Recent Events
Meet the Writers Fall 2007
10.6.07
Master Classes
Plot and Other Puzzles for Fiction Writers Brian Morton
Many writers find that almost every element of fiction is easier to work with than the element of plot. Writing dialogue that sounds natural, working with multiple points of view, finding a strong beginning — all of this can come more easily than finding a storyline. Students will look at what fiction writers from E.M. Forster to Anne Lamott have said about the question of plot, and discuss plotting in their own work. Brian Morton is the author of four novels: The Dylanist; A Window Across the River, a selection of the Today Show Book Club; Breakable You; and Starting Out in the Evening, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award and the basis for a movie starring Frank Langella and Lauren Ambrose, to be released in fall 2007.
October 14, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. $125 includes lunch. Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center. Limited to 15 participants.
Poetry Master Class Carol Muske-Dukes
The poem exists as a construct of the imagination, informed by, but ultimately apart from, the autobiographical. How do we construct the “other” from the familiar — allowing the poem to shake off the false allegiance of “it really happened like this” — in order to re-invent itself in uncharted territories? In readings from Catullus, Browning, Gluck, etc., students will browse through many voices in the great undying conversation of literature. Carol Muske-Dukes is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently Sparrow, a 2003 National Book Award finalist. Her fourth novel, Channeling Mark Twain, was recently released. Other novels include Life After Death, Saving St. Germ and Dear Digby.
November 11, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. $125 includes lunch. Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center. Limited to 15 participants.
Craft Seminars
Poetry. Kevin Pilkington, award-winning author of six books of poetry, including Ready to Eat the Sky, will offer a look at the more open, contemporary forms of today’s published poets so students can apply these techniques to their own work. Students will create poems that do not fit a form or metrical grid; instead they will find forms to fit their poems. The goal is for students to incorporate personal, authentic rhythms into their poems and strive to capture the realism and spontaneity of everyday speech. Close readings of well-known contemporary poets will serve to examine the use of titles, line breaks, metaphoric language, alliteration, assonance, rhyme, echo and enjambment to best effect.
October 20 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center $50
The Graphic Novel. Come explore why everyone is talking about the graphic novel! Using images — photographs, drawings, labels, or other pieces of graphic art important to the writer — participants will connect words and images from their lives into a graphic book. Students will get a list of materials to bring and will combine these with their own poems and stories. Winner of the 2001 Henry and Anne Paolucci Prize for Fiction, Joanna Clapps Herman’s stories have appeared in Massachusetts Review and Kalliope. Her essays have been widely published in anthologies. Most recently she co-edited a collection of essays called Our Roots Are Deep With Passion and currently is editing Wild Dreams, an essay collection for Fordham University Press. A big fan of graphic novels, she has taught both writing and art.
December 1 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center $50
Special Events
Reading/Book Party. Come celebrate Phyllis Shalant’s newest book for young readers, The Society of Secret Superheroes: The Great Cape Rescue (Dutton, 2007) at Reid Castle. This is her 10th book of fiction for readers in grades 2 through 5. Bring the kids!
Saturday, September 15, 1:00 – 2:00 pm. Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center.
Editors & Agents Panel. Learn the ins-and-outs of getting published from professionals in the field. Tuesday, November 13, 7:00 p.m.
Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center. No admission fee.
Manhattanville Hosts Hudson Valley Writers. Come hear four winners from HVW’s Slapering Hol Press read. Wednesday, November 14, 7:00 p.m. Reid Castle.
Enter Inkwell’s Poetry & Fiction Writing Competitions! Deadline for our Annual Competitions is October 30, 2007. Fiction Prize: $1,500 plus publication.
Poetry Prize: $1,000 plus publication. Poetry Judge: Ellen Bryant Voigt. Fiction Judge: Pablo Medina. See www.inkwelljournal.org for guidelines.
Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center
As a center for creative writing, Manhattanville College is proud to bring a program of literary events to our students and the general public. Sponsored by our Master of Arts in Writing program and the Dowd•O’Gorman Writing Center, our spring season includes Meet the Writers literary readings, a variety of one-day workshops and craft seminars for aspiring writers. For information or to reserve a space, call (914) 323-5300. To discover Inkwell, our nationally recognized literary journal, visit www.inkwelljournal.org.