Master Classes

Master Class registration closed

Master Classes offer advanced writers a chance to delve more deeply into a particular genre.

Each Master Class will take place over the course of Sessions I and II, and will be limited to the first 10 qualified registrants.

While publication credits are not required, Master Class participants should be experienced writers, dedicated to their craft, with at least some experience in workshop settings. Applications will be reviewed, and qualified registrants admitted, on a rolling basis, until the Master Class is full or the deadline of Friday, October 18, whichever comes first.

Please submit your current CV, along with the required manuscript (see each Master Class’s course description, below, for its manuscript requirements), to masterclass@ncwriters.org, on the day you register for the Fall Conference. You cannot be considered for a Master Class until we receive your CV and required manuscript. Again, the deadline to apply for a Master Class is Friday, October 18.

When you register for the Fall Conference, if applying for a Master Class, please choose another workshop as a back-up for each session, in case you are not admitted to the Master Class. Application to a Master Class requires a non-refundable $20 processing fee, in addition to the Fall Conference registration fee. If registering for the conference online or by phone, you can pay this processing fee with a VISA, MasterCard, or Discover. If registering by mail, you must include a separate check for $20.

Fiction Master Class: Texture and Context – History and Legend in Your Writing with Valerie Nieman Master Class registration closed

If you’re writing historical fiction or nonfiction, then you know that accurately depicting the period is an essential and ongoing task. That’s also true for work set in the here and now–we can best be immersed in the story by the small details that bring the people, place, and time to life. In this master class, we’ll focus on how research (both academic and lived experience!) underpins your story and provides both explanatory context for the events and weaves a tapestry of reality as you build a fictional world. In my own work, I’ve pored over 18th century texts, used experiences sailing and living at a marina, hiked across Scotland, sought out micro-local history and legends, and visited graveyards and churches and standing stones. We’ll talk about resources, some ways of approaching research, mining your own life history, and talking to strangers! During the sessions, I’ll share examples from writers whose depth of fictional reality will inspire us with the possibilities. Please bring a notebook and pen as we may do some generative practice.

Please submit up to 1,500 sequential words from a single work, along with your current CV in a separate attachment, on the same day that you register for the conference. Submissions should be saved in an MS Word document, using double-spaced 12-point Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman font, with numbered pages, and sent as an attachment to masterclass@ncwriters.org. The Word document’s file name should include your own last name, and the title of the work and your name should appear on the submission itself. If accepted into the Master Class, your submitted work will be shared with other Master Class registrants.

Each registrant should be ready to handle the intensive instruction and atmosphere of the Master Class.

Poetry Master Class: Slippin’ into the Future: Managing Time in Poems with Ross White Master Class registration closed

Some poems can stretch a single moment across the page, while others compress generations into a few lines. In this workshop, we’ll study a few poems that masterfully manipulate time and consider how the presentation of time can be managed through syntax, structure, image, metaphor, and narrative markers. Then we’ll consider how your own poems might challenge their chronologies to alter a reader’s attention, create anticipation, interrogate the past, or propose possible futures.

Please submit three poems, totaling no more than five pages, on the same day that you register for the conference, along with your current CV in a separate attachment. Poems should be saved in a single MS Word document, using single-spaced, 12-point, Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman font, and sent as an attachment to masterclass@ncwriters.org. The Word document’s file name should include your own last name, and your name and the title of each poem should appear on the submission. If accepted into the Master Class, your submitted work will be shared with other Master Class registrants.

Each registrant should be ready to handle the intensive instruction and atmosphere of the Master Class.

Master Classes continue through Sessions II.