Writing Center
with the SUU English Department's annual Writing for Life Conference & Contest for High School Students
March 25 Workshop Descriptions
Each workshop will begin at 11 a.m. and continue after lunch at 1 p.m.
Creative Nonfiction/ Giving Voice to Personal Landscape
by Dr. Wynne Summers and Robin Cole
This workshop will focus on writing the memoir and personal essay. It will add insight into how our personal stories work with concepts of truth in storytelling. According to Anne Lamott, who wrote Bird by Bird, "Good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are." How do we reach this point of understanding by writing memoir/personal essay? The workshop will help you focus on common human themes that bring "felt presence" to writing and make writing the key to unlocking yourself.
Dr. Wynne Summers taught creative nonfiction at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, before joining the SUU faculty last year. She will publish Women Elders' Life Stories of the Omaha Tribe: Macy, Nebraska, through the U of Nebraska Press, early 2010. She also has published poetry in Plains Song Review, a journal of creative writing.
Robin Cole is a senior English major SUU with a writing emphasis. Originally from Cedar City, she is currently applying to graduate school and looks forward to graduating in May.
Fiction/Narrative Voice in Fiction
by Dr. Todd Petersen
It's been said that there's nothing new under the sun. How, then, is a writer to make a mark in the world under these circumstances? The answer is voice. What's ultimately unique is the personality and perspective of an individual mind. Focusing on vocabulary,
punctuation, and language rhythms, this workshop will offer methods for finding and developing a narrative voice in both the first and third person. You are encouraged to bring copies of recent fiction projects to the workshop.
Dr. Todd Robert Petersen teaches creative writing and visual studies at Southern Utah University. His first book, Long after Dark, was published in 2007 and was given an ARTY award by Salt Lake City Weekly. His novel, Rift, will be published in early 2009. He regularly posts to his blog at www.toddpetersen.org.
Fiction/Writing Shapely Fiction
by C. Joe Willis
Is that a bear at the door, a fish out of water, or the stranger who has come to town?
No, these are shapes of fiction. Every story we read or write is rooted in these, and
other shapes. By understanding these shapes, writers are able to create new and
interesting stories. This workshop will offer methods for identifying and using the various shapes of fiction. Participants are encouraged to bring copies of recent fiction projects and new story ideas to the workshop.
C. Joe Willis teaches composition and rhetoric at Southern Utah University. As part of his master’s degree course work, he finished his first collection of short stories, Help Wanted. His fiction has appeared at the Sigma Tau Delta honor society's nation conference, in Thin Air Magazine, and the Arts and Words Journal
Playwriting/ Make Them Savor Every Minute: Creating Conflict in the Ten-Minute Play
by Dr. Nozomi Irei
The language of drama transforms everyday words into "gestures" themselves. Gestures convey tension and conflict, vital to drama. In this workshop, you will focus on how to make intensity palpable on the written page of a ten-minute play.
Dr. Nozomi Irei's areas of interest include drama/theatre from different traditions; and literary and theatre theory. She recently joined the SUU faculty after teaching in Florida and Wisconsin.
Poetry/ Exploring Fascinating Forms
by Dr. Bryce Christensen
Meter, rhyme, stanzaic pattern—What can these traditional elements of prosody still offer in an age dominated by free verse? Find out in an exploratory session conducted by Dr. Bryce Christensen, whose own poetry has appeared in The Formalist, First Things, Snakeskin, and other publications.
Dr. Christensen, who teaches a variety of writing and literature classes at SUU, has published widely. In addition to the poems mentioned above, his most recent published works include a novel and scholarly essays.
Poetry/ The Skeleton Key to Poetry: Unlocking Creative Doorways
by Dr. Danielle Dubrasky
Learn to trust your poetic voice and follow unexpected pathways of your poem. You will do writing exercises to develop imagery in your poetry and have a chance to share your poem in a follow-up workshop.
Dr. Danielle Dubrasky, who teaches poetry and writing classes at SUU, won the prestigious 2006 Utah Arts Council first place prize for a book-length collection of poems. She is also the author of Persephone Awakened, a chapbook of poems, and her work has been published in many forms.
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