In this class, we’ll explore the senses through assignments that heighten awareness of their role in your life and your writing. Participants who are already working on a memoir can use existing material for class assignments. There may also be workshopping opportunities, though not as part of the agenda. Participants who want to begin a memoir will find this the perfect place to start. Either way, I ask registrants to send a writing sample ahead of time so I have a sense of your style.

Helping the Beginner Take Smaller Pictures
Weekend Workshop
July 11–12

One common problem beginning writers experience, usually without realizing it, is taking only big pictures―that is, trying to tell everything at once. When that happens, the writer ends up merely skimming the surface. We get the story outline but miss the richness of the story itself. There aren’t marvelous details or vibrant conversations; the characters don’t unfold on the page and the places we’re taken lack soul. Nothing invites the reader to connect. So whay should you do? Take your time, no matter your genre. Allow your story space to move in, get close, bring the reader along. We’ll learn the difference between big pictures and the smaller, more vibrant ones hidden inside. Then, we’ll break down our own big pictures and breathe life into the smaller ones that emerge. I ask participants to submit one page of writing ahead of time so I’ll be familiar with your writing style. This piece won’t be workshopped. Rather, we will create work, so count on some out-of-class writing time.

Biography
Mary Kay Shanley (B.A., Creighton University) is the author of nine books, including the best-seller She Taught Me to Eat Artichokes. Last year at this time, she reported being “well into a memoir,” and this year she’s “a little further into that memoir.” Thus, she empathizes with her students. Mary Kay free-lances for magazines and also conducts writing workshops on her own and for Humanities Iowa. This is her twelfth year teaching with the Festival. She loves the experience but hopes it doesn’t rain as much this summer as last.

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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 10, 2009