Registration for Our Fall Classes and Seminars Begins August 5, 2018
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“Two years ago, I attempted my first NaNoWriMo. With no previous writing experience, I pounded out a 60k word rough (very rough!) draft. A few months later I signed up for a class at WriterHouse. I learned so much, so quickly. Over the following months I took more classes and and refined my manuscript. A year later I submitted it to PitchWars, a highly competitive, international competition. Out of nearly 3000 applicants, 160 were chosen (including me!) to work one-on-one with a published author followed by a showcase with literary agents. I know the only reason I was able to go from a newbie writer to having interest from top literary agents in 18 months was because of the lessons I learned at WriterHouse. So thank you, WriterHouse! “–Emily Thiede, WriterHouse student and member
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FEATURED EVENTS
April 2018
First Fridays April Art Opening: Karyn Gunther Smith
Join us for wine, cheese, and lively conversation as we celebrate the artwork of Karyn Gunther Smith. In addition to a studio practice, Karyn paints much of the time on location outdoors, where she is inspired by the changing qualities of light and atmosphere in the landscape, particularly around the sea and the Virginia mountains. Her work has been exhibited in several galleries in the Chesapeake Bay region, Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Karyn grew up in Wilmington,…
Find out more »Finding Your Voice/Structuring Your Nonfiction Work in Progress
Instructor: Elizabeth Howard $40 Members | $45 Nonmembers Saturday, 4/7/18 | 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM Is your memoir, essay or non-fiction book better said in the first or third person? What point of view carries your intended emotional impact? How can you best focus and structure your story? How can you make your opening and developing thesis fully engage the reader? Students are asked to bring one page of their work illustrating the problem/question they would like to solve. The class will…
Find out more »Writing Your Family Story
Instructor: Jay Varner $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 4/14/18 | 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM Nonfiction author Philip Gerard says, "We write out of mystery, looking for an answer we don't have, trying to resolve what troubles us, to understand what seems beyond comprehension." Has any quote better encapsulated why we write about our family? Over a few hours, through writing exercises and group discussions about selected reading, we’ll come to understand how to approach what can be one of…
Find out more »Putting the Pen to the Page: Beginning Your Novel
Instructor: Kristen-Paige Madonia $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, April 21, 2018 | 10:00 AM - 1:30 PM "A first line should open up your rib cage. It should reach in and twist your heart backward. It should suggest that the world will never be the same again." - Colum McCann, Letters to a Young Writer In an attempt to model craft techniques used by accomplished authors, this class will utilize published excerpts and in-class writing prompts to begin the…
Find out more »Make It New: Beyond Retelling in Poetry
Instructor: Chet'la Sebree $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 4/22/18 | 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Modernist Ezra Pound is largely credited for encouraging writers to try new things in response to inspiration. He sought recreation as opposed to regurgitation. In this seminar, we will discuss poems that not just retell cultural and personal histories but bring new light to them. We'll explore how poets bring fresh perspectives to Greek mythology, venerated figures, and current and historical events as well as…
Find out more »May 2018
First Fridays Art Opening with Jum Jirapan
Join us for food, wine, and lively conversation as we celebrate the artwork of Jum Jirapan. This event is free and open to the public. Accompanying by Free Verse Poems, Jum Jirapan's black and white Suminagashi paintings offer you a glimpse into the mind and the eyes of an artist; thus, looking deep inside your own heart and soul. Art lets the heart speak--unfiltered. Approaching art as therapy, Jum paints and writes to find her own truth about love and…
Find out more »Free Members-Only Event: Essential Tools for Writing a Picture Book Biography
Instructor: Katherine Erskine FREE for WriterHouse Member Wednesday, 5/16/18 | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Kathryn Erskine shares her research, approach, and multiple drafts of the recent award-winning Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with her Song, along with the key elements in writing a successful picture book biography. Come ready to try rooibos tea and cookies from South Africa. About the Instructor: Kathryn Erskine is the author of six children’s novels including National Book Award winner, Mockingbird, Jane…
Find out more »An Evening of Fiction with Writers Fran Hawthorne (The Heirs) and Meredith Cole (Posed for Murder)
May 18, 2018 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM This event will take place at New Dominion Bookshop 404 East Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902 Join us for an evening of fiction with Fran Hawthorne (The Heirs) and Meredith Cole (Posed for Murder). This event is cosponsored by New Dominion Bookshop and is free and open to the public. Until now, Fran Hawthorne spent more than three decades writing award-winning nonfiction, mainly about consumer activism and business social responsibility. Her book Ethical…
Find out more »The Writer’s Lens
Instructor: BettyJoyce Nash $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, May 20 2018 | 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM Our best fiction writers are famous for crafting breathtaking stories from everyday experiences, stories that stop us dead in our tracks with wonder. Why does that character jump off the page? Why does that setting grab us by the throat? How did the author engineer the “turn” that surprises, delights, or shocks us? In this class, we’ll closely read a masterful story…
Find out more »WriterHouse 10-Year Birthday Celebration
Join us for special readings, cake, and delicious food as we celebrate 10 years as one of only three independent writing centers in the state of Virginia. During our celebration, we'll give away ten special prizes in honor of our tenth birthday.
Find out more »WRITERHOUSE NEWS
When Publishers Fail to Market Your Book
This post appeared in the August 1, 2018 edition of the WriterHouse Newsletter. Jane is teaching Getting Your Book Published: A Year-Long Master Class during the fall 2018 term. As may have heard, not all books are adequately marketed by publishers, who may rely...
The Power of Digression
Lately, I’ve been editing my own work, trying to put together a collection of short stories I’ve worked on for three years. Revision, for me, involves a lot of cutting. I value clarity to a fault in my early drafts; later I aim to lose the excessive unnecessary...
Read the Winning Entries from the 2018 JMRL and WriterHouse Poetry Contest
We received an overwhelming response to this year's JMRL and WriterHouse Poetry Contest judged by former Virginia Poet Laureate Ron Smith. We'd like to congratulate winner Erin Wells for her poem "Nevertheless, Isabella Gibbons Reads" and co-runners-up Cynthia...
