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Writing in Response to Cancer
Instructor: Cora Schenberg and Carolyn O'neal Cost: $189 Members | $210 Non-members 8 Tuesdays, September 20 -November 08, 2016 | 1:00 PM-3:00 PM A Class for Patients, Survivors and Caregivers. Cancer may be viewed as an embodiment of chaos. When it strikes, it wreaks havoc on our lives and those of our loved ones. In contrast, writing gives us the chance to create order, in the form of stories, poems, blogs, journal entries, etc. Cora Schenberg and Carolyn O’Neal, writers…
Find out more »Writing Children’s Picture Books
Instructors: Anne Marie Pace and Hannah Barnaby Cost: $189 Members | $210 Non-members 8 Wednesdays, September 21 -November 09, 2016 | 10:00 AM-12:30PM Picture books are a child’s earliest introduction to the power of story. We’ll explore elements of classic and current picture books, study the spectrum of commercial to literary picture books, examine the relationship between text and image, and most importantly, generate ideas and develop them into polished drafts. You’ll complete the class with both a deeper appreciation…
Find out more »Writing Your Young Adult Novel
Instructor: Hannah Barnaby Cost: $189 Members | $210 Non-members 8 Mondays, September 19 -November 21, 2016 | 6:30 PM-9:00 PM When you hear "young adult novels," do you think of vampires, tragic love stories and teen angst? The YA genre encompasses this and so much more. This course will explore questions of craft and current trends in the marketplace. Writing exercises will clarify and re-energize student work. After 8 weeks, students will have a fully revised first chapter and deeper…
Find out more »Find Your Story’s Sweet Spot – Only Two Spots Left!
Instructor: Betty Joyce Nash Cost: $189 Members | $210 Non-members 8 Wednesdays, September 21 - November 09, 2016 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM What sets a great short story apart from its mediocre cousins? How do award winning short story writers use dialogue, character, and action to build layered, lively scenes that plunge us into life's mysteries, compelling us to keep turning pages? We'll dissect a handful of short stories from the masters and write our own from scratch, workshopping…
Find out more »Submissions and Publications
Instructor: Kristen-Paige Madonia Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, December 10, 2016 | 10:00 AM-2:00 PM This seminar will focus on the preparation process required for submitting to magazines and literary journals. We will discuss proper manuscript formatting techniques and ways to compose a cover letter. We will explore various publications and how students can determine which magazines are appropriate for their work, and we will workshop first pages of student manuscripts, discussing elements that are likely to engage…
Find out more »Write Without Wrong
Instructor: Phil Jason Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, January 28, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM The idea behind this seminar is to unlearn or at least explore the territory outside the rules that we were taught dogmatically back when we first learned how to write. It will involve a number of fun, unusual exercises that challenge students to discover the vast realm of possibilities beyond the idea of right and wrong. We'll take a look at some successful…
Find out more »Playwriting through Memory, Invention, and Constraints
Instructor: Ariel Stess Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, February 11, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM Playwriting through Memory, Invention, and Constraints is a playwriting workshop with an emphasis on using memory to inspire dramatic premises, emotional journeys, character development, on-stage imagery, and setting. We will also utilize exercises for conjouring new worlds and moments, and inventing and developing new characters, premises, and storylines. Lastly, we will use constraint-based writing exercises to generate ideas for dynamic scenes, conflicts, and…
Find out more »Writing with an Open Heart
Instructor: Lisa Ellison Cost: $189 Members | $210 Non-members 8 Tuesdays, January 10 - February 28, 2017 | 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM As writers develop a steady practice, feelings emerge, stories from the past surface, and patterns become clear. But how do you write with an open heart in the face of self-judgment or emotional pain? This class will teach writers how to develop self-compassion, address instances of doubt that threaten to derail projects, and make sense of the judgments…
Find out more »Embrace Your Weird: Dealing with Your Inner Critic and Unleashing Your Authentic Creativity
Instructor: Lisa Jakub Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, March 4, 2017 | 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM We want to write, but sometimes that inner critic gets loud. Really loud. This seminar will help you shed the constraints you may be placing on your work and allow you to access your natural creativity. We’ll look at ways to deal with persistent inner (and outer) critics and move beyond writer’s block. We will talk about using your past as…
Find out more »Winning Over a Trade Publisher
Instructor: Bob Friedman Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Sunday, March 5, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM You've written a book and you're anxious to get it out into the world. It's tempting to turn to the many avenues for self-publishing, especially when it's clear that a very small percentage of writers ever get a publishing deal. In this seminar, you'll learn why it's well worth the effort to try to get a trade publisher interested in your work. You'll…
Find out more »Removing the UN from UNPublished: The Business of Publishing Picture Books
Instructor: Anne Marie Pace Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, February 25, 2017 | 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM This seminar will focus on the practical aspects of the picture book writer’s journey from revised draft to publication. We will discuss how to determine whether or not a manuscript is ready for submission, ways to find a critique group and other resources for support, whether to get an agent or submit directly to publishers, how to research agents and…
Find out more »How to Get Your Book Published
Instructor: Jane Friedman Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Sunday, March 26, 2017 | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM ***This Session will be held at CitySpace 100 5th St NE, Charlottesville, VA 22902 Learn all the basics of how to get your book published, including how to research publishers and agents, write query letters, and pitch your work. You'll understand what expectations you should have when it comes to the publication process—as well as marketing and promotion of your work—and…
Find out more »Finding Your Emotional Truth
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann and Russel Grieger Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, April 15, 2017 | 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM “When the soul is on the page, literature has been created.” – Frank Conroy Creative writing is a supreme human activity that requires a writer to understand one’s self and one’s subject at the deepest level – from the inside-out. Looked at through the lens of human psychology, these twin stand-alone seminars focus on two of the deep…
Find out more »Five Hundred Words or Less
Instructor: Amanda Korman Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday 4/22/17 | 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM What can a writer accomplish in 500 words? In this single morning seminar, we will explore the power of short prose by closely reading and discussing examples and writing and sharing our own.This seminar will also be an opportunity to survey a cross-section of craft techniques for creating excellent prose of any length. So while this session will certainly be of interest to…
Find out more »Becoming Fearless
Instructors: Jay Kauffmann and Russel Grieger Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, 4/29/17 | 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” – Joseph Campbell Fear can and will quell artistic passion and inhabit creative expression. This seminar will illuminate the root source of all such interfering fears, help participants expose the foundations of their own fears, and teach how to eradicate them so as to be able to freely express their…
Find out more »Writing for Social Justice
Instructor: Gail South Cost: $189 Members | $210 Non-members 8 Thursdays 3/23/17 - 5/11/17 | 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM Elie Wiesel said, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” In this class we will explore how to write stories about issues that matter to us—humanitarian, environmental, political, etc.— in ways that move readers and compel them to examine their own prejudices. We will look at brief excerpts from…
Find out more »Keep the Pages Turning: A Mini Retreat
Instructor: Debby Prum Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, 6/10/17 | 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM This mini retreat is for writers of all levels. Come to discuss elements of point of view, learn how to create sympathetic characters, find ways to break out of old writing habits, and consider new ways to approach universal writing challenges. Think of this as agility training for your writer's mind. Attendees will listen to brief (painless) talks, participate in a few (fun) improv exercises,…
Find out more »Writing Love
Instructor: Amanda Korman Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, 06/17/17 | 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM This seminar is for prose writers who are looking to make vivid the feelings—all the feelings, joyful and otherwise—of love. We’ll discuss fiction and nonfiction that explore loves of many kinds—familial, platonic, romantic, marital, extramarital, erotic—and we’ll work on ways to sharpen the portrayals of love in our own work. Amanda Korman is a writer whose short fiction has appeared in the Virginia Quarterly Review.…
Find out more »Embodying the Muse
Instructors: Polly Lazaron and Lisa Ellison Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, 6/24/17 | 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM Inspiration exists in many places and is unique to the individual. Over the millennia, many cultures have used drumming, dancing, yoga, and similar practices to invoke the muse—the force of intuition, inspiration, and creativity in all its forms—as it expresses itself within the body. These physical practices can lead to creative insights, inspiration, and a heightened awareness of our inner…
Find out more »Writing 101: The Elements of Good Storytelling
Instructor: Lisa Ellison Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Tuesdays, 5/23/17 - 6/27/17 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Whether you’re interested in writing true stories or fiction, the elements of great storytelling are the same. Writers need to know how to develop interesting characters, establish a story’s central conflict, write engaging scenes, and use vivid sensory details. They also need to know how to give and receive supportive editorial feedback. During this six-week class, we’ll examine the elements…
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