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Summer 2020 Online: Starting the Memoir

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Begin generating the first draft of a memoir or collection of personal essays. John D’Agata describes memoir as “an agitation of memory,” which suggests memory-based writing as not just the expression of memory but volatile, vital consideration of memory. Participants will look at elements of craft, including point of view and detail, and examine various writing processes. They’ll also look at examples of prose memoir in which the writer uses the poet’s tools of meditation, dream, and lyricism, and then do their own memory-based writing. At the end of the class, students will set deadlines and be offered resources to help them continue drafting. June 6-7 and 13-14, 2020 Saturday and Sundays, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (4 class meetings) online via Zoom Jay Ponteri…

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$185

Creating Better Characters

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

For writers at all levels This workshop will focus on the skills involved in creating and sustaining vibrant and complex characters for both short-and long-form works of fiction. Through a series of in-workshop prompt-based generative exercises and take-home assignments, you will create and flesh out a series of vivid characters. We will focus on physical description, the inner life of characters, and how scene and setting, action and dialogue can round out and bring our creations to life. Close attention will be paid to literary and poetic devices. Supportive in-workshop sharing and feedback will be an important part of the process. CLASS LIAISONS: All classes have one liaison position. Liaisons receive free tuition in exchange for light duties before and after each class meeting. SCHOLARSHIPS…

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$175

Summer 2020 Online: Collage in Creative Nonfiction

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Do you have a nonfiction story or essay that struggles to mold to a traditional structure? Sometimes the most personal stories or essays do not want to follow a linear trajectory. Collage and braided forms of creative non-fiction rely instead on fragmentation, silence and resonance to build suspense and/or complex thinking. In defense of disruption and silence, Louise Gluck reflects that “in the broken thing, human agency is oddly implied: breakage, whatever its cause, is the dark complement to the act of making; the one implies the other.” In this class, we will consider how writers use these strategies of breakage and disruption to their benefit, using historical, literary or biographical “braids” that weave in and out of their narratives. Class time will be spent…

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$210

Delve Readers Seminars Online: Best Friends Forever: Female Friendship in Literature

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

“It would be ten years before they saw each other again, and their meeting would be thick with birds.” This Delve will explore female friendship, as written by women writers, through both a fiction and nonfiction lens. These friendships are complex and nuanced, sometimes ugly, sometimes enduring, and sometimes one of the most significant relationships of a lifetime. Through Toni Morrison’s beautiful and stirring Sula and Nel, Hungarian writer Szabo’s unlikely relationship between a woman and her housekeeper in The Door, and Ann Patchett’s exploration of her 20-year long friendship with writer Lucy Grealy, we will explore different paradigms of these relationships across time and culture. Texts: Truth and Beauty, Ann Patchett Sula, Toni Morrison The Door, Magda Szabo First assignment: Participants should read Truth…

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$150

Fear and Writing

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Telling a writer to write without fear is like telling a human to breathe without oxygen. It’s impossible to do and why would you want to? Fear is a natural part of the creative process. Instead of fighting it, work with it. Through stories, mindfulness, and free-writing, you will discover simple, realistic ways to face your fear, get to know it, and use it to propel your writing, rather than hinder it. With fear on your side, there’s nothing stopping you from being the writer you want to be. Saturday, June 27, 2020 from 2:00–4:00 p.m. Online via Zoom Peg Cheng writes stories that tell the truth about everyday people trying to survive and thrive. Before becoming a full-time writer, Peg worked in 35 jobs…

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$35

Summer 2020 Delve Readers Seminar Online: Nigerian Voices: Chinua Achebe and Helon Habila

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

From the precolonial period to modern times, these two authors show the complexity of Nigerian history: the original tribal forms of organizing the society, where the strong man rules for good and for bad; the colonial era where those tribal communities transform in order to negotiate with the colonizers; and the postcolonial period that shows how the thirst for oil from the western powers also generates conflicts between the native peoples and a level of corruption that pervade every aspect of their lives. The transformations narrated in these two books are journeys of no return, with echoes from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Texts: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Oil on Water by Helon Habila Participants are responsible for purchasing texts. First assignment: For the…

Continue readingSummer 2020 Delve Readers Seminar Online: Nigerian Voices: Chinua Achebe and Helon Habila
$150

Summer 2020 Online: Starting the Novel

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Dive in to the first draft of your novel with confidence, excitement, and curiosity, armed with tools to deal with doubt and writers block. This three week online class will include writing exercises, feedback and a discussion of the variety of ways to begin a novel. July 9 - 23, 2020 Thursdays, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. (3 sessions) online via Zoom Cari Luna Cari Luna is the author of The Revolution of Every Day, which won the Oregon Book Award for Fiction. A fellow of Yaddo and Ragdale, her writing has appeared in Guernica, Salon, Jacobin, Electric Literature, Catapult, The Rumpus, PANK, and elsewhere.

$140

Delve Readers Seminar Online: Milan Kundera

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” Explore Czech writer Kundera alongside some of his inspirations. We will begin with his most famous work, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, reading both the original text and exploring major influences on this work, through excerpts from Kafka and Nietzsche. We will also read his novel Immortality and short story collection Laughable Loves. We will discuss what is distinctive about Kundera’s style, such as his lyrical writing and preoccupation with philosophical themes. Of course, no discussion on Kundera would be complete without a discussion surrounding the thematic elements of totalitarianism and revolution. Reading List: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Immortality Laughable Loves Excerpts from Nietzsche and Kafka (guide will provide PDFs to…

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$230

VIRTUAL Risograph Basics with Outlet!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Welcome to our Risograph Basics course: a printing, collage, experimentation, and mark making extravaganza! Get to know Outlet and our RISO sisters (Barbara, Janet, Corita, and Tina) and learn the basics of this fun and unique print method with Kate Bingaman-Burt! IMPORTANT: Due to social distancing this class will be taught virtually via Zoom—more info on that below! About the Workshop: Want to learn what Risograph printing is? Want to meet others who do too? Join us to learn all about the basics of the Risograph in our two-color introduction workshop. The workshop will kick off with a Show & Tell of exactly what a Risograph can do with a printing demo, print and zine samples and a general exploration of how we can get the best results from this…

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$15 – $100

Writing for Survival Webinar with Terese Marie Mailhot

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

WHAT: A two-hour online webinar AND a 4-week online workshop WITH: Terese Marie Mailhot WHEN: WEBINAR: Saturday, July 11th 1PM-3PM PST WHERE: ZOOM! (But of course.) Meeting registration and access details will be provided in advance. HOW MUCH: WEBINAR—$100. One hundred total capacity. Payment plans are available, contact Daniel Elder at registration@corporealwriting.com SCHOLARSHIPS: Fifteen full scholarships are available for BIPOC writers. Click here to apply. WEBINAR—July 11th—SEATS AVAILABLE! Our stories can be medicine for ourselves and others. When we retrieve stories people wish we would forget, we can re-shape the narratives of our lives and make art of it, too. Terese will be discussing ways you can piece together a fragmented life, and ways you can utilize metaphor and draw out ideas to connect points…

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$100
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