CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Faculty Members and Seminars

Seminars are led by award-winning writers who are also generous teachers. Each member of the conference faculty leads a daily seminar, usually including a short lecture, discussion, and (optional) writing exercises. You are welcome to attend as many of these sessions as you like. We suggest that you attend one seminar regularly and visit several of the others. See the schedule below, as well as the Faculty and Guest Speakers page.

Manuscript consultations and informal conferences

If you register for a consultation, a faculty member or teaching fellow will meet with you privately to discuss your work. Sign up on the registration form.

During the week teaching fellows are also available to talk with you informally.

Time for Writing

Some people attend every event; others reserve part of each day for writing. Arrange your day in the way that suits you best. You will find quiet work spaces in the dorms and libraries and rolling lawns across the campus.

Guest Speakers

Speakers will talk about the writer's craft and, during the publishing panel, about the process of getting your work into print. See the schedule below. Also see Faculty and Guest Speakers page.

Conference Schedule for 2008:

See Faculty and Guest Speakers page for details

SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 2008

1:00 - 5:00 PM Registration, Fauver dormitory
5:30 PM Reception
6:00 PM Dinner
7:45 PM Advice about using computers and printers on campus     

John Hammond, director of the ITS Help Desk  

8:30 PM Welcome/Introduction of Faculty and Fellows       
9:30 PM Readings at Broad Street Books

Thisbe Nissen, Fellow in Fiction

Jeff Thomson, Fellow in Poetry                   

 

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2008:
THE DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Your choice of seminars each day
Manuscript consultations are scheduled by the faculty

8:00 AM

Breakfast

9:00 - 10:15 AM

The Novel

Alexander Chee

10:15 - 10:30

Break

10:30 - 11:45

Short Story/Character Development in Fiction
Roxana Robinson

Literary Journalism
Alexandra Peers

Noon - 1:30 PM

Lunch

1:30

Poetry
Ravi Shankar

Literary Journalism and the Personal Essays
Katha Pollitt

Fiction Techniques
Josip Novakovich

3:30

Writing a Memoir: Memory, Fact, Imagination
Honor Moore

5:00

Craft Talks

Thisbe Nissen, Fellow in Fiction
Fiction Through Artifacts, or How to Justify a Love of Accumulating Junk

Jeffrey Thomson, Fellow in Poetry
The House from the Field: Away from a Definition of the Poetic Image                             

6:00 - 7:30

Dinner

8:00

Robert Stone reading New Fiction    

**Open to the Public: 190 Film Studies Center   

9:30

Readings 

Michael Rosovsky, Fellow in Fiction
Sadia Shepard, Barach Fellow in Nonfiction                                                                                                   

TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2008:
THE DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Your choice of seminars each day
Manuscript consultations are scheduled by the faculty

8:00 AM

Breakfast,

9:00 - 10:15 AM

The Novel

Alexander Chee

10:15 - 10:30

Break

10:30 - 11:45

Short Story/Character Development in Fiction
Roxana Robinson

Literary Journalism
Alexandra Peers

Noon - 1:30 PM

Lunch

12:15-1:30

Graphic Novels
Paul LaFarge

1:30

Poetry
Ravi Shankar

Literary Journalism and the Personal Essays
Katha Pollitt

Fiction Techniques
Josip Novakovich

3:30

Writing Biography
Lisa Cohen

5:00- 6:00

Ellen Sussman, Rand Richards Cooper , Dan Pope reading from their anthology Dirty Words                                         

6:00 - 7:30

Dinner

8:00

Faculty Reading: Alexander Chee, Katha Pollitt, Josip Novakovich                                                             

9:30

Student readings                                                      

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008:
THE DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Your choice of seminars each day
Manuscript consultations are scheduled by the faculty

8:00 AM

Breakfast,

9:00 - 10:15 AM

The Novel

Alexander Chee

10:15 - 10:30

Break

10:30 - 11:45

Short Story/Character Development in Fiction
Roxana Robinson

Literary Journalism
Alexandra Peers

Noon - 1:30 PM

Lunch

1:30

Poetry
Ravi Shankar

Literary Journalism and the Personal Essays
Katha Pollitt

Fiction Techniques
Josip Novakovich

3:30

Long-Form Nonfiction
William Finnegan

5:00-

Craft Talks

Michael Rosovsky, Fellow in Fiction
A Peek Behind the Curtain: An Editor's Take On Publication In Literary Magazines


Sadia Shepard, Barach Fellow in Nonfiction,
The Art of Reduction: Writing the Memoir Proposal, or Getting Your Family Down on Paper                            

            

6:00 - 7:30

Dinner

8:00

Faculty Reading: Alexandra Peers, Ravi Shankar, Roxana Robinson                                                 

9:30

Student readings                                                      
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2008:                  ONE-DAY FESTIVAL
THE DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Your choice of seminars each day
Manuscript consultations are scheduled by the faculty

8:00 AM

Breakfast

9:00 - 10:15 AM

Master Classes, Writing Fiction

Jess Row

10:15 - 10:30

Break

10:30 - 11:45

Myths of the Writer's Block
Roya Hakakian

Noon - 1:30 PM

Lunch

12:15-1:00

Conversation with Elizabeth England, editor, Epiphany magazine

1-30-2:45

Movement, Language, and Themes of Mourning
Eiko Otake

Freelance Writing
Alexandra Peers                                                 

3:00

The New Publishing World/Editors' Views
Opening remarks by John Kulka: Publishing in the Digital Age                                                                                               Johnny Temple, Jay Baron Nicorvo, Amanda Stern

4:30

Agents and Editors
Denise Roy, Dan Mandel, Esmond Harmsworth, Julie Barer                                                 

6:00 - 7:30

Dinner

8:00

Keynote event honoring the poet Padraic Colum, a founder of the conference
Andre Aciman

**Open to the Public: 190 Film Studies Center

Late Evening

see bulletin board in Usdan for information                                                  


 

FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2008:               
THE DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Your choice of seminars each day
Manuscript consultations are scheduled by the faculty

8:00 AM

Breakfast

9:00 - 10:15 AM

The Novel

Alexander Chee

10:15 - 10:30

Break

10:30 - 11:45

Short Story/Character Development in Fiction
Roxana Robinson

Literary Journalism
Alexandra Peers/Sadia Shepard, Fellow
 

Noon - 1:30 PM

Lunch

1:30-2:45

Poetry
Ravi Shankar

Literary Journalism and the Personal Essays
Katha Pollitt

Fiction Techniques
Josip Novakovich

 

 

The conference ends at 2:45 PM on Friday

 

 

TOPICS AND GUEST SPEAKERS FOR 2008

Fiction Readings/Jess Row, Ha Jin Translation and Movement/Eiko Otake
New Poetry/Ravi Shankar Master Classes & Special Events
Graphic Novels/Paul LaFarge Poets, to be announced
Writing a Memoir: Memory, Fact, Imagination/Honor Moore Editors and Agents/Denise Roy, Daniel Mandel, Julie Barer,  Esmond Harmsworth
Writing About Social Issues/Roya Hakakian  
Long-Form Nonfiction/William Finnegan  
Freelance Writing/Alexandra Peers  
New Publishing/ Multimedia Forms/Johnny Temple, Amanda Stern  
Agents and Publishing: Publishing in the Digital Age/John Kulka  
Padraic Colum Lecture: New Fiction/Robert Stone  
Fellows Workshop Topics to be announced  
We reserve the right to adjust the program.

Your manuscript reader will schedule your consultation.
The Conference ends at 2:45 PM on Friday, June 20, 2008.