"WRITE Here... in our Own Backyard"
Writer's Conference
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Ann Arbor Book Festival is pleased to bring you a fall Writer's Conference this year that will be a full-day experience where attendees can hone their skills in sessions led by a noted group of writers. These teachers have very impressive resumes and are very excited to bring you their expertise. You will note repetition of some sessions so you have the opportunity to catch a session later in the day, if you miss it earlier. The conference will be held at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor.
Review the following information to make your selections for the individual sessions. When you are ready, click here to register and pay the registration fee. The $95 fee includes coffee, three sessions, lunch, and a participant reading time; fulltime students 17 and up may register for $50. After registering, you will receive an email listing your session assignments, specific location information, and directions. Alternatively, you may download a form, fill in all applicable information, and send the completed form along with a check (made out to Ann Arbor Book Festival) to:
AABF Writer's Conference
500 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Thanks to the following businesses for their support of the Conference:
Savitski Design
MarketingNewAuthors.com
Ann Arbor Media Group
Chartwells
Goetzcraft Printers
ULitho
Ann Arbor State Bank
Location and Check-In
We will be at Pioneer High School, 601 W. Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, located on the southwest corner of Stadium and Main. We will be on the first floor, D and E Halls. There will be volunteers to direct you once you enter the building; please use the "flagpole" entrance nearest the big parking lot.
Room Assignments
- "A" Sessions - Room D 111
- "B" Sessions - Room D 113
- "C" Sessions - Room D 115
- "D" Sessions - Room D 117
Writer's Conference Sessions
8:30 am - 9:00 am - Registration / Check-In
9:00 am - 10:15 am - SESSION 1
A. The Anatomy of a Poem - Susan Hutton
Where does a poem grab you, and how has the poet created that effect? Looking at meter, lineation, imagery, tone, and other tools from the poet's bag, we'll examine how poets build poems that stay with you. Taking what we learn, we'll also experiment with these strategies in workshop exercises and, hopefully, learn to use them in our own work.
Susan Hutton is a poet and the Development Director at Leslie Science and Nature Center. She is the author of On the Vanishing of Large Creatures and a graduate of the University of Michigan Creative Writing MFA Program, and lives in Ann Arbor with her husband and two children.
B. Thinking about Description – Michael Byers
Participants in this workshop will look at various means, modes, and methods of description, analyzing each for its elements, and explorations will culminate in writing a brief piece using the different types of descriptions.
Michael Byers is a fiction writer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and of the University of Michigan Creative Writing MFA Program. His first book, The Coast of Good Intentions, is a collection of short stories set in his native Pacific Northwest. His second book (and first novel), Long for this World, is set in his hometown of Seattle, Washington, and tells the story of a geneticist facing an ethical dilemma that might lead to a cure for a fatal childhood disease. Excerpts of his work appear in Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts. Byers teaches fiction writing in the English Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
C. Twisted Places - Scott Beal
Suppose you wake up to find that all your furniture's been rearranged, or that snow has buried the entire neighborhood, or that the moon is on fire. How do you respond? In this workshop we'll explore how one twist to a familiar setting can create tension, catalyze a narrative, and offer new ways of seeing our lives.
Scott Beal is a poet, educator, freelance writer, and stay-at-home father of two. He grew up in Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Ohio, and has lived in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti since 1990. He leads the Short Story Workshop at the Neutral Zone and teaches regular writing workshops at 826michigan. In 2007-08 he was DZANC Writer-in-Residence at Ann Arbor Open School. His poems have appeared in journals, anthologies, and his chapbook, Two Shakespearean Madwomen Vs. The Detroit Red Wings. He earned his BA in 1994 and his MFA in 1996 from the University of Michigan. He got married at the Michigan Theater in 1994.
D. Picturing Your Audience Naked Only Works Half of the Time: How to Conquer Cold Sweats, Knee Quakes and the Mushmouthed Shivers - Jeff Kass
Drawing on my dozen years of spouting my writing in front of every imaginable type of audience – surly middle-schoolers, convicted felons, Ivy Leaguers, drunken bar denizens, yoga practicioners, poetry slammers, nursing home residents and 1200 unhappy teachers on their first day back from summer vacation – we'll figure out what it takes to overcome any nerves so you can publicly present your poetry and/or prose with confidence, conviction and charisma.
Jeff Kass teaches Creative Writing at Pioneer High School and Eastern Michigan University and directs the Literary Arts Programs at The Neutral Zone. He's a 2-time Ann Arbor Grand Slam Poetry Slam Champion and has performed his work in hundreds of schools, theaters, coffee shops, bars, and community centers across the country. He and his students were recently featured as part of HBO's Brave New Voices documentary series and he recently debuted Wrestle the Great Fear, a one-man performance poetry show about education. His poetry chapbook How to Rock a Hooded Sweatshirt is forthcoming from Winged City Press and his short story collection Knuckleheads will be released by Dzanc Books in 2011.
10:30 am - 11:45 am - SESSION 2
A. The Anatomy of a Poem - Susan Hutton (repeat of 9:00 session)
Where does a poem grab you, and how has the poet created that effect? Looking at meter, lineation, imagery, tone, and other tools from the poet's bag, we'll examine how poets build poems that stay with you. Taking what we learn, we'll also experiment with these strategies in workshop exercises and, hopefully, learn to use them in our own work.
Susan Hutton is a poet and the Development Director at Leslie Science and Nature Center. She is the author of On the Vanishing of Large Creatures and a graduate of the University of Michigan Creative Writing MFA Program, and lives in Ann Arbor with her husband and two children.
B. Thinking about Description – Michael Byers (repeat of 9:00 session)
Participants in this workshop will look at various means, modes, and methods of description, analyzing each for its elements, and explorations will culminate in writing a brief piece using the different types of descriptions.
Michael Byers is a fiction writer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and of the University of Michigan Creative Writing MFA Program. His first book, The Coast of Good Intentions, is a collection of short stories set in his native Pacific Northwest. His second book (and first novel), Long for this World, is set in his hometown of Seattle, Washington, and tells the story of a geneticist facing an ethical dilemma that might lead to a cure for a fatal childhood disease. Excerpts of his work appear in Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts. Byers teaches fiction writing in the English Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
C. What's Creative about Creative Nonfiction? Part 1 – Eileen Pollack
Members of this workshop will discuss what makes creative nonfiction creative. The emphasis will be on finding your voice as a nonfiction writer and figuring out how to use original, authentic questions and natural, organic forms to shape and present your material. This will be a two-part workshop.
Eileen Pollack is the author of a story collection, The Rabbi in the Attic, a novel, Paradise, New York, and a work of creative nonfiction, Woman Walking Ahead: In Search of Catherine Weldon and Sitting Bull. A collection of stories and novellas called In the Mouth was published in 2008 by Four Way Books and was named the winner of the 2008 Edward Lewis Wallant Award. Her innovative textbook and anthology, Creative Nonfiction: A Guide to Form, Content, and Style, with Readings, was published in January 2009 by Wadsworth/Cengage and she is the Zell Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan.
D. Short Things in Prose – Keith Taylor
There is an odd species of writing out there in the world. Sometimes 50 words long, it is called a prose poem; sometimes 1000 words long (still pretty short in these matters), it gets called all kinds of things--microfiction, flash fiction, the very short story, etc. We'll take a look at some of these, and how different people have used the short prose form to do different things, and then we'll try to write some.
Poet and writer Keith Taylor coordinates the undergraduate program in creative writing at the University of Michigan and formerly managed Shaman Drum Bookshop. He directs the Bear River Writer's Conference and works as an editorial consultant to Dzanc Books. He has published eleven volumes: collections of poetry and short fiction, edited volumes, and translations. His work has appeared in such publications as Story, The Los Angeles Times, Alternative Press, The Southern Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Notre Dame Review, The Iowa Review, Witness, Chicago Tribune, and Hanging Loose. His most recent book, If the World Becomes So Bright, was published in 2009 by Wayne State University Press. Recently, he contributed an entry on Ernest Hemmingway to A New Literary History of America published by Harvard University Press.
11:45 am - 12:45 pm - Lunch in the 2nd Floor Commons Area - "The Publishing Arena Now"
Join Annie Martin, Acquisitions Editor for Wayne State University Press, Mary Bisbee-Beek, Director of Marketing for the Literary Ventures Fund and past Director of Publicity/Trade Marketing and Foreign Rights Manager for the University of Michigan Press, and Matt Bell, fiction author and editor, for a lively discussion of current publishing options for writers today in the changing world of digital publishing, blogging, and other forces.
Mary Bisbee-Beek has worked in publishing since 1979. She has been the owner and Director of Beeksbee Books, an independent publicity and marketing consulting office, from 1992-2003. In 2003 she joined the University of Michigan Press, where she was the Director of Publicity and the Trade Marketing and Foreign Rights Manager. In 2008, she joined Literary Ventures Fund, where she is the Director of Marketing and Publicity.
Matt Bell is the author of a forthcoming fiction collection, How They Were Found (Keyhole, Fall 2010), as well as a novella, The Collectors, and a chapbook, How the Broken Lead the Blind. His fiction has appeared or is upcoming in magazines such as Conjunctions, Willow Springs, Unsaid, Redivider, Meridian, Gulf Coast, Caketrain, Hayden's Ferry Review, Hobart, Barrelhouse, Monkeybicycle, and Gargoyle. He is also the editor of The Collagist and the series editor of Dzanc's Best of the Web anthology series.
12:45 pm - 2:00 pm - SESSION 3
A. The Terrible Discovery and the Mechanics of Time – Scott Beal
In this workshop we'll experiment with manipulating time – slowing down, speeding up, controlling the rate at which information is withheld and disclosed – in order to recreate the experience of a terrible discovery for maximum impact.
Scott Beal is a poet, educator, freelance writer, and stay-at-home father of two. He grew up in Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Ohio, and has lived in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti since 1990. He leads the Short Story Workshop at the Neutral Zone and teaches regular writing workshops at 826michigan. In 2007-08 he was DZANC Writer-in-Residence at Ann Arbor Open School. His poems have appeared in journals, anthologies, and his chapbook, Two Shakespearean Madwomen Vs. The Detroit Red Wings. He earned his BA in 1994 and his MFA in 1996 from the University of Michigan. He got married at the Michigan Theater in 1994.
B. Short Things in Prose – Keith Taylor (repeat of 10:30 session)
There is an odd species of writing out there in the world. Sometimes 50 words long, it is called a prose poem; sometimes 1000 words long (still pretty short in these matters), it gets called all kinds of things--microfiction, flash fiction, the very short story, etc. We'll take a look at some of these, and how different people have used the short prose form to do different things, and then we'll try to write some.
Poet and writer Keith Taylor coordinates the undergraduate program in creative writing at the University of Michigan and formerly managed Shaman Drum Bookshop. He directs the Bear River Writer's Conference and works as an editorial consultant to Dzanc Books. He has published eleven volumes: collections of poetry and short fiction, edited volumes, and translations. His work has appeared in such publications as Story, The Los Angeles Times, Alternative Press, The Southern Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Notre Dame Review, The Iowa Review, Witness, Chicago Tribune, and Hanging Loose. His most recent book, If the World Becomes So Bright, was published in 2009 by Wayne State University Press. Recently, he contributed an entry on Ernest Hemmingway to A New Literary History of America published by Harvard University Press.
C. What's Creative about Creative Nonfiction? Part 2 – Eileen Pollack (part 2 of 10:30 session)
D. Picturing Your Audience Naked Only Works Half of the Time: How to Conquer Cold Sweats, Knee Quakes and the Mushmouthed Shivers - Jeff Kass (repeat of 10:30 session)
Drawing on my dozen years of spouting my writing in front of every imaginable type of audience – surly middle-schoolers, convicted felons, Ivy Leaguers, drunken bar denizens, yoga practicioners, poetry slammers, nursing home residents and 1200 unhappy teachers on their first day back from summer vacation – we'll figure out what it takes to overcome any nerves so you can publicly present your poetry and/or prose with confidence, conviction and charisma.
Jeff Kass teaches Creative Writing at Pioneer High School and Eastern Michigan University and directs the Literary Arts Programs at The Neutral Zone. He's a 2-time Ann Arbor Grand Slam Poetry Slam Champion and has performed his work in hundreds of schools, theaters, coffee shops, bars, and community centers across the country. He and his students were recently featured as part of HBO's Brave New Voices documentary series and he recently debuted Wrestle the Great Fear, a one-man performance poetry show about education. His poetry chapbook How to Rock a Hooded Sweatshirt is forthcoming from Winged City Press and his short story collection Knuckleheads will be released by Dzanc Books in 2011.
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm - Participant Readings, hosted by Jeff Kass. Signup will take place that day.
