Winter/Spring 2018
THE WRITER’S GUIDE
This Is Us Workshop Schedule
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Online Workshops
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www.writer.org
This is Us
For over 40 years The Writer’s Center has been able to continue its mission of helping our constituents with the creation, publication, and presentation of their literary work, which would not be possible without our amazing workshop leaders, some of which are featured on the cover of this issue!
“A strong ensemble cast . . . and top notch writing!”
300
Over workshops offered per year . . .
And now, with more than workshops being 40 offered yearly online,
The Writer’s Center serves over
writers 2,000 per year . . .
Our talented workshop leaders have a global reach! Thanks for all you do!
Christiana Signature Crystal
Celebrating 24 years Best of Houzz 2014, 2015, 2016
7001 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD www.KitchenBathStudios.com 301-657-1636 Nancy Kotarski, NCIDQ Karen Hourgian, CKD Jerry Weed, CKD Fred Grenfell Peggy Jaeger, CKD, ABD Call for a free consultation in our spacious showroom. Monday-Friday 9-5, Satuday 10-3
The Writer’s Center The Writer’s Guide Winter/Spring 2018
writer.org
DEPARTMENTS
Editor
A NOTE FROM JOHN HILL 6
EVENTS 9
WORKSHOPS:
INSTRUCTOR BIOS 31
Guidelines 16 Schedule 17 Descriptions 21
Iyana Moore
iyana.moore@writer.org
Contributors
Hannah Ball-Brau Elizabeth Cummings Katherine D’Zmura Sunil Freeman Sarah Katz Frank Linton Sona Mohammadi B. Rae Perryman Ksenia Rychtycka Wilson Wyatt
FROM THE WORKSHOPS 34 REGISTRATION 39
FEATURES 10 Read, Write, and Blue We celebrate the partnership of The Writer’s Center and The National Endowment for the Arts, and their work in the literary arts and creative therapies at Walter Reed Military Hospital. We also celebrate O-Dark-Thirty, the literary journal that’s part of the Veteran’s Writing Project.
Graphic Design
Virtually Detailed, Inc.
12 Reflecting on 30 Years of Sunil Freeman
Copyeditor
Sunil Freeman, retiring Assistant Director of The Writer’s Center, shares some of his favorite memories.
Laura Spencer Cover Image
14 Poems Across the Border
Photos include headshots of some of The Writer’s Center workshop leaders.
Sarah Katz reflects on the latest issue of Poet Lore.
36 Discovering Julia Meet this year’s Undiscovered Voices Fellowship winner Julia Tagliere. “Coyote Bluffs, Arizona.” ©Ariel Body Kudos to Poet Lore editors Jody Bolz and Ethelbert Miller, and gratitude to Sarah Katz in her capacity as Interim Managing Editor, for this outstanding issue.
The Writer’s Center
cultivates the creation, publication, presentation, and dissemination of literary work. We are an independent literary organization with a global reach, rooted in a dynamic community of writers. As one of the premier centers of its kind in the country, we believe the craft of writing is open to people of all backgrounds and ages. Writing is interdisciplinary and unique among the arts for its ability to touch on all aspects of the human experience. It enriches our lives and opens doors to knowledge and understanding. The Writer’s Center is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible. A copy of our current financial statement is available upon request. Contact The Writer’s Center at 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD 20815. Documents and information submitted to the State of Maryland under the Maryland Charitable Solicitations Act are available from the Office of the Secretary of State for the cost of copying and postage.
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
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2017
January
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n addition to our weekly Open Door readings, we enjoyed hosting many events in 2017 that brought our community out and about in support of the written word. Thank you to everyone who joined us. We hope to see you again in the new year!
January: We hosted Literary Trivia at Petworth Citizen & Reading Room. February
February:
Photos by Mig Dooley
We were thrilled to have the annual literary conference AWP in our city this year! Poet Lore hosted a star studded reading featuring authors previously published in the journal, including Pablo Medina, Kim Addonizio, Carl Phillips, and Natasha Trethewey.
March
March: Students from Albert Einstein High School read their winning poems and essays as part of the 5th annual High School Writing Contest Award Ceremony. Left: Visiting writers Seema Reza and Annie Kim read at the Center (joined here by Poet Lore editor E.Ethelbert Miller).
April
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April: The Writer’s Center had a blast at Artomatic, this year in Crystal City! Workshop leaders Lucian Mattison and Leslie Pietrzyk read their work surrounded by a gallery of artwork.
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
Year in Review
May
May: We offered free sample workshops all day at the 8th Annual Gaithersburg Book Festival.
June:
June
Students at the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School read from their work in the latest Anthology of Write Who You Are.
September: First Novel Prize Winner Nadine Darling read from her book She Came From Beyond!
Photos by Erica Sanchez
October: We transformed our book gallery into the Duende District Pop Up Store, a bookstore selling phenomenal works by people of color.
November: Writers and editors of the literary journal O-Dark-Thirty, which features prose and poetry written by military service members, veterans, and their families, held a special Veteran’s Day event.
October
October Alice McDermott was joined by Former Washington Post Columnist Bob Levey for a night of conversation.
December: Our annual Holiday Book Fair connected writers with local press publishers and literary journals. November
Cover of most recent issue of O-Dark-Thirty.
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
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A NOTE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR
The Writer’s Center
Writing Therapy Workshops for active military at The National Intrepid Center of Excellence on the campus of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Write Forward, a program that provides writing workshops for our more vulnerable citizens experiencing homelessness, as they transition to housing. Write Who You Are, a project that provides writing instruction and guidance to the ESL and immigrant community.
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s we enjoy Fall weather in 2017, I pause to reflect on the months past–as most of us do–and find myself thinking about all the activity to come in our new workshop season, in our planning for renovations in the Spring, and how far The Writer’s Center has come in the past 40 years. I have a unique opportunity, as one of the early members, to reflect back on how we have grown and the impact we have had. With the help of dedicated, talented instructors, so many writers have gotten their start at the Center, and many have fulfilled their dreams of being published. Dozens of volunteers have served on the board and donated not only their time but much needed funds, and we have had many staff over the years who have helped us develop and who have honed their skills before moving on to bigger things. That seems to be our constant–an ever growing community. This is us. To support you, the staff at the Center works hard applying for grants and garnering donations so that we can engage and sustain our community at large with the power of the written word. I am pleased to provide the list of what we currently do over and above our many workshop offerings, readings, and literary events. I believe the original founders would be gratified as well:
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The McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize, awarded annually to a first time novelist. The author recieves $500 and a reading at the Center. Undiscovered Voices Fellowship, seeking promising writers in the area earning less than $25,000 annually. The fellow recieves a year of free classes at the Center to help them complete their manuscript or project. Teen Writing Contests to encourage and engage the next generation of writers.
The Writer’s Center can’t survive without you! Your generosity and patronage of the arts is what keeps us afloat and able to continue our many writing programs and the publication of the nation’s oldest poetry journal, Poet Lore. Support writers, poets, the military, and your arts community through a donation to The Writer’s Center! www.writer.org/donate
Poet Lore, the oldest continuously published poetry journal in the United States, now in its 128th year. All of these programs rely on our ability to raise money via grants, foundations, and donations from members and individuals in the community. We are now in the midst of the giving season, and we hope you will remember The Writer’s Center as you decide on your charitable donations for this year. With Best Wishes,
John Hill, Chair, Board of Directors
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
Alice McDermott & Bob Levey in Conversation Bran water to stiffen curtains and wimples, alum water to make muslin curtains and nightware resist fire, brewed coffee to darken the Sisters’ stockings and black tunics, Fels-Naptha water for general washing, Javelle water (washing soda, chloride of lime, boiling water) for restoring limp fabric…. She had an encyclopedic understanding of how to treat stains. Tea: Borax and cold water. Ink: milk, salt and lemon juice. Iodine: chloroform. Iron rust: hydrochloric acid. Mucus: ammonia and soap. Mucus tinged with blood (which she always greeted with a sign of the cross): salt and cold water. Laundry List From The Ninth Hour
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eloved novelist Alice McDermott and longtime Washington Post contributor Bob Levey held a conversation on October 26th at The Writer’s Center. A reception prior to the event flowed with wine and lively members of the Center, sharing literary tidbits and camaraderie. As longtime supporters of the literary arts in this community and The Writer’s Center, Alice McDermott is an honorary board member, and Bob Levey is a beloved instructor. Levey had about an hour of questions for McDermott in celebration of her newest novel, The Ninth Hour–many about craft and process. McDermott’s new book is almost solely female–men are tertiary characters, at best. She shared advice she learned from novelist Diane Johnson about raising a family while writing. “Get the kids out of the house,” she said. “And write until they absolutely have to come back.” Levey questioned, “Are you saying you write for five or six hours at a time?” With a wry grin, McDermott answered, “I’m sitting at my desk. Sometimes I’m writing, sometimes I’m rewriting, sometimes I’m taking notes. I’m
reading. Sometimes I’m wishing I’d gone to law school.” The author of eight novels, Alice McDermott has outdone herself with this tale of sadness, suffering, and compassionate selflessness. The prose–sometimes almost gruesomely explicit in its human-ness–can almost belie McDermott’s serene demeanor, showcasing her expansive talent. The New York Times says, “What McDermott achieves most splendidly is the hyper-realistic portrayal of the grim, often disgusting aspects of illness and death among the poor: the boils and pustules, the grotesquely swollen or missing limbs, the ubiquitous stink of human waste.” No stranger to producing great work, McDermott’s novel Someone was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. It was also a finalist for the 2014 Patterson Prize for Fiction. A previous novel, After This, was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize. Her fifth novel, Child of My Heart, was a Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection, one of Book Magazine’s 10 Best Novels of 2002 and a nominee for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award.
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
Her fourth, Charming Billy, received the 1998 National Book Award for fiction, the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, and was short-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her third novel, At Weddings and Wakes, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her second, That Night, was nominated for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award and was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her articles, reviews, and stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, Redbook, Ms., and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award and the Corrington Award for Literature. Bob Levey spent more than 23 years as a prize-winning daily columnist for The Washington Post. Seven times, he was chosen as one of Washington’s best columnists by Washingtonian Magazine. He has taught journalism and writing at six major research universities, and recently became a workshop leader at The Writer’s Center.
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Supporting the Independent Bookstore
Duende District Pop-Up at The Writer’s Center
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uende District pop-up book shop is a bookstore for and by people of color–the global majority. Every book in the pop-up is written by a member of the global majority, and the topics range from the political to the mundane, from children’s literature to romantic fiction. The Writer’s Center hosted the book shop this past October, and enjoyed this opportunity to build community and showcase our firm commitment to providing a platform for the independent bookstore. A rousing success, the Center and Duende District founder Angela Spring, hosted a lively opening reception and reading by Tamil poet Gowri K. and poetry phenomenon Tommy Pico, who read from his
engrossing work Nature Poem. A young, hip crowd made the bookstore pop-up overflow after the reading at The Writer’s Center. The pop-up rounded out its time at the Center with a reception and night of conversation with Simeon Marsalis, a debut novelist, and–yes–the jazz trumpeter’s son. As Lie is to Grin is a succinct and sharply written novel in four parts about the experience of an African American student at the University of Vermont. Marsalis talked with activist and storyteller Shanon Lee, a beloved member of The Writer’s Center community. The event was
so engrossing, participants and the audience didn’t want to leave. Many lingered in the bookstore, discussing themes from the talk and the ambitious book–which seeks to accomplish much in its thin volume–itself. “We are grateful for the opportunity to open up new spaces for conversations and promotion of literary works,” said Liz Cummings, the Center’s Executive Director. “And we will always support the independent bookstore. We can’t wait for future opportunities with Duende and other local pop-ups.”
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er b m u N e th y B es r o t s k oo B t n e d Indepen die booksellers in USA: 1,757 In
kstores Indie boo
ites:
vor Some of our fa
et Books Bridge Stre Poets Busboys & l Books Capitol Hil um Carpe Libr op Up Book Sh p o P t ic tr Duende Dis ookshop East City B ooks Idle Time B ards ks & Afterw o o b r e m a r K
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,321
in USA: 2
n Bookshop The Lanter rose Politics & P House The Potter’s ks Reiter’s Boo oks Riverby Bo ry Books Second Sto eet Books Upshur Str oks Walls of Bo
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
2018 Events & Activities
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WC has hosted literary events for decades, and during this time the landscape for literary offerings in our area has changed‌for the better! There are so many literary offerings hosted not only by the TWC, but area libraries, independent book stores, and other community organizations, so we thought it was a good time to pause and adjust our efforts. This pause meshes nicely with the upcoming renovation which will make our reading/event space inaccessible from April through October. As always, feedback from our members is much appreciated. Please email your thoughts for events to TWC Executive Director, Liz Cummings, at liz.cummings@writer.org.
Literary Readings & Discussions
Literary Bar Crawls
We will continue to host published writers from the region. We will also dedicate space for TWC members to display their work in the tri-annual Writer’s Guide.
We will periodically host bar crawls which will feature local writers.
The Next Generation of Writers Each month we will host a Friday night Teen Open Mic for the next generation to showcase their work. Literary Trivia These events allow TWC staff to get out and about in various communities in the DMV and spread the good word about our commitment to writers and the written word.
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
Literary Festivals TWC will continue to be a presence at area literary festivals to promote our workshops and our authors. The DMV is rich with literary festivals including: The Gaithersburg Book Festival, Bethesda Literary Festival, Kensington Day of the Book, Fall for the Book, The Baltimore Book Festival, Split this Rock Poetry Festival, and the National Book Festival. We hope to see you soon!
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Read, Write, and Blue O-Dark-Thirty & The Healing Power of Writing in the Armed Services By B. Rae Perryman
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riting and art therapy are universally heralded as effective and transformative treatments for many populations. But what happens when the toughest people in the world–the United States military and their families–use these methods? Amazing things, as it turns out. In 2011, The Writer’s Center was approached by the National Intrepid Center for Excellence (NICoE) to help steward a cooperative agreement from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Each year, we renew our agreement, and each year we are impressed with the results. Writing instructors and veterans Ron Capps and Dario DiBattista expertly guide no-cost writing engagement courses at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. And they have seen people open up, start to heal, and even become writers. “Writing can give everyone so much,” says Capps, one of the founders of the project, and author of both Writing War and the memoir Seriously Not All Right: Five Wars in Ten Years. “I especially enjoy seeing the difference it can make in those with traumatic brain injuries and P.T.S.D.” Capps is also the director of the Veterans Writing Project, which The Writer’s Center supports through funding and distribution of its literary journal, O-Dark-Thirty.
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Since its inception, the Veteran’s Writing Project has provided creative writing workshops and seminars to more than 2,500 veterans and family members in 18 states. O-Dark-Thirty is published both online at O-Dark-Thirty.org, and in print quarterly. The Writer’s Center’s own Jim Mathews, a veteran, instructor, and board member, is also the senior editor for the journal. “O-Dark-Thirty is a way for veterans, servicemembers, and their families to express what they’ve experienced and more,” Mathews says. “We hear time and time again how much others identify with the writing. Military service and combat experience change people, and there’s a unique camaraderie and deep connection that endures well beyond the parade grounds and battlefields. As writers from Homer to Hemingway and countless more have already proven, these experiences lend themselves particularly well to literary expression.” The Writer’s Center takes pride every day in being an integral part of this process, and looks forward to many more years of serving our American heroes. Learn more about the Veterans Writing Project at VeteransWriting.org or on Facebook or Twitter @VeteransWriting. The Veteran’s Day issue of O-Dark-Thirty is available for purchase at the Center, or online at www.o-dark-thirty.org.
The new issue of O-DarkThirty is here! With haunting poetry and heartwrenching prose, there is much to be enjoyed in the “Identity” issue of the journal. Get your copy for $12 at The Writer’s Center in our Book Gallery, or online at www.o-dark-thirty.org.
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
Personal Advantages of Online Writing Workshops By Wilson Wyatt, TWC Board Member
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How to Navigate Online Workshops at The Writer’s Center By Sarah Katz The Writer’s Center is thrilled to offer over 40 online creative writing workshops each year using Moodle, a cloud-based platform used to build collaborative learning communities. Online workshops empower writers to generate new work, learn new skills and techniques, and workshop from the convenience of their home.
Logging In
n-person and online writing workshops are designed to give “aspiring” writers the creative tools, inspiration, and personal instruction to be better writers. As a participant in numerous workshops, I can attest to their strengths, and they are enjoyable, as well. In addition to unleashing creativity, they offer the added benefits of promoting friendships, collaborations, and even publishing. Writing is an intensely personal experience, especially for busy professionals. So thanks to progressive technology, a good online learning experience is often preferable to attending classes in person. You can write and learn at your own pace each week. You can select your writing location and best time to write, uninterrupted by your work. There is no drive time to class. You’ll receive personal feedback on your work by an experienced writing teacher. And, classmates will read your work for positive and nonjudgmental feedback. After all, what is a writer without readers? A good teacher, who leads your workshop, will assure a “nonjudgmental” approach to the art of critiquing. Your listening skills will improve, as well. I still communicate with fellow writing students from the online workshops I’ve taken. While some of us have never met in person, we’ve bonded. We have given to each other and shared a very personal writing experience.
Like so many people, as we complete college or engage in our professions or family life, other pressures interfere with the pursuit of creative writing. In my case, I made a living first as a journalist and later as the director of communications for several large corporations. Over time my desire to write fiction reemerged. As my writing habits changed, I knew I needed to familiarize myself with the critical tools of contemporary fiction writing. Due to professional travel, online workshops filled the need. Without exception, the workshop experiences were very fulfilling. The results are worth mentioning. I’ve published a number of short stories as well as nonfiction articles. I’ve published two tabletop books of photography, another artistic aspiration. And, I’ve led initiatives to support other writers and the literary arts in the Chesapeake region. Joining with several writers, we founded a successful literary journal, the Delmarva Review, now publishing its tenth anniversary issue in print and electronic editions. So if writing is your passion and time is your challenge give the online workshop option a go, it allowed me, during a busy time of my life, to continue to pursue my quest to improve my creative skills.
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
You’ll log in using the username and password provided to you in an email from TWC. Logging in with your username and password will take you to the “homepage” where you’ll find your courses listed. Once you click on a course, you’ll arrive at that course’s front page, which will contain a list of content—a Table of Contents, if you will. The content will be divided into weeks and/ or topics, and clicking on any one week or topic will take you to the readings, assignments, and instructions for that particular week. While each instructor will order their class differently, all instructors use the same navigation tools to similar effect.
How it works The online workshops are forum based, letting workshop leaders and participants communicate and critique through discussion threads. A discussion thread is a chronological chain of written ideas exchanged by two or more individuals (e.g. a discussion on someone’s Facebook timeline). Starting a discussion thread in an online workshop is similar. When you create a new discussion by clicking on “Add a new discussion,” you’re asked to enter a title for your subject and then include your content. The content of your post may include reflections on the readings, discussion questions, responses to your classmates’ reflections, and assignments. You might also include page numbers, the titles of work you’re referencing or additional reading that relates to your discussion. As on Facebook, others can add their own posts to your original post and extend the thread.
Think You Still Need Help? Feel free to contact Director of Programs Laura Spencer at laura.spencer@writer.org for any questions.
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Reflecting on 30 Years of Sunil Freeman S
unil Freeman, long-serving staffer of The Writer’s Center, retired in September. In his 30+ years at the Center, Sunil handled pretty much every responsibility there was, from organizing the workshops, to editing Poet Lore, to scheduling Open Door readings and managing the National Endowment of the Arts grant. We thank Sunil for his many contributions to the community, and are pleased to share just some of his fondest memories below.
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TWC Founders, Al (Lefcowitz) and Jane (Fox) almost immediately asked me to work at The Writer’s Center, but I was working as a temp at the time, and I enjoyed my flexibility and freedom (and rent was very low).
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I first learned about The Writer’s Center when it was located on Sangamore Road, in a building that was a Waldorf School. The first time I visited the Center, I had a hunch that it was not far from the C&O Canal. I asked Jane Fox, and she confirmed, giving me directions. I lived in Arlington at the time, and I walked from the Center to the canal, down to Georgetown. The ground was covered in snow.
I began working at the Center after we moved to 7815 Old Georgetown Road, a more Metro-accessible location. I had left a job, and was basically wondering what to do next. Al asked if I’d like to work at the Center and be trained as a typesetter. Soon after I became Managing Editor of Poet Lore, and then began to assist Al in organizing our reading series.
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My first two poetry workshops were with Ann Darr. She was a fine poet and workshop leader, and we became friends over the years. I took dozens of poetry workshops with Rod Jellema after that, and celebrated his 90th birthday with several friends this past summer. “Sunil is one in a million. His loyalty and care for the Center has completely molded my time at the organization. In the seven years I’ve worked with him, I’ve learned that loyalty and care deeply transcend all parts of his life. He is an amazing coworker, storyteller, and friend.” -Laura Spencer, Director of Programs
My tenure with Poet Lore was particularly rewarding. I worked with three co-editors in the beginning, Phil Jason, Barbara Lefcowitz, and Roland Flint. It was a great experience. I learned a lot about the dedication it takes to make a fine literary journal. I worked most closely with Phil, and I learned a lot from him.
“I will miss seeing Sunil at the Center, but I’m excited that he will be able to spend more time on his own writing after all the time spent nurturing ours.” – Tara Campbell, Author/Workshop Leader
“I can easily say Sunil will be missed. He had the loveliest insights into the service members’ writing, and it was a treat when he also chose to share his own work.” – Melissa Walker, CIV DHA NCR MEDICAL DIR (US)
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In the twenty years I taught at TWC, Sunil was an abiding, patient, and ever cheerful presence, the source of practical information, a good laugh, and wonderful, compassionate stories.” – Barbara Esstman, Author/Workshop Leader
“It’s hard to imagine The Writer’s Center without Sunil. Then again, to be instrumental in building something that carries on after you step down is an incredible feat.” – Gina Hagler, Workshop Leader
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
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Some of the big readings from around that time (mid 1980s to early 1990s) were held in nearby churches that had capacity for large crowds. There were many big names, such as Howard Nemerov and Joseph Brodsky. We also met with the Canadian embassy’s cultural attache, who arranged to have Michael Ondaatje give a reading. I’ve admired—adored—his work ever since.
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We had a cat named Purr who lived at the Center in those days. She had become a member when the Center was in Glen Echo. She’d sit on a desk and sometimes swat people if she found them to be annoying.
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After the Center moved to Walsh Street, we hosted an all day celebration in mid-April. We got permits to block the street, rented tents and tables, and invited several dozen small presses and literary journals to display and sell their work.
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A program with poet Martin Espada reading his work and in conversation with Ethelbert Miller was one of the high points of the Center’s 40th anniversary celebration, which was spread out through the year. Espada, who’d read at the Center several years before, received a standing ovation.
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For several years I took songwriting workshops with Cathy Fink. One particularly enjoyable thing happened several times over the years. A workshop participant would bring in a drafty lyric, Cathy would look it over, and we’d have feedback from the group. Then she’d pick up a guitar, and instantaneously turn it into an actual song. These were definitely moments to be cherished.
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I was particularly honored to work for several years with Ron Capps and Dario DiBattista, members of the Veterans Writing Project. The Center has played a role in programs with military service members and veterans with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
“I met Sunil in 1987 or so. I enjoyed conversations about the local poetry scene and also the music scene. When Sunil took over managing the workshops he urged my wife Barbara to offer her “Eat Your Words” workshop on cookbook writing. That produced recipes and snacks we all enjoyed over more good conversations. Those were great and tasty days.” – John Hill, Board Chair
“Sunil—If you put as much effort into your retirement as you did in 30 years of helping to fulfill the mission of The Writer’s Center, you will have a truly amazing and productive time! I want to especially thank you for your dedication and assistance in helping recovering service members at Walter Reed find health and hope through writing!” – Jim Mathews, retired CMSgt and TWC board member and Workshop Leader
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
“For more than 20 years, I’ve attend Writer’s Center workshops, lead them, and enjoyed a variety of other events, and Sunil was involved in some way, in almost every one. Some went as planned and some did not, but we could always depend on Sunil to be our rock–quietly handling the problems, humbly giving credit to others, and smiling his sweet smile all the while. Thank you, Sunil, for being you” – Lynn Stearns, Author/ Workshop Leader
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Poems from Across the Border:
Reflections on the Newest Issue of Poet Lore By Sarah Katz
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hen you are 128 years old–you, too, will be wise. The newest issue of Poet Lore–available for purchase at poetlore.com or at The Writer’s Center– wisely weaves visual images to create a boundless volume of verse. Outgoing Managing Editor, Sarah Katz weighs in: How do the tendrils of a particular place root themselves in us? How are borders and boundaries—psychological and geographical—interpreted, influenced, challenged, or subverted? In what ways can an environment or culture impact our sense of selves? These are a few of the central questions that underlie the work in the latest issue (Fall/Winter 2017) of Poet Lore, a phenomenal collection of over 165 pages of poetry, essays, and book reviews. No one loves a border. Closed roses, an open fist. We live on one side or the other of every ache. —excerpted from “Immigrants,” a poem by Joseph Ross in his latest collection, Ache, which Zara Raab reviews in the Fall/Winter 2017 issue of Poet Lore.
The breathtaking image on the cover of the journal’s latest issue introduces the reader to the vastness of an iconic location called “The Wave” in Coyote Buttes, Arizona. Taken by photographer Ariel Body, it’s an image that not only
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provides a sublime portrayal of a desert setting, but also commands us to notice its borderless: an end to the Dali-like canyonland is nowhere in sight. Aptly, it acts a point of entry into an issue that deals with the subject of borders and a sense of place. Body had taken the photograph early on in her career, when she had just obtained her first professional camera. “This particular photo was part of a photographic study emphasizing place.... The goal was to create a set of images that fully encompass the space,” she told me in an email interview. Body added, “I think a lot of times places aren’t as spectacular in photos as they are in real life, so I’m totally drawn to this method as a way to show that juxtaposition and really emphasize the relationship of people in these spaces.” Her photograph of The Wave calls to my mind, now, the sea that Gbenga Adeoba depicts in his poem, “Seafarers,” in the issue; it’s a poem that takes the reader on a journey with “migrants” through a sea in which “loss is upon us.” In the following excerpt, this sea, too, is sublime, but comforting, rather than humbling: It was a soft, fluid tune: the tender draw of water, a rare liquid craft— the sea keen, humming its promise of calm, urging us to draw closer, to unlearn all we thought we knew about the posture of water.
By the poem’s end, however, the “promise” of the water’s calm is broken, and the speaker is left with “a known fear… / and understanding that we, too, / could become a band of unnamed migrants / found floating on the face of the sea.” As is the canyonland in Body’s photograph, Adeoba’s sea is vast and unknowable; easy to love for its promise of a safe haven in the distance, at least at first. A tone of grief and fear is not universal in this issue, though. One of my favorite poems, Sonja Johansen’s prose poem titled, “Spell for Putting the Shape of a Wife in the Wall,” which is also a list poem, shows how people, insects, animals, plants, and inanimate objects are themselves borderless. She does this by defining one object, and then part of the definition for that object to define the next. Johansen’s treatment of the subject, unlike Adeoba’s, is without pathos: it feels mathematical in contrast. The poem, in full, reads:
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
April is
Spell for Putting the Shape of a Wife in the Wall The wife is a bird, is a wishbone, is broken when you wish her to be. The bird is a cage, is a memory, is a time when you made yourself small enough to fit inside. The cage is a girdle of ribs, is a heartbeat, is the sleeping before the waking before the sleeping. The girdle is your hands around her waist, around her throat, pinkie to pinkie, thumb to thumb. Your hands are spiders— they unravel oranges, they furrow the soil. The spiders are somewhere, gathering in the plaster and lathe, the stairwell. Somewhere is a wall, is an outline, the pinnae, the feathers: somewhere is a cage, is memory, and you are sleeping under her wing.
I am overwhelmed by the sentences: “The wife is a bird… is a cage… is a girdle of ribs.” The first object, the wife, consistently grows larger, snowballs to become something else altogether—many things, in fact—which the form of the prose poem effectively emphasizes. Again, I think of the vastness of the Waves and of the sea. How do we navigate this vastness? In his groundbreaking essay,“The Poetics of Liquid,” Terrance Hayes offers his take: he argues that a poet herself must take on the quality of “liquid” or have a “mutable sensibility” to write poems that… ’breakthrough back into life.’” A poetry created through self-defined borders does not reflect the mutability of identity, place, and experience, he says; by living with and changing allegiances to the poetry networks we find ourselves in— which he calls “liquid networks”—we can write poems that are new, vibrant, full of life. Indeed, every poem in the issue is new, vibrant, and full of life. If you cross the border of the cover, you’ll see.
National Poetry Month! E
very April, the writing world celebrates the joy of verse with National Poetry Month. We have poetry classes and events throughout the year, as well as publishing the oldest poetry journal in the country, Poet Lore, now in its 128th year. Poet Lore’s current issue explores boundaries, borders, and grapples with transcendence in its pages. What is your favorite poem or poet? Do you prefer poems with structure, or free form? Do you like short poems, narrative poems, or epic poems? When was the last time you wrote a poem? Visit www.writer.org to learn more about our events and courses for National Poetry Month.
April’s Poetry Prompts Write a short poem, like a haiku or couplet, about a feeling or fear you have conquered or reckoned with in some way. Find a paragraph in an encyclopedia or text book of some sort–something dry, mechanical, and informative. Reimagine the sentences with a phrase or subject matter you choose. Make it sound poetic. Free-flow write for 5 minutes. From the sentences, grocery list, or whatever it is you chose to write, create a poem about something that’s currently on your mind.
Polish up your Poetry Need some inspiration, or some help to hone your craft? Take your writing to the next level – or get it off the ground – with one of our poetry courses at our Bethesda location. Course Name
Instructor
Level
Beginning Date
The Force of Poetry
Elizabeth Rees
Intermediate/ Advanced
February 26, 2018
Making a Poetry Chapbook
Anne Becker & Linda Rollins
Advanced
March 21, 2018
Sonnets & Villanelles II
Claudia Gary
Intermediate/ Advanced
March 24, 2018
Poetry Bootcamp
Abdul Ali
All Levels
April 14, 2018
Making Metaphor Work Sue Ellen Thompson All Levels
April 21, 2018
Getting Your Poetry Published
April 28, 2018
Michele Wolf
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
All Levels
15
WORKSHOP GUIDELINES WORKSHOP GUIDELINES Learning to write is an ongoing process that requires time and practice. Our writing workshops are for everyone, from novices to seasoned writers looking to improve their skills, to published authors seeking refinement and feedback, to professionals with an eye on competition. Group settings encourage the writing process by teaching writers to prioritize and to help each other using many skills at once. From our workshops, participants can expect: • Guidance and encouragement from a published, working writer; • Instruction on technical aspects such as structure, diction and form; • Kind, honest, constructive feedback directed at individual work; • Peer readers/editors who act as “spotters” for sections of writing that need attention, and who become your community of working colleagues even after the workshop is completed; • Tips on how to keep writing and integrate this “habit of being” into your life; • Tactics for getting published; • Help with addressing trouble areas and incorporating multiple, sometimes conflicting, ideas into a revision.
• Identifying your writing strengths and areas of opportunity and • Gaining beginning mastery of the basic tools of all writing, such as concise, accurate language, and learning how to tailor them to fit your style.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL These workshops will build on skills you developed in the beginner level, and are designed for writers who have: • Critiqued some published works; • Taken a beginner-level workshop; • Achieved some grace in using the tools of language and form and • Have projects in progress they want to develop further.
ADVANCED LEVEL Participants should have manuscripts that have been critiqued in workshops at the intermediate level and have been revised substantially. This level offers: • Focus on the final revision and completion of a specific work; • Fast-paced setting with higher expectations of participation and • Deep insight and feedback.
MASTER LEVEL
BEGINNER LEVEL We strongly suggest that newcomers start with a beginner-level workshop. They are structured to help you discover the fundamentals of creative writing, such as: • Getting your ideas on the page; • Choosing a genre and the shape your material should take; • Learning the elements of poetry, playwriting, fiction, memoir, etc.;
Master classes are designed for writers who have taken several advanced workshops and have reworked a manuscript into what they believe is its final form. Master classes are unique opportunities to work in smaller groups with distinguished writers on a specific project or manuscript. Workshop leaders select participants from the pool of applicants; selection is competitive.
The Writer’s Center REGISTRATION Workshop registration is available online at www.writer.org, in person at The Writer’s Center, via mail, online or by phone at (301) 654-8664.
credit/refund policy • Full refunds are given only when TWC cancels a workshop. • Workshop participants will be notified via email when a class is cancelled, and recieve the option of a refund or credit. • Workshop participants who have enrolled in and paid for a workshop and choose to withdraw from it within the drop period (see below) will receive a full credit to their account that can be used within one year to pay for another workshop and/or a membership. Please email grace.mott@writer.org to request a credit.
Find Your Niche The Writer’s Center recognizes that all writers and styles are unique! Our staff can help you find the right course(s) for your level of experience, preferred genre and overall goals. Call us at (301) 654-8664.
Drop Period for Credit 5 or more sessions: 48 hours notice required before the second meeting 4 or fewer sessions: 48 hours notice required before the first meeting 16
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
ADULTS WRITE FOR CHILDREN (PAGE 21 ) LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Creating Your Book for Children: Shape it, Submit it, See it in Print
Peter Mandel
1/22
M
7–9:30 p.m.
ALL
Creating Memorable Characters For Young Readers
Jacqueline Jules
2/20–2/27
T
7–9 p.m.
B/I
FICTION (PAGES 21–24)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Writing the Horror Story
Alex Smith
1/10–2/7
W
6–8 p.m.
I/A
Introduction to Writing Romance (NEW)
Shari Garmise
1/13–1/20
S
10 a.m.–12 p.m.
B
Fiction I
Con Lehane
1/17–2/21
W
7–9:30 p.m.
B
The Extreme Novelist
Kathryn Johnson
1/17–3/14
W
7–9:30 p.m.
ALL
Fiction II
Jennifer Buxton
1/17–3/7
W
7–9:30 p.m.
I
Writing the Spy Novel (NEW)
Gina Hagler
1/18–2/22
Th
7:30–9:30 p.m.
A
Your First (Or Next) Novel
Kathryn Johnson
1/20
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ALL
Writing Literary Science Fiction (NEW)
Michael Sheehan
1/22–3/19
M
7:30–9 p.m.
ALL
The Art of the Sentence (NEW)
Michael Sheehan
1/31–2/21
W
7–8 p.m.
B/I
How to Write a Novel*
John DeDakis
1/31
W
10 a.m.–12 p.m.
ALL
Advanced Fiction Workshop
Virginia Hartman
2/3–3/10
S
1:30 p.m.–4 p.m.
A
From Novice to Novelist*
John DeDakis
2/3
S
10 a.m.–4 p.m.
ALL
The Facts of Fiction
Robert Friedman
2/10–3/31
S
1:30–3:30 p.m.
ALL
How to Plot Like a Pro
Kathryn Johnson
2/17
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ALL
Short Story Skeletons
Julie Wakeman-Linn
2/21
Th
7–9 p.m.
I
Flash in a Flash
Tara Campbell
2/24
S
10 a.m.–12 p.m.
ALL
Creating Complex Characters
Lynn Auld Schwartz
2/24
S
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
B/I
Conflict & Tension
Kathryn Johnson
3/3
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ALL
Whodunnit? Writing the Mystery Novel
Alan Orloff
3/3
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
B/I
Fiction III: Revision
Con Lehane
3/6–4/24
T
7–9:30 p.m.
I/A
Advanced Science Fiction II
Gina Hagler
3/6–4/17
T
7:30–9:30 p.m.
A
Fiction II: Revise and Submit
Marija Stajic
3/10–4/28
S
10:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
I/A
Elements of Fiction: Dialogue
Alan Orloff
3/24
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
B
Finish that First Draft!
Alan Orloff
3/24
S
2–4:30 p.m.
B/I
B—beginner
I—intermediate
A—advanced
M—master
ALL—all levels
—online class
* Indicates workshops held at one of our satellite locations. Please see descriptions for more information. for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
17
SCHEDULE
SPRING WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
SPRING WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
The Writer’s Center
SCHEDULE
FICTION (continued)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Characters We Love...or Love to Hate
Kathryn Johnson
3/17
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ALL
How to Write a Novel
John DeDakis
3/21
W
10 a.m.–12 p.m.
ALL
From Novice to Novelist
John DeDakis
3/24
S
10 a.m.–4 p.m.
ALL
Fiction II
Julie Wakeman-Linn
3/28–4/18
W
7–9 p.m.
I
Writing the Modern Fairy Tale*
Nicole Miller
3/31
S
11 a.m.–4 p.m.
ALL
Story Intensive
Hildie Block
4/3–4/24
T
10:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
I/A
One-Day Writing Lab: Dialogue (NEW)
Lisa Leibow
4/5
Th
7–9:30 p.m.
I/A
Beginning Fantasy Fiction
Brenda W. Clough
4/19–4/26
Th
7:30–9:30 p.m.
B
MIXED GENRE (PAGES 24–25)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Getting Started: Creative Writing
Elizabeth Rees
1/16–3/13
T
7–9:30 p.m.
B
Writing What You’re Afraid to Write (NEW)
Laura Di Franco
1/16
T
6:30–9 p.m.
ALL
First We Read, Then We Write (NEW)
Gregory Robison
1/18-2/22
Th
7–9:30 p.m.
ALL
Writing About Place
John Lingan
1/23–2/6
T/Th
7–9 p.m.
I
Starting With A Bang: How to Impress an Editor from Page One
Julie Wakeman-Linn, Desiree Magney, Emily Rich
1/24
W
6:30–9 p.m.
I/A
Writing Close To The Bone
Caroline Bock
1/30–2/20
T
10:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
ALL
How to Write a Lot!
Kathryn Johnson
2/3
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ALL
The Power of Image: Learning to Write from Playing Video Games
Meg Eden
2/3
S
11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ALL
Writing as a Path to Healing
Laura Di Franco
2/6–3/13
T
7–9 p.m.
ALL
Getting Started: Creative Writing
Hildie Block
2/6–3/5
T
10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
B
How to Structure Your Book (NEW)
Hildie Block
2/10–2/17
S
10 a.m.–2 p.m.
ALL
Before You Write Your Story (NEW)
Solveig Eggerz
2/10
S
10 a.m.–3 p.m.
ALL
Life Sentences: Your Journal
Gregory Robison
3/1-4/5
Th
7–9:30 p.m.
All
Developing a Writing Practice (NEW)
Melanie Figg
3/13–3/27
T
7–9 p.m.
ALL
Getting Started: Creative Writing*
Patricia Gray
3/24–3/31
S
1–4 p.m.
B/I
World Building! (NEW)
Hildie Block
4/14
S
10 a.m.–1 p.m.
ALL
Applying Standup Comedy Techniques to Your Writing
Basil White
4/28
S
10 a.m.–5 p.m.
ALL
NONFICTION (PAGES 25–27)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Writing a Nonfiction Book Proposal
John Lingan
1/9–1/16
T
7–9 p.m.
I
Writing the Lyric Essay (NEW)
Michael Sheehan
1/16–3/6
T
7:30–8:30 p.m.
B/I
Advanced Personal Essay
William O’Sullivan
1/20–3/17
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
A
18
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
NONFICTION (continued)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
My Life, One Story at a Time
Pat McNees
1/24–2/28
W
7:15–9:45 p.m.
B/I
Finding Your Memoir Voice
Emily Rich and Desiree Magney
2/7–3/28
W
10:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
B/I
Writing for Life: Continuing Memoir
Nicole Miller
2/5-3/12
M
6:15–9:15 p.m.
I
The Memoirist’s Conundrums (NEW)
Sara Mansfield Taber
2/24
S
10 a.m.–4 p.m.
ALL
Narrative Nonfiction I
Gina Hagler
3/8–4/19
Th
7:30–9:30 p.m.
B
Life Stories Intensive
Lynn Auld Schwartz
3/17
S
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
B/I
Travel Writing for Fun and Profit
Ellen Ryan
3/20–4/24
T
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
B/I
Memory Writing—The Basics (NEW)
Kathryn Johnson
4/7
S
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ALL
The Writer’s Notebook
Sara Mansfield Taber
4/21
S
10 a.m.–4 p.m.
ALL
POETRY (PAGES 27–29)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Poetry Bootcamp (NEW)
Abdul Ali
1/13
S
11 a.m.–3 p.m.
ALL
Sonnet Crash Course
Claudia Gary
1/20
S
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
B/I
Poetry Titles (NEW)
Melanie Figg
1/27
S
1–4 p.m.
ALL
Syntax as Strategy
Sue Ellen Thompson
2/3
S
1–4 p.m.
Revising the Poem
Melanie Figg
2/6–2/27
T
7–9 p.m.
ALL
Villanelle Crash Course
Claudia Gary
2/17
S
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
B/I
The Force of Poetry
Elizabeth Rees
2/26–4/23
M
7–9:30 p.m.
I/A
Punctuation: A Poet’s Dilemma
Sue Ellen Thompson
3/3
S
1–4 p.m.
ALL
Meter Crash Course
Claudia Gary
3/17
S
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
ALL
Making a Poetry Chapbook
Anne Becker & Linda Rollins
3/21–4/25
W
12–3 p.m.
A
Sonnets & Villanelles II
Claudia Gary
3/24
S
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
I/A
Poetry Bootcamp (NEW)
Abdul Ali
4/14
S
11 a.m.–3 p.m.
ALL
Making Metaphor Work
Sue Ellen Thompson
4/21
S
1–4 p.m.
ALL
Getting Your Poetry Published
Michele Wolf
4/28
S
2–5 p.m.
ALL
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLISHING (PAGE 29)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Copy Edit and Proofread Like a Pro
Vanessa Mallory Kotz
1/31–3/7
W
7–9:30 p.m.
ALL
How to Write a Book Review That’s Not Boring Alice Stephens
1/25–2/22
Th
1–2 p.m.
B/I
How to Publish Now (NEW)
2/3
S
10 a.m.–5 p.m.
All
B—beginner
I—intermediate
Neal P. Gillen
A—advanced
M—master
ALL—all levels
—online class
* Indicates workshops held at one of our satellite locations. Please see descriptions for more information. for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
19
SCHEDULE
SPRING WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
SPRING WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
The Writer’s Center
SCHEDULE
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLISHING (continued)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Informed Opinion Writing
Bob Levey
2/6–3/13
T
7:30–9:30 p.m.
ALL
Writing the Dreaded Query Letter
Alan Orloff
3/3
S
2–4:30 p.m.
ALL
Writing Your Business Book
Rob Jolles
3/5–3/26
M
6–8 p.m.
ALL
Writing Persuasively for Publication
James Alexander
3/8–4/12
Th
7–9:30 p.m.
B/I
Get Your Author PR Toolkit Right!*
Cherrie Woods
3/24
S
1–3 p.m.
B/I
Building Your Speaking Business
Rob Jolles
4/2–4/23
M
6–8 p.m.
ALL
Perfect Pitch to National Publication
Ellen Ryan
4/6–4/13
F
10 a.m.–12 p.m.
I
Write Like the News
Hank Wallace
4/25
W
7–9 p.m.
ALL
STAGE AND SCREEN (PAGE 30)
LEADER
DATES
DAY
TIME
LEVEL
Playwriting: Dialogue
Richard Washer
1/20
S
10 a.m.–1 p.m.
B
Intermediate Playwriting
Richard Washer
1/24–3/14
W
7:30–10 p.m.
I
Writing For Film & TV*
Khris Baxter
2/17
S
10 a.m.–4 p.m.
ALL
Playwriting: Structure
Richard Washer
4/7
S
10 a.m.–5 p.m.
B
ONLINE
LEADER
DATES
LEVEL
Plotting Your Novel
T. Greenwood
12/1–12/22
ALL
Intro to the Novel
T. Greenwood
1/12–3/2
ALL
Foundations of Poetry
Meg Eden
1/22–2/15
ALL
Writing Creative Nonfiction
Christopher Linforth
1/22–3/12
All
Nature Poetry
Bianca Stone
1/29–3/19
ALL
Introduction to the Picture Book
Mathangi Subramanian
2/5–2/26
B/I
Publishing in Literary Magazines
Meg Eden
2/12–3/5
I/A
Creating Novel Characters
T. Greenwood
2/23–3/16
ALL
Poetry and the Visual Image
Bianca Stone
2/26–4/16
All
Write into the Heart of Your Story
Jennifer McGuiggan
3/5–4/23
B/I
Poetic Forms
Meg Eden
3/5–4/9
all
Intermediate Novel
T. Greenwood
3/9–4/27
I
Creating Novel Characters
T. Greenwood
4/6–4/27
ALL
Plotting Your Novel
T. Greenwood
4/6–4/27
ALL
Getting Started: Creative Writing
Mathangi Subramanian
4/16–5/7
B
20
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
WORKSHOPS For THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION & class descriptions, please visit WWW.writer.org novels. Required texts: Hooked by Les Edgerton and Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell.
Creating Your Book for Children: Shape it, Submit it, See it in Print
4 Weeks Online
N/A All Levels
12/1–12/22 $195
4 Weeks Online
N/A All Levels
4/6–4/27 $195
Peter Mandel Having a children’s book published in today’s tough market may seem like an impossible dream. But, in reality, getting your book idea into shape and into print can hinge on just the right advice from a pro. Do you need an agent? Should you connect with an artist? What about selfpublishing? In a DC-area exclusive one-session workshop, nationally-known author Peter Mandel will pass on the insider’s tips writers need to know in order to create a marketable first book and get it into the hands of exactly the right gatekeepers in the publishing world. 1 Monday Bethesda
7–9:30 p.m. All Levels
Introduction
1/22 $50
to the Picture Book
Mathangi Subramanian Are you a storyteller able to keep kids entertained for hours? Are you an artist who wants to find a way to put words to pictures? Then this course is for you! Explore the art of writing picture books that are fun and entertaining for both adults and children. Participants will leave with at least two manuscripts-in-progress, along with plenty of ideas for more stories. 4 Weeks Online
N/A 2/5–2/26 Beginner/Intermediate $195
Writing the Horror Story Alex Smith Generate fear and tension in your work, while daring your reader to plunge forth into the darkness you create! Participants will read and discuss three selected stories in the first session, considering the elements of horror, attending to suspense, character, violence, and fear. In the following meetings, writers will workshop their newly written or in-progress scary stories, returning to and building on the understanding of the genre. With some luck and determination, participants will leave this workshop well on their way to a completed horror story. 5 Wednesdays Bethesda
Intro
6–8 p.m. 1/10–2/7 Intermediate/Advanced $195
to the Novel
T. Greenwood This workshop will clarify the process of writing a novel. It will focus on everything from generating ideas to developing characters to establishing point of view. Participants will discuss many elements of fiction (dialogue, scene, etc.) but the emphasis will be on discovering the writing process that works best for each writer.
Creating Memorable Characters For Young Readers
8 Weeks Online
Jacqueline Jules
Introduction to Writing Romance
While a good plot may intrigue, readers only become absorbed when they connect with the main character. How do you create a fictional character who will engage young readers from the first page? How can you make dialogue reveal your character’s personality? Explore the elements of crafting fictional characters, both realistic and imaginary, with the award-winning author of two characterbased series, Zapato Power and the Sofia Martinez series. The first session will be writing exercises and discussion. The second session will discuss the business of children’s publishing and provide an opportunity for participants to share their own work.
Shari Garmise
2 Tuesdays Bethesda
7–9 p.m. 2/20–2/27 Beginner/Intermediate $80
Fiction Plotting Your T. Greenwood
Novel
Whether participants are planners or writers who fly by the seats of their pants, a novel still needs structure. In this four week online workshop, participants will study the architecture of a novel and devise plans for plotting their
N/A All Levels
1/12–3/2 $360
Who doesn’t love a little romance? On day one of this introductory two day workshop, participants will learn the basics of the romance story (novel and novella) including plot, character, and the protagonists’ emotional and physical journeys. On day two, writers will go through an exercise to develop their hero and heroine to maximize conflict, then end with publishing options. 2 Saturdays 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
1/13–1/20 $80
Writing the Spy Novel Clancy, Ludlum, Le Carre, Follett -- These authors write books with tension that barely eases from beginning to end. Their characters often play to type, but that doesn’t keep them from being memorable. How do these authors do it? In this six-week class participants will take an up-close look at published spy novels, then create some characters and tricky situations of their own.
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
Con Lehane This workshop is designed to help find the stories you were meant to write, and to begin to develop the craft you’ll need to tell them. Where do stories come from? To begin with, they come from memories, associations, and concerns within you. We’ll do some exercises to help you uncover these germs of an idea for a story, and turn them into fiction. The basic format of the class will be a workshop. Participants will be asked to write a lot, through a notebook, stories, and exercises. At the end of the course, participants will have written at least one draft of a story, most likely more than one, or made progress on a novel, and become familiar with the basic elements of story writing. 6 Wednesdays 7–9:30 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
1/18–2/22 $215
1/17–2/21 $270
The Extreme Novelist Kathryn Johnson Can’t find the time/energy/inspiration to get your novel written? This popular course, developed by the author of the book by the same name, will help you complete a rough draft in just eight weeks. Writers will receive the encouraging guidance of professional writing coach Kathryn Johnson (author of over 40 published novels). Each participant will commit to an aggressive writing schedule and learn the tricks pros use to create a productive working environment and meet their deadlines, despite life’s distractions. Classes will include troubleshooting discussions, a brief lecture and handouts from the instructor, in-class writing time, and the opportunity to submit portions of the work-in-progress to Ms. Johnson for individual feedback and guidance. Note: No meeting on February 28. 8 Wednesdays Bethesda
7–9:30 p.m. All Levels
1/17–3/14 $360
Fiction II Jennifer Buxton This intermediate workshop is a place for you to share your work and see how it’s landing. The workshop leader will emphasize clear, useful feedback, nuts-and-bolts advice, and sharpening conflict and clarity for revision. Participants will read some outside stories but the primary focus of discussion will be on everyone’s work. 8 Wednesdays 7–9:30 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
Gina Hagler
6 Thursdays 7:30–9:30 p.m. Bethesda Advanced
Fiction I
1/17–3/7 $360
Your First (Or Next) Novel Kathryn Johnson Writing a novel takes commitment, but it doesn’t need to be daunting. Learn how to generate a handful of plots from which to choose, methods for effectively planning your story, and simple hacks for fine tuning your basic fiction skills. Participants will initiate a flexible writing plan that will keep their writing flowing. This is a great half-day session for the beginning long-form fiction writer, or for
21
workshops
Adults Write for Children
WORKSHOPS the more experienced author in need of a quick strategy brush-up. 1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Levels
1/20 $50
Writing Literary Science Fiction Michael Sheehan Works of fiction are often identified as either literary or genre, but this class will consider them both/and. Writers will identify what makes fiction “genre” or “literary,” and look at contemporary short stories that combine aspects of science fiction with a literary aim. Participants will focus on an example and an aspect of craft each week. By the end of this eight week workshop, participants will have at least one completed story (or chapter) of a hybrid literary/sci-fi work. Note: No meeting on February 19. 8 Mondays Bethesda
7:30–9 p.m. All Levels
1/22–3/19 $360
How to Write a Novel workshops
John DeDakis This one day workshop gives writers a practical 16-point plan that takes you from the mere germ of an idea all the way through the creative process, with an eye on getting a finished book into the hands of potential fans. Participants will discuss how to transform the nub of an idea into a book-length project, populated with interesting characters, a twisty-turny plot, snappy dialogue, and an interesting setting. This class will also focus on strategies for finding an agent and marketing the finished product. 1 Wednesday Capitol Hill
10 a.m.–12 p.m. All Levels
1/31 $65
1 Wednesday Bethesda
10 a.m.–12 p.m. All Levels
3/21 $50
The Art of the Sentence
Publishing
Michael Sheehan
Meg Eden
The fine art of creative writing requires—as both the most basic and the most essential element—artful sentences. This workshop will lead participants to writing effective, intentional, lyrical, musical, inventive, grammatical, beautiful sentences. In support of this work, participants will read short celebrations of resonant sentences selected by published writers. By the end of the four weeks, participants will have a polished draft focused on sentence-level aesthetics. Plan to bring a works in progress, either a short story draft or part of a longer work.
Want to submit your work but don’t know where to start? Publishing in magazines before sending out a novel helps make your query stand out. This online workshop will discuss what editors are looking for in submissions, how to read and “translate” a literary magazine’s values, and the secrets to writing a great cover letter. Participants will also receive feedback on submissions before submitting to literary magazines. The elements taught in this class can easily apply to other publication realms, including writing to agents and editors of small book presses.
4 Wednesdays Bethesda
4 Weeks Online
7–8 p.m. 1/31–2/21 Beginner/Intermediate $80
John DeDakis
Kathryn Johnson
This day-long workshop will deconstruct and demystify the novel-writing process for struggling and/or aspiring writers. Go all the way from getting the start of an idea to getting your book into the hands of expectant fans. Along the way you’ll learn how to stay organized, write in the voice of the opposite sex, the art of rewriting, and how to overcome your writing and marketing fears. By the end of our time together you’ll be prepared to begin work on a novel and will be equipped with the skills to perfect it. The session will include time for writing.
Are you a born planner, or a writer who loves to discover stories organically? Understanding how to structure a well-conceived story around a main character and central conflict, and paying attention to pacing, can make the difference between a finished, publishable manuscript and an abandoned work-in-progress. Plotting provides a safety net that never robs the author of the joy of writing, and always reduces revision time. Think you can’t plot? Join us for this Saturday morning roundtable, and you’ll learn how!
1 Saturday Capitol Hill
10 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
2/3 $115
1 Saturday Bethesda
1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
3/24 $100
Short Story Skeletons
2/3–3/10 $270
The Facts of Fiction Robert Friedman This workshop is for writers who want to use real-life characters and/or true events in their fiction. Each writer will come to class with the noted character or event they would like to novelize, and explore the nexus between journalism and novel-writing. The writer researches a factual article about the character and event, then creates a fictional piece, putting the character or event in a central role. After the first session, the workshop will be heavy on writing and critiquing. 8 Saturdays Bethesda
1:30–3:30 p.m. All Levels
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Levels
2/17 $50
Julie Wakeman-Linn
You’re sick of sitting alone in your room. You want some feedback you can trust, and moreover, you want to see what other good writers are doing with their fiction. This workshop will gather together people of like minds, working hard and willing to be supportive. Do you hook readers in right away? Do your characters live and breathe? If this kind of deep reading and insightful questioning sounds appealing, please submit your best five pages of fiction (no more) to laura.spencer@writer.org by January 8. Note: Please do not register for the course prior to being accepted. 6 Saturdays 1:30 p.m.–4 p.m. Bethesda Advanced
22
N/A 2/12–3/5 Intermediate/Advanced $195
How to Plot Like a Pro
Virginia Hartman
Poems for paintings at the National Gallery of Art At the National Gallery of Art and all bookstores http://paintmeapoem.com
in Literary Magazines
From Novice to Novelist
Advanced Fiction Workshop
Award - Children’s Choice, Children’s Book Council
The Writer’s Center
2/10–3/31 $270
The vast majority of successful stories have a bone structure of conflict, character, and complexity embedded in them. This workshop will uncover the pattern in three published stories and participants will learn to identify the pattern or its absence in their own stories. The three stories to be discussed will be emailed to participants in advance of this workshop. Participants will practice using the equation to shape their own story arcs and will carry away a plan for strengthening their story’s anatomy. This session includes a new system designed by One Story . 1 Thursday 7–9 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
Creating
2/21 $50
Novel Characters
T. Greenwood When writing a novel, you must know your primary characters inside and out. You need to understand their desires, motivations, and frustrations, their histories and their futures. This workshop will focus on the development of authentic characters. Participants will examine character as both autonomous and residing within the context of the other novelistic elements, and the challenge of creating and integrating these various elements into a cohesive and credible whole. Participants will explore the main character(s) in their novels-in-progress. 4 Weeks Online
N/A All Levels
2/23–3/16 $195
4 Weeks Online
N/A All Levels
4/6–4/27 $195
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
WORKSHOPS Tara Campbell Flash fiction (stories told in 1,000 words or less) is an exciting genre attracting increasing interest in the publishing world. This two-hour course will provide an introduction to the genre, including model examples of flash, techniques of flash, and tips for writing your own. Participants will discuss where to read excellent flash, write multiple flashes from prompts, and discuss revision techniques to polish those drafts into gems. 1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–12 p.m. All Levels
2/24 $50
Creating Complex Characters
8 Tuesdays Bethesda
Lynn Auld Schwartz What do your characters yearn for? Examine how a character’s wants and desires drive key elements of story including narrative, dialogue, conflict, and plot. Short exercises and readings will illustrate ways to identify and depict a character’s passion, which is essential to creating a compelling person—someone with whom a reader wants to spend time. Come to strengthen what is memorable about the people who populate your tales, or come ready to create a new character whose story commands attention. This workshop is appropriate for those working on a novel, short story, or memoir. 1 Saturday Bethesda
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. 2/24 Beginner/Intermediate $50
Conflict & Tension It’s often said that without conflict there is no story. It also holds true that strengthening the conflict in any type of fiction will bump up the tension and turn a limp, ordinary tale into an extraordinary adventure that will keep readers turning pages until The End. Whether you choose to write literary fiction, mysteries, family sagas, thrillers, historical fiction, sci-fi or fantasy—you can learn techniques for drawing readers into your tales through action, dialogue, setting details, and plot twists that make your work stand out from the crowd. Join us for a Saturday morning coffee chat and leave with a handout chock full of ideas to apply to your stories. 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Levels
3/3 $50
Whodunnit? Writing the Mystery Novel Alan Orloff If you’ve always wanted to write a mystery novel but didn’t know where to start, this workshop is for you. Learn writing fundamentals as they apply to the mystery. Participants will examine characteristics of the many subgenres (thrillers, too!) and learn about mystery-specific conventions and pitfalls such as TSTL syndrome, macguffins, red herrings, killer twists, wacky sidekicks, and smooth clue-dropping, among others. Fun, educational, and… mysterious! 1 Saturday Bethesda
7–9:30 p.m. 3/6–4/24 Intermediate/Advanced $360
Advanced Science Fiction II Gina Hagler We examined many classic works in the first half of this class. Now we’ll take a look at contemporary works by authors including Le Guin, VanderMeer, Butler, Card, and more. How do they create a world? How do they create memorable, yet believable characters? What role does fantasy play in these works? In this six-week course, we’ll take a look, then try it for ourselves. 6 Tuesdays 7:30–9:30 p.m. Bethesda Advanced
Intermediate
3/6–4/17 $215
Novel
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. 3/3 Beginner/Intermediate $50
Fiction III: Revision Con Lehane You’ve finished your first draft, put it aside, and after a suitable time, read it over. Maybe you’ve come across
The focus of this workshop will be on character development, scene building, narrative structure and the process of writing a first draft using John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story as a guiding text. Participants will be encouraged to submit a chapter of their work for peer review. 8 Weeks N/A Online Intermediate
3/9–4/27 $360
From Novice to Novelist John DeDakis This day-long workshop will deconstruct and demystify the novel-writing process for struggling and/or aspiring writers. Go all the way from getting the start of an idea to getting your book into the hands of expectant fans. Along the way you’ll learn how to stay organized, write in the voice of the opposite sex, the art of rewriting, and how to overcome your writing and marketing fears. By the end of our time together you’ll be prepared to begin work on a novel and will be equipped with the skills to perfect it. The session will include time for writing. 1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
3/10 $100
1 Saturday Capitol Hill
10 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
3/24 $115
Fiction II: Revise and Submit Marija Stajic This workshop is for writers who have already started working on a novel, a story, or a collection and need help getting to the finish line! Participants will workshop each other’s manuscripts, apply feedback, and workshop them
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again. Writers will learn how to know when the work is ready for submission, and different levels and venues for publishing. Please bring work (up to 15 pages) to submit for feedback to the first session. 8 Saturdays Bethesda
10:30 a.m.–1 p.m. 3/10–4/28 Intermediate/Advanced $360
Characters We Love...or Love to Hate Kathryn Johnson Learn how to breathe life into your fictional characters— protagonists, antagonists, and supporting cast. Make them so believable readers will bond with your paper people! This workshop will teach you practical, effective ways of looking at characterization suitable to all genres. Spend a morning over coffee and pastries with professional writing coach and author, Kathryn Johnson. 1 Saturday Bethesda
T. Greenwood
Kathryn Johnson
1 Saturday Bethesda
passages where the story flows and you’re thrilled by what you’ve created. Yet, you’ve also found passages that make you cringe: boring paragraphs of description, scenes of dialogue that don’t move the story, characters who fail to fully develop, and so on. For better or worse, this is how it should be (or at least how it is) for most writers. This is where the work of revision begins. Stories—whether short stories or novels—don’t often fully reveal themselves the first time around (or the second time). Revision isn’t an exercise in proofreading or copyediting, it’s an integral part of the storytelling process, building, reinforcing, hauling large chunks of fiction from one place to another, until you find the exact right way for your story to unfold. Roll up your sleeves for this eight week intensive!
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Levels
3/17 $50
Elements of Fiction: Dialogue Alan Orloff Having trouble getting your dialogue to sparkle? In this workshop, participants will see that writing realisticsounding dialogue has little to do with how people actually speak. Writers will learn how to use dialogue to advance the plot and reveal character, the effective use of tags, oblique dialogue, and subtext. In addition, the workshop will shed light on how to incorporate actions within conversations to make written scenes spring to life. Don’t let one of the most important building blocks of fiction fall flat! 1 Saturday 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
3/24 $50
Finish that First Draft! Alan Orloff If you’re having trouble finishing a draft of your novel, this workshop is for you. Explore strategies for overcoming common writing obstacles and distractions that might be preventing you from typing THE END. This workshop will discuss writing quotas, outlining, BICFOK (butt-in-chair, fingers-on-keyboard), and other techniques for getting the words down and keeping them flowing. Tips for conquering so-called “writer’s block” will also be covered. Shift your writing out of “Neutral” and into high gear! 1 Saturday Bethesda
2–4:30 p.m. 3/24 Beginner/Intermediate $50
Writing the Modern Fairy Tale Nicole Miller This workshop will reintroduce you to the elements of fairy tales and folk tales familiar to us as children, but so often transformed when we become adults—from Scheherazade to The Brothers Grimm to J.M. Barrie. In class discussion will examine why we continue borrowing from this genre and elaborating upon it, tapping local legends and learned experience. Writers will be encouraged to bring their favorite fairy tales and folk traditions to class, and to delve into the lore of their ancestors, ethnicities and families for received morals and magic. 1 Saturday Capitol Hill
23
11 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
3/31 $145
workshops
Flash in a Flash
WORKSHOPS Fiction II Julie Wakeman-Linn This workshop provides a chance for motivated fiction writers to work on their rough drafts with Potomac Review editor Julie Wakeman-Linn. The first two sessions will explore the strengths of the story draft through discussion and sharing of preliminary pages. Writers will circulate pages in advance through the instructor. Writers will take away a revision strategy, both structural and stylistic. The third and fourth session will provide workshop time to share the revised stories and gain feedback from the group and instructor’s comments. Writers will learn how to polish for publication and how to prepare submissions, including cover letters and opening lines. 4 Wednesdays 7–9 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
3/28–4/18 $135
Story Intensive Hildie Block
workshops
This workshop will look at what makes short stories work (and by extension, novels and memoirs). Participants will be read and discuss stories from American Best Short Stories 2017 edited by Meg Wolitzer, as well as workshop their short stories or memoirs. Participants are encouraged to bring a story to the first class for critique. 4 Tuesdays Bethesda
10:30 a.m.–1 p.m. 4/3–4/24 Intermediate/Advanced $195
One-Day Writing Lab: Dialogue Learn to show the power of what your characters say and don’t say. Well-crafted dialogue reveals layers of subtext: what is said vs. underlying meaning. It contributes to development of conflict, character, and more. Each scene we write should serve more than one purpose; this holds true for the dialogue in the scene as well. In this session, participants will work on techniques for crafting dialogue that works to a story’s advantage. Participants will also learn how using all tools available to fiction and creative non-fiction writers can enhance and deepen the impact of a scene of dialogue. Participants are encouraged to bring a scene of dialogue from their own work to revise. 7–9:30 p.m. 4/5 Intermediate/Advanced $50
1/16–3/13 $360
Writing What You’re Afraid to Write Laura Di Franco Fear is just excitement without the breath! What if there was something you haven’t learned yet that could change everything? The mission in this workshop is to help you use your fear as a compass, instead of letting it paralyze you—to help you write and share the pieces of your soul aching to be set free. Participants will explore the topics of the inner critic and fear in a way that leaves you inspired and excited to write the thing you’re afraid to write! After completing this workshop participants will enjoy a level of awareness that’ll help make their writing come alive and help them write brave! 1 Tuesday Bethesda
6:30–9 p.m. All Levels
1/16 $50
Gregory Robison As writers, we live and move and have our being in a world of words. The bricks and mortar from which we build are the phrases, sentences, sounds, and tropes of our own texts which, in turn, echo those of others. In fact, we are rooted in and formed by the work other authors, whether we know it or not. Our reading makes us who we are as writers. In this workshop we will explicitly examine this wellspring of literary creativity and influence. What are we reading, and how? From commonplacing, to lectio divina, to short takes, we will experience a range of techniques, some ancient some new, for enriching your life as a reader and thereby help you grow and mature as a writer. 6 Thursdays Bethesda
Beginning Fantasy Fiction Brenda W. Clough Vampires, zombies, and halflings with swords! Participants will build a world and write in it. The first session of this workshop will be devoted to the basics of fiction and story construction. In the second session, participants will do a start-up exercise to help get them started on a possibly longer work. 2 Thursdays 7:30–9:30 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
8 Tuesdays 7–9:30 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
First We Read, Then We Write
Lisa Leibow
1 Thursday Bethesda
writing, short fiction, and poetry. Each week participants will be given a writing assignment and several readings, to be followed by a critique of everyone’s work. Participants will learn about voice, point of view, dialogue, description, imagery, and sound. By the end of this workshop, participants will have written one personal memoir, one short-short story, and three original poems, and have developed a greater understanding of their own writing interests. Note: No meeting on February 20.
4/19–4/26 $80
Mixed Genre Getting Started: Creative Writing Elizabeth Rees In this eight week workshop, beginner writers will have the chance to explore three different genres: memoir
24
7–9:30 p.m. All Levels
1/18–2/22 $270
Starting With A Bang: How to Impress an Editor from Page One Julie Wakeman-Linn, Desiree Magney, Emily Rich Like it or not, your literary work is often judged based on first impressions. Join workshop leaders from three literary magazines for a hands-on session to ensure success for your short stories and essay submissions. For this class, writers will submit the opening page from one of their stories or essays to share with two editors and a publisher of Potomac Review, Delmarva Review, and Little Patuxent Review. The three will present best practices, strategies, and editorial insights into the all-important first paragraphs of short stories and essays as well as provide instant feedback to all participants. This session is a chance to get inside—not one—but three heads, and learn what sort of openings make them want to read on. The workshop leaders will also discuss submission best practices, including cover letters, record-keeping, literary good citizenship, and a pre-submission checklist. Writers will be contacted and asked to submit their opening a week before class begins. 1 Wednesday Bethesda
John Lingan Participants in this workshop will share their projects and discuss short readings from a variety of genres, including journalism, poetry, memoir, and fantasy. We will discuss the various ways to establish an immersive sense of place in your writing, including historical context, natural description, dialogue, and more. Participants will gain a friendly, encouraging workshop environment and feedback on their projects, as well as new ideas for how other genres and methods can improve their work. Please bring some of your own writing for sharing and discussion. 1/23–2/6 $115
6:30–9 p.m. 1/24 Intermediate/Advanced $50
Writing Close To The Bone Caroline Bock Write four stories in four weeks and experiment in form. Write a micro-memoir, a flash fiction diary, or journal story, and two stories that blur fiction and autobiography. Inclass prompts, thought-provoking homework, and critique of your work will start you writing close to the bone. 4 Tuesdays Bethesda
10:30 a.m.–1 p.m. All Levels
1/30–2/20 $195
How to Write a Lot! Kathryn Johnson You may think you don’t have the time, energy, or inspiration to write because of your hectic lifestyle. Wrong! Join us for coffee & pastries, and learn how to organize your time, establish a productive writing routine, and get your stories written. The workshop leader will share methods many professional writers use to complete their books in months instead of years, their short stories in mere weeks. Become the dedicated author you’ve always dreamed of being. (Ideal for writers who don’t have eight weeks to dedicate to the Extreme Novelist course.) 1 Saturday Bethesda
Writing About Place
3 Tuesdays 7–9 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
The Writer’s Center
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Levels
2/3 $50
The Power of Image: Learning to Write from Playing Video Games Meg Eden Ezra Pound says that “the natural object is always the adequate symbol.” Visual storytelling mediums such as movies, television shows, and video games are using the natural object to do quite a bit of storytelling in a small space. Games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Gone Home use environmental storytelling to give us pieces of characters’ lives without prose or explanation. What can we as writers learn from storytelling in video games, and how can we apply that to our writing? In this workshop, participants will look at video games, poems, and stories
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
WORKSHOPS 1 Saturday Bethesda
11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Levels
2/3 $50
Writing as a Path to Healing Laura Di Franco Participants of this course will learn powerful tools that allow them to use writing as a path to healing and happiness. Writers will explore the topics of body awareness, the inner critic, using fear as a compass, and mindset magic, in combination with body awareness, breath work, and therapeutic writing exercises that get participants connected with their soul; the place where you want your writing to come from. By the end of this six week course, participants will enjoy an enhanced level of awareness that’ll inspire their creative endeavors, make their writing come alive and create a path toward healing and happiness they didn’t know was possible. 6 Tuesdays Bethesda
7–9 p.m. All Levels
2/6–3/13 $215
Getting Started: Creative Writing Hildie Block Participants will experiment with words, language, story telling, and poetry through interactive class activities and out of class readings and assignments. 5 Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
2/6–3/5 $270
How to Structure Your Book Hildie Block Have a book in your mind but no idea where to start? Sometimes, especially when working with nonfiction or fiction the best place to start is to create a structure or outline that works. This two week workshop will give participants techniques and exercises to create that structure. Please bring 15 copies of a one paragraph description of your work. 2 Saturdays Bethesda
10 a.m.–2 p.m. All Levels
2/10–2/17 $135
Solveig Eggerz Envision your story and discover its meaning before you actually put it on the page. Using pre-writing activities, including storytelling, participants will learn to see their story from different angles. This workshop features active engagement with the elements of Story more than listening to lecture. At the close of the workshop, participants will have a strong draft, a credible character, and a sense of the story’s “aboutness.” Bring one or two story ideas that you would like to develop. The instructor will provide colored pencils and markers, but feel free to bring your own. Storyteller Elizabeth Ellis’s book From Plot to Narrative provides a foretaste of workshop content. 10 a.m.–3 p.m. All Levels
6 Thursdays Bethesda
2/10 $100
Life Sentences: Your Journal Gregory Robison “There comes a time,” wrote James Salter, “when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things
7–9:30 p.m. All Levels
3/1–4/5 $270
Developing a Writing Practice Struggling to reach a writing goal, or want more creativity in your life? In this class, you’ll learn what’s needed to build a regular writing practice that works for you. As a group, we’ll discuss obstacles to success, and you’ll begin to recognize and work with your triggers and roadblocks. You’ll experiment with a variety of techniques and structures and leave class with a solid framework for maintaining a sustainable practice. Bring a notebook and your calendar to each session. 3 Tuesdays Bethesda
7–9 p.m. All Levels
3/13–3/27 $115
Getting Started: Creative Writing Patricia Gray Spring! This can be your time to plant seeds of creativity. Begin by exploring imaginative forms of writing in a supportive environment. Fun prompts will help circumvent the analytic brain and give creativity a chance to thrive. You’ll find new ways to free up memories and use them as inspiration for memoir, fiction, poems, creative nonfiction, or journal-writing. Hallmarks of the workshop include in-class assignments, opportunity to read your writing—or not, as you choose—and receive feedback to identify your writing strengths. You’ll also receive tips on how to continue writing after the workshop. 1–4 p.m. Beginner/Intermediate
3/24–3/31 $145
World Building! Hildie Block World building is a concept that was once more the property of writing like Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Since they were “imagined” worlds – there was much work to do to get your reader “into” the world and have them understand it. Now, world building is attributed to all types of writing. It’s like setting on steroids. World building is about letting the reader into the world of the story or essay—to have them understand that world, so that they can go on the journey with you. It’s setting, but also politics and economics, the clothes and goods, the language and the decorum, the weather and terrain. The things you can touch and see, but also the things that rule behavior, like norms and religion. This workshop is made up of instruction, exercises, and sharing to help you shape your world! 1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–1 p.m. All Levels
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Getting
Started: Creative Writing
Mathangi Subramanian Do you have a memoir, novel, or chapbook trapped inside you? Set it free with this course introducing the basic elements of creative writing through a series of fun and interactive activities. Every week, participants will read examples of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as essays about the writing process from published authors. Participants will leave the workshop with a familiarity with multiple genres; initial drafts of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction pieces; and a set of exercises they can do to maintain their creative momentum. 4 Weeks N/A Online Beginner
Melanie Figg
2 Saturdays Capitol Hill
Before You Write Your Story
1 Saturdays Bethesda
preserved in writing have any possibility of being real.” But here’s the problem: the great swirl of experience, observation, sensation and imagination from which all our creative work emerges is itself fleeting. “Without a diary, almost everything we do or say or think or feel slips very quickly into oblivion,” warned English novelist Roland Blythe. In this workshop participants will examine the almost limitless ways in which writers, artists, and other creatives have used private writing to understand their own lives and to leverage their experiences into work.
4/14 $50
4/16–5/7 $195
Applying Standup Comedy Techniques to Your Writing Basil White If you can read this and you can laugh, you can write humor! Learn the basic psychology of how your brain gets a joke to discover what’s “gettable” about your subject matter, real or fictional, for a variety of genres. This class also works as a fun introduction to the basics of workshopping for those new to the expectations of writing workshops. Class meets 10am5pm on Saturday, so bring lunch! Before class, participants can study the handout at basilwhite.com/comedyworkshop and bring questions. Also, bring 9 copies of 50-300 word sample for workshopping, in any genre. 18+ only. No guests. 1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–5 p.m. All Levels
4/28 $135
Nonfiction Writing a Nonfiction Book Proposal John Lingan Whether you have a great idea, a few sample pages, or a finished manuscript, this workshop will help you bring it all together in a proposal that conveys your work and vision! In two two-hour sessions, participants will explore the proper structure and purpose of a nonfiction proposal, and the process for obtaining a literary agent. Classes will be discussion-oriented and include a brief homework assignment to practice some of the practices discussed. Participants will leave with a sense of how to market and promote their book ideas, and what to expect on the road to acceptance and publication. 2 Tuesdays 7–9 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
1/9–1/16 $80
Essaying the Self: Writing the Lyric Essay Michael Sheehan The godfather of the modern essay, Montaigne, began his project by asking, “What do I know?” This class will start by considering that deceptively simple question to approach the blend of subjective and objective that is at the heart of the essay form. The aim of the course is to give writers an overview of what is sometimes called the lyric essay, from its origins to contemporary examples. By the end of this eight week workshop, participants will have generated a portfolio of brief essays. 8 Tuesdays Bethesda
25
7:30–8:30 p.m. 1/16–3/6 Beginner/Intermediate $135
workshops
that use objects to tell stories, and then go into their own writing exercises in response.
WORKSHOPS
The Writer’s Center
Advanced Personal Essay
Finding Your Memoir Voice
Narrative Nonfiction I
William O’Sullivan
Emily Rich and Desiree Magney
Gina Hagler
This workshop is for writers who have a good understanding of what a personal essay is, are open to exploring further the many forms a personal essay can take, and are already working seriously in the genre. The class focus will be on participants’ writing, supplemented with assigned readings. Participants will workshop two essays (or drafts of the same essay, if they prefer). The class is designed for self-contained essays, not book-length memoirs. To be considered for admission, please submit an essay or excerpt of no more than five double-spaced pages to laura.spencer@writer.org by January 13. Note: No meeting February 17.
Explore what takes a piece of personal writing “from draft to craft,” looking at elements such as character development, dialogue, incorporating sensory detail, writing in scene, and musing. Focus on the importance of taking a story that’s true and connecting it, as Cheryl Strayed says, “to the greater, grander truth.” In addition to workshopping each participant’s writing, the workshop leaders will share essays on craft and sample works of successful memoirists. Participants will come away with an appreciation of what makes a memoir stand out and appeal to an audience beyond themselves.
The facts rule in narrative nonfiction. The way the facts are used will result in a straight piece of reporting or a piece of narrative nonfiction. In this six week class, participants will discuss the elements of strong narrative nonfiction and study examples. By the end of the class participants will have a thorough understanding of the genre, the effective use of narrative elements and structure, how to go about reporting a piece, and a process to uncover the story hidden within the research.
8 Saturdays 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Bethesda Advanced
Writing
1/20–3/17 $360
Creative Nonfiction
workshops
Over the course of eight weeks, participants will be reading and writing in several sub-genres of creative nonfiction including memoir, essay, literary journalism, and the epistolary form. This online class focuses on generating new material, offering feedback to peers, revising pieces, and researching markets for the placement of work. N/A All Levels
1/22–3/12 $360
My Life, One Story at a Time Pat McNees The goal in this ‘Guided Autobiography’ workshop is to capture your life experiences in six short pieces of autobiographical writing (true stories) for those who will survive you—or for yourself later in life. Knowing that you are writing not for publication but to set the record straight (in your own mind, if nothing else) may liberate you, allowing you to frankly explore your life choices and experiences. Participants will write a two-page (500-word max) story to bring to the first session to read aloud—about a turning point in your life, or a time when you made a choice that changed your life. The emphasis here is on storytelling— making yourself and important friends and family characters in your stories. Note: there will be no critique—so you can relax enough to tell your story frankly, and find your natural voice. 6 Wednesdays Bethesda
10:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. 2/7–3/28 Beginner/Intermediate $360
Writing for Life: Continuing Memoir Nicole Miller
Christopher Linforth
8 Weeks Online
8 Wednesdays Bethesda
7:15–9:45 p.m. 1/24–2/28 Beginner/Intermediate $215
Tell
Your Stories: 4 Memoirs/Essays in 8 Weeks
This workshop will be dedicated to making your memories live on the page. Excerpts from memoirs and essays by authors such as James Baldwin, Tobias Wolff, Joan Didion, Maggie Nelson, and Lidia Yuknavitch will teach the art of scene-making. Participants will work on chapters of a longer work, or self-contained personal essays which employ elements of fiction in the service of fact: dialogue, character, setting, conflict. There will also be space for self-analysis and observer narrative: for cultivating the voice of objectivity, reflection, and meaning which comments on experience. The workshop format will allow for generating drafts and receiving feedback from the instructor and from peers. Please bring pages to share during the first meeting, and be ready to discuss your memoir project. Note: No meeting on February 19. 5 Mondays 6:15–9:15 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
2/8–3/12 $270
The Memoirist’s Conundrums Sara Mansfield Taber Why write a memoir? What is the truth? What makes a memoir engaging to read? These are the questions participants will explore during this one-day immersion in the dilemmas that plague the memoirist. Through conversation and writing exercises, participants will come away with greater clarity of mind and be inspired to move onward with their life stories and reflections. 1 Saturday Bethesda
Write
10 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
2/24 $115
into the Heart of Your Story
Jennifer McGuiggan
What’s your story? Get started and write about life in this hands-on, practical course in which participants will write four pieces in eight weeks and get individual feedback from the teacher on each. This workshop is a safe space to get practical tools and supportive feedback from both teacher and classmates. Participants will learn new strategies every week to help write effectively. The class will focus on exercises that will help writers develop disparate memories and thoughts into a meaningful and organized form.
Writing stories from your life is about more than recording a series of events; it’s about creating meaning and connection with readers. Whether you’re writing personal essays, memoir, or blog posts, how do you write beyond what happened and into the heart of a true story? This course will give participants a treasure trove of techniques to improve their writing, deepen their stories, and connect with readers. Through close reading, writing prompts, and creative exercises, participants will learn how to use the building blocks of writing personal stories, how to create texture and depth in those stories, and how to deal with common challenges that hold us back in our writing.
8 Weeks Online
8 Weeks Online
Dave Singleton
N/A 2/6–3/27 Intermediate/Advanced $360
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N/A 3/5–4/23 Beginner/Intermediate $360
6 Thursdays 7:30–9:30 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
3/8–4/19 $215
Life Stories Intensive Lynn Auld Schwartz Whether you want to write a memoir, blog, college essay, letter to your granddaughter, or use your own life as the basis for fiction, life story writing requires that we tell where we come from and who we are. Learn to identify your story’s essence and to engage the reader through fictional techniques. Participants will leave inspired to begin or improve a work-in-progress. 1 Saturday Bethesda
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. 3/17 Beginner/Intermediate $50
Travel Writing for Fun and Profit Ellen Ryan Get your travel articles published for pay! In this six week workshop, participants will learn how to generate ideas, research well, and structure a story. A former editor for Washingtonian magazine, this experienced instructor will be your guide on how to pitch ideas to editors, package your work professionally, handle contracts and negotiations, organize your files and records, and what to keep in mind for tax time. 6 Tuesdays Bethesda
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. 3/20–4/24 Beginner/Intermediate $270
Memory Writing—The Basics Kathryn Johnson Call it memoir, creative non-fiction, autobiography, journaling, or memory writing. Your inspired-by-life stories may be intended “for the grandkids,” or become a got-to-read bestseller. If you hope to share your life with others, you’ll want the writing to be appealing and the best it can be. This half-day course will discuss basic guidelines, challenges, and the joy of writing based on real events. Join professional writing coach and author Kathryn Johnson for inspiration and practical tips over coffee and pastries. 1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. All Levels
4/7 $50
The Writer’s Notebook Sara Mansfield Taber Virginia Woolf once said, “Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded.” This is a workshop for all those wishing to keep a lively record of their experiences and reflections—for those with the impulse to set down life. During the workshop participants will study brief excerpts from classic writers and try our hands at the elements of craft that create vivid descriptions of people, places, and
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
WORKSHOPS
Cathy Alter Winter/Spring: Every other Thursday, from January 18-June 21 Summer: Individual check-ins with instructor Fall: Every other Thursday, from September 6-December 13 This bi-weekly, year-long program is intended to support serious writers looking to complete and/or revise their memoirs/ nonfiction. Memoir Year participants will experience the rigor and structure of an M.F.A. program, but with less of an expense and time commitment. Working with a published author, ten participants will workshop approximately 300 pages of their work. Other benefits include: • Consistent writing deadlines, studying aspects of craft, and being part of a supportive community • Panels and Q&As with experts in the industry, including literary agents and visiting writers • Free access to the Studio at The Writer’s Center during the full year (valued at $1,000) • Free admission to literary events at the Center Participants must have completed at least 100 pages of their memoir or nonfiction before enrolling. To be admitted into the program, potential candidates will need to submit: • A one-page cover letter detailing their interest in the program. • A twenty-five page writing sample. (Submissions must be double spaced and use a standard font.) Admissions will be on a rolling basis, and the number of participants will be limited to ten, so participants are encouraged to submit early. Send your submission to laura.spencer@writer.org. Thursdays Bethesda
7–9:00 p.m. 1/18–12/13 Master $5,000/$4,500 M
1 Saturday Bethesda
10 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
4/21 $115
Poetry Poetry Bootcamp Abdul Ali Looking for a one-stop shop to get your work closely read before submitting? This one-day workshop will be dedicated to generating a couple new poems, critiquing a few older poems, and creating a list of literary journals and contest to submit work. Please submit three poems to laura.spencer@writer.org for the workshop leader to review prior to the start date. 1 Saturday Bethesda
11 a.m.–3 p.m. All Levels
1/13 $80
1 Saturday Bethesda
11 a.m.–3 p.m. All Levels
4/14 $80
Sonnet Crash Course Claudia Gary Here’s an opportunity either to improve your sonnet skills or to write your first one. With the help of a widely published author of sonnets and villanelles, participants will read several classic and contemporary examples and then write one or more of their own. Then, writers will see how a new poem can be improved by revision. (Feel free also to bring one you’ve been working on.) Participants will leave with at least one new or improved sonnet, as well as insights about how writing poetry in form can unlock deeper meaning. 1 Saturday Bethesda
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. 1/20 Beginner/Intermediate $50
Foundations
of Poetry
Meg Eden Over the course of four weeks, participants will learn the four key elements of poems: image, sound, form, and realization. Participants will produce a variety of poems and learn tips for maintaining the practice of writing. Everyone will have the opportunity to workshop and revise four poems and will receive personalized feedback on their work. 4 Weeks Online
N/A All Levels
1/22–2/15 $195
Nature
Poetry
Bianca Stone In this eight week online workshop, writers will look at examples of traditional and non-traditional nature poems, and explore the powerful use of looking outside oneself to get at complex themes. Nature poems need-not be singing praise to the underside of a rose petal! But what is it about nature that draws the poet in so fully? How can we use that to our advantage in writing good poems? Even intimate, personal poems? In this class participants will discuss a poem a week, write a poem a week, and have a ton of fun. You’ll leave this class a better, more confident writer with a new eye to inspiration all around you! 8 Weeks Online
N/A All Levels
1/29–3/19 $360
Syntax as Strategy Sue Ellen Thompson How poets handle syntax—the arrangement of words in a sentence—is crucial to everything from establishing the voice of a poem to evoking a particular response from the reader. In this workshop, participants will take a close look at how sentences are put together and how changing the structure can send a poem off in a new direction. Writers will also examine the relationship between the sentence and the line and how to control the tension between them. 1 Saturday Bethesda
1–4 p.m. All Levels
2/3 $50
Revising the Poem Melanie Figg Getting a first draft down on paper is just the first step. The revision process is where most of the work, magic, and satisfaction of writing poetry happens. In this class, participants will learn how to open up their early drafts to discover what the poem really wants to talk about. A variety of in-class exercises will help writers find the heart of their poem, and offer a variety of options of where to go next. For the first meeting: please bring a notebook and 2-5 early drafts (nothing you think is “done” or are unwilling to dismantle) that you will use as test subjects throughout the course. 4 Tuesdays Bethesda
7–9 p.m. All Levels
2/6–2/27 $135
Villanelle Crash Course Claudia Gary
Do you struggle to find a good title for your poems? Many poets do. A good title will expand the range of a poem, and deepen the reader’s experience. Join us to explore what makes a good title, and learn how to maximize such crucial “real estate” in your own poems. For class, please bring: a notebook, and 3 copies of two typed poems that you’ve written for which you would like to generate a better title.
Here’s an opportunity either to improve your villanelle skills or to write your first one. With the help of a widely published author of villanelles and sonnets, participants will read several classic and contemporary examples to see why they work, and write one or more of their own. Then, writers will see how a new poem can be improved by revision. (Feel free also to bring one you’ve been working on.) Participants will leave with at least one new or improved villanelle, as well as insights about how writing poetry in form can unlock deeper meaning.
1 Saturday Bethesda
1 Saturday Bethesda
Poetry Titles Melanie Figg
1–4 p.m. All Levels
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
1/27 $50
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11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. 2/17 Beginner/Intermediate $50
workshops
Memoir Year Program
life as it is lived. By the end of the workshop, you will have notebooks rich with diverting conversations, delicious pastries, and bustling landscapes and towns. The text for the workshop will be Sara Mansfield Taber’s new book, Chance Particulars: A Writer’s Field Notebook. Bring along a fresh notebook to be filled!
WORKSHOPS Methods
The Writer’s Center
in Collaboration: Poetry and the Visual Image
Punctuation: A Poet’s Dilemma
Meter Crash Course
Sue Ellen Thompson
Claudia Gary
Bianca Stone
When it comes to punctuating poems, opinions vary widely. Some poets are as careful as T.S. Eliot, while others, like W.S. Merwin, have gotten rid of punctuation altogether. In this workshop writers will discuss what traditional punctuation can achieve and whether syntax and line breaks are an adequate substitute. Participants will explore in depth the role played by the period and the comma, and will take a look at some of the more unusual punctuation marks that poets have invented to suit their own purposes. By looking closely at a few poets who turned away from conventional punctuation at some point in their careers, participants will be able to judge whether and how to punctuate their own poems.
Here’s an opportunity to improve your ear for meter, and to fine-tune your understanding of how meter works in poetry. Have you ever wondered how scanning the lines of your first draft can make for a better poem? Do you know why listening for the natural rhythms of speech can strengthen your writing? With the help of a widely published author of sonnets, villanelles, and other metrical poems, this one-day workshop will include reading and scanning of well-known poems, writing exercises, and close examination of one or two poems you’ve drafted prior to the class. You’ll leave with new insights about improving the auditory qualities of all your poems and prose.
In this eight-week online class participants will be juxtaposing two art forms: poetry and image, giving a new and unique experience to the poetic voice. The class will look at examples of “poetry comics,” discuss them, and create work based on those weekly findings. Participants will choose one strong piece to create a “poetry comic” with, either on the page or through multi-media. Participants should be comfortable making visual art and have a basic grasp of scanning, uploading, and sharing work online. 8 Weeks Online
N/A All Levels
2/26–4/16 $360
1 Saturday Bethesda
The Force of Poetry
1–4 p.m. All Levels
3/3 $50
Elizabeth Rees
workshops
In this eight week workshop, intermediate and advanced poets will concentrate on reading, writing, and critiquing poetry. Each class session will include a brief discussion of selected contemporary poems, an in-class writing prompt, and workshopping participants’ poems. Specific exercises will be given to free the imagination, and quiet the inner censor. Writers will explore formal considerations, stylistic choices, and those moments when a poem catches its own voice. By the end of the class, participants will have produced seven original poems and one revision, and will have refined their poetic voice. Please bring 15 copies of a poem you love (not your own) to the first session, as well as 15 copies of one of your own. Note: No meeting on March 26.
Poetic
8 Mondays Bethesda
6 Weeks Online
7–9:30 p.m. 2/26–4/23 Intermediate/Advanced $360
Forms
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. All Levels
3/17 $50
Making a Poetry Chapbook Anne Becker & Linda Rollins
Meg Eden In this six week online workshop, writers will explore why form is relevant for contemporary poets, and how everyone can take advantage of form to strengthen both traditional and free-verse poems. Poetic form isn’t just meter and rhyme--it encompasses a diverse range of vessels that poems can inhabit. Form can help focus our poems, and reinforce a tone beyond our written words. When we have writer’s block, form can give us direction on how to keep writing. Participants will write in several forms throughout the class, and explore what content works well with different types of forms. N/A All Levels
1 Saturday Bethesda
3/5–4/9 $270
In this six week intensive workshop, participants will write a poetry chapbook of up to 15 pages, and then make a physical book! In the first four meetings participants will explore how groups of poems work together to create a focused, whole experience. The sessions will include reading model chapbooks and considering various strategies of organization, preparing the poet’s manuscript, and critiquing the chapbooks of all participants. In the final two meetings writers will learn about the book-making process, and consider how decisions such as style, paper, and cover choice affect and enhance the whole that is the book. By the end of the workshop each participant will have made two beautiful copies of their chapbook. First four meetings will be held at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda from 12:003:00. The last two sessions will be held at Pyramid Atlantic in Hyattsville, from 11:00-3:00. 6 Wednesdays 12–3 p.m. Bethesda Advanced
3/21–4/25 $400
Sonnets & Villanelles II Claudia Gary For those who have taken the Sonnet Crash Course and/or Villanelle Crash Course—or who have worked on sonnets and villanelles before—here’s an opportunity to build on your knowledge and skills. With the help of an internationally published and anthologized author of sonnets and villanelles, writers will further explore how rhyme, meter, and “received forms” can deepen their writing. 1 Saturday Bethesda
11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. 3/24 Intermediate/Advanced $50
Making Metaphor Work Sue Ellen Thompson This class will examine some of the more challenging and unusual metaphors that contemporary poets have used to bring their poems to life. This workshop will discuss how to choose between simile and metaphor, how to control and extend an image, and how to avoid using clichés. There will be a writing exercise designed to challenge image-making powers, and time to examine the effectiveness of the similes and metaphors in the poems that participants bring to class. 1 Saturday Bethesda
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Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
1–4 p.m. All Levels
4/21 $50
WORKSHOPS Getting Your Poetry Published
Informed Opinion Writing
Get Your Author PR Toolkit Right!
Michele Wolf
Bob Levey
Cherrie Woods
Whether participants have yet to submit their first poem to a literary journal or are ready to offer a publisher a book-length manuscript, this intensive one-day workshop will give all poets hands-on advice on how to achieve their publishing goals. Participants will learn how to place poems in print and online journals, why anthologies are such an appealing platform, how to publish chapbooks and books, the pros and cons of contests, the etiquette of poetry submission, ways to develop a poetry network, and how to keep morale high while facing rejection in a highly competitive field.
Learn how to make your writing more persuasive and more attractive! Led by former Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, this workshop will teach participants how to fashion an argument elegantly and persuasively via careful planning and precise writing. By the end of the workshop, writers can expect to be in a position to try to sell their informed opinion pieces to publications and web sites.
You wrote your book! Now what? Everyone needs effective PR tools to help sell their products, including authors. PR Consultant Cherrie Woods will help authors review their PR tools including headshots, professional bios, book synopses, websites, book covers, and social media channels. Attendees are encouraged to bring a copy of their books.
2–5 p.m. All Levels
4/28 $50
Professional Writing and Publishing How to Write a Book Review That’s Not Boring Alice Stephens If you love to read and want to learn how to hone your writing skills, learn how to write a book review that reads like an essay, going beyond simple recitation of plot to artfully deliver a critical assessment.The workshop will meet for one hour once a week for five weeks as participants are guided on how to structure the review; the introductory paragraph (the hook); coherent plot summary; criticism; and a strong conclusion. By the end of the workshop the participants will have incorporated their writing and critical reading skills to produce a compelling review that is also a stand-alone essay. Come to class already having read the book that you plan to review. 5 Thursdays Bethesda
1–2 p.m. 1/25–2/22 Beginner/Intermediate $115
Copy Edit and Proofread Like a Pro Vanessa Mallory Kotz Learn the marks and methods used by professional editors and proofreaders! Perhaps you’re considering copy editing as a profession, need help deciphering your editor’s marks, or just want to be a more helpful member in your writers group. Through in-class and home exercises, this course will equip you with tools, knowledge, and plenty of practice to become a great copy editor or proofreader.
7:30–9:30 p.m. All Levels
2/6–3/13 $215
Writing the Dreaded Query Letter Alan Orloff You’ve spent months (or years) of your life—not to mention copious amounts of blood, sweat, and tears—writing a dynamite novel. Don’t simply spend five minutes slapping together a weak query letter; you owe it to yourself to write a great one that will break through the slush-clutter at top literary agencies. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to entice your dream agent into reading your masterpiece by writing a tight query that really sings (while avoiding those pitfalls that will land your query in the trash). I’ll also outline my “A-B-C” submission strategy while highlighting some valuable targeting resources. Bring four copies of a draft query and a red pen with lots of ink! Note: primarily intended for novel and memoir writers. 1 Saturday Bethesda
2–4:30 p.m. All Levels
3/3 $50
Writing Your Business Book Maybe you’ve toyed with the idea of writing a business book and sharing what you’ve learned with others around you. The fact is, anyone can write a book. The problem is, most people are stopped before they even start by the size of the project, and more importantly, fear of the unknown. With the right information, the right process, and the right teacher, you can and will write your book. In this four week workshop, participants will focus on all aspects of writing business books including outlining the manuscript, creating a writing routine, marketing options, proposal writing, publishing options, and more. 6–8 p.m. All Levels
1–3 p.m. Beginner/Intermediate
3/24 $65
Building Your Speaking Business Rob Jolles Maybe you have toyed with the dream of increasing your book sales and generating additional revenue by building a speaking business, or perhaps you have just thought about addressing occasional requests to speak that have come your way. But how do you find speaking opportunities, and make every moment count to drive even more engagements your way? In this workshop we will focus on all aspects of professional speaking including the creation of keynote presentations and workshops, marketing, proposal writing, program pricing, and basic delivery skills. If you think writing a book is exciting, wait until you feel the thrill of stepping in front of a room, and speaking on behalf of that book! 4 Mondays Bethesda
6–8 p.m. All Levels
4/2–4/23 $135
Perfect Pitch to National Publication Ellen Ryan
Rob Jolles
4 Mondays Bethesda
1 Saturday Capitol Hill
3/5–3/26 $135
How do you research and hone an idea well enough to get it through the static and into a national publication? Successful writers share queries and the negotiations that led to publication in Bloomberg Businessweek, AARP, Pacific Standard, New York Times Sunday Business, and more. This workshop will look at both the pitches and the resulting articles; how each approached its market; and the writer’s experience with the editor. 2 Fridays 10:00–12:00 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
4/6–4/13 $80
Write Like the News Hank Wallace
This one-day presentation will educate writers on the world of self-publishing. Specifically, the presentation will review manuscript preparation and the costs of editing and proofing, compare the services offered by the leading Print on Demand (POD) publishers, recommends suitable publishers based on a cost versus benefit analysis. Participants of this workshop will learn how to select a reliable publisher at a minimal cost.
Learn how to pack a powerful punch when writing to persuade! This six week workshop focuses on the process of crafting newspaper op-eds and written speeches, but participants will be shown how to apply those same strategies to creating smaller-scale persuasive documents, such as memos and emails where they are taking a position or making a request of something significant. The workshop explores key steps in the persuasive writing process including audience analysis, message development, targeted research, organization, and effective use of social media tools. The workshop will revolve around engaging discussions, recommended reading, and a private blog for discussions and questions between sessions and after the workshop ends.
Lead with the future—not background. That’s the most important of eight journalism skills that will transform your writing. The others: write your readers’ language, be positive (to be both clear and upbeat), lay out logically, be consistent, be precise, be brief, and choose strong verbs. Highlights: communicate in a crisis, correct errors the correct way, choose between raw numbers and a ratio, and write around generic “he.” (Plus a Speak Like the News skill: avoid “uptalk?”) Emulate the vivid news examples you’ll see in this workshop, and you’ll strengthen your writing voice with lively, engaging news style. At 7 sharp, we’ll critique the WallStreetJournal.com homepage, seeing how to communicate your main point in just a few words. Then we’ll talk our way through the workshop booklet, emphasizing reasons, not just rules, for your writing choices. To cover as much ground as possible, we’ll have just a few writing exercises and most of them will take less than a minute each.
1 Saturday Bethesda
6 Thursdays Bethesda
1 Wednesday Bethesda
6 Wednesdays Bethesda
7–9:30 p.m. All Levels
1/31–3/7 $270
How to Publish Now Neal P. Gillen
10 a.m.–5 p.m. All Levels
2/3 $135
Writing Persuasively for Publication James Alexander
7–9:30 p.m. 3/8–4/12 Beginner/Intermediate $270
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
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7–9 p.m. All Levels
4/25 $50
workshops
1 Saturday Bethesda
6 Tuesdays Bethesda
WORKSHOPS Stage and Screen
Writing For Film & TV Khris Baxter
Playwriting: Dialogue Richard Washer Dialogue is the playwright’s primary tool for conveying a story that ultimately becomes a visual, aural, and emotional experience for an audience. In this one-day workshop, participants will look at various functions of dialogue and discuss how actors, designers, and directors use dialogue as a basis for transforming words on the page to life on stage. Although the focus in this session will be on playwriting, writers of all genres are welcome. 1 Saturday 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
The Writer’s Center
1/20 $50
These are exciting times to be a screenwriter. With more shows and television channels than ever, the opportunities for inventive ways of storytelling increase daily. This hands-on workshop will guide beginning and intermediate screenwriters through the process of crafting a professional-grade screenplay and/or TV pilot. Participants will examine proven methods for adapting fiction and narrative nonfiction to the big screen, discuss strategies for promoting and marketing their screenplays or pilots, and work on advancing their careers as screenwriters. This workshop is open to all levels and genres. 1 Saturday Glen Echo
Intermediate Playwriting
10 a.m.–4 p.m. All Levels
workshops
Playwriting: Structure
In this workshop participants will explore tactics and strategies in writing longer works, putting scenes together, and telling a longer story than the typical ten-minute play. Participants will use exercises to jump-start the imagination, consider various approaches to the writing process, and apply a feedback method designed to facilitate continued discovery through writing. In addition, writers will look at a published play or two and begin to consider some of the structural implications in writing for the stage. By workshop end, the goal is to empower writers with sufficient understanding of their process so as to be able to continue forward completing a first draft. Those with little or no prior playwriting experience are encouraged to take the Dialogue workshop offered on January 20th at The Writer’s Center.
Richard Washer This workshop will focus on organizational principles at work in structuring a stage play. During this one day class, participants will take a close look at Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, and watch selections from the film version to better understand structure, character, and exposition. In addition, writers will look at screenwriting principles as they might apply to writing for the stage along with the ways that various elements of playwriting craft (character, exposition, inciting incident, revelation, etc.) intersect with structure. Participants are encouraged to read the play ahead of the workshop. There will be a lunch break of approximately 45 minutes.
8 Wednesdays 7:30–10 p.m. Bethesda Intermediate
1 Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Bethesda Beginner
30
by Charles Brighouse Directed by David Dubov February 16 March 11, 2018 at The Writer’s Center
2/17 $115
Richard Washer
1/24–3/14 $360
Hobson’s Choice
4/7 $135
A Twist on William Shakespeare’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Adapted and directed by Stephanie Mumford and Leah Mazade July 25 - August 12, 2018 at the old Round House Theater in Silver Spring
For tickets or information, call
301-816-1023 or visit QuotidianTheatre.org
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
WORKSHOP LEADERS
James Alexander has been writing professionally for more than 30 years with several of those years as a political speechwriter including at the Cabinet level. After earning a B.A. in Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he worked as a by-lined newspaper reporter at The Charlotte Observer and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and also interned at The Washington Post. He later worked on Capitol Hill as a U.S. Congressional Fellow and as a Hill press secretary which included writing speeches and op-eds. Khris Baxter is a screenwriter, producer, and co-founder of Boundary Stone Films (“BSF”). BSF develops, finances, and produces a wide range of projects for Film and TV. Baxter has been a screenwriter for two decades and has taught screenwriting since 2004, most recently at The MFA in Creative Writing at Queens University, and American University. He’s been a judge for the annual Virginia Screenwriting Competition since 2004. Anne Becker, author of The Transmutation Notebooks: Poems in the Voices of Charles and Emma Darwin, The Good Body (chapbook), and Human Animal (forthcoming ‘18) has presented programs at Johns Hopkins, University of Connecticut, Folger Library, Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum. Poet Laureate Emerita of Takoma Park, she is now poet-in-residence at Pyramid Atlantic. Hildie Block has been a writing instructor for 20 years at places like American University and GW, and of course, The Writer’s Center. She’s published well over 50 short stories, most recently in Gargoyle, Redux, and Zero-dark-thirty. Her book Not What I Expected came out in 2007. Caroline Bock is the author of the young adult novels: LIE and BEFORE MY EYES from St. Martin’s Press. She was awarded a 2018 Artists & Scholars Project Grant from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County for her writing. More about her at:www.carolinebock.com. Jennifer Buxton has an M.F.A. in fiction from the University of Virginia. Her fiction has appeared in Epoch, Puerto del Sol, and Blue Penny Quarterly, among other places. She has taught writing in a variety of venues, including the University of Virginia, and the UVa Young Writers Workshop.
Tara Campbell is the recipient of the 33rd Annual Larry Neal Writers’ Award and the 31st Annual Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding New Artist. She’s an assistant fiction editor at Barrelhouse and columnist for the Washington Independent Review of Books. She also teaches at American University and the National Gallery.
Shari Garmise is the author of two romance novels and six novellas, written under two pen names. Having to fit her writing into a typical overcommitted D.C. life, she knows a lot about balancing writing goals and real life demands, and loves to share what she’s learned. More about her at: at www.sharielder.com.
Brenda W. Clough is a novelist, short story, and nonfiction writer. Her novels include How Like a God, The Doors of Death and Life, and Revise the World. She has been a finalist for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. She has been teaching science fiction and fantasy workshops at The Writer’s Center for over 10 years. Keep up-to-date on her activities and publications on her website.
Claudia Gary is author of Humor Me (David Robert Books, 2006) and chapbooks including Bikini Buyer’s Remorse. Internationally published, she is a three-time finalist for the Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award and chaired the “Sonnet 2016” panel at the West Chester University Poetry Conference.
Novelist and writing coach John DeDakis is a former editor on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” DeDakis is the author of four mystery-suspense novels. His fourth novel, Bullet in the Chamber, won three book awards in 2017: Reviewers Choice, Foreward INDIES, and Feathered Quill. More about him at: www.johndedakis.com. Laura Di Franco, MPT is a holistic physical therapist, author and poet with over two decades of experience in healing. She combines empowering tools of body awareness and therapeutic writing to help you connect with your desires and gain clarity for the life you crave. More about her at: www. BraveHealer.com. Meg Eden’s work has been published in various magazines, including Rattle, Drunken Boat, Poet Lore, RHINO, and Gargoyle. She teaches creative writing at the University of Maryland. She has five poetry chapbooks, and her novel Post-High School Reality Quest is published with California Coldblood, an imprint of Rare Bird Books. More about her at: www.megedenbooks.com or on Twitter at @ ConfusedNarwhal. A native of Iceland, Solveig Eggerz is the author of the award-winning novel, Seal Woman. As an instructor at The Writer’s Center, she has been bridging the gap between story telling and story writing for many years. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and currently promotes writing with underserved populations in Alexandria, VA, through Heard, a non-profit. Robert Friedman was a reporter, columnist and city editor for the San Juan Star in Puerto Rico for more than 20 years, and was the newspaper’s Washington correspondent before it folded in 2009. While in Puerto Rico, he was also a special correspondent for the New York Daily News. Friedman is the author of four published novels about Puerto Rico—The Surrounding Sea, Under a Dark Sun, Shadow of the Fathers and Caribbean Dreams. He now lives in Silver Spring, Md.
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
Neal Gillen is the author of nine novels, two memoirs, and How To Publish Now, which reviews the essentials of Print on Demand (POD) publishing, including the dos and don’ts and the expensive pitfalls to avoid in its review of over 25 publishers. More about him at: www.nealpgillenbooks.com Patricia Gray’s 2016 Artist Fellowship in literature from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities has helped fund her work on two poetry collections and the draft of a novel. She formerly headed the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress and has an M.F.A. in creative writing is from UVA. T. Greenwood is the author of eleven awardwinning novels including Two Rivers, Bodies of Water and Where I Lost Her. She teaches at San Diego Writer’s, Ink and online for The Writer’s Center where she has been an instructor for more than a decade. Gina Hagler is an award-winning nonfiction writer. Her publications include Discovering Quantum Mechanics (Scientist’s Guide to Physics), Modeling Ships and Space Craft: The Science and Art of Mastering the Oceans and Sky, and Sammi’s New Normal: Health Stories for Kids: Epilepsy, amongst several others. She has written about science, history, health, climate change, and technology for both children and adults. More about her at: ginahagler.com. Virginia Hartman’s work has appeared in Liars League NYC, the Hudson Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Potomac Review, Delmarva Review, and Washingtonian, and has been anthologized in Gravity Dancers: Even More Fiction by Washington Area Women (Paycock Press). She is the co-editor, with Barbara Esstman, of a literary anthology called A More Perfect Union: Poems and Stories about the Modern Wedding (St. Martin’s Press). A 30-year professional speaker, and three-time Bestselling author with books translated in over a dozen languages, Rob Jolles has traveled over 2.5 million miles delivering keynotes and
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LEADERS
Abdul Ali’s debut collection of poems, Trouble Sleeping, won the 2014 New Issues Poetry Prize. His work has been published by The Poetry Foundation, Gathering of Tribes, Poet Lore, and Plume, to name a few. He currently teaches writing at Howard University and is a faculty member of Johns Hopkins University graduate program in Writing. Ali earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University where he was a graduate fellow.
WORKSHOP LEADERS workshops all over the world. Now in it’s 4th edition, his Bestselling book, How to Run Seminars & Workshops, has now been on the shelves for over 25 years, and he currently trains authors to speak for some of the largest publishers in the country. More about him at: www.jolles.com. Kathryn Johnson’s 40+ novels (finalist for the Agatha Award, winner of Heart of Excellence and Bookseller’s Best Awards), include historical and contemporary suspense, (e.g., The Gentleman Poet. The Extreme Novelist (nonfiction) is the text based on her courses at The Smithsonian Associates and TWC. More about her at: www.KathrynJohnsonLLC.com, and www.WriteByYou.com Jacqueline Jules is the award-winning author of forty books for young readers including the Zapato Power series, the Sofia Martinez series, Feathers for Peacock, and Duck for Turkey Day. Her work has also appeared in magazines and anthologies such as Cricket, Ladybug, and Highlights for Children.
LEADERS
Vanessa Mallory Kotz has been a writer and editor for nearly 20 years. She contributes to local magazines, including Montgomery Magazine, On Tap, and CultureSpot MC, as well as national publications like Popular Photography and AmericanStyle. She has been a book and magazine editor for The Phillips Collection, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Goucher College, and The Writer’s Center. Con Lehane is the author of five mystery novels; Murder in the Manuscript Room (November 2017) is the latest. Recent stories appear in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Columbia University School of the Arts. Lisa Leibow, M.A. Johns Hopkins University, has taught writing at NVCC, UMUC, and JHU. Her work has appeared in journals, including CommuterLit, DiverseVoicesQuarterly, Eleven-Eleven, Pisgah Review, and Sand Hill Review. She’s a Vermont Studio Center grant winner, Pitchapalooza D.C. winner, and John Gardner Award for Best Character Description honorable mention. Bob Levey is the longtime Washington Post columnist and author of more than 300 magazine articles and three books. Former professor of writing and journalism at six major research universities.
Baffler, and many other magazines and websites. His first book, a narrative nonfiction account of the last honky-tonk in the Virginias, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in Summer 2018. He lives in Rockville.
Washington Post, Washingtonian, and North American Review. He’s received two D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities fellowships and has been listed three times among the notable essays in The Best American Essays.
Desiree Magney, a memoirist and poet, publishes the literary journal, Little Patuxent Review and contributes to its blog. She has been published in Delmarva Review, The Washington Post Magazine, and much more.
Elizabeth Rees, M.A. is the author of the poetry collection Every Root a Branch (2014). Three of her four poetry chapbooks are award winners, most recently Tilting Gravity (2009). Her poems have been widely published in journals, including Partisan Review, Kenyon Review, Southern Review and Agni. A workshop leader at The Writer’s Center since 1989, she has also been a poet-in-the-schools for the Maryland State Arts Council since 1994.
Peter Mandel is the author of eleven books for children including Jackhammer Sam (Macmillan), Zoo Ah-Choooo (Holiday House), Bun, Onion, Burger (Simon & Schuster), Planes at the Airport (Scholastic), and Say Hey! A Song of Willie Mays (Hyperion). He’s a regular contributor to the travel sections of The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The Huffington Post. Learn more about him at: www.petermandel.net.
Emily Rich is Editor of Delmarva Review. Her work has been published in a number of small literary magazines including r.v.kr.y, the Pinch, and Hippocampus. Her memoir pieces have been listed as notables in Best American Essays, 2014 and 2015.
Jennifer (Jenna) McGuiggan’s work has appeared in Flycatcher, New World Writing, Connotation Press, The Manifest Station, TAB, online for Prairie Schooner and Brevity, and elsewhere. Her essays have been nominated for Best of the Net and been finalists in contests from Prime Number Magazine, Hunger Mountain, and Orison Books. She received her M.F.A. from Vermont College of Fine Arts. More about her at: www.thewordcellar.com.
Gregory Robison received his B.A. from Yale University, where he was a Scholar of the House, and an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). He was Executive Director of The Writer’s Center for four years, where he first developed the Life Sentences workshop on journals and private writing. (His own illustrated, manuscript journal now runs over 100 volumes.) Robison is currently Executive Director of The Meditatio Foundation.
Pat McNees, writer-editor, helps people and organizations tell their life story. A former editor in book publishing (at Harper & Row and at Fawcett) and a freelance writer, she also manages the Washington Biography Group. She has taught life writing at the Writer’s Center for several years. More about her at: www.writersandeditors.com/bio.htm.
Linda Rollins’ passion for book binding started at John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. An apprenticeship near her home in South Florida combined with study in Massachusetts led to the opening of her bindery, Capella Book Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, 1995. Linda joined Pyramid Atlantic Art Center as their Binder in Residence in 2003.
Nicole Miller completed an MPhil in Victorian Literature from Oxford, a Ph.D. in English from University College, London and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Emerson College. Her essays and short stories have been published in New Letters, Arts and Letters, and the May Anthologies; “Last Night at the Breakers” was a Notable Best American Essay for 2016 (ed. Jonathan Franzen). She is finishing her first novel, alongside a memoir about autoimmune illness and cancer in young adults.
Ellen Ryan’s travel writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Outside, Destinations, Good Housekeeping, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsday, AAA World, Where, Washingtonian, Rudy Maxa’s Traveler, and more—most recently in Destination Maryland.
Christopher Linforth has published essays in The Millions, South Dakota Review, Switchback, Sierra Nevada Review, The Good Men Project, and other journals. He is also the author of the story collection When You Find Us We Will Be Gone and The Anthem Guide to Short Fiction.
Alan Orloff’s debut, Diamonds For the Dead, was an Agatha Award Finalist, and his seventh, Running From the Past, was a Kindle Scout Selection. His short fiction has appeared in many publications, including Alfred Hitchcock MM, Jewish Noir, Windward: Best New England Crime Stories 2016, and Black Cat MM. More about him at: www.alanorloff.com.
John Lingan has written for The Oxford American, BuzzFeed, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The
William O’Sullivan is an essayist and editor. His work has appeared in The New York Times,
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The Writer’s Center
Lynn Schwartz is a story development editor and ghostwriter. Her plays have been performed in NYC, including Lincoln Center. She founded the Temple Bar Literary Reading Series in NYC, has received two Individual Artist Awards in Fiction from the Maryland State Arts Council, and taught fiction at St. John’s College. Michael Sheehan has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in fiction and nonfiction and he has been an editor for literary magazines. He is the author of Proposals for the Recovery of the Apparently Drowned and his work has appeared in Agni, Electric Literature, Conjunctions, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere.
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
WORKSHOP LEADERS
Delmarva Review 10th Anniversary Issue - Available Now - Subscriptions - Open for Submissions
A nonprofit literary journal publishing exceptional fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction in print and digital editions.
Marija Stajic is a previous TWC Undiscovered Voices Fellow, a winner of a Neoverse short story award, and a WWPH novel competition second placed. She has a B.A. in literature and an M.A. in international journalism. She studied fiction at the George Washington University under Tim Johnston (The Descent), and worked for The New Yorker magazine. Her fiction has been published in dozens of literary journals and two anthologies. Alice Stephens reviews books and writes a column on reading and writing for the Washington Independent Review of Books.
Mathangi Subramanian, Ed.D., is an award winning writer and educator who believes stories have the power to change the world. In 2016, her novel, Dear Mrs. Naidu, won the South Asia Book Award and was shortlisted for the Hindu-Goodbooks Prize. A Bethesda native, she currently lives and works in India. Sara Mansfield Taber is the author of award-winning Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy’s Daughter, Dusk on the Campo: A Journey in Patagonia, and Bread of Three Rivers: The Story of a French Loaf. Her essays, memoirs, and cultural commentary have appeared in literary journals such as The American Scholar, newspapers including The Washington Post, and have been produced for public radio. More about her at: www.sarataber.com and www.sarataberwritingservices.com.
Michele Wolf is the author of Immersion, Conversations During Sleep (Anhinga Prize for Poetry), and The Keeper of Light. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, The Hudson Review, The North American Review, The Southern Review, and numerous other literary journals and anthologies, as well as on Poets.org, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily and elsewhere. Wolf serves as a contributing editor for Poet Lore. More about her at: michelewolf.com. Cherrie Woods is a 16-year public relations veteran who does PR for authors in all genres. Her area of expertise is publicity, however she works with authors on all their PR needs. Woods is the author of Where Do I Start? 10 PR Questions and Answers to Guide Self-Published Authors.
Sue Ellen Thompson’s fifth book of poems, They, was published in 2014. An instructor at The Writer’s Center since 2007, she has previously taught at Middlebury College, Binghamton University, the University of Delaware, and Central CT State University. She received the 2010 Maryland Author Award from the Maryland Library Association. Julie Wakeman-Linn has taught fiction writing for fifteen years. She edited the Potomac Review for twelve years. Her short stories have appeared in many literary magazines. Her novel, Chasing the
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
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LEADERS
delmarvareview.com
Alex Smith is the author of Hive (Muzzleland Press), The Berserk, and Blown (Superchief Press). His stories and poems appear in Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction, Black Ink Horror, Sink Review, and The Best American Poetry Blog. He holds an M.F.A. from The New School, and lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
Hank Wallace, a Columbia Law School graduate, was a government reporter for New Jersey’s Middletown Courier and Red Bank Daily Register, and the assistant director of law-school publishing for Matthew Bender. He wrote the FCC’s plain-language newsletter and newswriting tips for the Radio Television Digital News Association. More about him at: www.wsln.com. Richard Washer, M.F.A., playwright and director, was a founding member of Charter Theater and currently works with First Draft as a playwright and director. His full-length plays include Missa at New Works Theatre, Of a Sunday Morning (Charter Theater), and Monkeyboy (co-written with Keith Bridges and Chris Stezin; Charter Theater). Coming up in March of 2018, his play Persephone: A Burlesque will receive a workshop reading at First Draft at the Rose Theatre.
Website:
Dave Singleton is the author of three books, including The Mandates, Behind Every Great Woman and the literary memoir anthology CRUSH, Writers Reflect on Love, Longing and the Power of Their First Celebrity Crush (Harper Collins, April 2016). His work has appeared in several print and online publications, including The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Salon, Huffington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, and OUT.
Leopard Finding the Lion, a finalist for the Bellwether Prize, was published in 2012. Her story collection was a finalist for the WWFH 2014 fiction prize.
FROM THE WORKSHOPS
The Writer’s Center
Edited by: B. Rae Perryman After a quick call for work for the publication of this magazine, I was floored with the quality of submissions I received. We are grateful to our instructors for providing excellent courses and guidance, but it makes the staff of TWC so happy to see participants enthusiastic about their work. Below, you will find a tiny sampling of what was received. Thank you to all those who submitted – you provided hours of joy to our staff, and we hope you will submit again.
Beekeeper’s Blessing May your eggs germinate, Your larvae flourish, Your pupae prosper, Your workers do well, Your drones develop and do the trick, And your queens score, coarsen, and continue. May your swarms be scarce, Your mites be munched, And your beetles busted. May your dearths be ephemeral, Your pollen be plentiful, And your nectar be copious.
Ode To Journeying
May your bees abound, Your colonies be crammed, Your nucs succeed, Your hives thrive, And your apiaries proliferate. By: Frank Linton Grief penetrates the hidden chambers of my heart As my beloved rides a dromedary with passion In her pursuit, I shall wail and cry Till mud forms from dust, submerging her into submission Don’t torment my heart, for this untamed bird Hardly ever returns once it sees rejection Blessed are the circles of love and devotion Where the status of a prince and a pauper are one This sad melody keeps ringing in my ear My youth shall end and not cherished, I fear Famous 18th Century Persian Poet: Tabib Esfahani Translated by: Sona (Fatemeh) Mohammadi
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If I could, I’d fly to the land of Midnight Sun. Arms outstretched, I’d let wind toss me and float through sky. Swim through clouds – how hard could it be? I’d head to where water crashes down fjords and wooden stave churches stand upright after hundreds of years. There night is light and sky alive, swirling fireballs of green-red-blue. I’d hike through green Carpathians, eye intricate eggs – miniature horses, waves, circles -smallest of triangles nestled in my hand. At nightfall I’d sail up the Dnipro river, splash of oars luring me to sleep. Stars. The luscious lull of silence. By: Ksenia Rychtycka “I’m a fiction writer and poet and recently took Meg Eden’s workshop on putting together a chapbook! It was a wonderful experience and very helpful! It’s difficult to find an online class on chapbooks and Meg provided valuable information and resources.”
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
FROM THE WORKSHOPS
Haiku Dark skies promise rain— Hot summer air heavy with anticipation Leaves fluttering in triplets, branches swaying in eighth notes: arabesque
Tanka The muddled beat of a heart caught between grief and disillusionment— Am I to mourn your loss or rejoice my awakening?
By: Hannah Ball-Brau
5:19 She silently surveys the baseboards of her bedroom. Wood lines trace the length before folding neatly into a mitered corner and continuing onward to the width. The abutting carpet stands erect, hot from her vacuum. Her breathing slows the longer she surveys the space. Devoid of dust, used water glasses, little piles of shit. “Perfect, perfect, perfect,” she chants to herself. The clock reads 5:19 and she knows her time is over. Rattle, clink, Slam! Her fiancé loosens his tie, unbuttons his starchy work shirt and tosses it at the hamper. His shirt struggles before sliding down the hamper’s side, onto the carpet. By: Katherine D’Zmura “I am new to the DMV area and found community at The Writer’s Center. Caroline Bock’s 4 Stories 4 Weeks was equal parts inspiration, boot camp and useful critique. I enjoyed her class immensely and would gladly be her student again.”
“Rendezvous in Rockefeller Center is a masterpiece in storytelling that uncoils the mysteries of life, love, and lost opportunity. Gillen takes us on a slow burn of tension through the eyes of characters separated by a lifetime of experiences, yet forever connected. The powerful setting undergirds Gillen’s ability to capture the intersections into which ordinary people often pass each other briefly, only to collide later as they face the stunning consequences of that encounter. Do yourself a favor: Rendezvous with this book!” James Mathews, former Chairman of The Writers Center and author of Last Known Position. This roller coaster love story set in NYC & Charleston, South Carolina, is available at: www.nealpgillenbooks.com, www.createspace.com/7531349, and www.amazon.com
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
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FROM THE WORKSHOPS
The Writer’s Center
Discovering Julia Julia Tagliere wins 2017 Undiscovered Voices Fellowship he D.C. literary community has T many famous faces, but what about the people you haven’t heard of yet? The Writer’s Center is dedicated to providing space and signal boosting for the undiscovered, emerging writers in our area. Each year, The Writer’s Center hosts a contest for the Undiscovered Voices Fellowship. Our panel of expert judges—consisting of workshop instructors and full-time writers—deliberates, and chooses which pieces advance to future rounds. After a third and final round of deliberations, a winner is chosen. It’s a prestigious fellowship that comes with a year of free courses at the Center, where the chosen fellow will work toward completion and publication of a manuscript in progress. This year’s winner is Julia Tagliere, an area writer whose work has appeared in The Writer, The Bookends Review, Potomac Review, and Hay & Forage Grower. Of that last publication,“Yes,” Tagliere says, “That’s a thing!” She has also published in several anthologies, including Here in the Middle: Stories of Love, Loss, and Connection from the Ones Sandwiched in between; Candlesticks and Daggers—An Anthology of Mixed Genre Mysteries; the juried photography and prose collection Love + Lust; and The Way to My Heart: An Anthology of Food-Related Romance.
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Her short story, “Te Absolvo,” was named Best Short Story in the 2015 William Faulkner Literary Competition. “I’m incredibly honored and excited to see what the year ahead will bring,” she says of her 2017 Undiscovered Voices win. While she was a bit hesitant to tell us what she as a writer thinks makes a great short story, “as a reader,” she says, “I find that the stories I most appreciate move me in a way that lingers long after I’ve finished reading. It could be a really well-developed character, an unexpected twist in the narrative, lush imagery or rich, vivid language. In the best stories, all of those elements are present.” When asked about setbacks and advice for budding writers, she says, “My biggest setback was probably being rejected repeatedly by a particular M.A. program some years back. It really stung for a while, to keep applying and keep being rejected. I dealt with it,” she explains, “by spending the next several years after my third and final rejection doing a lot of reading, independent studying, and connecting with other writers to try to reach a point where I felt comfortable applying again.” With much perseverance, Tagliere has made more than good. “Writing can be a very lonely business, if you let it be,” she cautions.
“Step away from your keyboard for a while and engage with other writers. Take classes, attend conferences, engage with folks online via social media, form a writing group of your own, support local writers in their endeavors. Those connections not only can sustain you when you get down in the dumps about a given work-inprogress—and you will—but they can also help you learn about opportunities that will contribute to your growth as a writer. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! Ms. Tagliere currently resides in Maryland with her family, where she recently completed her M.A. in Fiction Writing at Johns Hopkins University. To learn more and read her writing, visit: ww.justscribbling.com.
Call for Judges Do you know when to follow the rules of writing, and artful ways to bend them? Are you an editor for a living? If you are an instructor, have an MFA, or are a professional writer, editor, or writing coach, we want you to judge one of our contests! Please contact B. Perryman at b@writer.org and indicate whether you have interest in Undiscovered Voices or First Novel Prize.
Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
WE ARE GRATEFUL
for the most up-to-date news and information, visit www.writer.org
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ABOUT US
The Writer’s Center
The Writer’s Center Mission Statement The Writer’s Center cultivates the creation, publication, presentation and dissemination of literary work. We are an independent literary organization with a global reach, rooted in a dynamic community of writers. As one of the premier centers of its kind in the country, we believe the craft of writing is open to people of all backgrounds and levels of ability. The Writer’s Center is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization and donations are tax deductible.
Executive Director
Marketing & Communications Manager
Elizabeth Cummings
Iyana Moore
Director of Programs
Office Manager
Laura Spencer
Grace Mott
Development & Community Outreach Manager
Bethany Rae Perryman
The Writer’s Center 4508 Walsh Street Bethesda, MD 20815
Board of Directors
301.654.8664 www.writer.org
Chair: John M. Hill
Vice Chair: Mark Cymrot
Treasurer: Margaret Meleney Poet Lore is the oldest continuously published poetry journal in the United States. We publish semi-annually, and submissions are accepted year-round. Subscription and submission information is available at www.poetlore.com.
Book Gallery
Secretary: Patricia Harris
Chair Emeritus: Sally Mott Freeman Ken Ackerman • Margot Backas • Linna Barnes • Naomi F. Collins Les Hatley • Howard Lavine • James T. Mathews • Jim McAndrew Joram Piatigorsky • Bill Reynolds • Mier Wolf • Wilson W. Wyatt, Jr.
Honorary Board
TWC’s book gallery carries an extensive collection of literary magazines and books on craft.
Kate Blackwell • Tim Crawford • Dana Gioia • Jim & Kate Lehrer Alice McDermott • Ellen McLaughlin • E. Ethelbert Miller • Howard Norman
Supported in part by:
The Writer’s Center also gratefully acknowledges the support we receive from: The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Tau Foundation, The Omega Foundation, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, and The Bydale Foundation.
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Workshop & Event Guide Winter/Spring 2018
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