CREATIVE WRITING DAY
PRE-REGISTRATION FORM
WORKSHOPS
Creative Writing Day
Featuring Workshops in Fiction, Poetry,
Children's Literature, and Songwriting
Monday, July 26, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Please join us for the Creative Writing Day during the Virginia Highlands Festival, featuring Robert Olen Butler, Ron Smith, Susan Williams Beckhorn, Richard Leigh, and Gill Braswell. The event will be held at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. in the lobby outside of the Grand Auditorium, followed by introductions and brief readings by the guest writers, beginning at 9:00 am. The main events of the day will be morning and afternoon workshops with the writers at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.
The fee for the day is $25. Attendees may register in advance by returning the PRE-REGISTRATION FORM OR you can register at the door on the day of the event. For more information on the day's events, contact Phil Ferguson 276-628-3309, pferguson@vhcc.edu.
Robert Olen Butler has published eleven novels and five volumes of short fiction, one of which, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Among his numerous other awards are two National Magazine Awards in fiction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A book of his lectures and class exercises on the creative process, From Where You Dream¸ is widely used in writing workshops. Over the past decade and a half, he has lectured in universities, appeared at conferences, and met with writers groups in 16 countries as a Literary Envoy for the U. S. State Department. His new novel, from Grove Press, is entitled Hell, and it is indeed set entirely in that very place. The State Department hasn't sent him there yet, though it has to Kosovo, Serbia, Indonesia, and Albania. Butler teaches creative writing at Florida State University.
Ron Smith is the author of Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery (University Presses of Florida) and Moon Road (LSU Press), volumes praised by Ruth Lilly Prize winners Linda Pastan and William Matthews, by Pulitzer winners Henry Taylor and Claudia Emerson, by Pulitzer finalists David Wojahn and Dave Smith, by Italian scholar-translator Massimo Bacigalupo, and by journalist-novelist Tom Wolfe. Smith's poems have been anthologized by Time-Life Books, by university presses in Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Ohio, and, most recently, by renowned critic Helen Vendler. Smith's essays and poems have appeared in many print and online periodicals, including The Nation, Virginia Quarterly Review, Kenyon Review, Southern Review, New England Review, Georgia Review, and Poetry Daily. Most recently, his travel and sports poems have appeared in Shenandoah, Blackbird, and Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature. Smith has taught modern America poetry at Mary Washington University and creative writing at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is currently Writer-in-Residence at St. Christopher's School in Richmond, where he also teaches in the University of Richmond's Master of Liberal Arts Program. In 2005 he was an Inaugural Winner of the $10,000 Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry; in 2006 he became one of the Curators for that prize. He has judged numerous literary contests and has given readings, conducted workshops, and presented papers at many schools, conferences, and festivals, including the International James Joyce Conference in Dublin, the International Edgar Allan Poe Conference in Richmond, and, most recently, the International Ezra Pound Conference in Rome.
Susan Williams Beckhorn is an award-winning author who has been writing and drawing since she could hold a pencil and believes that anyone can do it -- but we can all get better. She is the author of six children's books, two of which she illustrated. She grew up in a family where kids, animals, and the outdoors were cherished. It must be that her brain got stuck somewhere in early adolescence because she never particularly wanted to write and illustrate for anyone except kids. She says, "Being a writer and illustrator can be difficult, lonely, and not exactly lucrative, but there is nothing else I would rather do. It's a job I never plan to retire from. Children's books are the mother's milk of literature, they should nourish and inspire -- and it wouldn't hurt if they protected kids from infections and allergies too! No one should ever think that writing for children is easy or trivial. Our children deserve the very best we can give them." Her works include In the Morning of the World: Six Woodland Why Stories, Down East Books 2000; The Kingfisher's Gift, Philomel 2002, (Junior Library Guild Selection, IRA Honor); Sarey by Lantern Light, Down East Books 2003; Wind Rider, Laura Geringer Books, Harper Collins 2006, (Kliatt, Booklist Starred Reviews, Book Sense Pick, ALA's Amelia Bloomer List for literature which promotes equality for women); and Moose Eggs, or Why Moose have Flat Antlers, Down East Books 2007.
Richard Leigh is a Grammy Award winner and Hall Of Fame Song-writer, and a seven-time nominee in the category of "Song The Year". In addition to winning the Grammy, he has also been awarded the prestigious, Country Music Association award, the Academy of Country Music award, and the Nashville Songwriters Association's award for best song.
In addition, Leigh's compositions have made fourteen trips to the Top Ten, eight of which went all the way to the #1 position. His songs include: "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" (Crystal Gayle), "Somewhere In My Broken Heart" (Billy Dean), "Cold Day In July" (The Dixie Chicks) and "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" (Reba McEntire) to name a few. He also has had songs recorded by greats like Perry Como, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Tammy Wynette, George Jones and many more. Attendees are encouraged to bring musical instruments to the workshop. For more information visit: www.Richardleigh.com.
Gill Braswell is a native of North Carolina, and has a B.F.A. from Shenandoah College and Conservatory. Gill has worked at many regional theatres throughout the country and has had the honor to perform at the Ryman Auditorium and on the Grand Ole Opry. Gill relocated to Abingdon, Virginia in 2002 to work for Barter Theatre when he accepted a role in Keep on the Sunnyside: The Songs and Story of the Carter Family. Gill also originated the role of Dr. Ralph Stanley in Man of Constant Sorrow: The Story of the Stanley Brothers. While preparing for these roles, Gill's appreciation for old-time, bluegrass and what some call mountain music grew over the years as did his knowledge of this genre. Since leaving Barter Theatre, Gill has been an active performing singer/songwriter, musician, and songwriting instructor. Gill appreciates all types of music and has written in the genres of Bluegrass, Country, Rock and Contemporary Christian music. Gill released a CD of his original work, Pick Me Up in 2008. He also heads up three music jams in Abingdon and is the co-owner of Capo's Music Store which hosts a monthly singer/songwriter night. Attendees are encouraged to bring musical instruments to the workshop.
There will be opportunities for book sales and signings between workshop sessions. A sponsor for Creative Writing Day is the Poetry Society of Virginia.
Creative Writing Day Workshops
by Robert Olen Butler (Morning and Afternoon)
This workshop by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Robert Olen Butler, will focus on the fundamentals of the creative process for any fiction writers, beginning or advanced, who aspire to create enduring literature. It will address such issues as what is art; what is distinctive about the way the artist addresses the world, the inner self, and the objects to be created; and what are the essential characteristics of fiction as an art form.
by Richard Leigh (Morning)
Three-time Grammy nominee, Richard Leigh, will explore the easy techniques and tricks anyone can learn for improving his or her odds of writing commercially-successful songs, as well as offer hints on co-writing, finding inspiration, improving productivity, and even conquering writers-block. But best of all, attendees will begin to look at the process of producing these musical short stories in a new light, see what little miracles they actually are, and why some of them are able to surmount the industry's seemingly impossible odds to make their way from the songwriter's pen, on to the radio, and finally into the public's life. This workshop is not just for the lyricist and composer; it's for anyone who ever loved a song.
by Gill Braswell (Afternoon)
Actor/Singer/Songwriter, Gill Braswell, will lead participants through an exploration of songs. Gill will look at songwriting as a method of storytelling, how we convey a moment, an event or our feelings through lyrics and music. Participants will look at a variety of songs from different genres to identify the stories within and what draws us to great songwriting. Participants will be introduced to morning pages as a means of developing songwriting ideas and will be given the opportunity to write by themselves and with others during the workshop. This workshop is not just for the experienced songwriter but for anyone who has the desire to tell their story through music.
by Ron Smith (Morning)
Poet, Ron Smith will explore the difficulty of writing about one's travels. Workshop members will consider the problems of idealizing (at one extreme) and grousing about (at the other) either vicissitudes of travel or specific locales. How does a poet perceive, capture, and present the textured reality of travel and discovery? The workshop will include presentation, Q & A, and a writing assignment.
by Ron Smith (Afternoon)
Ron Smith argues that a nearly journalistic attention to fact and physical detail is the springboard of most poetry—but that the leap into imagination is often the most exciting artistic moment. How can your poems both live in the world and somehow go beyond it? How can you both "write about what you know" and take your reader to enchanting places? Presentation, Q & A, and a writing assignment will be included.
"The Other Side of the Looking Glass: An Introduction to Writing Literature for Children" by Susan Williams Beckhorn (Morning and Afternoon)
"Writing for kids is just about as easy as raising them," says the iconic Jane Yolen, and after over thirty years in the business, Susan Williams Beckhorn couldn't agree more. There are many would-bees and the competition is tough, but there is no better feeling than hearing from a child who loved your story. In the age of television and computers, children need, more than ever, good literature which will engage them with reading and lead them into the world of imagination. Susan has written all over the board from picture books to middle grade and young adult, and done some illustrations as well. This workshop will cover topics such as character, point of view, plot, detail and also discuss the illustration process. It will also touch on the nuts and bolts of the submission process and the writer's life. Susan adds, "I'll be sure to share my little red Writer's Toolbox and my brand-new (and much needed) Writer's Medicine Bag." Exercises will include the author's favorite activity, inspired by Cynthia Rylant's When I Was Young in the Mountains, with time to share the results and answer questions.
"Moose Power for Kids: Sparking Imagination through Story, Illustration, and Crafts"
Virginia Ballroom, Abingdon Senior Center
Tuesday, July 27, 10:00 a.m.
Please join Susan Williams Beckhorn for a special workshop for children: Based on her latest children's book, Moose Power, author/illustrator Susan Williams Beckhorn will share a program of readings, show and tell, and nature crafting intended for children of all ages. Admission is FREE for everyone and made possible by the Virginia Highlands Festival Creative Writing Committee in partnership with the Washington Country Library and Friends of the Washington County Library.
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