Fall 2011 - The Writer`s Center

Transcription

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WRITER'S CENTER
Fall 2011
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writer.org
&
THE WRITER'S
CENTER
Workshop Event Guide
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
FALL 2011
Managing Editor
Maureen A. Punte
Contributing Editors
Caitlin Hill
Kyle Semmel
Contributing Writers
Brian Brodeur
Caitlin Hill
Kyle Semmel
Charles J. Shields
Tim Wendel
Paula Whyman
Illustration
Zachary Fernebok
Copy Editor
Bernadette Geyer
Contact Us
p 301-768-4084
888-558-9625 (outside MD)
f 240-223-0458
www.writer.org
[email protected]
In the Workshop & Event
Guide, The Writer’s Center’s
triquarterly publication,
you’ll find a list of all of our
upcoming workshops and
literary events, not to
mention the occasional
interview and craft feature.
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DEPARTMENTS
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2
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Welcome
Director's Note
How to Choose
Your Workshop
Events at The Writer's Center
TWC Insider
Workshop Leaders
Thank You
FEATURES
3
Mondo Peabody:
A Profile of Richard Peabody
4
Nobodies Does It Better:
A Profile of Carolyn Parkhurst
5
A Little Love to
Accompany the Cancer:
A Profile of Cate Marvin
6
In the Fall He Comes Back:
Humor and Inspiration
from Robert Bausch
Pick it up; pass it on.
writer.org
Nonfiction
Fiction
Memoir/Essay
Poetry
Stage & Screen
Songwriting
Mixed Genre
Translation
Professional Development
Younger Writers
Adults Write for Children
Capitol Hill
McLean
Online
10
Getting to Yes
with Vonnegut
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A Brief Interview
with Taylor Mali
36
Emerging Writer Fellows
2011–2012
WELCOME
THE WRITER’S CENTER
OTHER LOCATIONS
cultivates the creation, publication,
presentation, and dissemination of literary
work. We are an independent literary
organization with a global reach, rooted
in a dynamic community of writers. As
one of the premier centers of its kind in
the country, we believe the craft of writing
is open to people of all backgrounds and
ages. Writing is interdisciplinary and unique
among the arts for its ability to touch on
all aspects of the human experience. It
enriches our lives and opens doors to knowledge and understanding. The Writer’s
Center is a  (c) () nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible. A
copy of our current financial statement
is available upon request. Contact The
Writer’s Center at  Walsh Street,
Bethesda, MD . Documents and
information submitted to the State of
Maryland under the Maryland Charitable
Solicitations Act are available from the
Office of the Secretary of State for the
cost of copying and postage.
Annapolis
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
Arlington
Arlington Cultural Affairs Building
Glen Echo
Glen Echo Park
Leesburg
Leesburg Town Hall
McLean
McLean Community Center
Rockville
The Johns Hopkins University/
Montgomery County campus
BOOKSTORE
You can find us on
The Bookstore carries one of the most
extensive collections of literary magazines
in the mid-Atlantic states.
POET LORE
Established in , Poet Lore is the oldest
continuously published poetry journal in
the United States. We publish it twice a
year, and submissions are accepted yearround. Subscription and submission
information is available online at
www.writer.org/poetlore.
For directions, visit Writer.org.
WEB SITE
Our Web site is www.writer.org. It provides complete descriptions of workshops,
workshop leader biographies, interactive
workshops, event listings, resources,
Writer’s Center publications, and more.
SOCIAL NETWORKS
&
TWC’s Blog
THE WRITER’S CENTER IS
SPONSORED IN PART BY:
DIRECTIONS
The Writer’s Center is located at 
Walsh Street in Bethesda, Maryland, five
blocks south of the Bethesda Metro stop.
Walsh Street is located on the east side
of Wisconsin Avenue. For more detailed
directions, please visit www.writer.org.
PARKING
Metered parking is across the street from
our building. The meters are . per
hour on weekdays and free on weekends.
The Writer’s Center gratefully acknowledges
assistance received from the Cultural Alliance
of Greater Washington’s Business Volunteers
for the Arts Program, the Cafritz Foundation,
and The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation.
WRITER’S CENTER STAFF
Executive Director
Stewart Moss
Publications & Communications
Genevieve DeLeon
Caitlin Hill
Maureen A. Punte
Kyle Semmel
Workshops & Events
Sunil Freeman
Development & Operations
Karen Callwood
Business & Operations
Zachary Fernebok
John Hamilton
Jennifer Napolitano
Laura Spencer
CONTACT US
p 301-768-4084
888-558-9625 (outside MD)
f 240-223-0458
www.writer.org
[email protected]
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sally Mott Freeman
Chair
Neal P. Gillen
Vice Chair
Les Hatley
Treasurer
Ken Ackerman
Secretary
Margot Backas
Sandra Beasley
Naomi Collins
Mark Cymrot
Michael Febrey
Patricia Harris
John M. Hill
Ann McLaughlin
E. Ethelbert Miller
Joram Piatigorsky
Bill Reynolds
Rose Solari
Linda Sullivan
Dulcie Taylor
Mier Wolf
Wilson W. Wyatt, Jr.
HONORARY BOARD
Cicely Angleton
Kate Blackwell
Dana Gioia
Jim Lehrer
Kate Lehrer
Alice McDermott
Ellen McLaughlin
Howard Norman
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DIRECTOR'S NOTE
This issue of our Workshop &
Event Guide kicks off a momentous year for The Writer’s
Center, the th anniversary
of our founding, when we’ll
have an opportunity to celebrate the role the Center has
played in the lives of thousands
of writers. From its earliest
beginnings in  in Glen
Echo Park as a small but
vital literary community, the
Center has grown into one of the largest literary centers
in the country, with more than , members and a rich
variety of workshops and events in which more than ,
individuals of all ages from throughout the Metro d.c. area
participate each year.
What has enabled us to flourish, and at the same time
maintain the intimacy that characterizes everything we
do, has been the loyalty of our members and the passion
of our workshop leaders to help their students become
better writers. The workshop, as all of us who have taken
one know, is a communal experience. Out of this process
of give and take, friendships are formed that last for years
and continue to be nurturing long after the workshops
have ended. And events like the Sunday Open Door
readings that have been a tradition at The Writer’s Center
almost from its founding enable writers to read their work
to a receptive audience in a relaxed, informal setting.
In this th anniversary year, the only way the Center
can continue to offer terrific workshops taught by devoted
teachers and bring in important authors from across the
country and around the world is to strengthen our financial
resources. These past few years have challenged us—as they
have nearly all nonprofit arts and educational organizations—to do more with less. But we believe we’ve found
ways to begin changing this dynamic and, in the process,
serve our members even better:
• We’ve added a new household membership
(see page ) that allows individuals living
at the same address to receive all the advantages of the community members’ discount.
• We’ve streamlined the refund policy (see
page ), which we think will result in
fewer workshops being cancelled because
of low enrollment.
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• We’ll continue to carry a wide variety of
literary journals for sale in our bookstore
and make books available for sale at events.
Currently, workshop books can be purchased
through Amazon. In the future, member
books and books on craft will be recognized
on Writer.org and will be purchasable online.
• In addition to our satellite programs in
Annapolis, McLean, Leesburg, and Glen
Echo, and our summer program for teens
in Rockville, we’ll be offering a selection
of workshops at the newly renovated
Hill Center on Capitol Hill (see page ).
• A th Anniversary Reading Series (see page )
will bring to the Center such highly regarded
writers as poets Martín Espada and Stanley
Plumly; novelists Robert Bausch and Bharati
Mukurjee; Charles J. Shields, the author of
a forthcoming biography of Kurt Vonnegut;
and widely acclaimed spoken word poet
Taylor Mali.
• We have developed a new series of workshops
designed specifically for members of the legal
and business communities.
• Finally, in September, we’ll be launching the
th Anniversary annual fund, which will give
everyone who loves and has benefited from
The Writer’s Center a chance to translate their
loyalty and affection into financial support.
When I became Executive Director of The Writer’s Center
back in November, I was fortunate to join an organization
dedicated to fulfilling a need that I believe is central to the
human experience: to help people tell their stories and find
the best ways to tell them. I hope you’ll join with me and
our staff, the members of our Board of Directors, and the
thousands of writers who have come through our doors
over the past  years as we commemorate the Center’s
remarkable history, ensure the Center’s future, and celebrate all the stories we have yet to write.
With great appreciation and warm regards,
This year marks the 35th Anniversary of TWC.
Throughout the year, I’ll be asking writers to
profile members—past and present—who’ve
gone on to publishing success. TWC has nurtured the writing lives of thousands in the D.C.
area. The list of TWC “success stories” is long. I’d
like to share these stories with you in the WEG,
online at our Web site, in our Weekly Guide
e-mail, and at First Person Plural. —Kyle Semmel
In our era of increasing specialization, it’s downright
refreshing to find someone who not only has a hand in just
about everything but excels at it, too. Richard Peabody’s
business card has plenty of lines—teacher, editor, publisher,
poet, and fiction writer. Through his nationally recognized
Gargoyle Magazine, as well as an extensive list of anthologies,
he has influenced a generation of Washington area writers,
including Julia Slavin, Mary Kay Zuravleff, Dallas Hudgens,
Leslie Pietrzyk, and Tom Carson.
Richard grew up in Bethesda (where his father, Richard, Sr.,
once ran a pet store on Wisconsin Ave.) and went on to
receive a b.a. in English from the University of Maryland
and an m.a. in Literature from American University. His
work is often set in the d.c. area and strongly influenced
by the Beat Generation and the experimentalism of the
s. In addition, Richard has taught at a number of
local schools including Georgetown University, University
of Maryland, The Johns Hopkins University, St. John’s
College, and The Writer’s Center.
In fact, few have a longer connection with The Writer’s
Center. Legend has it, and Richard confirms, that when
founder Allen Lefcowitz first raised the possibility of
a place where local writers and friends of letters could
gather, Richard handed him a five-dollar bill on the
spot and became twc’s first paying member.
Mondo
Peabody:
A Profile of Richard Peabody
Tim Wendel
Richard also runs Paycock Press, which was first established
to put out Gargoyle. But since such beginnings, the press, like
its founder, has moved into more and more fields. Peabody’s
highly successful anthologies Grace and Gravity and Enhanced
Gravity showcase fiction by Washington area women writers.
His Mondo series, which was co-edited by Lucinda Ebersole,
focused on writing about such American icons as Marilyn
Monroe, James Dean, Elvis, and Barbie.
“Some may see d.c. as a literary backwater, but I refuse to
accept that,” Peabody says. “I’m from here and I love to
champion the people writing here.” ¶
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Nobodies Does
It Better:
A Profile of Carolyn Parkhurst
Paula Whyman
Bestselling author Carolyn Parkhurst credits
The Writer’s Center with starting her on the path
to a career as a successful novelist.
Carolyn explains that, right after college, “I was feeling
aimless. I knew I wanted to ‘become a writer,’ but I had
no idea how to make that happen.”
She was working at the now-defunct B. Dalton’s on K
Street and writing in her spare time. Unlike many who
consider themselves “beginners,” she had already published
a few short stories in literary journals, and nonfiction work
in outlets like Seventeen magazine. But Carolyn readily
admits that “without deadlines, it wasn’t easy to motivate
myself to stay on track.”
When she found her way to The Writer’s Center, she
found her focus. Classes with Richard Peabody and Ann
McLaughlin, among others, provided deadlines and helpful
critiques as well as an antidote to the isolation of the writer’s
life. She realized that part of what had been missing for her
was this critical feedback on her work. An early story of hers
that was critiqued in a Writer’s Center workshop went on
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to be published in the North American Review.
Ultimately, Carolyn’s experiences at The Writer’s Center
convinced her to consider enrolling in an m.f.a. program.
She graduated from The American University’s program
and soon went on to publish The Dogs of Babel, the first
of her three novels, which propelled her to bestseller stardom. Her second novel, Lost and Found, was selected for
USA Today’s  Hot Summer Reads list. And in a review
of her newest novel, The Nobodies Album, Publishers Weekly
said that she demonstrates the “gift of the real storyteller.”
That book is now available in paperback.
In case anyone thinks Carolyn’s range is limited to serious
literary fiction, the book trailer for The Nobodies Album
showcases another side of her talents—her comic genius.
She conceived and wrote the script herself.
After all this time and success, Carolyn still feels a strong
connection with the Center. “I always recommend classes
at The Writer’s Center to beginning local writers who are
floundering on their own and would like to be part of a
writing community.” ¶
A Little Love to Accompany
the Cancer: A Profile of Cate Marvin Brian Brodeur
the years of  and , Marvin participated in workshops
at The Writer’s Center with Ann Darr, Nigel Hinschelwood,
and Peter Klappert.
Marvin received her b.a. from Marlboro College in Vermont,
and holds two m.f.a.s: one from the University of Houston
in poetry, the other from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in fiction.
She also earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of
Cincinnati. Marvin has been awarded scholarships to attend
both the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. Her
poems have appeared in such magazines as New England
Review, Antioch Review, The Paris Review, The Georgia
Review, and Ploughshares, among others.
Cate Marvin is the author of two books of poems:
World’s Tallest Disaster, which was chosen by former u.s.
Poet Laureate Robert Pinksy as the winner of the 
Kathryn A. Morton Prize and Fragment of the Head of a
Queen, for which she received a Whiting Award. Marvin
is also co-editor with poet Michael Dumanis of the anthology Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century.
In , she was awarded the Kate Tufts Discovery Prize.
Born in Washington, d.c., Marvin grew up in Potomac, md,
where she attended Winston Churchill High School. She
first became connected with The Writer’s Center through her
high school creative writing teacher, Peggy Pfieffer. Between
Brian Brodeur is
the author of Other
Latitudes, which was
chosen by Stephen
Dunn as the winner
of the University of
Akron Press’s 
Akron Poetry Prize.
He maintains the
blog “How a Poem
Happens,” an online anthology of over 
interviews with poets.
About Marvin’s first book, Pinsky writes: “Cate Marvin’s
cunningly-measured, deceptively regular stanzas partition
the elegant dwelling where Eros like a wild ghost bangs
anyhow against the walls or bursts across windowsill and
threshold.” The poems in both of Marvin’s collections are
alive with a dangerous sexuality, awakened to the notion
that the erotic exists not just in sex but in every vital aspect
of our lives. Formally taut, tonally brash, and always inventive, Marvin’s poems are fraught with risk as they meld the
dramatic and metaphysical in work sung from deep within
the belly.
In August of , Marvin cofounded vida: Women in
Literary Arts, a grass-roots organization that addresses the
need for female writers to engage in conversations regarding the critical reception of women’s creative writing in
this country. Marvin currently teaches poetry at Columbia
University’s m.f.a. Program and Lesley University’s LowResidency m.f.a. Program, and is an associate professor
in creative writing in the College of Staten Island, City
University of New York. ¶
Tim Wendel is the
author of nine books—
novels and narrative
nonfiction—including
Castro’s Curveball and
High Heat, the latter
of which was an editor’s selection by The
New York Times. He
teaches writing at The
Johns Hopkins University. For more information, visit timwendel.com.
Paula Whyman is an
award-winning fiction
writer, creator of the
parody site Bethesda
World News.com,
and author of the
weekly humor column
“Semi-Charmed Life”
at BethesdaMagazine.
com. She has just been
selected for a MacDowell Colony Fellowship.
For more, see paulawhyman.com.
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PHOTOS BY MATT BRIGGS
In the Fall He Comes Back:
Humor and Inspiration from Robert Bausch
Caitlin Hill
Robert Bausch has taught in-person and online workshops with The Writer’s Center since 2004.
Working with writers on their own fiction, Bob quickly developed a core group of repeat offenders who would knock the door down to register for his courses as soon as they opened.
A few years in, he was persuaded to add a reading class to his offerings, and lead a workshop
that read and examined some of the greatest short fiction America has seen: studying the rules
preserved or broken, the tips and tricks that affect the story, and the art and craft of storytelling.
Meanwhile, he was teaching courses at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), working
on his own manuscripts including his most recent novel, In the Fall They Come Back, available
now on Kindle, and encouraging several students in their various paths to publication, writing
degrees, and teaching positions of their own, including Allison Leotta—with whom he will be
reading on September 30.
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Aside from being a fantastic mentor, teacher,
and writer, Bob is a tremendously talented
storyteller, and it is a joy to listen to him. In
preparation for his upcoming reading, Bob
has shared some words of wisdom and a bit
of his own story with us. We are only able to
print some of it here, but the full version can
be found online (more details at the end of
the piece). Be sure to get your tickets to Robert Bausch & Allison Leotta: Teacher/Student,
where we will kick off our 35th anniversary. It’s
only fitting that we launch this celebration
with a man who embodies everything TWC
stands for: community, talent, dedication,
encouragement, faith, openness, and an
unfailing sense of humor.
Caitlin Hill: You drove a long way for many years to teach
with us at The Writer’s Center, despite all the teaching you
were also doing much closer to home. What kept you coming all this way (besides the allure of a good audio book)?
Robert Bausch: I took a sabbatical in . I sat at home
and wrote until  in the afternoon. I’d read until  or ,
with dinner in between. After , family time. Next day,
everybody’s gone and I’d start writing again. Sometimes
I’d finish at . Or . I never had so much time to write. I’d
read for a few hours. Nobody home yet. I’d end up playing
Madden nfl football, just so I wouldn’t lose my mind.
Some days, I never got out of my sweats. I had no classes
for the first time in many, many years. I kept thinking of
the expression: Be careful what you wish for. I thought I’d
go nuts. Then Sunil called.
He wondered if I’d be willing to read from The Gypsy Man.
I agreed, drove up for a reading with my brother Richard.
After that reading Sunil asked if I’d be interested in teaching
a workshop. I jumped at the chance. I wanted to get back
into the classroom. any classroom. What I did not expect
was the quality of the writing I’d see, the commitment and
dedication of the students I’d work with.
After that first workshop, I was hooked. I worked with
Michelle Brafman, Greg Lipscomb, Lisa Gschwandtner,
Peirce Howard, Glen Finland, you, Tricia Gonzales,
Jennifer Haupt, Anna El-Eini, Peter Brown, James Mathews,
Solveig Eggers, Joram Piatagorsky, Rimas Blekaitis, Leslie
Shwerin, Ann Cavazos, Jo Buxton, and so many others.
They were all serious, talented, and terrific fun to work
with. It was challenging, and exciting, and good for my
own discipline. During my time at The Writer’s Center
I wrote four novels: Out of Season, In the Fall They Come
Back, “The Legend of Jesse Smoke,” and “As Far as the Eye
Can See.” I was always working.
The drive was long, but I just couldn’t quit: to get a chance
to work with such talent was like being in a great graduate
program in writing, and not having to go to any committee or admissions and application meetings. If I hadn’t
fallen asleep one evening on the way to nova, and crashed
into the guy in front of me, I’d probably still be working
there. But my family wanted me to stop working so hard,
they worried about me, and I couldn’t have that. So I
finally had to quit.
CH: There’s a push for writers these days to get a degree
at an accredited university. I, myself, made that choice in
. twc is not university-affiliated, and you don’t walk
out of a class with a degree. So, what’s the appeal to taking
a class at a place like this?
RB: I think it’s a great place to see if one is suited to a
graduate program. It is so much like one, not because of
the format, but because of the high caliber of writers who
go there. I can’t vouch for the other classes, but mine were
always full of really good, talented writers—folks who may
not have been seasoned, but who were already making
memorable fiction, and teaching me a thing or two about
the art, students who were adept at criticism and tact. I
rarely had any difficulty getting responses from everybody
and most of those responses were valuable to the writer. I
think the major appeal is that chance to get an immediate
and highly astute response to one’s work before investing
a fortune in a graduate program. It’s a way of finding out
if such a course of study can be meaningful and useful. So
many of my students have discovered the writing program
is just what they want, and they’ve gone on to do graduate work: Michelle, Lisa, Tricia, you, Rimas, Ann, Rachel
Swift. Others have gone on to publish: Michelle, Solveig,
Peter Brown, James Mathews, Allison Leotta, Glen Finland, Anna El-Eini, and Greg Lipscomb, among others.
Some come to the workshops having already completed an
m.f.a., and get back to their work that way. I think it is an
invaluable resource for writers at a fraction of the cost of
an m.f.a. program.
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CH: You have proven to be a prolific author, with six
novels out and short stories aplenty. I also know you’re
shopping around another manuscript or two. Does any
of it get any easier?
RB: For a mid-list writer like me, it can get damn hard.
Harder in fact than it ever has been. Right now, I’m shopping three novels. I’ve published In the Fall They Come Back
on Kindle, but I’m still looking for a publisher for it. I’ve
got “The Legend of Jesse Smoke” making the rounds right
now. I just finished “As Far as the Eye Can See,” and I’ve
got my agent supposedly reading it; I don’t know what the
progress of that is. I’m currently looking for a new agent,
and when I find one, I’m going to start once again trying
to find a new publisher. So no, at least in my case, it only
gets harder. But that does not keep me from doing it. I’m
reason why I should limit myself to one book at a time. I
would never limit myself to only one friend. When I am
with my friends, I know essentially what’s happening in
their lives. It’s the same with the books. I know when I
pick up one of them where I am and what’s gone on before
I got there. Some think themselves not capable of reading
like this, but they really are; all they have to do is try it.
As far as inspiration, I get that from everything I observe,
overhear, dream, think about, see in movies and television,
or read in books. Almost any human thing has the capacity to move me and inspire me. I am especially and deeply
moved by evidence of compassion in people, by a child’s
purity of thought and action—good and bad. I am always
aware when I witness a person thinking of people, rather
than about them. When I’m not inspired, I work anyway.
Also, I simply love to read, and see no reason why I
should limit myself to one book at a time. I would
never limit myself to only one friend.
a writer. It’s who and what I am. So I continue doing it,
without calculating any sort of recompense. I don’t worry
about that stuff except in my worst moments.
CH: Whom do you read when you need inspiration?
Whom do you read simply for the pleasure of it?
RB: I think, except for some poorly written freshman essays,
almost all of the reading I do is for pleasure. I read six or
seven books at once. Right now, I’m reading The Fire This
Time, by Randall Kenan, Going Away Shoes, by Jill McCorkle,
a book of Alan Shapiro’s poems called Old War, my brother’s
most recent collection, Something Is Out There. I’m reading
Shakespeare again, King Lear. I’m also reading a fascinating
book called The Last Tsar, a collection of Nicholas and
Alexandra’s correspondence as well as the memories of their
contemporaries about their last years before the monarchy
fell. I’m almost finished with Ruffian, a great little book
about perhaps the greatest horse that ever stepped onto
a race track. I just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
A fine book.
I read as many at once as I have time for because I know
if I do, I won’t ever sound like anyone but myself when I
sit down to write. Also, I simply love to read, and see no
8
I never, never wait for inspiration to work. Work is its
own inspiration.
For more from Robert Bausch about writing and teaching,
his two days as a collections agent, words of inspiration and
motivation, and his answer to the question “must we write
every day?”, visit First Person Plural at thewriterscenter.
blogspot.com ¶
Robert Bausch was born in Georgia, at the end of World War II, and was
raised in the Washington, D.C., area. He was educated at George Mason
University, earning a B.A., an M.A., and an M.F.A., and he says he has
been a writer all his life. He spent time in the military teaching survival,
and worked his way through college. Since 1975, Bausch has been a college
professor, teaching creative writing, American literature, world literature,
humanities, philosophy, and expository writing. He has taught at the
University of Virginia, American University, George Mason University,
The Johns Hopkins University, and The Writer’s Center. For the balance
of his career he has been teaching at Northern Virginia Community College.
He has also been a director on the board of the Pen Faulkner Foundation.
In 2009 he was awarded the John Dos Passos Prize in Literature.
— Written by James Gilford for robertbausch.org
Read about Robert Bausch’s workshop on page 30
and his reading with former student Allison Leotta
on page 33.
The Quotidian Theatre Company presents
Conor McPherson’s
Shining City
NOV 11–DEC 11
November 11–December 11, 2011
A guilt-ridden man believes he has seen his
deceased wife and seeks the help of a therapist
who has his own demons. Set in Dublin, this
haunting, beautifully crafted play provides
a shocking surprise.
1
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Workshop & Event Guide
6OLUME¬
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www.writer.org/poetlore
visit www.writer.org/adrates
to learn more
Charles J. Shields
10
I offered myself as Vonnegut’s biographer in July .
I had heard he was miffed that no biography of him
existed. In my first letter to him, I came on strong.
son’s [Mark Vonnegut] The Eden Express was a guide in
spirit. Later, I taught high school English, but left after
 years to write nonfiction.
“Millions of readers would choose you as one of the most
influential writers of the th century. And if my twentysix-year-old nephew is any indication, you’re the literary
hero of a new generation, too. And I predict this: the importance of your work as a writer and social critic is about
to receive renewed attention. Your novels, filled with your
trademark wit and anti-authoritarian jabs, will be part of
the literature that guides and inspires the next forwardlooking age.”
“I have important affinities with you: the Midwestern link,
my experiences as the son of a World War II vet who wrote
short stories while working for a big corporation; my values as a humanist; my admiration for your work. And I’m
a damn good researcher and writer.
His response was cool. A week after my letter to him,
I received a large sketch of him smoking a cigarette.
“A most respectful demurring by me,” read the caption,
“for the excellent writer, Charles J. Shields, who offered
to be my biographer.”
“Thank you for the drawing,” I replied, “it’s playful
and mordant. Respectfully, I’d like the chance to make
another pitch.”
This time I kept in mind something Truman Capote said:
If you want someone to open up to you, you must share
who you are first. You’re asking them to take a risk, so put
yourself in that position first, and let him or her follow.
“I’m a Midwesterner, raised in Park Forest, Illinois, a
community built for gis and their families. My father
wore a sharkskin suit and worked in public relations and
advertising for Ford Motor Company in Chicago. He was
an extrovert but came off as a square sometimes because
he liked to talk about books. (On the side he was writing.)
Maybe the Detroit office gave him the Edsel account because
he was an egghead, figuring, ‘Charlie can figure out what
to do with it.’ The car’s grille looked like a toilet seat and
the taillights like penguin flippers. As a publicity stunt,
Dad froze a peach-colored Edsel in a block of ice and had
it towed to Michigan Avenue. A photo of the ‘Ed-sicle’
melting and smoking in -degree July heat made the
papers, but the car’s moribund sales continued. Nothing
could save that nightmare. It looked like a plumber had
designed it. That’s when he decided, in one of his favorite
phrases, ‘This is a buncha crap.’ He quit and went into his
first love, journalism.
“Growing up, I read a great deal. At  I decided to drive
to San Francisco, hoping that it might be the next Paris
of the s. Since I had the requisite vw microbus, freak
girlfriend, and incipient problems with depression, your
“I explain these things as a prelude to making my case
again: Someone else could cobble together a so-so version
of your life just by mining what’s stored in library boxes
and electronic files. And it will happen soon, I think. But
I’m the guy for the job—for doing it right, that is.”
A postcard from Vonnegut arrived a couple of weeks later.
On the back, above another self-portrait, again smoking a
cigarette, was “ok.”
So began a biography that I estimated would take three
years to research and write, but took five instead. And
Vonnegut, having giving me the privilege of his friendship,
would die just months after we met. ¶
This piece was originally published on Charles J. Shields’ blog Writing
Kurt Vonnegut: a biographer’s notebook (writingkurtvonnegut.com)
on February 19, 2011. Shields is a biographer of post-World War II
American authors whose latest book is And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut,
A Life, slated for release from Henry Holt & Co. in November. His other
books include Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee and I Am Scout:
The Biography of Harper Lee.
Read about Charles J. Shield’s event on page 33.
And So It Goes is the first and only
complete life-story of Kurt Vonnegut,
one of the most influential, controversial, and popular novelists of the
20th century. Millions know him as a
counter-culture guru, anti-war activist, and satirist of American life. But
few outside his family and friends
knew the arc of an extraordinary
life. How he made friends easily,
but always felt lonely; how he sold
millions of books, but never felt appreciated; how he described himself
as a humanist, but fought with
humanity at large. As a former public relations man, he crafted his image
carefully—the avuncular, curly-haired humorist—though admitting, “I
myself am a work of fiction.” This biography reveals the man who enchanted
a generation.
11
Kyle Semmel
12
©PETER DRESSEL
Kyle Semmel: Can you describe the moment you realized
poetry was something you wanted to dedicate your life to?
(particularly slam poetry).
Taylor Mali: First, understand that there is actually no
such thing as “slam poetry.” What Marc Smith invented in
Chicago in the mid ’s was a poetry slam—it’s a noun—
at which anyone could read any kind of original poetry
and be scored by five randomly selected drunks from the
audience. That said, when people use the term “slam poetry,”
they are usually referring to loud, easily accessible, political, indignant, rhythmical, hip hop influenced, urban,
fast-paced, cleverly rhymed, light verse because that stuff
kills at most poetry
slams. But to answer your question, there were
two moments that helped
me
realize
that
poetry was something
I wanted to dedicate my
life to: the first occurred
while competing in my first poetry slam,
which was in Lawrence, Kansas, in . I realized that this art form was made for me, a drama
school dropout with literary skills. The second
moment was when I finally realized that a
life dedicated to poetry might actually pay
the bills. That was in , and it was like
realizing that the grass you always played
in was seen as valuable by the rest of the
world. I felt singularly lucky. Still do.
KS: You make a living traveling the
country as a spoken-word poet. Yet
you’ve also published two books of
poetry. Are there limitations that you
can get around by switching mediums?
TM: Let me be up front about saying that
poetry doesn’t cover all my bills. I make more
than I ever would have as a teacher, but I
wouldn’t be able to do what I do if my grandfathers
had also been poets, know what I’m saying? And
yes, by switching from page poetry to spoken word and
back again I get to do things that others can’t. For one, I
get a wider audience to sit for longer than almost anyone
else I know. My shows are routinely an hour, and they are
filled with people who were dragged there kicking and
screaming and then loved it. I also get to educate the two
modalities a little and bring them closer. The spoken word
crowd could stand to be a little more literary, and the literary crowd could benefit from a little more playfulness (and
I mean real playfulness. If you write a poem solely using
words of Latinate origin, that’s not really amusing enough
for me).
KS: You’re a former teacher who continues to play a huge
advocacy role for teachers everywhere—even going so far
as to recruit teachers through the New Teacher Project.
What would you say is the biggest challenge teachers
face today? For that matter, what is the biggest challenge
students face today?
TM: I’ll tackle the second question first if I may.
The biggest challenge students
face is that
they are only encouraged to
pursue a
very narrow spectrum
of education. The things
that will most
likely help them in the
long run—creativity,
critical thinking and
problem solving,
nutrition—aren’t really
valued yet by our society.
For teachers it’s similar; they
have little freedom to teach
the way they feel most comfortable teaching. We need to have
some controls in place, but we have
too many. Also, the lack of respect
and lack of pay means that some of
the best potential teachers are never even
considering entering the field.
KS: What kind of vibe can people expect at a
live poetry-slam?
TM: Poets need to have a thick skin. Judges need
to be ready to be booed and taunted goodnaturedly. And half the audience needs to be
ready to go home saying, “I never knew poetry
could be like that!” Because the other half
will be saying, “Don’t worry, it’s not!” ¶
Taylor Mali is the author of two books of poetry, The Last Time As We Are
and What Learning Leaves, and four CDs of spoken word. He received
a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop Teacher!
Teacher!, a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the
jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 Comedy Arts Festival.
Read about Taylor Mali’s event on page 33.
13
ellis
AVERY
Emerging
Writer
Fellowship
celebration
& reading
christopher
GOODRICH
Friday, Sept. 23, 7:30 P.M.
The votes were tallied, the judges made their decision, and
now three of The Writer’s Center’s 2011–2012 Emerging
Writer Fellows come together to share their award-winning
work with our community. Don’t miss this opportunity to see
rising stars in American fiction and poetry!
Read more about the Emerging Writer Fellows on page 36.
angela
WOODWARD
Following the reading, join the Emerging Writer Fellows,
TWC staff, and audience members at Food, Wine & Co
down the road at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue.
General
Membership ($50)
Household *
Membership ($75)
$50 Tax Deductible
$75 Tax Deductible
All members receive:
*All individuals living at the same address receive
all the advantages of the basic Community
Member’s discount.
Discounted price on workshops
30% discount on purchases of books and journals at TWC
New publications listed in the “TWC Insider” section of the Workshop & Event Guide
(when you notify us)
Discount on workshop room rentals
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR WORKSHOP
WHO SHOULD TAKE WRITING WORKSHOPS?
Everyone should—from people who want to try out writing or would like help getting
started, to those more experienced writers who want to learn more and get better. Learning
to write is an on-going process that involves perfecting and using many skills at once, and
even published writers benefit from editors and readers who help them refine their work.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM A WORKSHOP?
• Guidance and encouragement from a published, working writer
• Instruction on technical aspects such as structure, diction, and form
• Kind, honest, and constructive feedback directed at the work but
never critical of the author
• Peer readers/editors who act as “spotters” for sections of your writing
that need attention, and who become your community of working
colleagues even after your workshop is completed
• Tips on how to keep writing and integrate this “habit of being” into your life
• Tactics for getting published when ready
EXPECTATIONS OF WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
• Attend every workshop session you possibly can
• Share your own work
• Comment on and share your ideas about your peers’ work
• Complete workshop leader prompts or reading assignments
• Complete the workshop response form at the end of the course
If you’ve never been in a writing workshop before, regardless of the skill level you think
you have in writing, we strongly encourage you to start with a beginner-level workshop.
Here you’ll learn more about the environment of the workshop: how to give and receive
helpful feedback, how to address problems with the work without criticizing the author,
and how to incorporate multiple (and sometimes conflicting) ideas into your revision.
WORKSHOP REGISTRATION
You can register for workshops at The Writer’s Center in person, through the mail,
online at www.writer.org, or by calling -- (-- outside MD).
REFUND POLICY
To receive a refund, you must notify twc by e-mail ([email protected]) within
the drop period. Please confirm receipt of the message if you do not hear back from
TWC within two business days.
If twc cancels a workshop, participants who have already signed up and
made payment will receive a full refund, or they can use their payment
as a credit toward another workshop and/or a membership.
Workshop participants who have enrolled in and paid for a workshop and
choose to withdraw from it within the drop period (see below) will receive
full credit (but not a cash refund) that can be used within one year to pay
for another workshop and/or a membership.
Workshop participants who have enrolled in and paid for a workshop and
choose to withdraw from it after the drop period has ended will forfeit their
full payment and will not receive any credit to be used to pay for another
workshop and/or a membership.
Exceptions may be made in the case of serious illness or other extenuating
circumstances such as relocation out of the area; in such cases, a formal
request in the form of a letter or an e-mail must be submitted to the
Executive Director.
No refunds or credits will be given for individual classes missed.
5 or More Workshop Sessions
Notice must be given at least 48 hours before the second meeting
4 or Fewer Workshop Sessions
Notice must be given at least 48 hours before the first meeting
BEGINNER LEVEL
These workshops will help you discover what
creative writing really entails, such as:
• Getting your ideas on the page;
• Figuring out which genre you should be
working in and what shape your material
should take;
• Learning the elements of poetry, playwriting,
fiction, memoir, etc.;
• Identifying your writing strengths and
areas of opportunity;
• Gaining beginning mastery of the basic
tools of all writing, such as concise, accurate
language, and how to tailor their particular use in your work.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
These workshops will build on skills you developed in
the beginner level, designed for writers who have:
• Taken a beginner-level workshop;
• Achieved some grace in using the
tools of language and form;
• Projects in progress that they want
to develop further.
In addition, you may read and discuss some
published works.
ADVANCED LEVEL
Participants should have manuscripts that have
been critiqued in workshops on the intermediate
level and have been revised substantially.
Advanced courses:
• Focus on the revision and
completion of a specific work;
• Run at a faster pace with higher
expectations of participation;
• Will reward the persistent writer with deep
insight and feedback into their work.
MASTER LEVEL
Master classes are designed for writers who
have taken several advanced workshops and
have reworked their manuscript into what they
believe is its final form.
Master classes are unique opportunities to work
in smaller groups with distinguished writers on
a specific project or manuscript.
Workshop leaders select participants from the
pool of applicants—selection is competitive.
Of course, art is not a science. The Writer’s Center
recognizes that individual writers of all experience
levels need to find their own place in our programs.
If you’d like advice on which courses will be right
for you, please call and speak with a member of
our staff.
15
WORKSHOPS
TRAVEL WRITING INTENSIVE
PLEASE NOTE:
The Writer’s Center will be closed September 4–6
for Labor Day.
Our refund policy has changed. Please refer to
page 15 for details.
Workshop Leader: L. Peat O’Neil
Bring a draft travel article of no more than , words to first class.
The article might have been unsuccessfully submitted for publication in
the past or a draft of a new project. We’ll work together on scenes, characters, voice, word selection, mood, and pacing. Discussion covers how
to prepare manuscripts and query letters, selecting appropriate images,
and fact checking. Overall focus is on editorial polishing for publication, identifying markets, and preparing the proposal.
1 Tuesday
11:00 A.M.–3:00 P.M.
Fee: $75
Annapolis
(Members receive a 13% discount)
NONFICTION
11/1
All Levels
WRITING BRILLIANTLY ABOUT SCIENCE
CREATING GREAT ARTICLES FOR WEB AND PRINT
Workshop Leader: David Taylor
Workshop Leader: Lee Fleming
Clear writing about science is valuable and compelling. This workshop
explores how generalists can weave scientific thought into their writing
with wit, and how technical experts can make their work engaging for
general audiences. We look at examples of narrative from leading writers: Michael Pollan, Rebecca Skloot, Anne Fadiman, Steve Olson, and
more. We will generate fresh ideas, write proposals, conduct interviews,
learn how to revise, and manage a portfolio. Plus have fun.
Turning an idea into a saleable article for Web or print depends on
understanding and using the techniques that support success. This
class will explore the elements that all stories need in order to catch an
editor’s attention. In-class discussion and exercises will guide students
in choosing story angles, writing winning query e-mails and letters,
interviewing, organizing material, and refining personal styles. The
goal: To get your great ideas onto the Web or into print.
8 Tuesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
6 Mondays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
9/27–11/15
All Levels
10/3–11/7
All Levels
TRAVEL AND FOOD WRITING
THE ART OF THE PROFILE
Workshop Leader: Marcela Valdes
Blend your travel experiences and gusto for culinary adventure into a
feature article for publication. This workshop covers the professional focus and lifestyle of a travel and food writer, and how to find publication
outlets for essays and culinary journalism. In-class writing exercises and
assignments guide participants to create a finished piece with instructor’s critique. Other topics cover crafting story ideas, exploring culinary
writers esteemed for their literary style, writing a food or travel blog,
and how to query newspapers and magazines.
In this class, students will write two magazine-style profiles, with the
goal of developing stories that are publication-worthy. Class assignments
will mimic the process of real journalists (albeit, in a compressed schedule): from generating focused ideas and writing pitches to conducting
long interviews and outlining compelling stories. During class, a mix of
workshops, guided discussions, writing exercises, and short lectures will
be used to explore issues, sharpen skills, and provoke fresh ideas.
3 Tuesdays
11:00 A.M.–3:00 P.M.
Fee: $215
Annapolis
3 Thursdays
6:30–8:30 P.M.
Fee: $215
Capitol Hill
10/4–10/18
All Levels
8 Wednesdays
7:00–9:00 P.M.
Fee: $290
Annapolis
10/13–10/27
All Levels
SPEECHWRITING 101:
CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES
9/28–11/16
All Levels
Workshop Leader: James Alexander
If you’ve ever wondered how journalists make the news, this three-hour
workshop is for you. We will focus on the nuts and bolts of reporting—
from organizing original news stories to crafting creative features—that
can be applied to any kind of writing: from e-mails to novels. You’ll
leave a clearer, more effective communicator.
What’s tougher than standing in front of a large audience and delivering
a powerful speech? Well, maybe writing the speech. Very few writing
assignments are tougher than speechwriting, working through multiple
drafts to capture that rather elusive something called “voice.” Learn
about this very personal form of ghostwriting that can be exciting once
you learn the concepts and the techniques. Participants will get handson experience and everyone will write and deliver a complete speech by
the time the workshop ends.
1 Saturday
10:00 A.M.–12:30 P.M.
Fee: $50
Annapolis
6 Thursdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
WRITING LIKE A JOURNALIST
Workshop Leader: Terri Winslow
16
10/22
All Levels
9/29–11/3
Beginner/Intermediate
WORKSHOPS
HOW TO WRITE A GRANT PROPOSAL
TECHNIQUES OF FICTION
Workshop Leader: Cara Seitchek
Workshop Leader: C.M. Mayo
Learn how to research and write a grant proposal that will result in
funding for your organization. You will learn prospect research methods
for locating those foundations or corporations that match your organization’s needs. You will learn how to write a targeted grant proposal and
about the review process. This is designed for all levels of writers. Please
identify a project or organization to be funded before the first meeting.
For both beginning and experienced fiction writers, “Techniques of
Fiction” focuses on generating new material with exercises addressing
specificity, point of view, synesthesia, imagery, image patterning, plot,
rhythm, and the use and misuse of dialogue. The goal is that by the end
of the workshop, your writing will be of notably higher quality. (1 hour
lunch break)
2 Saturdays
1:30–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $100
Bethesda
1 Saturday
10:00 A.M.–3:00 P.M.
Fee: $75
Bethesda
9/17–10/1
All Levels
9/24
All Levels
No meeting 9/24
WRITING SHORT STORIES
Workshop Leader: John Morris
FICTION
BEGINNING OR REVISING YOUR NOVEL
Workshop Leader: Ann McLaughlin
In this workshop, we will discuss parts of novels by the workshop participants. We’ll begin with each person’s Chapter  (or the first  pages)
and each member will have at least one more opportunity to submit
work to the group after that. We will also discuss a published novel by a
well-known writer. We will focus on novel structure, character authenticity, and plot line as we consider the work of the workshop members
and the published novel.
8 Saturdays
10:00 A.M.–12:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/24–11/12
All Levels
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY WORKSHOP
Workshop Leader: Brenda W. Clough
For people who want to write fantasy and science fiction. In this workshop
we will pass around our manuscripts and read and critique them. Special
attention will be paid to the tropes and needs of the genre. Plan to bring
 copies of a manuscript (not more than  pages) to the first session.
8 Thursdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/8–10/27
All Levels
8 Mondays
7:30–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/12–10/31
All Levels
THE EXTREME NOVELIST 1
Workshop Leader: Kathryn Johnson
Can’t find the time/energy/inspiration to get your novel written? This
popular course will help you complete a rough draft in just eight weeks,
with the encouraging guidance of professional writing coach Kathryn
Johnson (author of over  published books). You will commit to
an aggressive writing schedule and learn the tricks pros use to create
a productive working environment and meet their deadlines despite
distractions.
8 Wednesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/28–11/16
All Levels
THE EXTREME NOVELIST 2
Workshop Leader: Kathryn Johnson
WRITING THE DETECTIVE NOVEL
Workshop Leader: Con Lehane
This course, designed to help you write a detective novel, will focus
primarily on student writing, but the workshop leader will also assign
writing exercises. (These help isolate elements of good imaginative writing, such as point of view, characterization, writing effective dialogue,
using setting to build the story, building suspense, and creating action).
We’ll also read and analyze a couple of representative mystery novels,
and discuss the forms other long works of mystery or crime fiction
have taken over the years—traditional, hard-boiled, police procedural,
historical, with a passing nod to the thriller, suspense, noir, and others.
8 Tuesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
Are you ready to put your work in front of a group of readers who are
also aspiring writers? If you have a story draft, or are looking for inspiration to complete a story, this workshop is ideal for you. The goal is for
each participant to finish a successful draft. The workshop leader will
provide detailed written comments on all manuscripts. The workshop’s
emphasis is on encouragement, hard work, and practical suggestions.
9/6–10/11
All Levels
Graduates of The Extreme Novelist 1 course, and others who have completed at least ¾ of their novel, take on the challenge of revising to meet
the tough demands of today’s fiction market. Learn how to stay out of
the slush pile, effectively pitch to a literary agent, and entice publishers
to read your novel. Analyze, self-edit, and polish your manuscript with
guidance from an author who has written and sold an average of two
books per year for  years.
8 Mondays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/26–11/14
Intermediate/Advanced
SHORT FICTION WORKSHOP
Workshop Leader: Laura Oliver
In this workshop we will identify the techniques used to create literary
fiction by reading stories from award-winning collections and making
17
WORKSHOPS
REGISTER AT WRITER.ORG
those techniques our own. New prompts will inspire a fresh approach to
our writing and personalized instruction will elevate our skills. In looking at a story’s construction we will address subject, voice, setting, plot,
dialogue, humor, mystery, and how to accentuate those connections
that remind us of our shared humanity. We will be creating stories that
resonate and discovering new places to publish them. Each participant
will workshop one story.
6 Thursdays
7:00–9:00 P.M.
Fee: $215
Annapolis
9/22–11/3
All Levels
No Meeting 9/29
Most writers know that they have to “hook” their reader from the start
of the story or novel, but how exactly do we do this? What are the elements that make a great beginning to a story or novel? You’ll find out
in this workshop, as we explore ways to strengthen your opening pages.
Everyone is invited to bring  copies of the first two pages of one of
their stories/novels/essays/memoirs for some hands-on advice.
11/1
All Levels
READING AND WRITING SHORT STORIES
During the first four weeks we’ll read and discuss works by classic and
contemporary short story writers. We’ll also discuss sections of The Art
of Fiction by John Gardner, and try some of his exercises. Everyone will
have a chance to share a page of prose at each of these meetings. During
the next four weeks, we’ll focus exclusively on critiquing your completed short stories.
9/29–11/17
All Levels
ADVANCED NOVEL AND MEMOIR
Workshop Leader: Barbara Esstman
For serious writers with a book-length project and hopes of publication.
Learn technical skills: character/scene development, language, dialogue,
conflict, and plot. Discuss the psychological aspects: how to locate and
stay with the emotional core of story and keep going to the end. We’ll
also touch on rewriting and the directions for getting an agent. Each
writer will submit up to  double-spaced pages.
10/12–11/16
Advanced
BUILDING A PAGE TURNER
Workshop Leader: James Mathews
This workshop is for fiction writers at all levels who have a short story
or novel in progress. The class will cover the basic elements of fiction,
but will concentrate on the infusion of tension and forward movement
18
MEMOIR/ESSAY
This workshop will give you the chance to explore your personal experience with illness or injury through writing. Writing is good for our
health. Studies show it can decrease stress, improve sleep habits, boost
immunity, and reduce disease severity. We’ll read short passages from
authors who have written on the topic of illness or injury, then use their
words to launch us into a series of exercises. Don’t miss this opportunity
to share community and honor your own journey. No previous writing
experience is required.
1 Saturday
10:00 A.M.–12:30 P.M.
Fee: $50
Bethesda
10/15
All Levels
LIFE STORIES I
Workshop Leader: Susan Land
6 Wednesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $315
Bethesda
10/19–12/7
All Levels
Workshop Leader: Jenny Rough
Workshop Leader: Leslie Pietrzyk
8 Thursdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
8 Wednesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
WRITING FOR WELLNESS
THE FIRST PAGES:
WHAT MAKES A GOOD BEGINNING
1 Tuesday
7:00–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $60
Bethesda
in character and plot development. Each writer will be asked to submit
up to  double-spaced pages for group critique. In addition, participants will be asked to complete writing exercises designed to appreciate
the value of storytelling through dialogue and action.
Workshop Leader: Lynn Schwartz
The telling of life stories should not be limited to a chronological,
linear review of an entire life, but instead requires the art of plucking
out what is important to you. Through several short assignments and
reading examples, you will learn how to combat barriers to inspiration,
access memory, select what is important, find the nugget of humanity,
develop your story’s dramatic shape without violating the truth, avoid
self-indulgence, and set the stage for a compelling personal narrative.
Student exercises will be discussed in class. This six-session workshop is
for those writers wishing to publish and those individuals wanting to
pass on their stories as a record for future generations.
6 Thursdays
7:00–9:00 P.M.
Fee: $215
Annapolis
9/15–10/20
All Levels
No Meeting 9/29
THE WRITER’S TOOLBOX
Workshop Leader: Sara Taber
This workshop is for students who want to hone their skills in the elements
of writing that make for fine literary nonfiction. We will examine published
work by essayists, diarists, travel writers, and journalists. Then students
will practice aspects of the writer’s craft, focusing on important building
blocks such as: concrete detail and use of the senses; figurative language;
characterization, dialogue, and plot; voice; scene, summary, and musing; and sense of time and place.
8 Mondays
7:30–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/19–11/7
All Levels
WORKSHOPS
LIFE STORIES: INTERMEDIATE
A FORCE OF NATURE:
WRITINGS ON LAND, LIFE, AND LOVE
Workshop Leader: Lynn Schwartz
This workshop is for those writers who have taken Life Stories I, or who
have the equivalent writing experience. Students will work on polishing
specific life story projects, which will be discussed in class. Concentration will be placed on shaping the narrative, theme, and/or finding the
threads that will tie several life story pieces together. Participants will
focus on character development, description, dialogue, and methods
of revision. This six-session workshop is for those writers wishing to
publish and those individuals wanting to pass on their stories as a record
for future generations.
Workshop Leader: Lisa Couturier
5 Thursdays
6:30–9:00 P.M.
Fee: $225
Annapolis
1 Saturday
12:00–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $75
Dickerson
10/1
All Levels
1 Thursday
10:00 A.M.–2:00 P.M.
Fee: $75
Dickerson
10/6
All Levels
1 Saturday
12:00–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $75
Dickerson
10/15
All Levels
11/3–12/1
No meeting 11/24
MEMOIR: STORY CONSTRUCTION
Workshop Leader: Lynn Stearns
In each session, we will read short, published work and do brief exercises
that focus on a specific aspect of writing: voice, point of view, setting,
language, structure, plot, pacing, and resolution. The rest of our time
will be spent critiquing manuscripts by participants. While sharing work
is not a requirement, it is a valuable part of the workshop experience, and
encouraged. Everyone will have an opportunity to bring in up to  pages
for tactful but truthful feedback from others.
8 Wednesdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/21–11/9
All Levels
8 Tuesdays
11:30 A.M.–2:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Dickerson
10/18–12/6
All Levels
PERSONAL ESSAY WORKSHOP
Workshop Leader: Sue Eisenfeld
LIFE STORIES AND LEGACY WRITING
Workshop Leader: Pat McNees
The goal in this workshop is to capture your legacy in short, personal
writing (especially stories) for those who will survive you. Knowing
that you are writing not for publication but to set the record straight
(in your own mind, if nothing else) may liberate you, allowing you to
frankly explore your life choices and experiences, achievements and
mistakes, beliefs and convictions.
6 Wednesdays
7:15–9:45 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
At my “farmette” in Dickerson, md (½ hr. nw of Rockville), we will
broaden the typical nature essay to include the deeper nuances of our
lives—sensitivity, justice, relationship, and spirituality—as they interweave with the texts of the natural world. For example, how might a
daffodil be connected to depression, invisibility, community? One-day
workshops will use writing prompts, memory, and time with my horses
and a nearby forest to initiate writing. No riding. No horse experience
necessary. Closed-toed shoes. Rain or shine.
10/26–12/7
All Levels
no meeting 11/23
Examine, probe, and muse about life through moments and memories.
Discover what makes personal essays sing; read examples of personal
essays from magazines, newspapers, and literary journals; explore the
writing process; and share and discuss your writing in a workshop setting. Students should be prepared to submit at least two manuscripts
for critique during the course of this workshop. Those interested in
publishing will undertake additional research to determine the best
markets for their work. This course is geared toward those who have
already dabbled in writing personal essays and who want to take their
work to the next level.
8 Thursdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
10/6–11/24
Intermediate
ADVANCED PERSONAL ESSAY
Workshop Leader: William O’Sullivan
This workshop is for writers who have a good understanding of what
makes an essay a personal essay, who are open to exploring further the
many forms a personal essay can take, and who are already working
seriously within this genre. Our main focus will be participants’ own
writing, supplemented by discussion of assigned readings by published
authors. We’ll give special attention to revising and completing work in
progress, with an eye toward eventual publication.
8 Saturdays
10:00 A.M.–12:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/24–11/12
Advanced
No meeting 10/15
19
WORKSHOPS
POETRY
POETRY FREE AND FORMAL
Workshop Leader: Nan Fry
THE ART OF REVISION
Workshop Leader: Bernadette Geyer
Poets often have folders full of poem drafts they’ve abandoned because,
while they believe the draft has promise, they can’t seem to figure out
how to move the draft in the right direction. In this workshop, we will
explore ways to “rethink” stubborn drafts in order to breathe new life
into them and ultimately—as Samuel Taylor Coleridge said—put “the
best words in the best order.”
4 Tuesdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $195
Bethesda
9/13–10/4
All Levels
THE FORCE OF POETRY
Open to poets of all levels, this class will focus on workshopping poems,
in-class writing exercises, and discussion of contemporary poems. Specific
exercises will be given to free the imagination, and quiet the inner censor.
We will explore formal considerations, stylistic choices, and those moments
when the poem catches its own voice. Bring  copies of a poem you love
(not your own) to the first session, as well as  copies of one of your own.
10/3–11/21
All Levels
INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
In this class, you’ll get a thorough introduction to the writing of, and
appreciation for, poetry with lots of fun, inspiring assignments and chances
to workshop each other’s work. We’ll read poems by accomplished writers
and begin to unravel the mystery of a poem as we examine voice, sound,
imagery, diction, rhythm, line, and more. Please bring the course text to
session two: The Poet’s Companion by Kim Addonizio & Dorianne Laux.
9/29–11/17
GETTING YOUR POEMS INTO PRINT
Workshop Leader: Michele Wolf
Whether you have yet to submit your first poem to a literary journal or
are ready to offer a publisher a book-length manuscript, this intensive
one-day workshop will give you advice on how to succeed. Get tips on
placing poems in journals and anthologies, publishing chapbooks and
books, the pros and cons of contests, the etiquette of poetry submission,
how to develop your poetry network, and how to keep your morale high
while facing rejection in a highly competitive field. Magazine handouts
will be provided.
1 Sunday
2:00–5:00 P.M.
Fee: $60
Bethesda
20
9/22–10/27
All Levels
BARBARIC YAWP
This is a generative workshop, rather than a workshop for the critique
of poems. Participants generate new work based on discussion of model
poems and the poetic devices or themes they represent. We may write
poems of unheeded prophecy, argue in the voices of the dead, wander in
the company of our ancestors through the territory of our own names,
curse our enemies (real or imagined), or apologize for things we’re secretly glad we did. Workshop participants write on the spot, then share
their work, reading aloud to the group (for thunderous applause only).
The objective is the creation of a new poem, channeling the “barbaric
yawp” within.
1 Sunday
11:00 A.M.–1:30 P.M.
Fee: $60
Bethesda
9/11
All Levels
THE STRATEGIC POET: 2
Workshop Leader: Melanie Figg
8 Thursdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
6 Thursdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
Workshop Leader: Martín Espada
Workshop Leader: Elizabeth Rees
8 Mondays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
Some poems find their own organic shape while others are poured, like
water into a vase, into traditional forms. By exploring both approaches,
participants will expand their repertoires and develop new creative
strategies. Though we’ll do some directed reading, our focus will be on
generating new work through in-class experiments and at-home assignments. We’ll also, gently and constructively, critique participants’ work.
11/6
All Levels
Workshop Leader: Sandra Beasley
Poetry is both an art and a craft, complete with its own toolbox. In
this workshop (which will dovetail but not overlap with “The Strategic
Poet: 1”) we’ll use weekly readings to help identify strategies for writing
effective poems, and identify the tactics that can be used to follow those
strategies in your own writing process—whether at the point of drafting,
revision, or the shaping of a collection. For the first meeting, bring 
copies of two poems: a poem that you love, and a draft of your own.
6 Tuesdays
7:30–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
9/6–10/11
All Levels
POETRY MASTER CLASS
Workshop Leader: Stanley Plumly
To apply for this workshop submit five poems to: Poetry Master Class,
The Writer’s Center,  Walsh Street, Bethesda, md . Please
do not send workshop fee with your application. These poems are not
necessarily the same poems that will later be workshopped.
Submission Deadline: September .
4 Mondays
7:00–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $265
Bethesda
10/3–10/24
Master
WORKSHOPS
WRITING THE NARRATIVE POEM
A SENSE OF THE WHOLE:
READINGS IN CONTEMPORARY POETRY
Workshop Leader: Sue Ellen Thompson
There’s more to a good narrative poem than telling a story in lines
rather than paragraphs. In this workshop we will examine the distinction between lyric and narrative poetry and look at some contemporary
narrative poems to see what makes them succeed or flounder. We’ll draft
a brief narrative in prose and then turn it into a poem, paying particular
attention to the techniques that good poets use to lift their words above
the level of simple, straightforward storytelling.
1 Saturday
1:00–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $60
Annapolis
10/1
All Levels
HOW TO REVISE A POEM
All you have to do is to read the early drafts of a well-known poem to
realize how crucial revision is. This workshop will focus on how to distance yourself from your poem so that you can identify its weaknesses.
We will examine the strategies other poets have used to get “unstuck”
and take a look at various approaches to the revision process. Then we
will apply the lessons we’ve learned to our own poems.
11/19
All Levels
WHAT SOUND EFFECTS CAN DO FOR YOUR POEMS
Assonance, consonance, internal rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia—
there are countless ways to underscore meaning in your poems by
paying more attention to the way words sound. In this workshop we
will look at the emotions associated with certain vowel and consonant
sounds and how other poets have used various “sound effects” to make
their poems more musical as well as meaningful. We will also examine
the difference between strategies involving sound that work and those
that are merely clever.
1 Sunday
1:00–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $60
Bethesda
10/9
All Levels
INSPIRED BY WORLD POETS: A WRITING WORKSHOP
Workshop Leader: Yvette Neisser Moreno
In this workshop, we will look at contemporary poets from around the
globe for inspiration and new directions in our own work. Each week,
we will read the work of one poet, then write a poem inspired by that
poet’s style, form, or subject matter. Class sessions will include a brief
discussion of the readings, followed by critique of students’ poems.
Readings may include Homero Aridjis (Mexico), Kim Chi-Ha (Korea),
Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine), Herta Müller (Germany-Romania),
Wislawa Symborska (Poland), and others.
6 Tuesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
We will read and discuss four contemporary collections of poetry, exploring everything from individual line breaks to over-arching themes.
We’ll examine the poems as discrete creations and as building blocks in
the book as a whole. No formal writing assignments required; participants
are encouraged to keep a reading notebook. Collections to be read are as
follows: Week 1: Dorianne Laux, The Book of Men; Week 2, Matthew
Dickman, All-American Poem; Week 3, Carol Ann Duffy, Rapture;
Week 4: Yusef Komunyakaa, Warhorses
4 Tuesdays
7:30–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $155
Bethesda
1 Saturday
1:00–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $60
Annapolis
Workshop Leader: Rose Solari
9/6–10/11
All Levels
11/8–11/29
All Levels
POETRY OF TRANSFORMATION:
A READING AND WRITING WORKSHOP
Workshop Leader: Judith Harris
This workshop will help students generate new material, emphasizing
the vital use of imagistic and figurative language. We will examine poetry
by Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, and other poets, and we’ll use the workshop leader’s critical book on the linkages between poetry and psychoanalysis, Signifying Pain: Constructing the Self through Writing as a reference for
better understanding the junctures between theories of the unconscious
and confessional poetry of the mid-th century.
6 Wednesdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
10/5–11/9
All Levels
STAGE & SCREEN
IMPROVISATION FOR STORYTELLERS
Workshop Leader: Mario Baldessari
Would you like to invent characters, situations, plots, and dialogue
for your stories more spontaneously? Learn more about the tools and
techniques that move stories forward immediately or stop them dead
in their tracks? Then come strengthen your storytelling abilities with
this fast, fun, new Writer’s Center workshop that combines in-class
improvisational games and scene work, with take-home creative writing
exercises. Designed for writers of all kinds, from playwrights to poets to
fiction writers to screenplay writers. No improv experience needed.
4 Mondays
7:30–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $195
Bethesda
9/12–11/3
All Levels
DIALOGUE: A PRACTICAL APPROACH
Workshop Leaders: Richard Washer & Hope Lambert
This workshop will focus on the functions of dialogue in playwriting
and is designed for writers of all genres and levels of experience. In this
workshop we will use writing prompts to get us started writing scenes
and we will learn and apply some basic acting strategies (how do actors
21
1976
1978
1982
1985
TWC MOVES FROM GLEN ECHO
TO 4800 SANGAMORE ROAD
IN BETHESDA.
TWC MOVES FROM SANGAMORE
TO OLD GEORGETOWN ROAD.
THE VIETNAM VETERANS’ WAR
MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED
IN WASHINGTON, BEARING
58,000 NAMES.
PETE ROSE BREAKS TY COBB’S
ALLTIME HITS RECORD
IN BASEBALL.
VISITS
ALLAN LEFCOWITZ
FORMS TWC WITH A GROUP
OF LITERATURE ENTHUSIASTS
INCLUDING ANN McLAUGHLIN,
MERRILL LEFFLER, MARY
MACARTHUR, BARBARA
LEFCOWITZ, AND OTHERS.
CHESAPEAKE BY JAMES
MICHENER IS ON THE
NYT BEST SELLER LIST.
1979
AMERICA CELEBRATES
ITS 200TH BIRTHDAY.
RICHARD PEABODY BECOMES
THE FIRST PAYING MEMBER
WHEN HE GIVES LEFCOWITZ
A FIVEDOLLAR BILL.
1984
1986
ANDRE DUBUS AND STANLEY
KUNITZ LEAD WORKSHOPS
1977
VISITS
MARGARET THATCHER
ELECTED PRIME
MINISTER OF
GREAT BRITAIN.
1981
VISITS
1987
VISITS
HOWARD NEMEROV
IS TWC’S POETINRESIDENCE
IN ADDITION TO WRITING
WORKSHOPS, TWC OFFERS
WORKSHOPS IN GRAPHIC
DESIGN, BOOK BINDING, PUBLISHING, AND CALLIGRAPHY.
A TV AUDIENCE OF
OVER 700 MILLION
PEOPLE WATCH THE
WEDDING OF PRINCE
CHARLES AND LADY
DIANA SPENCER .
VISITS
JOHN GARDNER
VISITS
POET LORE
THE APPLE MACINTOSH
IS INTRODUCED
TWC BEGINS PUBLISHING THE
OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY
PUBLISHED POETRY
JOURNAL IN THE COUNTRY
FOUNDED IN 1889.
PHOTO CREDITS: TWC ARCHIVES LEFCOWITZ, HAYDEN, GASS, GINSBERG, CLIFTON, WALSH STREET, KENNEDY, KYLE, KINGSTON; HU TOTYA VVM; GONZO BONZO GIBSON; WIKIPEDIA.ORG MAC; W.MARSH ROSE; FALL FOR THE BOOK ELLROY; JOHN FOSTER STORY/STEREO; MASTER SGT. CECILIO RICARDO, U.S. A
1989
1992
ONE EARLY WORKSHOP
PARTICIPANT WAS
PAGAN KENNEDY,
WHO WOULD LATER
GO ON TO BECOME
THE QUEEN OF ZINES
IN THE 1980s.
HER BOOKS INCLUDE
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
BLACK LIVINGSTONE.
SHE SAYS ABOUT
HER TWC EXPERIENCE,
“[TWC] WAS
VERY SUPPORTIVE.
[THE INSTRUCTOR]
MADE US TELL STORIES
OUT LOUD,
AND THAT GAVE ME
THE CONFIDENCE
TO SEE MYSELF
AS A WRITER.”
AIR FORCE OBAMA
TWC MOVES FROM OLD
GEORGETOWN. TO ITS CURRENT
HOME ON WALSH STREET.
2009
2010
VISITS
VISITS
1998
2011
THE WRITER’S CENTER
AT LEESBURG
IS HELD FOR THE FIRST TIME.
2002
AL LEFCOWITZ AND JANE FOX
RETIRE, AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
RESPECTIVELY, AFTER 25 YEARS.
BARACK OBAMA TAKES
THE OATH OF OFFICE FOR
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, BECOMING THE FIRST
AFRICANAMERICAN PRESIDENT
IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION.
VISITS
THE RUSSIA HOUSE
BY JOHN LE CARRÉ
IS ON THE NYT BEST
SELLER LIST.
THOUSANDS OF PRO
DEMOCRACY STUDENTS
OCCUPY TIANANMEN
SQUARE IN PEKING.
THE LOVELY BONES
BY ALICE SEBOLD IS
ON THE NYT BEST
SELLER LIST.
2,600
A SHORT LIST
ACTIVE MEMBERS OF TWC
VISITS
OF PAST READERS INCLUDES:
THE SATANIC VERSES BY
SALMAN RUSHDIE IS
ON THE NYT BEST
SELLER LIST.
ROBERT OLEN BUTLER, CORNELIUS
EADY, EDWARD P. JONES, MAXINE
KUMIN, PABLO MEDINA, MICHAEL
ONDAATJE, LINDA PASTAN, MARY
LEE SETTLE, AND MANY MORE.
IS HELD FOR THE FIRST
TIME WITH READINGS FROM
SUZANNE FRISCHKORN AND
NEIL SMITH AND A PERFOR
MANCE BY ROOFWALKERS.
WORKSHOPS
approach their scripts, what questions do they ask, how do they move,
from dialogue on the page to a character onstage?) and look at the playwrights
use of dialogue to define action, character, and relationships, etc.
8 Thursdays
7:30–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
6 Tuesdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
INTRODUCTION TO PLAYWRITING
9/27–11/1
All Levels
Workshop Leader: Martin Blank
WRITING THE TELEVISION PILOT
Workshop Leader: Michael Kang
With hundreds of television channels to choose from, the demand for
original content is at an all-time high. This workshop is designed to
hone the craft of dramatic writing for an original television pilot, as
well as guide participants through the more pragmatic ins-and-outs of
navigating the tv business. Participants will develop an original idea for
a television show from pitch to shooting script. The workshop will also
cover the dramatic structural differences between television shows and
feature films.
8 Thursdays
7:30–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $290
Bethesda
9/22–11/10
All Levels
THE ART AND CRAFT OF SCREENWRITING
Workshop Leader: Khris Baxter
This intensive one-day workshop will guide the beginning or intermediate screenwriter through the entire screenwriting process: idea,
story, plot, structure, character development, scene construction, and
dialogue. In short, the necessary tools to begin writing a feature-length
screenplay. Participants should arrive with a short synopsis (no more
than a page) of their screenplay idea. (1 hour lunch break)
1 Saturday
10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $100
Glen Echo
11/19
All Levels
INTRODUCTION TO SCREENWRITING
This workshop is designed to give the beginning screenwriter all the
tools necessary to begin a feature screenplay. Through writing exercises,
lectures, and film screenings, we will cover the basics of format, structure,
character, and dialogue. By the end, the participant will have a treatment
for a feature film, as well as the first several scenes of the feature screenplay. The participant will be ready to enter the features workshop and
write a feature screenplay.
8 Wednesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/14–11/9
No Meeting 9/28
REWRITING YOUR SCREENPLAY:
THE ART OF THE REWRITE
Workshop Leader: Lyn Vaus
In the business of filmmaking, the most important aspect of screenwriting
is often the ability to rewrite. Workshop participants will learn how
to refine their scripts on their own by incorporating the feedback
of others. A completed or nearly completed first draft is required.
24
9/29–11/17
If you’ve always wanted to write a play, this workshop will give you a
solid foundation. You’ll learn how to create characters that are unique to
the stage, plot a play, as well as develop your own voice as a playwright.
We’ll also study classic and contemporary plays, and you’ll learn tricks
of the trade that successful playwrights have used for centuries. Before
the workshop is over you will write one -minute play and the first 
pages of a one-act or full-length play.
8 Saturdays
1:30–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/17–11/5
Beginner
FEATURE FILM SCREENWRITING
Workshop Leader: Jonathan Eig
This workshop is designed for the writer who wants to complete a feature
screenplay. It can be an original or a rewrite. The participant should have
an idea for a screenplay at the first meeting, and should have a basic
understanding of formatting, structure, and dialogue. We will go into
these topics in greater detail as we workshop sequences from participants’ scripts. Most of the workshop time is devoted to reading and
evaluating works-in-progress. Some time is given over to discussions
of screenwriting techniques and concepts.
8 Mondays
7:30–10:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/26–11/14
SONGWRITING
SONGWRITING 101
Workshop Leader: Cathy Fink
This workshop is for beginners and songwriters who want to know
more about the elements of a great song, song structures, skills, and
practice techniques for writing songs.
6 Tuesdays
Fee: $215
7:30–9:30 P.M.
Bethesda
9/20–11/8
Members of The Writer’s Center, Songwriters’ Association of Washington, or Washington
Area Music Association will receive a discount on this workshop. If you are a member of
these organizations, please call The Writer’s Center at 301-768-4084 (888-558-9625 outside
MD) to register.
No meeting 10/18 and 11/1
WORKSHOPS
MIXED GENRE
WRITING STAYCATION
Workshop Leader: Zahara Heckscher
BOOT CAMP FOR WRITERS:
SO WORDS DON’T GET IN THE WAY
Workshop Leader: Beth Kanter
This course is for individuals who want to tone their writing muscles so
they can go the distance in the workplace or in the creative space. Each
class will begin with a short warm-up exercise. We will then focus on
specifics like effective beginnings, creative prose, and strong conclusions. You will also learn how to avoid common grammatical and usage
errors that can distract from your message. This class will focus on both
craft and technique and is designed for students of all backgrounds who
are looking to take their writing endurance and skills to the next level.
4 Thursdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $195
Bethesda
10/27–11/17
All Levels
MYTHOLOGY FOR WRITERS
Workshop Leader: Carolyn Clark
This workshop expands beyond the borders of the Classical Mythology workshop in order to introduce specialized topics of interest to all participants.
4 Tuesdays
7:00–9:00 P.M.
Fee: $155
Bethesda
9/6–9/27
All Levels
Do you dream of participating in a writing retreat, but can’t get out
of town? This workshop, a non-residential week-long retreat at The
Writer’s Center, is for you. Join us for an intensive, supportive, exhilarating, focused week of writing. Each day begins with a short reading and brief discussion. Then tons of time for working on your own
writing–whether it is poetry, a novel, or nonfiction work in your brain,
or a manuscript that needs some final polish. Optional lunch speakers,
afternoon walks, and group shares.
Monday–Friday
10:00 A.M.–5:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
TRANSITIONS
Workshop Leader: Mary Carpenter
For writers who are beginning, those who want to move beyond a professional style, those who are stuck, and anyone else, this workshop will
focus on the process of writing: on how to free up personal experiences,
discover voices and personas, choose the best words, etc. In each class,
we will write on assigned subjects, listen to these pieces, and comment
on what we like and why. In addition, participants may bring in work
written or rewritten at home for us to critique. The goal of the class is to
create a greater awareness of what it takes to turn life into stories, and a
familiarity with creating writing groups.
6 Tuesdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $260
Bethesda
STRENGTHENING YOUR PROSE
10/17–10/21
All Levels
9/27–11/1
All Levels
Workshop Leader: Graham Dunstan
If you’re new to prose writing and have a story to tell, this writing class
is meant for you. We will explore both short fiction and nonfiction and
hone skills that can help you create more powerful prose. Students will
write and critique short prose assignments and read contemporary examples
of short fiction and nonfiction. Join us to create your own voice and to
study key elements of writing including conflict, character development,
and style.
8 Thursdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
9/15–11/3
No meeting 9/28
HUMOR WRITING
Workshop Leader: Laura Oliver
Humor heals, connects, and illuminates, adding dimension and originality to anything you write. The ability to write humorous material is
based upon acute observation, self exposure, and courage. It is about
recording reactions more than actions, and is a tool that plumbs the
depths of psychological awareness and honesty. In this workshop you
will learn humor’s component parts and how to tell not a joke, but a
story. We will be mentored by the most successful writers of literary
humor publishing today.
1 Saturday
1:00–3:00 P.M.
Fee: $40
Annapolis
9/17
All Levels
GETTING STARTED: CREATIVE WRITING
If you have always wanted to write but haven’t known how to begin, this
is the workshop for you! We will explore journals, short stories, poems
(and prose poems), and memoirs in order to “jump start” your writing.
Exercises done in the workshop will focus on transforming a creative
idea into actual words on a page. Goals: loosening up, generating new
material, and enjoying the excitement of writing.
Getting Started: Wednesday
Workshop Leader: Elizabeth Rees
8 Wednesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
Getting Started: Tuesday
Workshop Leader: Laura Fargas
8 Tuesdays
1:30–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $360
Bethesda
10/5–11/23
Beginner
10/4–11/22
Beginner
FLEX YOUR CREATIVE MUSCLES:
A 1- DAY WORKSHOP
Workshop Leader: Leslie Pietrzyk
Spend the afternoon doing a series of intensive, guided exercises designed
to shake up your brain and get your creative subconscious working for
you. You can come with a project already in mind and focus your work
toward a deeper understanding of that—or you can come as a blank slate
25
WORKSHOPS
(that will quickly fill up!). Fiction writers and memoirists of all levels are
welcome. Please bring lots of paper and pen/pencil or a computer with
a fully charged battery. (1 hour lunch break)
1 Saturday
10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $100
Bethesda
10/22
All Levels
TRANSLATION
POETRY TRANSLATION
This workshop is an opportunity to try your hand—or hone your
skills—at translating poetry from any language into English. The only
prerequisites are a love of poetry and sufficient knowledge of another
language to be able to translate with the help of a dictionary. We will
examine some published translations and treatises, but the emphasis will
be on “workshopping” students’ translations through the lens of poetry.
10/25–11/29
All Levels
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
HOW TO MAKE A LIVING AS A COPY EDITOR
Whether you are drawn to the corporate world or a freelancer’s life, this
workshop will cover what you need to know to pursue a career as a copy
editor. You will learn how a copy editor differs from a proofreader, how
to build experience now to make a career switch later, key tips every
copy editor should know, and the steps you’ll need to take if you want
to work on a freelance basis.
1 Saturday
1:30–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $50
Bethesda
10/15
All Levels
PROS AND CONS OF SELF-PUBLISHING
Workshop Leader: Diana M. Martin
An introduction to self-publishing that will discuss how it differs from
commercial publishing and the benefits and weaknesses of this growing
industry. For beginners who want to explore if self-publishing is right
for them.
1 Saturday
1:30–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $50
Bethesda
26
Workshop Leader: Diana M. Martin
For participants who have self-published at least one book (or e-book) on
their own or with a vanity press. Each person will share their experiences
with the publishing process, including marketing and sales. This open
discussion is meant for participants to network with and learn from each
other new strategies to make their book a success in this growing publishing market. Participants will bring their books to share with the class.
1 Saturday
1:30–4:00 P.M.
Fee: $50
Bethesda
Workshop Leader: Yvette Neisser Moreno
6 Tuesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
PROS AND CONS OF
SELF-PUBLISHING (INTERMEDIATE)
11/5
Beginner
12/3
ADVANCED MARKETING
Workshop Leader: Angela Render
An advanced class aimed at refining your marketing campaigns both
online and off. Build a mailing list and find avenues for free advertising.
Advanced techniques for collecting prospect data and maximizing print
advertising will be discussed. Participants begin to design their own
sales and marketing packages.
1 Saturday
3:00–5:00 P.M.
Fee: $40
Bethesda
11/12
Advanced
SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR WRITERS
Does the world of social media make you want to head for a cave? Do
you think the world’s all gone to Twitter, Facebook, and other social
networks? Learn to navigate the social surf online and in person as
you learn how to approach social networking online and off. Recommended, but not mandatory: Familiarity with blogging or having taken
Introduction to Blogging.
1 Saturday
3:00–5:00 P.M.
Fee: $40
Bethesda
10/1
All Levels
INTRODUCTION TO BLOGGING
This introductory class explains what a blog is and what it can do for a
writer. It will cover several blogging software options, the basics on how
to set up a blog and choose a domain name, how to post, and how to
insert images. Participants will get a feel for what sort of content should
be included in a post, how to organize their content, how to invite
comment, and how to promote themselves on other people’s blogs.
Participants will brainstorm topic ideas for participants’ own blogs.
1 Saturday
12:00–2:00 P.M.
Fee: $40
Bethesda
10/1
Beginner
WORKSHOPS
BLOGGING TIPS AND TRICKS
An intermediate level workshop that is best suited for people who are
already blogging and want to take their blogs to the next level. Students
will learn techniques to improve their posts and their exposure. Basic
graphics editing, search engine optimization (SEO), and ways to come
up with sustainable topics to write about will be discussed.
1 Saturday
12:00–2:00 P.M.
Fee: $40
Bethesda
11/12
Intermediate
YOUNGER WRITERS
Workshop Leader: Adele Steiner Brown
Participants will experiment with poetry, prose, and drama and have an
opportunity to share new ideas for writing forms and techniques. The
workshop is an opportunity for young writers to deepen their understanding of how various types of writing work and what makes them
and their use of language powerful. Participants will share finished work
for appreciation and helpful comments from their peers, and a reading
of their collected works for family and friends will conclude the series of
workshops. There are no texts required for this workshop, but students
will need paper and pencils.
10/29–12/10
All Levels
No meeting 11/26
ARTSCAPE NEWS
Participants will publish an autumn edition of Artscape News! They will
write short stories, poetry, interviews, the latest sports and fashion news,
horoscopes, and travel guides. Sessions will be “hands-on,” and we will
examine the role of “play” in creative writing as well as the importance
of organization and structure in report writing. Time will be time set
aside in each session for comments and revision of work, and students
will have a “press release” reading for family and friends at the conclusion of the workshops. There are no texts required for this workshop,
but students will need paper and pencils.
9/17–10/22
All Levels
HOW TO WRITE A BETTER
COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY
The application essay is one of the most important factors in getting accepted into the college of your choice. High school students and adults
applying for college will learn tips on what admissions committees look
for and how to personalize an essay so it stands out among the rest.
1 Saturday
Fee: $50
1:30-4:00 P.M.
Bethesda
Middle graders (children ages –) can be a terrific audience for your
creative skills. This age group devours both nonfiction and fiction. We
will look at middle grade literature (classic and current), but most class
time will be spent discussing participants’ writings. We will explore
protagonists, plot, conflict, action, humor, dialogue, villains, secondary
characters, good beginnings, strong middles, and great endings. Beginners
welcome. Bring a favorite middle grade book or article to the first class.
9/15–10/20
All Levels
WRITING FOR YOUNGER READERS:
FINDING YOUR VOICE
Workshop Leaders: Tami Brown, Sarah Sullivan,
& Sarah Aronson
Award-winning children’s book editor Jill Santopolo has called voice
a writer’s “soul print.” Distinctive voice is one element that sets great
young people’s literature apart from manuscripts that will never be
published. With a combination of lectures, exercises, and roundtable
discussion, authors Tami Lewis Brown, Sarah Sullivan, and Sarah
Aronson will lead you on an advanced journey to help you uncover
your own authentic voice.
1 Sunday
10:00 A.M.–3:00 P.M.
11/6
Fee: $100
Bethesda
Workshop Leader: Adele Steiner Brown
6 Saturdays
10:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M.
Fee: $215
Glen Echo
WRITING FOR THE MIDDLE GRADE READER
Workshop Leader: Judith Tabler
6 Thursdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
Fee: $270
Bethesda
YOUNG WRITERS’ CIRCLE
6 Saturdays
10:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M.
Fee: $215
Bethesda
ADULTS WRITE
FOR CHILDREN
ONLINE
CHARACTERIZATION IN THE NOVEL
Workshop Leader: T. Greenwood
When writing a novel, we must know our primary characters inside and
out. We need to understand their desires, motivations, and frustrations,
their histories and their futures. This workshop will focus on the development of authentic characters. We will examine character as both
autonomous and residing within the context of the other novelistic
elements, and we will discuss the challenge of creating and integrating
these various elements into a cohesive and credible whole. Participants
will explore the main character(s) in their novels-in-progress.
8 Saturdays
Fee: $270
Online
9/10–10/29
All Levels
10/15
All Levels
27
WORKSHOPS
INTRODUCTION TO THE NOVEL
THE ART OF FICTION
Workshop Leader: T. Greenwood
Workshop Leader: Robert Bausch
So, you have always wanted to write a novel but didn’t know where to start.
This workshop will help you understand the process of writing a novel so
you can get started putting pen to paper. We will focus on everything from
generating ideas to developing characters to establishing point of view. We
will touch on many elements of fiction (dialogue, scene, etc.), but the emphasis will be on discovering the writing process that works best for you.
This workshop is an intensive exploration of the elements of writing
fiction, the uses of the imagination, and the demands of literary genres,
including the short story and the novel. The workshop will focus on
techniques for character development, plot, conflict, dialogue, beginnings, endings, and resolutions, the writing process, and basic storytelling.
8 Saturdays
Fee: $270
Online
11/5–12/24
WRITING THE YOUNG ADULT
OR MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL
Workshop Leaders: Kathryn Erskine and Beckie Weinheimer
Participants should have a draft of either a middle grade or young adult
novel before class begins. We will cover beginnings, plot, character,
grounding, voice, dialogue, climax, and rewrites over the eight-week course.
We will provide readings (lessons the authors have co-written), and
personal critique from both instructors on submissions every week.
8 Saturdays
Fee: $270
Online
9/10–10/29
Intermediate
FIRST WORDS: BEGINNING FICTION
Workshop Leader: Doreen Baingana
Do you have stories to tell but hesitate to start? This beginners’ workshop
will jumpstart the writing process with exercises and readings from classic
and contemporary writers. We will also explore how plot, setting, theme,
character development, and dialogue work together to make an artful
whole. And we will critique one another’s drafts with the goal of completing at least one publishable short story by the end of the workshop.
8 Mondays
Fee: $270
Online
10/10–11/28
Beginner
Don’t just sit around waiting for the muse. For eight weeks, this workshop will provide inspiration for generating new poems as well as ideas
for resuscitating and refreshing old drafts. New “lessons” will be posted
weekly, featuring example poems and links to additional reading. Participants will share and comment on each other’s work and will receive
individual feedback from the workshop leader.
9/19–11/7
All Levels
The Writer’s Center is pleased to join in partnership
with the McLean Community Center (MCC), to offer
workshops at their location at 1234 Ingleside Avenue,
McLean, Virginia. The MCC is handling registrations
for these workshops. Current Writer’s Center members
who register for a workshop at the MCC will pay the
full rate and receive the 13% member discount as a
refund. For more information about the MCC,
visit www.mcleancenter.org.
WRITING SHORT FICTION:
PLAYING WITH POINT OF VIEW
Workshop Leader: David Taylor
Point of view guides voice and action in your short story. Because your
choice of narrator pov shapes how the story gets told, exploring pov
alternatives can open fresh options. This one-day workshop will look
at point of view through the writing and reading experience. We’ll use
examples and exercises to reveal how you can find the pov that suits the
story.
1:00–4:00 P.M.
McLean
10/29
All Levels
BEGINNING POETRY
Workshop Leader: M. A. Schaffner
This workshop aims to help each attendee discover the poetic style,
techniques, and tools that work best for them. We’ll first take a look
at verse written over the last few centuries to get a sense of how poetry
has evolved with the language. This will include a brief look at forms,
perspectives, and the social role of the poet as, variously, entertainer,
educator, philosopher, and critic. We will then read and discuss our
own and each other’s poems to better understand our individual voices,
skills, and challenges. At that point we can begin to discuss how and
when to publish.
6 Thursdays
Fee: See MCC Web site
28
9/16–11/4
MCLEAN
WORKSHOPS
1 Saturday
ONLINE POETRY WORKSHOP
8 Mondays
Fee: $270
Online
8 Fridays
Fee: $360
Online
7:00–9:30 P.M.
McLean
10/6–11/10
Beginner
WORKSHOPS
WRITING YOUR NOVEL OR MEMOIR
Workshop Leader: Barbara Esstman
Working from  pages of your own writing, learn character and scene
development, dialogue, tone, language, point of view, plot, and focus—
the essential directions for writing your book and not getting lost in the
process. Also, tips on how to publish.
6 Tuesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
McLean
10/18–11/22
All Levels
THE ART AND CRAFT OF SCREENWRITING
This intensive one-day workshop will guide the beginning or intermediate screenwriter through the entire screenwriting process: idea,
story, plot, structure, character development, scene construction, and
dialogue. In short, the necessary tools to begin writing a feature-length
screenplay. Participants should arrive with a short synopsis (no more
than a page) of their screenplay idea. (1 hour lunch break)
1 Saturday
10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M.
McLean
10/29
All Levels
ing voices for different projects, organize essays, revise both large and
small sections, proofread for good grammar, and enjoy the process of
writing.
1 Saturday
10:00 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
McLean
10/1
All Levels
CREATIVE WRITING FOR TEENS
Workshop Leader: M. A. Schaffner
This quick immersion in the experience of creative writing will include
both prose and poetry. We’ll examine basic tools and techniques, the
practical value of creative writing skills, and how (and when) to approach publication. Participants will hear short presentations on how
to organize themselves for writing, how to review and edit their work,
and how to deal with criticism. They will have the opportunity to apply
these skills in discussions and readings, and finally will receive individual critiques on their work from the instructor.
4 Wednesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
McLean
10/19–11/9
Beginner
CREATIVE WRITING: GETTING STARTED
Workshop Leader: Hildie Block
If you have always wanted to write but haven’t known how to begin, this
is the workshop for you! We will explore journals, short stories, poems
(and prose poems), and memoirs in order to “jump start” your writing.
Exercises done in the workshop will focus on transforming a creative
idea into actual words on a page. Goals: loosening up, generating
new material, and enjoying the excitement of writing.
6 Tuesdays
10:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
McLean
To find workshops listed exclusively online,
or to sign up for The Writer Center’s weekly
or monthly e-newsletter, visit writer.org.
9/27–11/1
Beginner
WRITING ABOUT ANIMALS
Interested in crafting a story about an animal? You’re in good company.
Annie Dillard, John Grogan, James Herriot, Laura Hillenbrand, John
Steinbeck, and James Thurber are just some of the authors who have
been enchanted with the lives of animals. Each week, workshop participants will read an excerpt from a leading work in the field (fiction or
nonfiction) and then workshop their own manuscripts. We will examine
elements necessary to strengthen your own writing: research, objectivity,
characterization, style, tone, and structure.
4 Wednesdays
7:00–9:30 P.M.
McLean
11/2–11/23
All Levels
COMPOSITION WORKSHOP
FOR THE MIDDLE GRADER (6–8TH GRADE)
In the class, students will look at the craft of writing. Participants will
examine excerpts from fiction and non-fiction to see what elements they
contain to make them examples of “good” writing. Then students will
compose short essays to be reviewed in the workshop. We will discuss
methods professional writers use to develop ideas, adapt different writ-
29
WORKSHOPS
CAPITOL HILL
Beginning this fall, The Writer’s Center will offer workshops at Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital
(921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20003).
FIRST FIRE: FROM SPARK TO PRACTICE
JOURNAL WRITING
Workshop Leader: Naomi Ayala
This workshop will include activities that will have your creative mind
spinning in new directions, helping you find new ways to respond to
what excites you, and motivating you to renew and/or establish your
commitment to a writing practice. From snake-flow and ritual poems,
to collaging work, to using research and dictionary prompts, as well
as exercises developed by the instructor over the course of  years of
teaching, you will feel positively challenged as you gain insight into
your creative process and expand your breadth.
Develop and refine your writing skills, hone powers of observation, and
practice the art of capsule characterizations in this workshop for all skill
levels. Bring a notebook (paper or digital) to class for practical exercises
in journaling and autobiography. Discussion topics cover motivation,
journal keepers of the past, and how to use your journal content in
other genres.
6 Thursdays
7:00–9:00 P.M.
Fee: $215
Capitol Hill
9/22–10/27
All Levels
GENERATING STORIES FOR FICTION AND MEMOIR
Learn what makes a story. Discover how to develop credible characters
and make them central to your fiction or nonfiction story. Master the
tools of writing—character, dialogue, scene, conflict, and the handling
of time—through in-class writing and by reading passages from published works. Class sessions will include gentle critiques of participants’
work.
30
11/1–11/15
All Levels
CHAPTER ONE: WRITING FOR TWEENS AND TEENS
Workshop Leader: Solveig Eggerz
6 Wednesdays
1:00–3:30 P.M.
Fee: $270
Capitol Hill
3 Tuesdays
6:30–8:30 P.M.
Fee: $125
Capitol Hill
9/7–10/12
Workshop Leader: Pamela Ehrenberg
You’ve got: an idea, a manuscript, or part of a manuscript. You’d like:
friendly but critical eyes to help you shape, polish, and submit your
work. You’ll find: a safe, encouraging space to ask questions (middle
grade or ya? agent or not?) and resources to help you see your project
through to completion. We’ll spend most of our time reading and
critiquing each others’ work. Participants will be invited to submit 
pages before the first meeting—but if that sounds scary, we can also
help you be ready to submit by Week . Your newest cheering section
looks forward to having you join us!
4 Tuesdays
2:00–4:30 P.M.
Fee: $195
Capitol Hill
9/13–10/4
be a part of the conversation
The Writer’s Center
What is the best novel you’ve read that involves an animal in
a major role?
YOUR
IMAGE
HERE
Write a comment…
writer.org thewriterscenter.blogspot.com
EVENTS AT THE WRITER'S CENTER
We host more than 50 events annually, including Sunday Open Door
readings and theatre productions in our historic black box theatre. If you
would like more information about these events—including interviews,
videos, and audio—please visit our Web site www.writer.org/events or
our blog, First Person Plural.
OPEN DOOR
READINGS
SUN, SEPT 25, 2:00 P.M.
Poet Sally BliumisDunn reads from
Second Skin, and
poet David Keplinger
will read from The
Prayers of Others.
Sally Bliumis-Dunn
SUN, OCT 2, 2:00 P.M.
Janice Shapiro reads from Bummer and Other
Stories. She is joined by novelist Angela DavisGardner, who reads from Butterfly’s Child.
SUN, OCT 9,
2:00 P.M.
Poet Michael Montlack reads from Cool
Limbo and Alma Katsu
reads from her novel,
The Taker.
SUN, SEPT 11, 2:00 P.M.
Poetry and Prose Open Mic.
Sign-up for readers starts at 1:30 P.M.
SUN, SEPT 18, 2:00 P.M.
Poet Cynthia Atkins
reads from Psyche’s
Weathers. She is
joined by novelist Ray
Robertson, who reads
from Why Not?.
Cynthia Atkins
32
Michael Montlack
SUN, OCT 16, 2:00 P.M.
Sergio Troncoso reads from his new novel, From
This Wicked Patch of Dust. He is joined by poet
Patricia Valdata, who reads from Inherent Vice,
her new poetry collection.
SUN, OCT 23, 2:00 P.M.
SUN, OCT 30, 2011
Poet Elizabeth Rees reads from Tilting Gravity.
She is joined by Elizabeth Poliner, who reads
from Sudden Fog, her new chapbook of poems.
SUN, NOV 13,
2:00 P.M.
Reading by winners of
the Washington Writers’
Publishing House competition. Fiction winner
Melanie S. Hatter reads
from The Color of My
Dan Gutstein
Soul, and poet Dan
Gutstein reads from Bloodcoal and Honey.
SUN, NOV 20, 2:00 P.M.
“The Making of Memoir,” a reading based on
Mollee Kruger’s The Cobbler’s Last Stand: A True
Story of Hard Times, War and the Journey of a
Maryland Girl Who Lived Over a Shoe Store on
Main Street.
SUN, DEC 4, 2:00 P.M.
Poet Kathleen Ossip reads from The Cold War,
her recent collection of poems. She is joined by
poet W. M. Rivera, who reads from Buried in the
Mind’s Backyard.
SUN, DEC 11, 2:00 P.M.
An afternoon of poetry, prose, and music
with Ellen Prentiss Campbell; poet E. Louise
Beach, reading from her recent chapbook
Sine Nomine; and Hilary Davis performing
on hammered dulcimer.
SUN, DEC 18, 2:00 P.M.
EVENTS AT THE WRITER'S CENTER
35 th ANNIVERSARY READING SERIES
Each event: Members/Students (with a valid ID) $10; Non-members $15
EXCEPT for Taylor Mali: Members/Students (with a valid ID) $5; Non-members $10
MARTÍN ESPADA:
The Pablo Neruda of
North American Authors
TAYLOR MALI:
Poetry Slam
Final Competition
SAT, SEPT 10, 7:30 P.M.
Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to
have emerged from the poetry slam movement.
At this one-of-a-kind event, the finalists of
TWC’s poetry slam competition will get to show
their stuff. A performance by Mali follows.
If you are a slam poet
and would like to participate, visit us at www.writer.org/slampoetry for
details. We will ask our community to vote for their favorites, and winners
will be invited to the finals.
Read the Taylor Mali interview on page 12.
©PETER DRESSEL
Known as the “Latino poet of his generation,”
visiting writer Martín Espada is the author of
10 collections of critically-acclaimed poetry,
including the recent The Trouble Ball. A poet,
editor, translator, and attorney, Espada’s
powerful poetry explores the social conditions
affecting immigrants and Latinos. He is also leading a one-day workshop.
See page 20 for details.
TUES, OCT 11, 7:30 P.M.
ROBERT BAUSCH &
ALLISON LEOTTA:
Teacher/Student
PHOTO BY MATT BRIGGS
FRI, SEPT 30, 7:30 P.M.
CHARLES SHIELDS:
The Life of Kurt Vonnegut
SAT, NOV 12, 7:30 P.M.
When Robert Bausch first read at TWC in 1980
with his twin-brother Richard, he may not have
known how influential he would become for
hundreds of workshop participants. The popular
workshop leader is scaling back his teaching (see
page 30 for details on his online workshop) to
do more writing. At this special reading he teams up with one of his former
students Allison Leotta, who rocketed to fame with Laws of Attraction.
In 2006, Charles Shields published his monumental biography of Harper Lee, Mockingbird,
to enormous approbation. Following the success
of that book, he turned his attention to another
of the great lions of 20th-Century American
literature, Kurt Vonnegut. Learn how this awardwinning author crafted his biography—the first
ever of the reclusive Vonnegut—and learn more about the man who gave
us The Slaughterhouse Five.
Read about Robert Bausch’s time at TWC on page 6.
Read Charles J. Shields article about Kurt Vonnegut on page 10.
LEESBURG
FIRST FRIDAY
Leesburg Town Hall
(Lower Level Meeting Room)
25 W. Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176
$4 TWC members and
residents of Leesburg
$6 General admission
LEESBURG IDOL
(À LA AMERICAN IDOL)
OCT 7, 7:30–9:30 P.M.
Our panelists—Deborah Grosvenor (Kneerim
& Williams) and Jeff Kleinman (Folio)—are
looking for the next literary superstar. Could
it be you? Bring a great pitch line and the first
page of your book. Your page, if selected by the
panelists after listening to all pitches, will be
read aloud. Authors remain anonymous. Winner
will be selected by a combination of panel and
audience votes.
WHAT NOT TO DO
WHEN WRITING
YOUR FIRST NOVEL
with Alma Katsu
NOV 4, 7:30–9:30 P.M.
Writing your first novel is hard enough: why
make it harder on yourself by incorporating difficult structural elements into your story? Debut
novelist Alma Katsu will explain why The Taker
took 10 years to write, what she learned from
the revision process, and what she might’ve
avoided if she’d only known.
33
TWC INSIDER
PUBLISHED WORK
Luis Alberto Ambroggio’ s
new book of poems, The Wind’s
Archeology, was published by Vasa
Roto. The book was translated by
TWC workshop leader Naomi Ayala.
Ann B. Barnet’s book, Border Crossings: a spiritual journey in medicine,
was published by the Potter’s House
Book Service in Washington, D.C.
Kathy Borrus’s book, Five Hundred
Buildings of Paris, was published by
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers;
and her essay “One On One” was
published in Fits Starts & Matters of
the Heart, published by Freelance
Success, both in Fall 2010.
Angie Kim’s essay, “Missing Bones,” was published in
the spring issue of Gulf Stream Magazine.
Lyn Lifshin’s new book, All The Poets (Mostly) Who have
Touched Me (Living and Dead. All True: Especially The Lies),
was published by World Parade Books in February.
Helen Lyman’s book, Not to the Manner Born: Reflections of a Wife and Partner in the Foreign Service, was
published posthumously by SCARITH, New Academia
Publishing, in early 2011.
Kisha M. Morris’s book, Look Good and Feel Good in Your
Own Skin, was published by lulu.com in March 2011.
K. L. Brady’s novel, The Bum
Magnet, was published by
Simon & Schuster in March 2011.
Teresa Burns Murphy’s novel,
The Secret to Flying, was published
in summer 2011 by Tiger Eye
Publications.
Angie Chuang’s piece “Vice
and Virtue” was published in
the anthology Best Women’s
Travel Writing
2011 in May.
Sally Pfoutz ‘s first collection
of poetry, Tree and Shadow, was
published by Wild
Leaf Press in
February 2011.
Michael Dolan’s book, The Nation’s
Stage: The John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts, 1971–2011, will
be published in October by Simon
& Schuster.
Katie Pickard Fawcett’s young
adult novel, To Come and Go Like
Magic, which was originally published in February 2011, was published in paperback by Knopf Books
in March 2011.
Alma Katsu’s debut novel, The Taker,
will be published in September.
The novel has been picked for
Book of the Month Club, Target’s
New Release Bestsellers series, and
Starbuck’s Bookish Reading Club.
34
Elaine Kessler’s short story, “The Girl With the Trailer
Park Hair,” appeared in the March 2011 issue of The
Northern Virginia Review.
Margaret
Rodenberg’s short story, “Mrs.
Morrisette,” will be published
this fall in The Delmarva Review.
Anne Sheldon’s book The Bone
Spindle was published in May by
Aqueduct Press.
Share your news with
The Writer’s Center
community!
To be included in TWC Insider, e-mail your
news along with a high-resolution image
of your book cover or author photo to
[email protected].
The deadline for the winter/spring issue
is September 26.
TWC INSIDER
AWARDS
E. Laura Golberg’s poem, “Crewel,” won first place in
the Larry Neal Award for Poetry, sponsored by the DC
Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She worked
on this poem in her TWC writing group and Sandra
Beasley’s workshop.
Margaret Rodenberg’s novel, Little Song, was a finalist
in Richmond’s James River Writers Best Unpublished
Novel Contest. Previously, this manuscript won first
place in contests at the San Francisco Writers Conference and on AWomansWrite.com.
Angie Kim’s short story, “Backward,” was a finalist for
Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Award and the Tobias Wolff Short Story award early this year. The story
will be published in an upcoming issue of New Letters.
Angela Vogel’s book Fort Gorgeous
won the 2010 National Poetry
Review Book Prize and will be published in early 2012.
Elisabeth Murawski’s poetry was awarded the Phyllis
Smart-Young Prize by The Madison Review. The three
award-winning poems will be published this fall.
13th Annual Fall for the Book Festival
September 18-23
Events throughout Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland
Fairfax Prize
Amy Tan, author of
The Joy Luck Club
Mason Award
Stephen King,
author of Full Dark,
No Stars
Busboys & Poets Award
Claudia Rankine, author
of Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
Plus Abraham Verghese, Francine Prose, Allegra Goodman, Natasha
Tretheway, Benjamin Percy, and many more — including an event
with The Writer’s Center: The Emerging Writer Fellowship Reading,
Friday, September 23, at 7:30 p.m. with Ellis Avery, Chris Goodrich, and
Angela Woodward.
Six Days • Nearly 150 Authors
www.fallforthebook.org
“Like” us on Facebook for news,
book giveaways and more!
35
Ellis Avery is the author of two novels and a memoir. Her first
novel, The Teahouse Fire, set in the tea ceremony world of 19thcentury Japan, won Lambda, Ohioana, and American Library
Association Stonewall book awards and has been translated into
five languages. Her second novel, The Last Nude, inspired by the
Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka, is forthcoming in January.
Avery teaches Creative Writing at Columbia University and lives in
New York City.
Traci Brimhall is the author of Our Lady of the Ruins, selected
by Carolyn Forché for the 2011 Barnard Women Poets Prize, and
Rookery, winner of the 2009 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First
Book Award. Her poems have appeared in New England Review,
The Virginia Quarterly Review, Slate, The Missouri Review, The
Kenyon Review, Poet Lore, and Southern Review. She is a former
Halls Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing
and currently teaches at Western Michigan University where she is
a doctoral candidate and a King/Chávez/Parks Fellow.
Joanne Diaz is the recipient of fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, The New York
Times Foundation, and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Her
book, The Lessons, won the Gerald Cable first book award and
was published in 2011. Her poems have been published in AGNI,
The American Poetry Review, The Southern Review, and Third
Coast. She is an assistant professor in the English department
at Illinois Wesleyan University.
see page 14 for details on the EWF reading
Christopher Goodrich teaches English and Play Directing
at the Academy of Musical Theatre, Northwood High School, in
Silver Spring, MD. He has also taught at New York University and
Frostburg State University. His poems have appeared in MARGIE,
Hotel Amerika, Rattle, The New York Quarterly, Sycamore Review,
Cimarron Review, Cider Press Review, and The Worcester Review,
among others. He has been featured on Verse Daily and NPR.
He is the recipient of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize
and holds an M.F.A. from New England College. A chapbook, By
Reaching, was published in 2007. His first book, Nevertheless
Hello, was published in 2009.
Ira Sukrungruang is a Thai American, born and raised in
the southside of Chicago. He co-edited with Donna Jarrell two
literary anthologies about fat: What Are You Looking At? The First
Fat Fiction Anthology and Scoot Over, Skinny: The Fat Nonfiction
Anthology. His work has appeared in The Sun, Creative Nonfiction,
North American Review, and other literary journals. Recently, his
memoir, Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy, was published
by University of Missouri Press. He is the co-founder of Sweet:
A Literary Confection, an online periodical, and teaches in the
M.F.A. program at University of South Florida.
Angela Woodward is the author of the fiction collection The
Human Mind and the novella End of the Fire Cult, a Council for
Wisconsin Writers honorable mention, book-length fiction. Her
stories have appeared in numerous literary journals, including
Ninth Letter, Diagram, Salt Hill, 13th Moon, Pebble Lake Review,
Gulf Coast, and Quarter After Eight. Her work has been anthologized in The Best of the Web 2010 and in Sidebrow, from the
San Francisco poetry collective of the same name. She lives in
Madison, Wisconsin.
WORKSHOP LEADERS
JAMES ALEXANDER has been writing professionally for more than 30 years and spent several
of those years as a political speechwriter including at
the Cabinet level. After earning a B.A. in journalism
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he
started his career as a bylined newspaper reporter
back in the days when newspapers mattered. He
worked for The Charlotte Observer and The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution and interned at The Washington
Post. Alexander followed up his newspaper career by
serving in the House and Senate as a U.S. Congressional Fellow before working several years on Capitol
Hill as a press secretary.
SARAH ARONSON is author of two young
adult novels, Head Case and Beyond Lucky.
NAOMI AYALA is the author of two books of
poetry, Wild Animals on the Moon and This Side of Early.
She lives in D.C. where, until recently, she served
as the executive director of 826DC. Distinguishing
herself as a poet who writes in both Spanish and
English, her most recent work appears in Al pie de
la Casa Blanca: Poetas Hispanos de Washington, D.C.
DOREEN BAINGANA is the author of Tropical
Fish: Stories out of Entebbe, which won the AWP Short
Fiction Award and a Commonwealth Prize. She has
also won the Washington Independent Writers Fiction
Prize, an Emerging Writer’s Fellowship from The Writer’s
Center, and was a finalist twice for the Caine Prize for
African Writing. Her stories and essays have appeared
in journals such as Glimmer Train, African American
Review, Callaloo, Guardian (UK), and Kwani. She has
an M.F.A. from University of Maryland and was a
Writer-in-Residence there.
MARIO BALDESSARI is the 2011–2012
playwright-in-residence at First Draft, an artistic
associate with Charter Theater, and an acting
instructor for the National Conservatory of Dramatic
Arts, the Actors’ Center, Imagination Stage, and the
Educational Theater Company. For many years, he
was the lead writer and a founding member of the
comedy troupe Dropping the Cow. His most recent
plays include Fat Gay Jew at Charter Theater and Jack
and the Bean-Stalk at 1st Stage.
ROBERT BAUSCH was educated at George
Mason University, earning a B.A., an M.A., and an
M.F.A. Since 1975, Bausch has been a college professor teaching creative writing, American literature,
world literature, humanities, philosophy, and expository writing. He has also been a director on the board
of the Pen/Faulkner Foundation, and in 2009 he was
awarded the John Dos Passos Prize in Literature.
KHRIS BAXTER is a screenwriter, producer, and
script consultant. He teaches screenwriting, at The
Writer’s Center, Gettysburg College, and at the lowresidency M.F.A. at Queens University of Charlotte,
NC. His body of work includes many optioned screenplays and one produced film. He is a member of the
Virginia Film Office where he is a judge for the annual
Screenwriting Competition. He is also the founder of
Baxter Baker & Associates (baxterbaker.com).
SANDRA BEASLEY is the author of I Was the
Jukebox, winner of the Barnard Women Poets Prize
(2010). Her first collection, Theories of Falling, won
the New Issues Poetry Prize. Her poetry has been
featured on Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and in The Best
American Poetry 2010. In 2011, Crown published her
memoir, Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an
Allergic Life.
MARTIN BLANK (Playwright) is the author of
ten plays. His full-length drama, The Law of Return,
was produced at Center Stage Theater, Jerusalem,
Maryland Ensemble Theatre, and was optioned
for Broadway. His one-act comedy, Avenue of the
Americas, was produced Off Broadway at the Tank
Theater. He has received new play commissions from
the American Jewish Theater, Theatre Ariel, and the
Georgetown Theatre Company and is published by
Smith & Kraus. He has served as artistic associate for
the American Jewish Theatre and American Place
Theatre, New York City, as well as literary manager,
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and founding
artistic director, Theater J. Currently, he is artistic
director for American Ensemble Theater. He attended
University of Maryland and Yale School of Drama.
HILDIE S. BLOCK, M.A., The Johns Hopkins
University, has been leading writing workshops since
1996. She was an admissions officer at The Johns
Hopkins University and taught writing at American
University and The George Washington University.
She has published over 50 short stories and essays.
Her book, Not What I Expected, came out in 2007.
TAMI LEWIS BROWN is author of two
children’s books, Soar Elinor and The Map of Me.
ADELE STEINER BROWN B.A. and
M.F.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing
(Poetry) (University of Maryland); an instructor
with Montgomery College and Maryland State Arts
Council; host of Café Muse; and author of Refracted
Love, Freshwater Pearls, The Moon Lighting, and Look
Ma, “Hands” on Poetry. Her work has appeared in
WordWrights!, Maryland Poetry Review, Gargoyle,
Lucid Stone, Smartish Pace, and So to Speak.
MARY CARPENTER has a B.A. in English
from Wellesley Collgege, a graduate degree in
journalism from Boston University, and 30 years of
experience as a published journalist. She has written
two nonfiction books for young adults and is currently working on a series of personal essays.
KENNETH CARROLL is a native Washingtonian. His writings appear in numerous publications,
including, Stanford University Education Journal,
Penguin’s African American Textbook, and Turn the
Page: Sharing Successful Chapters in Our Lives with
Youth. He has worked as an educator in the D.C. public
schools for the past 20 years, where he has used
literature and writing to reach youth and to engage
students in learning and leadership opportunities.
As the former director of DC WritersCorps, he created
the country’s first Youth Poetry Slam League, which
was honored by the President’s Commission for the
Arts and the Humanities in 1999.
CAROLYN CLARK, Ph.D., is a devoted teacher
and a personal trainer. Indebted to teachers at
Cornell University, Brown University, and The Johns
Hopkins University for degrees in Classics-related
fields, she enjoys riding, writing woodlands lyric
poetry, and finding mythology everywhere.
BRENDA W. CLOUGH is a novelist, short
story, and nonfiction writer. Her recent e-books are
Revise the World and Speak to Our Desires. Her novels
include How Like a God, The Doors of Death and Life,
and Revise the World. She has been a finalist for
both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. She has been
teaching science fiction & fantasy workshops at The
Writer’s Center for over 10 years.
LISA COUTURIER is writing a memoir about
her racehorse. Her recent essay “Dark Horse” (July/
August 2010 Orion magazine) won an esteemed 2011
Pushcart Prize and was nominated for the Grantham
37
WORKSHOP LEADERS
Prize for Environmental Writing. Couturier’s book,
The Hopes of Snakes & Other Tales from the Urban
Landscape, explores the intersecting stories of the
human and nonhuman in N.Y.C. and Washington,
D.C. Widely published, Couturier is listed as a notable
essayist in Best American Essays, 2006, and has been
featured in The Washington Post, USA Today, and
People. She lives with her family and five horses on
an agricultural reserve.
GRAHAM DUNSTAN is a fiction and memoir
writer who has won numerous awards for his writing,
including a Larry Neal Fiction Award for the District of
Columbia, and fiction awards from Anchorage Daily
News and Lullwater Review. He earned an M.F.A. in
creative writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he also taught composition. Graham has
been published in The Phoenix, The Signal, Lullwater
Review, We Alaskans, Creative Loafing, Anchorage
Weekly, and on PlanetOut.
SOLVEIG EGGERZ is the author of the
award-winning novel Seal Woman. Her writing
has appeared in The Northern Virginia Review, Palo
Alto Review, Lincoln Review, Midstream, Issues, The
Journal of the Baltimore Writers’ Alliance, The Christian
Century, and Open Windows: An Anthology. She
holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature with a focus on
medieval English, German, and Scandinavian works.
PAMELA EHRENBERG is the author of two
novels for young people, Tillmon County Fire (2009)
and Ethan, Suspended (2007). A former junior high
teacher and an AmeriCorps alumna, she is currently
a higher education consultant and mom to two
small children, as well as a member of the Children’s
Book Guild of Washington, D.C., and the Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
JONATHAN EIG has been teaching screenwriting workshops in the Washington, D.C., area for
the past 20 years. He is a winner of The Austin Film
Festival Heart of Film Screenplay Competition and a
CINE Golden Eagle. He currently teaches screenwriting and film history at Montgomery College, Takoma
Park, and leads a film series at the AFI Silver Theatre.
SUE EISENFELD’S essays and articles have
appeared in The New York Times, The Gettysburg
Review, Potomac Review, The Washington Post, The
Washingtonian, Under the Sun, Ars Medica, Virginia
38
Living, Blue Ridge Country, Frederick Magazine, and
other publications. Her essays have been twice listed
as notable essays of the year in The Best American
Essays (2009 and 2010). She was awarded the 2010
Goldfarb Family Fellowship at the Virginia Center for
the Creative Arts, and she holds an M.A. in writing
from The Johns Hopkins University, where she also
serves as a student advisor.
TRICIA ELAM is an award-winning writer and
commentator who has been widely published in The
Washington Post, Essence, The Crisis, and numerous
journals and anthologies. She has also provided
commentary for NPR, CNN, and the BBC. Elam is the
author of the critically acclaimed novel, Breathing
Room, and currently teaches at Howard University.
KATHRYN ERSKINE, a lawyer-turned-author,
grew up in six countries, an experience that helps her
write from different perspectives. Her novels include
the 2010 National Book Award winner for Young
People’s Literature, Mockingbird also a 2011 ALA Best
Fiction for Young Adults pick and 2011 ALA Children’s
Notable Book; Quaking; an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick for
Reluctant Readers, and The Absolute Value of Mike, a
Junior Library Guild Selection. While covering weighty
topics, her books use humor to make difficult issues
approachable. She is a writing instructor and frequent
workshop presenter.
MARTÍN ESPADA has been called “the Latino
poet of his generation” and “the Pablo Neruda of
North American authors.” He has published more
than 15 books as a poet, editor, essayist, and translator. His new collection of poems is called The Trouble
Ball. The Republic of Poetry, a collection published in
2006, received the Paterson Award for Sustained Literary Achievement and was a finalist for the Pulitzer
Prize. An earlier book of poems, Imagine the Angels
of Bread, won an American Book Award and was a
finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
BARBARA ESSTMAN, M.F.A., is a National
Endowment for the Arts, Virginia Center for the Creative
Arts, Virginia Commission for the Arts fellow, and a
Redbook fiction award winner, among other distinctions. Her novels, The Other Anna and Night Ride Home,
are in numerous foreign editions. both were adapted
for television by Hallmark Productions. She co-edited
an anthology, A More Perfect Union: Poems and Stories
About the Modern Wedding, and has taught extensively
in universities.
LAURA FARGAS has published both fiction
and poetry, most recently An Animal of the Sixth Day.
She has taught at American University and in the
Goddard College M.F.A. Program.
MELANIE FIGG has taught poetry to adult
learners, children, college students, and prisoners for
over 20 years. She loves sharing her enthusiasm for
reading and writing poetry with her students. She
has won many awards and fellowships for her poetry
and published in The Iowa Review, LIT, MARGIE,
Colorado Review, and other journals. Her first poetry
manuscript has been a finalist for the Walt Whitman
Award, the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, the Tupelo
Prize, and three other national competitions. She
lives in Silver Spring with her new husband and his
two young boys and works as a nonprofit fundraiser
for arts organizations in D.C.
CATHY FINK is a prolific songwriter with two
GRAMMY awards, 11 GRAMMY nominations, and 50
awards from the Washington Area Music Association
in bluegrass, folk, and children’s music. She shares
all her awards and recordings with Marcy Marxer.
Cathy & Marcy maintain an active tour schedule as
children’s/family performers and folk/roots/country/
swing artists. Cathy’s song “Names,” about the AIDS
Memorial Quilt, was recorded by over 20 artists in
several countries. www.cathymarcy.com
ALLISON FINN is a National Board Certified
teacher at Richard Montgomery High School. She is
also currently an instructor in the School of Education at The Johns Hopkins University, and she is the
winner of the 2010 Agnes Meyer Award.
LEE FLEMING has been writing, editing, and
teaching for more than two decades. Her articles
have appeared in The Washington Post, City Paper,
The Washingtonian, as well as other national
newspapers, magazines, and Web sites. A former
senior editor at Museum & Arts and Garden Design
magazines, and managing editor/editor-in-chief
of Landscape Architecture, Fleming has received a
number of fellowships and awards for journalism
and fiction.
WORKSHOP LEADERS
NAN FRY’S work may be found online in the
poetry archives of Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Innisfree
Poetry Journal, and The Journal of Mythic Arts.
BERNADETTE GEYER is a freelance writer
and copy editor with more than 15 years of experience in business marketing and public relations. Her
articles, book reviews, and poems have appeared in
WRITER’S Journal, Freelance Writer’s Report, World
Energy Review, The Montserrat Review, The Los Angeles
Review, and elsewhere. She received a 2010 Strauss
Fellowship from the Arts Council of Fairfax County
and published a chapbook of poetry, What Remains.
T. GREENWOOD is the author of six novels.
She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson
Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation,
the National Endowment for the Arts, and, most
recently, the Maryland State Arts Council. Two Rivers
was named Best General Fiction Book at the San
Diego Book Awards last year. Four of her novels have
been BookSense76/IndieBound picks; This Glittering
World is a January 2011 selection. She teaches creative
writing at both the Univeristy of California, San Diego’s
Extension Program and at The Ink Spot. She and her
husband, Patrick, live in San Diego, CA, with their
two daughters. She is also an aspiring photographer.
JUDITH HARRIS, Ph.D., is the author of two books
of poetry, Atonement and The Bad Secret, and a critical
book, Signifying Pain: Constructing and Healing the Self
through Writing, a study of psychoanalytic processes
underlying literary perception. Her poetry has appeared recently in The New Republic, Slate, Ploughshares, American Life in Poetry, and the Atlantic.
ZAHARA HECKSCHER, M.A., is the co-author
of the book How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering
Overseas. She has also written numerous articles
that have appeared in books and the online travel
magazine www.TransitionsAbroad.com, where she
serves as contributing editor. Heckscher teaches
professional writing at University of Maryland at College Park. She is a breast cancer survivor who prefers
to be known as a “cancer thriver.” She blogs at www.
cancerthriver.blogspot.com.
DAVE HOUSLEY’S collection of short fiction,
Ryan Seacrest is Famous, was published in 2007. His
work has appeared in Beloit Fiction Journal, The Collagist, Hobart, Nerve, Quarterly West, the anthology
Best of the Web 2010, and some other places. He’s
one of the editors at Barrelhouse. He keeps his virtual
stuff at davehousley.com.
KATHRYN JOHNSON has published 41 novels
with major U.S. and international publishers. She is an
inspiring speaker at national writers’ conferences and
the founder of Write by You, www.writebyyou.com,
a professional mentoring service for fiction writers
who seek support in reaching their publication
goals. Her most recent critically-acclaimed novel
is The Gentleman Poet: A Novel of Love, Danger,
and Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”
MICHAEL KANG is an independent filmmaker
currently recovering from a three-year stint in Hollywood. He has taught screenwriting workshops
through The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, The
Poet’s Theater, and InDuLoop. He is currently teaching
Broadcast & Film Writing at Towson University. His
film The Motel premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
and is currently available on DVD through Palm
Pictures. Michael has received numerous awards for
his work, including the Humanitas Prize, NEA Artist’s
Residency Grant at The MacDowell Colony, and the
Geri Ashur Award in screenwriting through the New
York Foundation for the Arts.
BETH KANTER is a feature writer specializing
in parenting and travel. Her stories have appeared
in a variety of publications, including Wondertime,
Parents, American Baby, Working Mother, Shape,
and Chicago Tribune. She is the author of Day Trips
from Washington, DC: Getaway Ideas for the Local
Traveler and a regular contributor to the Fodor’s
and Michelin guidebook series. She earned her
M.S.J. from Northwestern University’s Medill
School of Journalism.
and is the author of three mystery novels: Beware
the Solitary Drinker, What Goes Around Comes Around,
and Death at the Old Hotel. He is currently at work on
a fourth.
NANCY LEMANN is a visiting writer/instructor at The Johns Hopkins University part-time graduate writing program; recently judged Walker Percy
prize for fiction at New Orleans Review.
SARAH MAHONEY has been teaching in
Montgomery County Public Schools for over 10 years.
She has spent most of that time teaching Creative
Writing, is currently at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High
School. She is also working on her M.F.A. in creative
writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
DIANA M. MARTIN has an M.F.A. in creative
nonfiction and is currently an adjunct professor
at Montgomery College. Martin also has an
extensive background in association, nonprofit,
and corporation marketing. As a freelance writer
for over 20 years, she has contributed to national
and international publications. She shares a new
business, Alex’s Art Loft, with her son which
promotes creativity, independence, and support
for people with disabilities.
JAMES MATHEWS is a graduate of The Johns
Hopkins University Masters in Writing program. He
is the author of Last Known Position, a short story
collection and winner of the 2008 Katherine Anne
Porter Prize in Short Fiction. His fiction has appeared
in many literary journals. He is also the recipient of a
number of fiction awards, including three Maryland
State Arts Council grants (1999, 2006, and 2010). His
website is jamesmathewsonline.com
SUSAN LAND has all kinds of experience
teaching writing, from Bethesda Elementary to
the FBI. She has an M.A. from The Writing Seminars
at The Johns Hopkins University and was a Stegner
Fellow at Stanford University. Her fiction has won
three Maryland State Arts Council awards, and her
work has recently appeared in Potomac Review, The
Florida Review, Bethesda Magazine, Enhanced Gravity: More Fiction by Washington Area Women, and
Like Whatever: The Insider’s Guide to Raising Teens.
C.M. MAYO is the author of the novel The Last
Prince of the Mexican Empire, which was named a
Library Journal Best Book of 2009. She is also the
author of Miraculous Air, a travel memoir of Mexico’s
Baja California peninsula; and Sky Over El Nido, which
won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction.
She is the editor of a collection of Mexican literature
in translation, Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion.
For more about C.M. Mayo and her work, visit
cmmayo.com.
CON LEHANE is a former bartender, union
organizer, college professor, and labor journalist. He
holds an M.F.A. in fiction from Columbia University
ANN MCLAUGHLIN, Ph.D., has given workshops in the novel, short story, and journal writing
at The Writer’s Center for the past 25 years and is on
39
WORKSHOP LEADERS
the board. She has published six novels: Lightning
in July, The Balancing Pole, Sunset at Rosalie, Maiden
Voyage, The House on Q Street, and Leaving Bayberry
House. She has had eleven fellowships at the Virginia
Center for the Creative Arts, one at Yaddo, and one at
Laverny, Switzerland.
PAT MCNEES was an editor in book publishing
(Harper & Row, Fawcett) and a freelance journalist
(samples at www.patmcnees.com) before she began
writing other people’s life stories and organizational
histories and helping others write their memoirs. She
is president of the Association of Personal Historians;
editor of the anthologies My Words Are Gonna Linger:
The Art of Personal History, Contemporary Latin American Short Stories, and Dying: A Book of Comfort;
and author of several nonfiction books.
YVETTE NEISSER MORENO is a poet
and translator whose work has appeared in
numerous magazines and anthologies, including
the International Poetry Review, Palestine-Israel
Journal, Potomac Review, and The Virginia Quarterly
Review. She has translated two books of poetry from
Spanish—most recently South Pole/Polo Sur, by
María Teresa Ogliastri (co-translated with Patricia
Fisher), which is forthcoming—and is currently
seeking a publisher for her first book of original
poetry, Grip. She works as a freelance writer/editor,
and teaches writing at the University of Maryland
University College and at Brookside Gardens.
JOHN MORRIS has published fiction and
poetry in more than 80 literary magazines in the
U.S. and Great Britain, including The Southern
Review, The Missouri Review, Five Points, Subtropics,
Prairie Schooner, and Fulcrum. His work has been
nominated for a Pushcart Prize and reprinted in
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. A chapbook,
The Musician, Approaching Sleep, appeared in 2006
from Dos Madres Press. His musical project, Mulberry
Coach, a collaboration with singer and lyricist Katie
Fisher, released its fifth CD in 2009. He has taught at
The Writer’s Center since 1995.
L. PEAT O’NEIL wrote for The Washington
Post for 17 years. Her freelance writing has been
published in newspapers, magazines, Web sites,
trade journals, and literary reviews. She has taught
writing at numerous educational centers, including
The George Washington University, Smithsonian
40
Resident Associates, Georgetown University, and the
USDA Graduate School. She currently teaches writing
online for University of California, Los Angeles. O’Neil
is also an advisor on social media content management. She is the author of Travel Writing: See the
World-Sell the Story, published in five languages,
and Pyrenees Pilgrimage, about her solo walk across
France. Blog: peatoneil.wordpress.com
WILLIAM O’SULLIVAN M.F.A., is an essayist,
editor, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
fellow. His personal essays have appeared in The New
York Times, Newsday, National Geographic Traveler,
The Washingtonian, and North American Review,
among others. He has received two Artist Fellowships from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and
Humanities, and his work has been listed three
times among the notable essays of the year in
The Best American Essays.
LAURA OLIVER, M.F.A., is the author of The
Story Within. Her essays and short stories appear in
numerous regional and national periodicals such as
The Washington Post, Country Living, and Glimmer
Train. She has taught Creative Writing at the University of Maryland and currently teaches writing at
St. John’s College. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize,
her work has won numerous awards, including a
Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award
in Fiction. Her M.F.A. is in Creative Writing and
Literature from Bennington College, and she has
completed nonfiction workshops at The University
of Iowa.
LESLIE PIETRZYK, M.F.A., is the author of the
novel Pears on a Willow Tree and A Year and a Day,
which was selected for the Book-of-the-Month Club
and the Borders “Original Voices” series. Her short
fiction has appeared in many publications, including
The Washingtonian, TriQuarterly, The Gettysburg Review, The Sun, The Iowa Review, New England Review,
and Confrontation. She has received fellowships from
the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences.
STANLEY PLUMLY is the author of several
books, including Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography, Old Heart, Argument & Song: Sources & Silences
in Poetry, The Marriage in the Trees, and Out-of-theBody Travel, which won the William Carlos Williams
Award and was nominated for the National Book
Critics Circle Award. His honors include a Guggenheim
Fellowship, an Ingram-Merrill Foundation Fellowship,
and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and he
has served as Maryland’s Poet Laureate since 2009.
ELIZABETH REES, M.A., has taught at several
leading colleges, including Harvard University, the
U.S. Naval Academy, Howard University, and in The
Johns Hopkins University’s graduate program. She
works as a “poet-in-the-schools” for the Maryland
State Arts Council. She has published over 250 poems
in journals such as Partisan Review, The Kenyon
Review, AGNI, and North American Review, among
others. She has four award-winning chapbooks,
most recently, Tilting Gravity, winner of Codhill
Press’ 2009 contest.
ANGELA RENDER designed and maintained
Web sites since 1994 and is the founder and owner
of Thunderpaw Internet Presence Management,
thunderpaw.com. Her published work includes:
Forged By Lightning: A Novel of Hannibal and Scipio,
Marketing for Writers: A Practical Workbook, a column
for WRITERS’ Journal, and ghost blogging. In addition
to her classes at The Writer’s Center, she teaches
at-risk middle-school girls and has been a guest
speaker at numerous local conferences.
JENNY ROUGH is a lawyer-turned-writer. She’s
written articles and essays for The Washington Post,
Los Angeles Times, AARP The Magazine, USA WEEKEND,
More, Yoga Journal, and Writer’s Digest, among other
publications. She blogs about fertility for Mothering.
com, and she’s the Green Scene columnist for the
Washington Examiner. Her radio commentaries
have appeared on WAMU in Washington, D.C.
M.A. SCHAFFNER has recent poems in Poetry
Ireland, Poetry Salzburg, Stand, The Dalhousie Review,
and Illumination, as well as previous appearances in
more than 200 other journals. He has also authored the
collection The Good Opinion of Squirrels and War Boys,
a coming-of-age novel set during the Vietnam War.
LYNN SCHWARTZ’S plays have been
performed in Atlanta and NYC, including the Bruno
Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center. Her stories have
appeared in literary journals, and she has authored
numerous lifestyle features. She founded the Temple
Bar Literary Reading Series in NYC and received an
Individual Artist Award in Fiction from the Maryland
WORKSHOP LEADERS
State Arts Council. She is a graduate of The City
College of New York, Columbia University, and The
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. She
teaches fiction at St. John’s College.
CARA SEITCHEK has written grant proposals for
local, state, and national nonprofit organizations. In
addition, she evaluates proposals for the Institute of
Museum and Library Services, American Association of
Museums, and the Maryland State Arts Council. She has
an M.A. in writing from The Johns Hopkins University.
ROSE SOLARI is the author of two full-length
collections of poetry, Orpheus in the Park, and
Difficult Weather, and two chapbooks. Her poems
have appeared in many journals here and in the
U.K., including Parnassus: Poetry in Review, Gargoyle,
Poet Lore, Mississippi Review, Potomac Review, and
nthposition, and her poetry and prose have appeared
in several anthologies, including American Poetry:
The Next Generation; Enhanced Gravity: More Fiction
by Washington Area Women; and Women: Images &
Realities, A Multicultural Anthology. Her other honors
and awards include the Randall Jarrell Poetry Prize
(selected by Philip Levine) and, in 2007, her third
Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist’s Grant.
She has taught at The Writer’s Center for 15 years,
and joined the Board of Directors in 2006.
LYNN STEARNS’ short fiction, memoirs, poetry,
and personal essays have appeared in The Baltimore
Review, The Bitter Oleander, FlashPoint, Haight Ashbury
Literary Journal, and other literary magazines, and
several anthologies including Gravity Dancers, In
Good Company, New Lines from the Old Line State,
and Not What I Expected: The Unpredictable Road
fromWomanhood to Motherhood. She serves as an
associate fiction editor for Potomac Review and has
enjoyed leading fiction and memoir workshops at
The Writer’s Center for more than 10 years.
SARAH SULLIVAN is the author of several
books for younger children, including Once Upon a
Baby Brother, Rootbeer and Banana, Dear Baby, and
Passing the Music On.
SARA MANSFIELD TABER was a William
B. Sloane Fellow in Nonfiction at the Bread Loaf
Writer’s Conference. She is the author of Dusk on
the Campo: A Journey in Patagonia; Of Many Lands:
Journal of a Traveling Childhood; and Bread of Three
Rivers: The Story of a French Loaf. Her short pieces
have appeared in The Washington Post, literary
magazines, and on public radio. Her memoir, Born
Under an Assumed Name:The Memoir of a Cold War
Spy’s Daughter, is in press.
JUDITH TABLER writes books on animals and
has received awards from the Dog Writer’s Association
of America. She has written for DOG FANCY, Bark,
Kennel Review, AKC Gazette, Middleburg Life, and
the National Geographic Society’s education department. Judith holds an M.F.A. in creative writing and
teaches at a local university.
DAVID TAYLOR is an award-winning writer
and filmmaker on science, history, and culture. He
has written scripts for documentaries broadcast
on PBS, the Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel,
and other networks. He wrote and co-produced the
Smithsonian documentary Soul of a People: Writing
America’s Story, nominated for a 2010 Writer’s Guild
Award, and the book, Soul of a People: The WPA
Writers’ Project Uncovers Depression America,
named among Best Books of 2009.
SUE ELLEN THOMPSON is the author of
four books of poetry, most recently The Golden Hour
(2006), and the editor of The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry. Her work has
been included in the Best American Poetry series,
read on NPR by Garrison Keillor, and featured in U.S.
Poet Laureate Ted Kooser’s nationally-syndicated
newspaper column. She taught at Wesleyan University, Middlebury College, State University of New
York at Binghamton, and Central Connecticut State
University before moving to the Eastern Shore in
2006. She was awarded the 2010 Maryland Author
Prize from the Maryland Library Association.
MARCELA VALDES is a freelance writer
and a contributing editor at Publishers Weekly. She
writes features, profiles, essays, and reviews for
The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, The
Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, The Nation,
Bookforum, and other publications. Valdes specializes
in writing about literary fiction and Latin American
culture. Since 2006, she has served on the board of
the National Book Critics Circle.
LYN VAUS, a longtime screenwriter and industry
professional, is best known for his award-winning
Miramax romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland.
He began his career as a story editor for a production company in Hollywood, where he oversaw the
script for New Line’s hit science fiction film “The
Lawnmower Man.” He has had numerous screenplays
of his own optioned, and in some cases produced by,
among others, Imax, Fineline, SenArt, and Miramax.
RICHARD WASHER, M.F.A., playwright,
director, and educator, currently serves as Playwright
in Residence at First Draft. He has also worked as a
playwright, director, and dramaturge at Charter Theater
since the company started in 1998. His play “Quartet”
was performed at the Hamner Theatre in Nelson
County, Virginia, in April of 2009. His newest comedy,
commissioned by the National Conservatory of Dramatic
Arts, will be produced in December, 2010.
BECKIE WEINHEIMER’S coming of age
young adult novel, Converting Kate, is an ALA Best
Book, Kliatt:Editors’ Choice, Books of the Teen AgeNYPL, and CBC Notable Book. She has an M.F.A. in
Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont
College of Fine Arts. She lives in New York City and
in her popular workshops her strength is helping
writers find their voice, the heart of the story, and to
develop multi-dimensional characters.
TERRI WINSLOW has over 20 years of
experience as a journalist, and has covered subjects
ranging from court and politics to crime and the
environment. She’s currently the feature writer at
The Capital, writing stories for the Family Living and
Lifestyle sections, as well as the front page. Teri has
won over 45 writing awards. She also does freelance
book and memoir editing, and public relations and
marketing work.
MICHELE WOLF is the author of Immersion
(selected by Denise Duhamel, Hilary Tham Capital
Collection), Conversations During Sleep (Anhinga
Prize for Poetry), and The Keeper of Light (Painted
Bride Quarterly Poetry Chapbook Series). Her poems
have also appeared in Poetry, The Hudson Review,
North American Review, Antioch Review, Boulevard,
and numerous other literary journals and anthologies.
She is a contributing editor for Poet Lore. ¶
41
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RENT OURS
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Room, and classrooms are available weekdays
from 10:00 A.M.–6:00 P.M. when not occupied by
The Writer’s Center workshops.
Those rooms are also available on Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday evenings; and Saturday and Sunday
afternoons, when workshops and events are not
being held.
Please contact The Writer’s Center for availability
inquiries—[email protected] or
301.654.8664.
Rent the Allan B.
Lefcowitz Theatre:
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Rent a Classroom:
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are also available to rent
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can be used within one year to pay for another workshop and/or a membership.
Workshop participants who have enrolled in and paid for a workshop and choose
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CONTAINS DATED MATERIAL
Inside this issue:
TWC Member Profiles page 3
An Interview with Robert Bausch page 6
Charles J. Shields on Kurt Vonnegut page 10
A Brief Interview with Taylor Mali page 12
Readings, Performances, and Events page 32
And the fall workshop schedule page 16

Fall 2011 - The Writer`s Center

Transcription

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