Workshop Calendar
June 15, 2008
Madeline Tiger Workshop
Five Days of Poetry with Madeline Tiger
Our five days of work will involve reading, writing, sharing, and discussion. We will have "warm-up" exercises daily, prompts for further work, and time for private writing. Ms. Tiger will be available for consultation at convenient times every day. The group will come together for several hours each day to discuss issues that challenge writers, and to consider members' drafts when they are ready to share. Students will be encouraged in both free and formal poetry writing. We will discover noteworthy instances of image, music, and metaphor, as well as strategies of entering and shaping the lines, uses of voice, and the exercise of wit. We will look at various published poems that exemplify style, voice, and craft, relevant to our discussions and to participants' work. Members are encouraged to bring in poems by other writers, interesting or puzzling- examples that might be useful models for the group. The main emphasis, every day, however, will be on participants' own work.
Listening is an important art: participants will find ways to "hear" in useful detail as they attend these sessions. Oral presentations will be the natural medium of working together. We will practice techniques of sharing poems aloud; in a supportive, quiet workshop environment, members develop effective ways to present their work.
We will become a "community" of fellow writers, and there will be guidelines for constructive critiquing. The atmosphere will be informal and relaxed, although we will be working hard. Ms. Tiger promotes respect for individual styles and needs; her emphasis is always on receptivity and mutual support.
By the end of the five day session one may expect to have a small "body of work." Some of it will be for the writer to polish further until it achieves its "final" shape. Some of these pieces may soon be ready for publication, and participants will be advised on the process of submitting poems and how to find appropriate outlets for one's work.
Perhaps we will be ready, by the end of the week, to produce a small "anthology" of poems the participants have written here. But our primary focus will be on writing and talking about writing: the "practice of poetry" is an end in itself. This practice saves lives.
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Oct 6- 10, 2008
Tan Gillespie's Watercolor Workshop
Tan teaches Drawing and Design, and Watercolor at the Valley Art Center , and is an active member of the Hudson Society of Artists and The Valley Painters. She has exhibited and won awards in shows with the Georgia Watercolor Society, the Scottsdale Art League and the Midwest Watercolor Society, and has held several single artist exhibitions. She is represented by the Watson Gallery in Atlanta , and Gallery One in Mentor , Ohio . Spend an exciting five days painting watercolors with Tan as she unlocks the painter within you!
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Oct 12-17, 2008
Lola Haskins' Writers' Workshop
Whether you're a beginner or an experienced writer, there are words inside you that you'd not have thought possible. Come to Chautauqua and spend a week writing in the company of like-minded souls. You'll witness how your work touches others. You'll help and be helped. And our regimen of alternating silence and passionate guidance will send you home renewed-ready to write more clearly, more beautifully, more deeply than ever before.
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October 12-17, 2008
Robert Bausch's Workshop
Five Days of Fiction Writing
This workshop is an intensive exploration of the elements of writing fiction, the uses of the imagination, and the demands of literary genres, including the short story and the novel. The workshop will focus on techniques for character development, plot, conflict, dialogue, beginnings, endings and resolutions, the writing process, and basic storytelling. Each participant will work with workshop members and the workshop leader to produce the best piece of writing possible. Some emphasis will be placed on revision of early drafts and finishing false starts.
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Oct 19-23, 2008
Susan DeBow's Workshop
Hallelujah!
Making Your Writing Sing!!!
The "voice" is not just an instrument used by singers ... "voice" is also instrumental in writing. How do you say what you say? How do you decide what format best suits what you want to write? Is your voice saying essay, poem, short story, novel, nonfiction, essay, article? How do you make your voice "sing," which is the goal.
We will work on finding or strengthening our voices through writing and a bit of painting. Digging into our heads, hearts and souls, we will find our true creative selves. Not only are writing and painting tools to be used to communicate with others, they are also wonderful ways to help us figure out who we are and what we believe. Writing and painting are gifts that can be used to share, improve, validate and honor our lives. And to just plain have fun.
The camaraderie of people with common interests creates an energy and experience that writers often find missing in their everyday lives. We will have the best of both worlds. We will gather together to learn, share and laugh, (I am big on laughing!). And we will have our alone time where we can ponder what we want to do as individuals.
And to add color to our writing lives, I will share with you how to transition from one creative discipline to another. Find out how fascinating the relationship between writing and painting is and how the creative process can make you grow in both areas.
Much of all that I have stated above has to do with finding a level of confidence, learning how to trust what you see, what you think, and how you feel. We will work on that and ridding ourselves of the committee in our head. We will silence the voices of those who have told us we can’t or shouldn’t. We will find silence and support in the world we create ... and listen to our creative, soulful voices. And our voices will sing.
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Nov 2-6, 2008
Darlin' Neal's Fiction Writing Workshop
In this nurturing writing community, we will read, write, share and discuss fiction writing for five days. We’ll spend a part of each day generating new material through in session writing exercises. I’ll also provide you with prompts to use in your own private writing time. As a group, we will also spend a part of each day workshopping your stories and chapters. We will explore how the elements of fiction: theme, point of view, characterization, scene, plot, etc, work in our own stories as well as in that of published authors. The main emphasis, every day, however, will be on participants' own work. The true value of a workshop is that it affords the rare experience for a writer of actually sitting in with your audience, listening to their questions, their confusions, their admiration.
What I hope for each of you to leave with is a stronger sense of story and of your own voice. We’ll also aim at each of you leaving with a solid story, opening chapter, or small collection of short shorts, at the very least.