|
|
|
Spring 2007 Writing Workshops |
||||
|
|
||||
|
All
workshops are held at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center (Philipse Manor
Railroad Station building) unless otherwise indicated.
|
||||
|
One and Two Day Workshops
Spring Workshops for Adults
Spring Workshops for Young Writers
|
|
|
One and
Two-Day Workshops To register, click here. |
|
|
INTERMEDIATE
TO ADVANCED POETRY WORKSHOP Enjoy this rare opportunity to share your work with a former, much-missed teacher at the Writers’ Center, now living in Miami. Bring ten copies of three poems to share. Fee includes free admission to the 4:30 reading by Mr. Blanco with Terese Svoboda. LIMITED TO TEN STUDENTS. Status: completed |
|
|
THE
WHEEL OF TEN: Essential Tools to Make Memoir and Fiction Come Alive Whatever your skill level, your writing will be improved through an exploration of ten essential writing tools that professional writers never leave home without: action, dialogue, pacing, point of view, backstory, chronology, setting, motive, closeness/distance, and change. Even one, well used, will bring new vibrancy to a not-quite-there-yet memoir, short story, or novel. Bring a bag lunch and a short piece of writing in progress to use during the exercises or start something new in class. Status: completed |
|
|
WRITING
FROM WITHIN Everyone has a unique story to share with the world. In this workshop you will write from the creative well within and clear away the clutter that blocks the well so that your writing overflows. With examples and exercises, you will find your stories and bring them to the light. Status: open; accepting registrations |
|
|
Spring
2007 Writing Workshops for Adults To register, click here. |
|
|
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:
Feb/March morning and afernoon sessions underway |
|
|
LIVING
THE POET'S LIFE It’s now or never! Whether you are an experienced poet who feels “stuck” or one fairly new to the craft, this workshop will help you get your poetry life on track with exercises and advice designed to get you writing poetryand keep you writing poetry. Not for beginning poets. Status: workshop underway |
|
|
MEMOIR
WRITING Writing is a solitary endeavor, and feedback is crucial to developing your voice and honing your style. Whether you are in the process of writing a memoir or just getting started, this workshop provides a supportive and constructive environment in which you will read your work aloud each week and receive responses. Your subjects may range from early childhood memories to the transforming events of adulthood, and finished pieces may be short or book-length. Several workshop members have published their work in The New York Times and various literary journals. For writers of all levels. Status: workshop underway |
|
|
THE
TRUTH HURTS, BUT IT'S FUNNY: Writing from Your Unique Point of View Through weekly assignments and class feedback you will learn to develop and trust your point of view, finding humor in even the toughest experiences, and get performance tips on how to make your live readings entertaining. The final session will be a chance to present your work to friends and family. Status: postponed -- watch here for new dates |
|
|
WRITE
A CHILDREN'S BOOK Whether you are writing (or hope to write) a picture book or a YA novel, or something in between, this class will help you think through your project. In addition to critiquing of yours and other students’ work, there will be writing exercises, discussion of some particularly successful (and maybe not so successful) published work, mini-lectures about techniques, genres, getting started, and other topics, and a suggested reading list for further exploration on your own. Former students will be given more advanced homework and rigorous critiquing. Status: workshop underway |
|
|
THE
ART OF THE ESSAY More than any other kind of non-fiction writing, the essay offers the opportunity to express, in a short and conversational form, the whole range of thoughts and feelings, from intimacy and grief to joy and epiphany. This once-neglected form, now in renaissance, allows for the most satisfying and polished examination of ideas, beliefs, troubles and pleasures by writers beginning, renowned, and (like most of us) in between. Status: cancelled |
|
|
SELF-SCRIPTING Work in a highly individualized way with renowned writer and performance artist Karen Finley to heighten your imagination and create narrative in memoir, fiction, poetry, and performance or through interdisciplinary work. Status: cancelled |
|
|
SHAPING
THE CREATIVE NONFICTION DRAFT
Shape your nonfiction
drafts into unified, complete texts. Participants are expected to submit
short drafts for peer review as well as to read and thoroughly critique
other writers’ work. Status: full; waiting list only |
|
|
WORD
PAINTING: Writing Descriptively
in All Forms Whether we write poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, we can benefit from increasing our descriptive powers. This multi-genre workshop, a followup to the workshop “Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively,” focuses on using “word pictures” to shape complete, effective literary pieces in all forms. Participants will study various descriptive techniques, complete writing exercises, and share drafts with other class members. REQUIRED TEXT: Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively Status: open; accepting registrations |
|
|
HOW
TO WRITE PAGE-TURNING FICTION Ever been kept up into the wee hours by a book you can’t put down? How do some writers grab and hold us like that? Popular genres have a lot to teach even literary writers about how to keep a story moving in a compelling fashion. Whether conveying the everyday dramas of ordinary life or the extreme situations of the pulse-pounding thriller, all writers need to consider how to develop fascinating and sympathetic protagonists, disquieting antagonists, a unique voice, well-considered plots, conflict and tension. Your characters may or may not be seeking the Holy Grail, but even quiet agonies and quiet satisfactions are deserving of that special magic it takes to keep the reader turning “just one more page.” Status: workshop underway |
|
|
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: cancelled |
|
|
INTRODUCTION
TO FICTION: Being the Character Fictional characters (like the rest of us) make choices based on who they are, what they want most, and what they’re afraid of. When you hear writers talk about their characters “taking over,” you know they understand their characters well. In this workshop you will learn specific practical techniques to put you deeply into the minds of your characters and help you use those insights to produce original and compelling writing. The techniques can help you start new stories as well as improve existing material. Status: workshop underway |
|
|
CONTINUING
FICTION For this course, Mr. Surface has developed an entirely new set of writing exercises that challenge students’ imaginations at a higher level, expanding on the skills developed in the introductory fiction class. Status: workshop underway |
|
|
Spring
2007 Workshops for Young Writers To register, click here. |
|
|
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: workshop underway |
|
|
CREATIVE
WRITING FOR AGES 11 - 13 What do George Lucas and J.K. Rowling have in common? They borrow from the best for their stories, and you can too! In this class, you’ll investigate different classic story plots and learn how to create riveting conflicts and people them with valiant heroes, loyal friends and unpredictable villains. Your stories are ready to be written, and this collaborative and supportive workshop will help you make them real page-turners. Status: cancelled |
|
|
CREATIVE
WRITING FOR TEENS AGE 14+ Nine 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: workshop underway |
|
|
To
register, click here. |
|
| About Our Instructors | |
|
|
|
 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, has just been published by Carnegie Mellon. |
 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. www.marycarrollmoore.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 in 2006 was named the first poet laureate of the town of Greenburgh,
New York. She has had her work published and performed widely, and has just
completed a collection of poetry and a young adult novel and is working
on a novel. |
 Vijai
Nathan is a writer, actor, comedienne and former journalist. She tours
nationally with her one-woman show, “Good Girls Don’t, But Indian Girls
Do” and this July was featured at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal.
She was nominated best comedian of ‘05 by South Asian Media Awards, was
chosen one of the top ten comics in the nation for the ‘04 NBC Stand-Up
for Diversity Showcase in L. A., and was named by Back Stage Magazine
as one of the top ten stand-up comics in ‘03. TV appearances include: ABC’s
20/20, PBS, The Oxygen Network, the BBC and UK Comedy Central. |
 Joanne
Dobson is the author of the Professor Karen Pelletier mystery series
from Doubleday and Poisoned Pen Press. In 2001 she was named Noted Author
of the Year by the RAAS section of the New York Library Association. Until
recently she taught literature and creative writing at Fordham University,
and she now writes full time. |
 Joan
Potter's nonfiction writing has been published in numerous magazines
and newspapers, including The New York Times, the Westchester
County Times, Woman's Day, Family Circle, and Adirondack
Life, and in the anthologies Rooted in Rock and Living North
Country. She is the author of three books, including African American
Firsts: Famous, Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America.
She has edited, among other books, 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 has also led workshops for prisoners
and Latino immigrants. |
 Karen
Finley’s raw and personal performances, written and recorded work, installations,
and visual art have long provoked controversy and debate. She has an MFA
from San Francisco Art Institute, has won numerous grants, fellowships,
and awards (including MS. Woman of the Year in ‘98 and an Obie and Coaguala
Artist of the Decade in ‘99), and is currently a visiting professor at New
York University, Tisch School of the Arts in Art and Public Policy. Her
published works include Shock Treatment, Enough is Enough, Living it
Up, and the memoir A Different Kind of Intimacy. A novella George
and Martha (think Bush and Stewart) was published by Verso in 2006.
|
 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. |
 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. |
 Susan
Tiberghien lives in Geneva, Switzerland but grew up in Briarcliff Manor.
She is the author of Looking for Gold, A Year in Jungian Analysis,
and Circling to the Center, One Woman’s Encounter with Silent Prayer.
She teaches and lectures at graduate programs, at Jung Centers, and at writers’
conferences both in the States and in Europe. Ms Tiberghien has been a workshop
director for the International Women’s Writing Guild since 1990. An active
member of International PEN, she directs the Geneva Writers Group and edits
the literary review Offshoots, Writing from Geneva. |
 Herbert
Hadad’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including The
New York Times, Poets & Writers, Reader’s Digest, Parenting, and Yankee.
They are also collected in several books, including The Random House
Guide to Writing and Sephardic American Voices: Two Hundred Years
of a Literary Legacy. He has received several awards for magazine writing
and the New York Press Club award for feature writing. One of his essays
was included as a “notable essay” in The Best American Essays 2003.
A collection of his essays, Home Fires, will be out soon. |
 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. |
 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 |
 Jane
Willis has written plays (her one-act Slam! has been performed
all over the U.S. and, most recently, in India), screenplays (including
The It Girl for Martin Poll Productions), and for daytime dramas
(garnering an Emmy Nomination along with her writing team for As the
World Turns). She taught play-writing for eight years at Sarah Lawrence
College and now focuses her teaching efforts almost exclusively on middle
school students. |
|
|
|
|
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
|
Richard
Blanco, says he’s “made in Cuba, assembled in Spain, and imported
to the United States” because his pregnant mother and the rest of the
family emigrated from Cuba to Madrid where he was born, and then only
45 days later, emigrated once more and settled in Miami where he was raised
and educated. He explored these roots in his acclaimed first book, City
of a Hundred Fires, which received the prestigious Agnes Starrett
Poetry Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press (1998). His second
book, Directions to The Beach of the Dead (University of Arizona
Press, 2005) won the 2006 PEN / American Beyond Margins Award and is winning
further enthusiastic praise. Blanco’s poems have appeared in numerous
literary journals and anthologies and he has received Bread Loaf and Florida
Artist Fellowships and has taught at Georgetown, American University and
Connecticut State University. He now lives in Miami.
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