Meets Tues/Thurs 11am-12:30pm | Aug 11, Aug 13, Aug 18, Aug 20 To create believable characters, all successful artists, writers, directors, animators, and performers employ a unique ability that allows them to crawl into someone else’s skin, inhabit it, and express what it’s like to be that individual. We call this “shapeshifting.” This workshop will focus on how to use shapeshifting to make characters come alive in any medium. First, you will create a mindset, complete with complexity and a range of traits and emotions. Next, you’ll conjure a physical form, an appearance, a look. Then you’ll build an environment for your character, followed by the world itself, and the context for a story. Choose from writing and sketching to photography and film to render…
Comments closedTag: fiction
There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as if they had never happened before – Willa Cather, in O Pioneers Learn ways to build a story of any length by looking at the timeless elements of myth and the structure of the archetypal journey as they appear in literature and film. Open to writers at any stage of their writing. We’ll look at ways to develop characters with consequence and stories with shape. There will be assignments that can reflect work in progress or brand new writing done just for the workshop. | Maximum: 12 writers | No class Sep 5 Register for this workshop NOTE: To protect everyone during the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re offering this course via Zoom.…
Comments closedFrom June 1st to July 31st, The Gravity of the Thing welcomes submissions for its first New Writers Issue. As it is our goal to support emerging writers, this is our way of creating a welcoming space for writers and artists who are new to publishing. If you like to experiment with language and discover through writing, we encourage you to share your work with us! To be eligible, your submission must be your first creative publication, not including blog posts or literary journals you are associated with academically. That is, if you have never had your writing published in the past, or your creative writing has only ever appeared on websites you curate or in student-run magazines housed at your school or college, then you may submit to this issue. The Gravity of the Thing is…
Continue readingSubmission Deadline: The Gravity of the Thing: New Writers Issue and Fall 2020 Issue
Comments closed Pitch agents. Sit down with producers. Sharpen your manuscript with industry pros. You can do all this from the comfort of your own home, July 30 – August 2, 2020! Featuring keynote speakers Cheryl Strayed, Pete Souza, Mitchell S. Jackson, Zoraida Córdova, Rosanne Parry, and more! With over 80 virtual workshops, as well as night events, critiques, and gatherings, you’re sure to find your community, develop your craft, and expand your career this year. Whether you’re a poet, a screenwriter, a novelist, or a techie, you’ll find your home at our annual conference. What’s that? You’re a memoirist? You’re going to love our classes on voice and style, taught by New York Times Bestselling Authors. Newbie? Great! Come learn with us! Published 80 books? We’re…
Comments closedJennifer Pastiloff and Lidia Yuknavitch are now running their infamous workshop four times a year! Lucky for us since this workshop has been selling out a year in advance for a while now. Jenn & Lidia are both renowned in their fields in their own right, and both of them are known for their inventive, non-traditional methods. Together they lead you to your most creative place by tapping into your body first, and then picking up the pen. But don’t worry! You do not have to be a published or experienced writer or yogi- we are looking for people who have heart. You have a desire to write? You have a body? Then this weekend is for you. WRITING and the BODY: SUMMER II, 2020 WHEN: Thursday,…
Comments closedThe Fiction Addiction Book Club meets the last Wednesday of every month at 6pm. Our book discussions aim to bring people together to talk about books in a safe and inviting atmosphere. Our meetings are lovely and inclusive; we invite you to attend. You don’t have to RSVP, just come and enjoy a lively discussion. Join us on July 29th at 6pm for our May meeting. We will discuss Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore. About the Book: A remarkably inventive novel that explores what it means to live a life fully in the moment, even if those moments are out of order. It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will…
Comments closedThe Young Adult Book Club meets the last Tuesdays of every month at 6pm. Our book discussions aim to bring people together to talk about books in a safe and inviting atmosphere. Our meetings are lovely and inclusive; we invite you to attend. You don’t have to RSVP, just come and enjoy a lively discussion. We welcome both teens and adults to join this book club! Join us for the our first meeting on July 28th of the Young Adult Book Club. We will discuss A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. About the Book: An addictive, twisty crime thriller about a closed local murder case that doesn’t add up, and a girl who’s determined to find the real killer–but not everyone wants…
Comments closedIn a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government’s emergency protocols are faltering. With Survivor Song (William Morrow), Bram Stoker Award-winning author Paul Tremblay once again demonstrates his mastery in a chilling and all-too-plausible novel that will leave readers racing through the…
Comments closedToday, author and illustrator Skylaar Amann joins us to read from her new picture book, Lloyd Finds His Whalesong (Page Street Kids). Lloyd can’t sing. The rhythm of the whalesong guides the whales through danger and connects them to each other. But Lloyd is too quiet to join in. If he can’t sing, how can he be a part of the pod? Then one day he finds a magical, mysterious object with supersonic seaweed strings! This could be his chance to be part of the song. He practices and practices, nervously preparing to show the other whales. But before he can perform for them, a disruptive, noisy boat approaches and scatters the pod. Lloyd’s powerful new instrument may be the only thing that can reunite…
Comments closedAs part of the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing program, PNCA offers talks, discussions, and readings by acclaimed writers and artists, July 24th to August 3rd. Everything is free and open to the public. All events this summer are hosted via Zoom. The passwords for all faculty classes are 515000. CLASSES Saturday, July 25 10am: Unsafe is Not a Feeling: How Writing Contends with the Illusion of Safety Sara Jaffe https://pnca.zoom.us/j/98345715004?pwd=OVVOLysrZUh5S0hxS0d5QlBHUDZMUT09 2pm: Winter Poop, Spring Revivals, Summer Fires, and Fall Marigolds Alison C Rollins https://pnca.zoom.us/j/98224439656?pwd=TnNGWkJmQUZaTWlOOXFhZjlhUnJudz09 Sunday, July 26 10am: THE ART OF WEALTH (in life & in literature) Vi Khi Nao https://pnca.zoom.us/j/95075415254?pwd=YVd4ZVJON3YrZHIrdWF1MXN4WmkwZz09 Monday, July 27 10am: Outsider Ecopoetics Tyrone Williams https://pnca.zoom.us/j/95516376236?pwd=T1EycmFvM05STEJlN1JPZ3k3WVY3dz09 11am: Feminism / Queer Theory Shawna Liption and Sloane McNulty https://pnca.zoom.us/j/97573944766?pwd=Y0NZeEtETmxZdDFRczRrYU0wdEJLdz09 Tuesday, July 28…
Comments closed