Workshops
Doing Oral History
American Society for Environmental History (ASEH). Riverside Convention Center, Riverside, CA, March 14, 2018. With James Lewis and Kathryn Newfont.
Reading and Writing New England
Johns Hopkins University Conference on Craft and Science Writing Residency, Bar Harbor, Maine, July 2–9, 2017. With Karen Houppert.
Environmental Science Writing for Public Impact
Center for Environment, Education, Research, and Outreach, Washington State University, April 12,2017. With Scott Slovic, Peter Chilson, Linda Russo, and Stephanie Hampton. This workshop is designed for environmental scientists who’d like to learn how to tailor their ideas and information for the general public through such outlets as op-eds, letters to the editor, blog entries, and press releases. Four experienced environmental writers from Washington State University and the University of Idaho will lead a discussion of several models of powerful science writing, work in small groups with scientists who come to the workshop, and offer strategies for reaching non-scientists.
Grantwriting Workshop
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, January 26–27, 2017.
Workshops Organized for WSU Visiting Writers Series
How to Get a Literary Agent
In this hands-on class, veteran literary agent Taryn Fagerness teaches students how to attract a literary agent to their work and the pitfalls to avoid on their journey to publication. Topics covered include: the art of writing a proposal, how to put together a list of agents to approach, how to write the all-important query letter. Students also learn how to get started in the publishing business as a career. A Visiting Writer Event.
Your Creative Voice
Find your unique way of writing, performing, and creating with comedian, filmmaker, writer, and acclaimed WSU alumus Ted Tremper. In this weeklong workshop, students practice writing, improvisation, and developing material for theater, television and cinema. Be ready to explore who you are, what you want to say, and how to develop a creative practice that will get what’s in your head and heart into the world. A Visiting Writer Event.
Screenwriting
Kevin Willmott, a prolific independent writer and filmmaker, instructs students in the conventions of screenwriting story, character development, structure, and the characteristics of different genres of TV and film. The course includes three nights of hands-on workshop/instruction with the filmmaker as well as an evening presentation, screening, and Q&A. A Visiting Writer Event.
Professional Editing and Publishing
In this weeklong workshop, students meet with two editors of an online literary magazine that has been at the forefront of digital publishing since 2006. They learn to think and read like editors. This workshop presents practical exposure to the tools of the publishing industry and a discussion of the unique challenges of editing for online publications. A Visiting Writer Event.
Short Prose Forms & Visual Art
Join writer Rebecca Brown for a collaboration between visual and literary arts. In this introduction to short prose forms (such as haibun, prose poetry, vignette, collage narrative, flash biography and some unclassifiable things), students look at published work and turn to visual art to inspire their own original work. Students collaborate across expressive genres (writing and visual art). They finish the workshop with several new pieces of original writing. Come to class ready to read, create, discuss and voluntarily present work. A Visiting Writer Event.
Publishing for Print and Web
Are you thinking about going into publishing but are intimidated by its vast and complicated world? Join editor and writer W. Scott Olsen to gain a better understanding of how publishing and editing works. In this course, student learn how to navigate modern publishing and editing, see how editors utilize both traditional print and new digital technologies, and gain some insight into how editors think — and even discover how to be more successful in getting their own work published. A Visiting Writer Event.
