Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference

2008 KACHEMAK BAY WRITERS' CONFERENCE PROGRAM
( Subject to Change )

FRIDAY , JUNE 6

3:00 - 8:00 PM

Registration and Check-in (Hotel Lobby)

7:00 PM

Opening Dinner

Introductions and Welcoming Remarks
Fran Ulmer, Chancellor, University of Alaska Anch.
Carol Swartz, Director, Kachemak Bay Campus
Greg Kimura, President, Alaska Humanities Forum

Keynote Address :

Anne Lamott
“Almost Everything I Know About Writing”

Book Signing will follow

SATURDAY , JUNE 7

8:30- 9:45am

Welcome

Michael Driscoll, Provost, University of Alaska Anchorage

Panel: What Is This Thing We Call Voice?

Moderator:

John Straley

Panelists:

Elizabeth Bradfield, Gayle Brandeis, David Crouse, Nora Dauenhauer

Anne Lamott has written that she often finds students adopting the voices of writers they admire and that this seems to be a normal and good part of a writer's apprenticeship. But she also says that the writer’s job is to see what’s behind “the one door in the castle you have been told not to go through. You can't do this without discovering your own true voice, and you can't find your true voice and peer behind the door and report honestly and clearly to us if your parents are reading over your shoulder. Write as if your parents are dead.” Panelists will discuss what we mean by "voice" in writing and strategies for finding one's own.

9:45am

Break

10:00 - 11:30 AM

TINY MASTERS

Sherry Simpson

Sometimes people don’t know how to approach writing a personal essay because they don't realize what they know. We’ll brainstorm the possibilities, explore connections, and start drafting an essay without spraining anything or pulling our hair out.

AGENT 101

Jeff Kleinman

Everything a writer needs to know about finding and working with an agent, including how to research, locate, and approach the agent best for you and your project; what material you need to submit to an agent; standard author/agent agreement terms; what to expect your agent to do and not do for you; what you should do and not do for your agent, and more.

ROUGH MUSIC: INCORPORATING OTHER VOICES INTO POEMS

Elizabeth Bradfield

Archaic texts, scientific treatises, overheard conversations, and instruction manuals—what do their voices, when set against your own, offer? From epigraphs to smooth interweaving to abrupt asides, we’ll listen to how poets have enriched their own experiences with the voices of others.

11:30

Break

11:45 - 12:45 PM

Luncheon

Introduction:

Charlotte Fox, Executive Director,
Alaska State Council on the Arts

Speaker:

John Straley, Alaska State Writer
“Just Smart Enough: Bumbling My Way To The Top”

"Just Smart Enough: Bumbling My Way To The Top"

12:45

Break

1:00 - 1:45 PM

FOR HEALING OUR SPIRIT: TLINGIT SPEECHES

Nora Marks and Richard Dauenhauer will give a dramatic reading of Tlingit ceremonial oratory featuring speeches recorded in performance, transcribed in Tlingit, and translated into English, presented in both languages. Rich in simile and metaphor, combining images of nature, kinship and Northwest Coast visual art, speeches for the removal of grief are among the highest poetic achievement in Tlingit oral tradition.

1:45pm

Break

2:00 - 3:30 PM

THE RELUCTANT WRITER and the ENTHUSIASTIC PUBLISHER

Rich Chiappone and Judith Schnell

Part of this conference will be spent talking about how writers can fulfill the presumably universal wish to publish their first books. You’ll hear every ploy and strategy for getting a publisher’s ear, and for convincing them to buy your manuscript. But what happens when a writer is so unsure of himself that he has to be talked into it by a publisher who envisions a book the writer hasn’t dared to dream of? Join us in a conversation about how an East Coast editor tracked down and offered a book deal to an obscure, Alaskan, part-time writer. We will discuss how an enthusiastic editor can nurse a writer through the process of making a book. If this doesn’t encourage you, nothing will.

UNLOCKING THE MUSE: RISK AND ABANDONMENT ON THE PAGE

David Gessner

We will explore the role that writing about places—sometimes natural places, sometimes not—can play in writing personal essays and memoir. For nonfiction writers who are stuck for a subject, place often unlocks other topics and deeper concerns. Turning your mind to a specific place they care for— a home, a patch of woods, a beach—can prove a reliable muse. At the same time, writing about deeply knowing a place can make us feel a little mystical, even silly. As the great Alaskan writer John Haines said: "To express a place in art we need to take certain risks...we need intimacy of a sort that demands a certain daring and risk; a surrender, an abandonment."

SCENE BUILDING CRAFT TALK

David Crouse

A successful story must do many things: create complex characters, dramatize deeply felt conflicts, and even raise important philosophical questions. Ultimately all these objectives stem from one simply expressed but difficult to achieve goal: placing the reader in a visceral, detailed moment. Scene is the foundation of the story, and as such merits in-depth discussion.

TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY: MAKING POEMS WITH THE INNER CHILD

Derick Burleson

We all carry within ourselves the landscape of the child we used to be, and this is powerful terrain for the poet to travel. In this workshop we’ll see how world-famous poets from Wordsworth on have mapped childhood to make their own poems, and we’ll learn techniques to access this material for a sense of deep play in our own poems.

3:30

Break

3:45- 5:15 PM

THE INNER TRUTH(Part I)

Linda Hogan

This is a poetry workshop with a focus on what you don’t know you know. Through exercises and careful reading of the work, we will see where a poem wants to take you. It is the practice of listening to what isn’t usually heard, seeing a line you might have thrown away, and understanding the process and magic of poetry.

MEMORY, FACTS, IMAGINATION, REPORTAGE: MEMOIR’S HYBRID PERSONALITY

Michael Steinberg

Writer and cultural critic Patricia Hampl characterizes literary memoir as a “hybrid or mongrel” form. With that in mind, we will talk about the current “truth in memoir” controversy: the uneasy, yet necessary alliance between imagination and fact. Using examples to illustrate how memory can (and should) alter our perceptions of our pasts, we’ll examine how our best literary memoirists use this “hybrid” form as a vehicle for exploring and discovering a wide range of shared human truths. A “Q and A” will follow.

GREAT SENTENCES

Nancy Lord

In this participatory workshop, we'll discuss what makes a great sentence (and, by extension, great writing), analyze examples from both fiction and nonfiction, and work on turning good sentences into great ones. Emphasis will be not on errors in writing but on achieving excellence through word choices and sentence structures, by paying close attention to how sentences work and what they can do. As time allows, we'll also consider great titles.

WRITING HISTORICAL NONFICTION FOR CHILDREN: LIVING THE PAST THROUGH FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS

Debbie Miller

Debbie will describe research strategies, primary sources, the value of oral history, and the aspect of collaboration with the artist. She will discuss the historical research behind the creation of The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail.

5:15

Break

5:30 - 6:15pm

MACHO MEN AND WONDER WOMEN: THE WOMAN WARRIOR IN SIBERIAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN EPICS

Richard Dauenhauer

Richard will discuss the Woman Warrior tradition in Siberian and Central Asian (“throat-singing”) oral epics, and will read as examples excerpts from his translations of Altai “Ochy Bala, Younger Daughter” and the Buriat-Mongol “Young lamzhi Mergen.” Join with other western audiences in discovering this genre as an unexpected delight that counteracts our familiar stereotypes of Genghis Khan and the Turkic tribes of Central Asia.

5:30 - 6:30pm

Writing Circle

Guide: Eva Saulitis

Join others for an informal hour dedicated to individual writing. A guide will offer a prompt, or you can devote the time to your own ideas. No sign-up necessary. Just show up prepared to write.

5:15 - 6:30pm

Reception Gathering

8:00 PM

READING: ANNE LAMOTT
Homer High School's Mariner Theater
Open to the public; doors open at 7:30pm
Book-signing will follow

SUNDAY, JUNE 8

8:30-10:30 AM

Kachemak Bay Boat cruise
Enjoy beautiful Kachemak Bay with visiting faculty and fellow participants.
(Optional. Space limited; sign up and pay fee by Saturday noon.)

10:00 – 11:00 AM

Writing Circle

Guide: Rich Chiappone

Join others for an informal hour dedicated to individual writing. A guide will offer a prompt, or you can devote the time to your own ideas. No sign-up necessary. Just show up prepared to write.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

PANEL: PUBLISHING BOOKS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: WHY BOOKS?

Moderator:

Richard Chiappone

Panelists:

Elizabeth Bradfield, David Gessner, Jeff Kleinman, Judith Schnell, Michael Steinberg

Meet the people behind the scenes in the publishing industry. Our panelists are the agents, editors and publishers who first and foremost decide what and who gets published. Find out how the new internet age affects their decision-making process. Are things better or worse for writers, for books in general? Will writers have to change their own methods to meet the challenges of publishing in the digital age? How can they take advantage of the endless stream of information to promote and present their own work to publishers? And the biggest question of all: Are there still reasons to write and publish ink and paper books?

12:00

Break

12:15 - 1:45 PM

Luncheon

“Q & A” with Anne Lamott

1:45

Break

2:00- 3:30 PM

PANEL: Encountering Other

Moderator:

Derick Burleson

Panelists:

Linda Hogan, Nancy Lord, Debbie Miller, Eva Saulitis, Sherry Simpson

When writers meet animals and write about these moments across the linguistic divide, the process often reveals what concerns us all as fellow inhabitants of the planet. Panelists will read examples of human/animal encounters in their own work and in the work of their favorite authors and discuss the effect animals have had on their writing and their lives.

THE ART OF SUBTEXT IN FICTION

Jo-Ann Mapson

This workshop will demonstrate ways to add layers and extend theme and meaning in short fiction and in novels. Explore your current fictional inventory and find places to bury subtext that can later be used to enrich and make complex the overall story. Bring your stories, a chapter, or a game plan to discuss, and we’ll do some writing exercises.

WRITING FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: (Part 1)

Nora Marks Dauenhauer

Using examples of my own writing, we will discuss how to get started on writing: where the ideas come from, what shape to give them (poem, story, play, essay), and, in my case, problems encountered incorporating material across cultures. (Continues Monday, 2:00 p.m.)

WRITING FROM THE SENSES

Gayle Brandeis

As writers, we have a tendency to live inside our heads. We often forget there is a rich, sensorial world around us, ripe with potential inspiration. When we open up our senses, we open up the scope of our writing—our words become more visceral, more vibrant. In this hands-on workshop, we will explore all the senses and find ways to bring them to life on the page. This workshop will benefit to all writers— poets, novelists, essayists, journallers, etc.— who want to deepen and enliven their work.

3:30

Break

3:45 - 5:15 PM

SECRETS TO QUERY LETTERS (Part I)

Jeff Kleinman

Nonfiction often sells by using a “proposal”–which means an outline, sample chapter(s), and some basic information about the project. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Think again–a good nonfiction proposal is tough to write; a great one’s even tougher. This nuts-and-bolts workshop provides clear guidelines of what to think about as you put together your book idea. Approximately 6 pages of handouts.

BORDERLAND: THE PROSE POEM AND BRIEF LYRIC ESSAY

Eva Saulitis

What is the difference between poetry and prose? According to David Lehman, the poem reverses and prose proceeds. But what happens if the poem proceeds? What happens when a prose piece reverses, shifts tempo, opens into metaphor, breaks into fragments, surprises, evolves into the surreal, refuses to resolve? Writing in short forms forces us to look at sentences as stones in a cairn. In this workshop, we will read wild and far-ranging examples of this cutting-edge form, and we will build our own cairns of words, brief bursts of prose, and lyric moments by constructing word sculptures and employing techniques of poetry to sharpen, intensify, and complicate our prose writing.

LISTENING TO THE SILENCE

Joe Enzweiler

To the writer, solitude is more subtle than simply being alone, although being alone doesn't hurt a solitary life. In this workshop we will explore the use of time, finding a place within where close attention can be given to the world as it is, not how we project it ought to be, a place in which authentic language can develop and be drawn upon by a writer. Learn techniques for becoming attentive to the language of silence.

THE EYE OF THE STORY: POINT-OF-VIEW IN SHORT FICTION (Part 1)

David Crouse

The subtle use of perspective in your short fiction can create tension, deepen character, and add nuance to the world you're creating on the page. This workshop explores the use of point-of-view-and especially the close 3rd person to create compelling, tactile scenes. Particular techniques and philosophies will be discussed in light of master writers. Bring two scenes of 3-4 pages each to share and/or revise. (Continues on Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.)

BUY THIS BOOK

Jeff Kleinman

A role playing workshop. 5 to 15 volunteer role players are assigned roles in a publishing house;they “sell” their manuscripts to the Editorial Board. Fast-paced, fun, and educational, this workshop will not only explain how publishing works, but more importantly will ENCOURAGE attendees to view their work dispassionately, from the eyes of an editor (or agent).

5:15

Break

5:15- 6:15pm

RECEPTION GATHERING

5:30 - 6:30pm

Writing Circle

Guide: Kathy Tarr

Join others for an informal hour dedicated to individual writing. A guide will offer a prompt, or you can devote the time to your own ideas. No sign-up necessary. Just show up prepared to write.

8:00 PM

Readings by Conference Faculty
Open to the public; held at the following venues on Pioneer Avenue:

The Homer Bookstore	Captain's Coffee	Kachemak Bay Campus-East
Sherry Simpson John Straley Linda Hogan Nora Dauenhauer Dick Dauenhauer Jo-Ann Mapson	David Crouse Michael Steinberg Eva Saulitis Rich Chiappone Liz Bradfield	Gayle Brandeis Joe Enzweiler Nancy Lord Debbie Miller David Gessner Derick Burleson

MONDAY, JUNE 9

7:30 – 8:30AM

Writing Circle

Guide: Nancy Lord

Join others for an informal hour dedicated to individual writing. A guide will offer a prompt, or you can devote the time to your own ideas. No sign-up necessary. Just show up prepared to write.

8:30 – 10:00AM

CREATION STATION

Anne Lamott

Anne will discuss the whys and wherefores of creative expression, and why it may indeed be a matter of life and death. Exploring commitment as a debt of honor, hours of operation, one’s desk, one’s chair, and how to keep one’s butt in it, she will discuss getting started, finding your voice, co-creation, loneliness and community. She will cover failure, messes and false starts as teachers and tools, despair, hysteria, second winds, and anything else that will help people get their work done on a daily basis.

10:00

Break

10:15 - 11:45 PM

INTIMATE TERRAIN

Linda Hogan

We will explore the world around us and its connection with our own inner worlds, history, and means of expression. Part of the session will be outside discovery and part will be inside, sharing what the world speaks to the intimate terrain of the human. It is an exercise in participating with the living world and slowing down the daily life that often makes us unaware of the worlds, both inner and outer.

WORD CHOICE: GETTING THE WORDS RIGHT, GETTING THE RIGHT WORDS

Richard Dauenhauer

Mark Twain said the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between “a lightning bolt” and “a lightning bug.” Hemingway said the hardest part of writing was “getting the words right.” Join master translator Richard Dauenhauer in a workshop examining the importance of definitions, connotations, sound and sense; using the translation process; starting with ideas and images from somewhere else; and focusing on the nitty-gritty of word selection. We will have samples to prime the pump. If you know a language other than English, you can bring something to work on. But you don’t need to be a linguist or polyglot to try this.

NATURE WRITING FOR CHILDREN

Debbie Miller

This workshop will focus on the creation of picture books that engage a child's curiosity and wonder about the natural world. Debbie will describe the steps she takes in writing a nature book for young readers, from experiences in the field and journal writing, to fact-checking and completing a polished manuscript.

EMBODYING OUR CHARACTERS

Gayle Brandeis

One of the beautiful things about fiction is that it allows us to experience life through other sets of eyes, expanding our capacity for connection, for compassion, for pure and fulsome expression. In this fun, experiential workshop, we will explore how to get deeply inside our characters. When we inhabit our characters’ bodies, we have more direct access to their innermost selves.

12:00 - 12:45 PM

Luncheon

12:45 - 1:45 PM

FIRST PAGES

Judith Schnell, Jeff Kleinman, Michael Steinberg

Professionals in the business will analyze the first page from book-length fiction and nonfiction manuscripts written and previously submitted by conference attendees, giving an honest reaction to the first page of a novel, the first page of a proposal for a nonfiction book, or the first page of a nonfiction book. Panelists will explain why the page at hand would encourage them to read more (or not) in the context of their jobs. Selected “first pages” representing a variety of types and qualities will be distributed and public evaluated. The writers will be anonymous, and each first page will be discussed for 5-10 minutes.

1:45

Break

SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS

Jo-Ann Mapson

Those days of expecting an editor to line-edit your work are long gone. Anymore, it’s up to you to craft your work to near perfection before trying to market it. We’ll explore how to streamline your writing, edit for velocity, and become your own best critic. Bring a page of writing you know needs editing but can’t get a handle on, and we’ll discover how to work editorial magic.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: THE NATURE OF THE NONFICTION TRAVEL NARRATIVE

David Gessner

In 2005 David followed the migration of ospreys down the East Coast of the United States to Cuba and Venezuela and back. Join him to learn techniques for writing the travel narrative —including interviewing, the use of tape recording, the editing down of what is interesting to you so that it is interesting to others—as well as larger considerations about shaping your own adventures into stories, and the role you play in narrating your own journeys.

WRITING FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: (Part II)

Nora Dauenhauer

(Continued from Sunday, 2:00 p.m.)

HAIKU POETRY

John Straley

How short little poems can help you with your magnum opus. Discuss the history of Haiku and how its virtues can help you sharpen all your writing

3:30

Break

3:45 - 5:15 PM

ONE NARRATIVE, TWO VOICES: A DEMONSTRATION WORKSHOP

Michael Steinberg

Lately, the most compelling personal narratives I’ve read seem to employ at least two voices—one tells the surface story, while the other searches for some broader human connection. It’s that second (more reflective) voice that writers of creative nonfiction need to pay more attention to. To that end, we’ll look at and discuss a variety of examples designed to illustrate how personal essayists and memoirists can make fuller use of their adult, reflective selves. At the end of the session, I’ll hand out a writing prompt for participants to take with them.

DESCRIBING WITHOUT DESCRIPTION

Sherry Simpson

How do we craft descriptions of people, places and events without ever using words like twinkling eyes, stunning vistas, or awesome? A craft-oriented workshop using examples from the masters. Bring any passages you’re stuck on.

THE TRADESMAN AS POET

Joe Enzweiler

Examine how a writer’s day job, although seemingly unrelated to artistic concerns, shapes the language in poems and prose. Looking at the extreme examples of the Shaker work ethic and our attitudes toward work, we will explore the possibilities our jobs offer us in the form of artistic inspiration.

5:15

Break

5:15 - 6:15 PM

RECEPTION

5:30 - 6:30 PM

WRITING CIRCLE

Guide: Jo-Ann Mapson

Join others for an informal hour dedicated to individual writing. A guide will offer a prompt, or you can devote the time to your own ideas. No sign-up necessary. Just show up prepared to write.

PERFORMING YOUR WORDS: OPEN MIC TIPS

Sherry Simpson and Eva Saulitis

Words on the page are not the same as words in the ear. In this session we’ll learn practical techniques for reading before an audience, timing your delivery, and leaving them wanting more. We’ll also practice reading aloud at the podium, so bring a page of your work.

7:30 - 10:00 PM

Open "Mic". (open to the public)

Facilitator: Sherry Simpson

10:00 PM

After hours beach gathering

TUESDAY , JUNE 10

8:30 - 10:00 AM

WRITING THE BIG ONE: THE NOVEL

John Straley

Have you threatened to write a book? Have you started one and not been able to “find time” to finish? In this workshop we’ll discuss methods for overcoming all the road blocks. I’ll share tips for time management, research, and the different kinds of discipline you’ll need for different stages of the project. We’ll discuss the process of creating a large-scale manuscript from early inspiration to strategies for publishing.

HOT ICE AND WONDROUS STRANGE SNOW: THE MAGIC OF METAPHOR

Derick Burleson

Shakespeare knew what all writers need to know— that our most powerful tool as wordsmiths is metaphor. In this class we will see how master writers have employed metaphor, and we’ll practice invention techniques to bring metaphor more powerfully into our own writing.

BAD TO THE BONE

Rich Chiappone

Scoundrels, liars and cheats. From the most venal villain to the simply flawed human being, fictional characters must be empathetic—even when they behave badly. In this workshop we will study ways to develop fully rounded protagonists and antagonists alike, characters whose behavior we might not approve of but whose existence a reader cannot ignore. What could be more fun than having your characters act in ways you would never dare yourself? Bring in a page or two with a character you would not want your readers to mistake for you.

10:00

Break

10:30 - 12:00 PM

PANEL: ROLE OF WRITERS AS LITERARY CITIZENS

Moderator:

Nancy Lord

Panelists:

Joe Enzweiler, David Gessner, Jo-Ann Mapson, Judith Schnell

Ben Franklin said of writing, “No Piece can properly be called good and well written, which is void of any Tendency to benefit the Reader, either by improving his Virtue or his Knowledge.” On the other hand Ezra Pound said, “Fundamental accuracy of language is the sole morality of writers.” Somewhere in between these two views we all must take a stand. What is the role of writer as citizen— of his/her community, nation, and world? How can we best use our writing skills to be good citizens? Can writing and good citizenship conflict? Panelists will discuss how they navigate their ways among literary and civic demands and find balances to serve their creative lives while fulfilling other “goods.”

A SOURCE OUTSIDE SELF: EKPHRASIC WRITING

Elizabeth Bradfield

Writing from art or writing in collaboration with an artist can offer new language, imagery, and subject to poems. Together we’ll read some art-inspired poems and then try our hand at starting some of our own.

THE EYE OF THE STORY: POINT-OF-VIEW IN SHORT FICTION (Part II)

David Crouse

(Continued from Sunday, 3:45 p.m.)

12:00 - 1:30 PM

Luncheon

CLOSING LUNCHEON AND CLOSING REMARKS

DRAMATIC READING

FOR HEALING OUR SPIRIT: TLINGIT SPEECHES

Nora Marks and Richard Dauenhauer will give a dramatic reading of Tlingit ceremonial oratory featuring speeches recorded in performance, transcribed in Tlingit, and translated into English, presented in both languages. Rich in simile and metaphor, combining images of nature, kinship and Northwest Coast visual art, speeches for the removal of grief are among the highest poetic achievement in Tlingit oral tradition

Program