Squire Summer Writing Workshops Return to Pirate Country
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GREENVILLE—The North Carolina Writers' Network 2019 Squire Summer Writing Workshops run Thursday-Sunday, July 18-21, on the campus of East Carolina University in Greenville.
Registration is open.
The Squire Summer Writing Workshops offer an intensive course in a chosen genre (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry), with ten ninety-minute sessions over the four days of the program. Space in each workshop is limited, so that registrants can work in-depth on their own manuscript samples, as well as their colleagues’, while also studying the principles of the genre with their instructor.
This year's instructors are Alex Albright (Creative Nonfiction); Emily Colin (Fiction); and Dr. Lenard D. Moore (Poetry).
Other features include faculty readings, panel discussions, and open mic sessions—and training sessions—for registrants.
Alex Albright will lead "Dramatic Plot Not Required: Creative Nonfiction."
Good creative nonfiction is an immersion into another world. It needn’t be plot driven: It’s always more than a record of what happened, and much more than simply writing from an "I" point-of-view. Its definition, in fact, sometimes seems fluid and subjective. This session will begin with a brief historical overview of how the newest literary genre came to be before, and of how it’s variously defined. Writers will soon settle on personal goals of CNF that match their interests in writing nonfiction prose: memoir? travel, history, review or opinion piece? biography? Primary emphasis is on how writers at any stage in their career can employ the techniques usually common to writing fiction—setting, dialog, and character development especially—to better authenticate their creative nonfiction work, with a special emphasis on developing settings and a narrator’s identity appropriate to both your story and the time and place in which it occurs. Participants should bring to class introductory paragraphs for two or three of their favorite nonfiction pieces by other writers.
"Writing Fiction that Resonates with Your Readers" will be led by Emily Colin.
The core of this workshop, to which we will return again and again, will be your own work. We will explore the crucial elements that make readers want to keep turning pages, including stellar character development, a tightly-knit plot, and vivid descriptions that give insights into your characters and storyline. We’ll discuss what makes readers care about characters, how to include details that drive the story rather than bogging it down, and what to do when writer’s block strikes. Through the lens of your own writing as well as that of others, we will pay attention to what makes certain authors so good at what they do . . . and then sharpen your prose to reflect these discoveries. We’ll try our hand at new, short fiction in response to what we’ve discussed over the course of the workshop, then cap off the weekend with a conversation about the business of publishing, and how to find your niche in an ever-evolving industry.
Dr. Lenard D. Moore will lead "Form & Texture: Poetry."
In this workshop, participants will write new poems in poetic forms, particularly ghazal, kwansaba, sestina, and jazz poetry. We will read and discuss poets who write in these forms. We will encourage one another to take risks in his or her poetry. We will focus on various literary elements, such as imagery, simile, metaphor, and rhythm. The workshop will emphasize creating texture in poetry. At least one of the participants’ poems will be workshopped in class.
For full conference details, including faculty bios, click here.
This year’s workshops and on-campus housing will be in the same facility, Gateway Hall in the College Hill part of campus. Gateway Hall is the hub for the school’s Living Learning Community programs, and opened just a few weeks after the last Squire Summer Writing Workshops held at East Carolina, only four years ago.
Registrants will take most of their meals together in the nearby Todd Dining Hall, except for Thursday evening dinner on your own and the traditional Squire Saturday evening picnic.
The non-profit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to all writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.
Register On-Site for the NCWN 2019 Spring Conference
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GREENSBORO—On-site registration for the North Carolina Writers' Network 2019 Spring Conference opens at 8:00 am on Saturday, April 27, in the lobby of the MHRA Building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Upon arrival, there will be free biscuits from Biscuitville, coffee, and an open exhibit hall packed with publishers, literary journals, and organizations from around North Carolina.
On-site registrants will be able to chose from among those classes that are still open, including:
- Real Characters: Capturing People in Nonfiction Prose with Eddie Huffman
- Metaphor & Memory in Poetry with Ashley Lumpkin
- Writing Speculative Fiction with Krystal A. Smith
- The Wonder of Falling (poetry) with Charlotte Matthews
- The Basics of the Book Business, Part II with Jamie Rogers Southern
Essayist and poet Michael McFee, a recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature, the state's highest civilian award, will give the Keynote Address.
Faculty readings, open mics, and the annual Slush Pile Live! program, all take place in the afternoon.
Those interested in reading in one of the two open mic rooms can sign-up at registration beginning at 8:00 am.
The annual Slush Pile Live! will offer both poetry and prose in two rooms so that more attendees have a chance to receive feedback on their writing.
Beginning at 4:00 pm, attendees may drop off either 300 words of prose or one page of poetry in the room of their choice (prose and poetry will be read in both MHRA rooms 1214 and 1215). The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript.
Then, at 5:00 pm, a panel of editors will listen to the submissions being read out loud and raise their hand when they hear something that would make them stop reading if the piece were being submitted to their publication. The editors will discuss what they did and did not like about the sample, offering constructive feedback on the manuscript itself and the submission process. All anonymous—all live! (Authors can reveal themselves at the end, but only if they want to.)
Those interested in having their anonymous submission read should bring a hard copy of up to 300 words of prose from a single work or one page of poetry (40-line max) to one of the Slush Pile Live! rooms. Submissions should be double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font. No names should appear on the submissions.
For more details about the NCWN 2019 Spring Conference, click here.
The NCWN 2019 Spring Conference is sponsored by the MFA Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Biscuitville; and the North Carolina Arts Council.