Fall Conference 2006
Fall Conference 2006 was held in Durham, NC, at the
Sheraton Imperial Hotel. The conference is over, but we have
left this conference information on the site so that you can refer to it as a model
of what our Fall Conference is like.
Session V Classes: Fall Conference 2006
Sunday, November 12, 11:00 am-12:30 pm
PUBLISHING - What a Writer Should Expect -- and Demand -- from an Agent, Editor, and Publisher, with Chuck Adams
Algonquin's fiction editor demystifies the publishing experience and
helps writers understand just what the process should be and what they
need to expect when they commit to an agent -- and when an editor buys
their books.
ALL GENRES - Cutting through the Legalese, with Daniel Ellison
This course will provide a nuts and bolts overview of copyright and
contract law as it is relevant to writers. Attendees will learn the
steps necessary to protect an author's copyright in his or her work.
Additionally, the course will help participants understand the concept
and practicalities of "fair use" of copyrighted material as well as
explain terms and conditions frequently found in publishing contracts.
Ellison will reference several famous cases such as that of
Indian-American Harvard undergraduate Kaavya Viswanathan, who met public
scrutiny when her debut novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and
Got a Life, was revealed to have been
plagiarized from multiple sources.
ALL GENRES - Panel: Many Voices: The New Southern Literary
Canon, with Moderator Barbara Lau,
Anjail Rashida Ahmad,
Paul Cuadros,
MariJo Moore,
Tanure Ojaide, and Dorothy Spruill Redford
How are new voices in North Carolina being heard and expressed?
Novels, memoirs, and poetry abound from writers whose voices may not
have been heard in previous generations, adding to the richness of the
Southern literary voice. How do we glimpse the South ever more clearly
through the visions of those who were not born here -- Asian, African,
Latino -- and gasp! -- "Yankee" -- and those native North Carolina voices that
are now emerging? Panelists will talk a bit about their own thoughts on
the subject and read a short piece from their own or another's work,
reflecting the rich diversity of the New South. Attendees are invited to
bring their own recommended reading lists to share.
CREATIVE NONFICTION/FICTION - Writing that Matters: Connecting Your Writing with Universal Truths, with Philip Gerard
The crucial question a reader asks is always the same: "Why are you
telling me all this?" This is especially true in memoir -- stories we tell
about our own lives -- but it applies to all nonfiction and fiction. This
session explores how to make the story about the READER and not the
AUTHOR -- how to find that intersection between your passions and more
universal truths of human experience. We'll look at a couple of examples
of other writers who have made this connection successfully and how we
can translate their success into our own work.
FICTION - Writing to the Finish: A Revision Workshop, with Sean Murphy
"First thought, best thought," Jack Kerouac is famously quoted as
saying. Still, to create our finest work and find the best presentation
for these thoughts, we must go back to the page again and again,
polishing our writing until what is most essential shines through. In
this seminar we'll explore a variety of techniques for uncovering what
is essential and eliminating the excess, in order to make our writing
truly shine.
FICTION - Writing Historical Fiction: Using Historical Context as a Springboard and Backdrop for Fictional Narrative, with Robert Morgan
We will discuss the use of history as both springboard and
background for fictional narrative. Special attention will be given to
local and regional history, and to the ways characters can be integrated
into a larger historical context.
POETRY - Panel: The Making of a Poem: Master Poets Discuss How
they Work from Start to Finish, with Fred Chappell, Betty Adcock,
Gerald Barrax, and Tony Abbott
Master Poets discuss a selected work, revealing their own process
for creation, from earliest drafts to polished and published product.
Join past and present NC poet laureates Chappell and Byer, NC Literary
Hall of Fame honoree Barrax, and renowned poet Adcock for a roundtable
discussion. This is a rare opportunity to hear from some of North
Carolina's finest poets -- all together in the same room.
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