Free, One-Shot, 2-Hour Classes Open to Everyone!
Presented by: The Nonfiction Writing Program
Reserve your s
About this Event
CREATIVE WRITING MASTER CLASSES
Free, One-Shot, 2-Hour Classes Open to Everyone!
Presented by: The Nonfiction Writing Program
Reserve your spot! Register for classes at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creative-writing-master-classes-fall-2024-tickets-1025116841067
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Art d'Objet—From Stuff to StorySaturday, Oct 12, 10:00am-12:00pm, NWP House
Think of it as the KonMari Method meets your Creative Muse. In this Master Class, we will discover how simple objects—the books on your shelf, the boxes in the basement, the chaos of the kitchen junk drawer—contain an inspirational spark for writers of fiction and nonfiction narratives. Drawing on what we learn from literary examples and psychological research, participants will dive into generative writing exercises to produce short drafts of what might become your next story, memoir, or essay.
INSTRUCTOR: ADAM WITTE was a high school Language Arts teacher for twenty years before becoming a student in the Nonfiction Writing MFA program at the University of Iowa.
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Images of the Oprey: Infusing our Writing with Country Music's ConventionsSaturday, Oct 12, 12:00-2:00pm, NWP House
Country music is a master class in rendering a world in an instant. Whether it’s Brooks & Dunn, Tracy Chapman, or Lucinda Williams, country music artists develop concrete images full of nuance and depth by the second stanza. In this master class, we’ll examine the imagery and inventory of country music—its barefoot blue jean nights, dusty gravel roads, and neon moons—and use what we find to build our own personal inventories of thematically-charged images. While this class will draw its examples from country music, the practice of analyzing music and distilling creative principles from it is helpful for all kinds of projects, regardless of medium or genre. Through group analysis and in-class exercises, you will identify images from your own life experience, using them to create powerful scenes in poetry or prose.
INSTRUCTORS: ALAYNA BECKER is an essayist and comedian from Spokane, Washington. She is the managing editor of Moss Lit, and an MFA candidate in the University of Iowa’s NWP. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Review, Autostraddle, NPR and others. HEIDIE SENSEMAN graduated from Cedarville University in 2023 with a B.A. in English before joining the UI community as an MFA candidate in the NWP and an instructor in the Rhetoric Department.
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Throwing Shade and Sun: Writing Literary CriticismSaturday, Oct 12, 2:00-4:00pm, NWP House
Do you want to wield your pen to celebrate the treasure and denigrate the trash of the literary world? In this class, you will learn a few elements of literary criticism. We may analyze brief samples by such critics as Zadie Smith, John Jeremiah Sullivan, James Baldwin, Flannery O’Connor, etc. Bring an essay, poem, novel, play, or any other work you hate to love, love to hate, hate to hate, or love to love! Pen of Flame, Ignite!
INSTRUCTOR: SPENCER JONES is a 3rd Year in the Nonfiction Writing Program. Her criticism has appeared in Hopkins Review and more critical work is forthcoming in Bennington Review and Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media.
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Fiction-ing Outside the LinesSaturday, Oct 12, 4:00-6:00pm, NWP House
In nonfiction, sometimes facts aren’t enough. This may particularly be the case if you want to write from the perspective of a wombat, swamp, great-grandparent, or any subject that exists outside our own consciousnesses. If we assume that fiction is permissible, even necessary, to tell these stories that leap, then how do we do it? How do we write fiction to write nonfiction? How do we use lies to tell the truth, all while retaining our focus on the reality of our subjects? This class doesn’t argue that fiction and nonfiction are the same. Rather, it is intended to remind us that imagination is a part of our everyday realities. Thus, some stories will be incomplete if we don’t let our imaginations run freely. In this class, we will cover short excerpts from writers who leap into the fantastic to speak the truth. We will analyze the ways that their writerly voices change to tell these stories—stories that speculate across time, across minds, and outside of other containers. Lastly, students will determine and begin writing about a subject that requires fiction to tell a full story.
INSTRUCTORS: RICHARD FRAILING is a writer, musician, and biologist in the Nonfiction Writing Program. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Environment from Iowa State University where he studied poetry and natural landscapes. STEPHANIE KRZYWONOS is an MFA student in the Nonfiction Writing Program and author of the forthcoming book ICE FOLX: An Antarctic Memoir.
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Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Corey Campbell in advance at [email protected].
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Nonfiction Writing House, 530 North Clinton Street, Iowa City, United States
USD 0.00
