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Late Fall 2006 / Early Winter 2007 Writing Workshops |
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All
workshops are held at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center (Philipse Manor
Railroad Station building) unless otherwise indicated.
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One and Two Day Workshops
Early Winter Workshops for Adults
Early Winter Workshops for Young Writers
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One and
Two-Day Workshops To register, click here. |
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FACT
INTO FICTION: Telling the Truth Do you want your memoir or autobiographical essay to have the beauty and drama of a good novel or short story? Do you want to learn how to turn real-life events into strong works of fiction? Explore the complex and exciting relationship between fact and fiction from two complementary angles:
Status: completed |
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NETWORKS
FOR SUCCESS: A Panel Discussion Writing may be a solitary activity, but that doesn't mean you should “go it alone.” Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, there is a large network of organizations out there to help you succeed, from places like the HVWC to festivals, retreats, colonies, grant-making organizations, and more. Three savvy guides to this network will describe the many options and answer your questions. Note: MFA programs will only be touched upon. Status: completed |
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A
STAR TO GUIDE YOU Give the writer in yourself a gift this holiday season: a plan for the New Year. In this two-hour workshop, you’ll take time to reflect on your creative strengths and dreams as writers. Then you'll draft a mission statement to use to formulate attainable goals and ‘to-do’ lists that will keep our creativity twinkling through the long, dark winter and throughout 2007. Holiday cookies served. Status: cancelled |
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JUMPSTART
YOUR POETRY WRITING LIFE Want to get writing and keep writing? This special one-session version of one of our most popular workshops presents exercises and advice to jumpstart your poetry life. We will workshop one of your poems. Bring 12 copies, and practice seeing it for what it is: a springboard to your next poem, and your next! Status: Open; accepting registrations |
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WRITING
YOUR LIFE Whether you are trying to write the story of your life for publication or as a family legacy, this workshop by the author of two memoirs will show you how to organize your stories into a readable, interesting work. You will be introduced to a simple formula that successful authors use to plan, organize, and write a book, and you will learn book-writing techniques such as the value of themes and how action and reflection balance one another in memoir and creative nonfiction. Exercises will help you put your learning into practice immediately. Status: Open; accepting registrations |
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Early
Winter 2007 Writing Workshops for Adults To register, click here. |
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HOW
TO PLAN, WRITE, AND DEVELOP A BOOK Spend some time getting to know your book—what it is about, how to structure it, how to plan to finish it! Learn a step-by-step plan, including flexible time lines, chapter grids, storyboarding, and other techniques. Look at ways to flow chapters, find holes in your material that need filling, organize research and concepts, construct plots, and bring your book to life. Learn what editors and agents look for and gain essential tips on editing and evaluating your book in all its stages. For nonfiction authors who have a book concept or a work in progress, and for novelists who need a fresh look at their material. Status:
afternoon session full; waiting list only |
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MEMOIR
WRITING Write stories taken from your own memories and experiences and free your voice as you shape the stories you want to tell in a relaxed, supportive environment. Subjects may range from early childhood memories to the transforming events of adulthood. Participants will read aloud and discuss their work each week. Status: full; waiting list only |
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SHAMELESS
SELF-PROMOTION FOR SISSIES Shy, self-effacing and introverted— the very qualities that might make you a sensitive observer of the world may work to your detriment when it comes time to interest the outside world in your work. Learn not only the nuts and bolts of self-marketing but the psychology behind marketing success. Write query letters, resumes and synopses and learn how to “put on your marketing hat” and develop the self-confidence needed to present yourself positively to others—be it agents, publishers, editors or readers. Status: cancelled |
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WRITE
A CHILDREN'S BOOK Always thought you'd write a children’s book someday? Well, it’s a lot harder than you think! But this 4- session intensive course will get you headed in the right direction. Marthe Jocelyn will guide you through the process, helping you shape your idea, recognize who your reader is, create (or avoid) an outline, find the right voice, and write your story! Lots of reading and writing is expected for maximum success. Status: full; waiting list only |
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WORD
PAINTING: Writing More Descriptively
Whether you write poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, you can benefit from increasing your descriptive powers. Based on Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively (the required text), this workshop focuses on three core elements—sensory detail, character description, and description of place. Participants will read selected chapters from Word Painting and complete exercises to share with other class members. Status: full; waiting list only |
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USING
WRITING TO NAVIGATE CHANGE Writing can be an essential healing tool for self-discovery during times of change and life transitions—job and relationship shifts, illness, loss, and any event that causes us to take a deeper look at our life choices. In a safe, creative environment, you’ll use writing exercises and discussion to help explore turning points in your life, see how published writers use their craft to facilitate self-understanding and growth, learn techniques to tap into the deeper meaning in your writing, and gain new perspectives and tools to help you move smoothly through any transition. Status: Open; accepting registrations |
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FICTION
WRITING Whether you are an experienced or beginning writer, the techniques you’ll learn in this workshop will help make your work stronger. By combining writing exercises and traditional manuscript review, you’ll learn how to unleash your narrative voice, how to give your writing the texture and power of actual experience, and how to find and highlight the emotional core of your story. Status:
Morning session full; waiting list only |
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WRITEMIND:
A Special Creative Writing Workshop for Teachers By thinking and working like a writer, teachers of writing at all levels (older elementary and up) can acquire many new insights. Enjoy a personalized hands-on experience with the narrative technique method of creative writing and acquire the teaching and assessment tools you need to encourage your students to become more creative writers. Status: Open; accepting registrations |
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Early
Winter 2007 Workshops for Young Writers To register, click here. |
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CREATIVE
WRITING FOR THIRD, FOURTH & FIFTH GRADERS Each day you take in the world around you—a fly perched on a leaf, the smell of spaghetti sauce bubbling on the stove, the sound of traffic rushing by on the street outside our window. How do you use these things to create stories and poems? This class will help stimulate your senses, imagination, and emotions, and allow you to try out various writing techniques and share ideas in a comfortable atmosphere. Status: full; waiting list only |
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CREATIVE
WRITING FOR TEENS Five workshop sessions in which writers age 14 and up can refine their “writer’s eye” and find their own voices. Participants will be challenged to use their imaginations and every sense of their being to get beyond the surface of things and to put on paper the stories and ideas that come to them. They will also celebrate the sound of words and the images they create. “It’s not like school,” says Connor-Bey, and the small groups allow for maximum individualization. Status: full; waiting list only |
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To register, click
here. |
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| About Our Instructors | |
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 Suzanne
Cleary has an MA in Writing from Washington University and a Ph.D. in
Literature and Criticism from Indiana University in Pennsylvania. She is
Associate Professor of English at SUNY Rockland. Her poems have appeared
in Poetry, Georgia Review, and other journals, and she recently
won a Pushcart Prize. Her first book, Keeping Time, hailed by Billy
Collins, is now in its second printing, and her second collection, Trick
Pear, will be published by Carnegie Mellon in early 2007. |
 Sigrid
Nunez, the author of five novels, is a 2006 fellow in Fiction from the
NY Foundation for the Arts, has been the recipient of a Whiting Writer’s
Award and a residency from the Lannan Foundation, and is the winner of many
other prizes and awards. She has taught at Amherst and Smith Colleges, Columbia
University, the New School, Sarah Lawrence College, and Washington University
as well as the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Provincetown Fine Arts
Work Center, and the Rope Walk Writer’s Retreat. www.sigridnunez.com |
 Brenda
Connor-Bey, the 2002 recipient of the Outstanding Arts Educator award
from the Westchester Fund for Women and Girls, has long been active in writer-residency
programs throughout the region, often through the Westchester Arts Council.
She is the recipient of many grants and awards (including four PEN awards)
and has had her work published and performed widely. She has just completed
a collection of poetry and a young adult novel and is working on a novel. |
 Joan
Potter’s nonfiction writing has been published in numerous magazines,
newspapers, and anthologies. She is the author of three books, including
African American Firsts: Famous, Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of
Blacks in America, published in fall 2002. She is the editor of Growing
Up Strong: Four North Country Women Recall Their Lives, a collection
of memoirs produced in a writing workshop she led in the Adirondacks. She
recently edited Mountain Shadows: An Adirondack Novel of Courage, Danger,
and Love, and is a regular contributor to the Westchester County
Times. |
 Kate
Gallagher was a children’s book editor for many years and is now a freelance
editor and consultant. She has studied poetry at the University of Iowa
and has read her work at venues throughout NYC and Westchester. |
 David
Surface was awarded a 2005 Fellowship in Non Fiction Literature from
the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and was also nominated for
the NYFA Prize. He has also twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize
in fiction. His essays and stories have been published in a wide variety
of print and on-line journals, including DoubleTake, North American
Review, Crazyhorse, Fiction and Slow Trains. He
is a founder of WriteMind, a creative language arts program for teachers
and students of grades 4 - 12, and is currently writer-in-residence at the
Bronx High School for Writing and Communication Arts. |
 Amy
Holman is the author of a poetry chapbook and of the nonfiction book,
An Insider’s Guide to Creative Writing Programs: Choosing the Right MFA
or MA Program, Colony, Residency, Grant or Fellowship. She teaches marketing
and promotion to artists through the Creative Capital Foundation and works
privately with writers to find their publishing success. She’s been a fellow
at Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, given a publishing talk to residents of
Ledig House, and taught at the HVWC, Bread Loaf, Aspen Summer Words, Manhattanville
Writers Week, North Carolina Writers Network, Spalding University, Emerson,
and The New School. www.amyholman.com |
 Catherine
Wald is author of The Resilient Writer: Tales of Triumph and Rejection
From 23 Top Authors (Persea Books, 2005), winner of an American Society
of Journalists and Authors Outstanding Book Award. She maintains an engaging
website, www.rejectioncollection.com
and her articles have been anthologized and published widely (including
The New York Times, Poets & Writers, and Writer’s Digest). |
 Marthe
Jocelyn of NYC and Stratford, Ontario, says she reads everything she
can get her hands on in children’s literature “where some of the best writing
being published today is found—and should be found.” She is the author-illustrator
of several picture books and the author of three chapter books (The Invisible
Day, The Invisible Harry, and The Invisible Enemy) and
two works of historical fiction, Earthly Astonishments, and Mable
Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Adventure. She also wrote
a non-fiction book, A Home for Foundlings, about the Foundling Hospital
in London, England, and edited an anthology of short stories for middle
grade readers called Secrets. In 2005, she was winner of the first
annual TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award for Mable Riley. www.marthejocelyn.com |
 Charlotte
Walsh has taught poetry workshops at the Lakeland Schools Children’s
Center, in New York City schools in cooperation with the Lehman College
Art Gallery, The Scarsdale Young Writers’ Conference and the Armonk Library.
Her works have been published in “Into the Teeth of the Wind” and by other
small presses. |
 Rebecca
McClanahan has published four volumes of poetry, three books about writing,
and a collection of personal essays, The Riddle Song and Other Rememberings,
which recently won the Glasgow Prize from Shenandoah. Her work has
appeared in The Best American Essays, The Best American Poetry,
Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, Kenyon Review, and
elsewhere. McClanahan, who received a Pushcart Prize in Fiction, the Wood
prize from Poetry, the Carter prize for the essay from Shenandoah,
and a 2003 New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, lives with her husband
in New York City and can be reached at www.mcclanmuse.com. |
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Past workshop schedules: Fall 2006 Summer 2006 Spring 2006 Winter 2006 Fall 2005 Summer 2005 Spring 2005 Winter 2005 |
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Notes: HVWC = The Hudson Valley Writers' Center, 300 Riverside Drive, Sleepy Hollow, NY. Classes and worshops are held in the restored Philipse Manor railroad station. For travel directions, visit our Directions page or see train schedules at Metro-North's Hudson River Line.
For further information about any of these classes or workshops, call the Writers' Center at 914-332-5953. The Hudson Valley Writers' Center - Home Page
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Kurt
Brown, the author of five chapbooks and four full-length poetry collections,
is founding director of the Aspen Writers Conference, now in its 30th
year, and the editor of three annuals which gather outstanding lectures
from writers conferences and festivals. He served for years on the board
of Sarabande Books and is currently on the board of Poets House. He teaches
in the MFA Program at Sarah Lawrence College and at writers’ conferences,
retreats and other venues across the U. S.
Mary
Carroll Moore has published ten nonfiction books (including How
to Master Change in Your Life: Sixty- Seven Ways to Handle Life’s Toughest
Moments). She has just finished her first fiction book, Breathing
Room, a collection of linked short stories, and a chapter from this
book won an honorable mention in the 2005 McKnight Awards. For twelve
years she was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, and over 200
of her articles, essays, and stories have appeared in publications such
as the Boston Globe, American Artist, and American Health.
As an editor and book doctor for major publishing houses since 1986, she
knows what it takes to write a successful book. She teaches writing at
Litchfield Community Center in Connecticut, The Loft Literary Center in
Minneapolis, and other locations around the U. S., Canada, and Europe.