2014 Miami Writers Institute

The Miami

Writers InstituteMay 7 - 10, 2014 | Downtown Miami

Madison Smartt Bell

Dorothy Allison

Connie May Fowler

Elizabeth Alexander

Four days of intensive workshops on fiction, nonfiction, poetry and more! Taught by respected visiting writers in the heart of downtown Miami.Quality workshops? Of course. But the Writers Institute is so much more:

· Manuscript Consultations – Get feedback on your manuscript in one-on-one sessions with literary agents. Space is limited. For more information, see page 5.

· Lunchtime Reads – Each day, gather for lunch and hear Writers Institute faculty read from their work. For more information, see page 14.

· Pitch-O-Rama 2014! – On Saturday, May 10, practice the art of the one-minute pitch before a panel of industry pros. Get feedback on your book idea and free advice. For more information, see page 14.

Ready to register? Want to learn more?Visit us on the Web at www.thecenteratmdc.org and click

on Writers Institute. Follow the instructions to register online.

Deadlines, fees and more information on the following pages.

Madison Smartt Bell

Dorothy Allison

DeadlinesApril 2: Early-bird Registration – Register by this date and enter a drawing to win a FREE manuscript consultation (an $80 value)!

April 18: Deadline to submit a manuscript for workshop with Judy Sternlight or Jill Bialosky and Bill Clegg.

April 18: Last day to submit a manuscript for consultation with a literary agent.

April 21: Last day to submit one page synopsis for Amy Stewart workshop.

April 28: Registration deadline.

Note: Space in workshops is limited. Register as soon as possible to secure your space. Payment must be received at time of registration and must have cleared at least five business days prior to the first day of class. Please note registration deadlines for each course. Please speak to a member of our registration staff if you require clarification.

Registration Fees• One three-day workshop: $250 (includes lunch Wednesday to Friday)

• One four-day workshop: $300 (includes

lunch Wednesday to Friday)

• Any two workshops: $450

• Manuscript consultation: $80*

*Manuscript consultation fees are not reading fees and do not go to the agent; rather they support the programs and initiatives of The Center for Literature and Theatre @ Miami Dade College.

page 04 / thecenteratmdc.org

Manuscript Consultations Get Feedback from the Pros

Literary professionals will read a sample of your work, then meet with you for a one-on-one, 15-minute consultation. SPACE IS LIMITED. By appointment only. For a full listing of agents and editors attending the conference, please visit thecenteratmdc.org.

Via e-mail, forward a 10-page sample of your manuscript (preferably the first 10 pages) as a Microsoft Word attachment to Nicole Swift at [email protected]. In the subject line, type “Manuscript Consultation” and your last name. Samples should have page numbers, be double-spaced, have 1.5 inch margins, and 12 point type set in Times New Roman. Your name, phone number and e-mail address should appear on the first page. Also, attach a ONE PAGE synopsis of your manuscript in the same format. In order to give your consultant time to review your work, submissions must be received NO LATER THAN 5 p.m. April 18.

How to prepare for your one-on-one manuscript consultation: 1. Do your homework. Read the agent/editors bio: visit their web sites; and Google their names to get a sense of their areas of interest and expertise. Don’t, for example, meet with someone who specializes in children’s lit if you’re writing a crime novel.

2. Bring a list of questions. The consultation will go by quickly, so organize your thoughts beforehand and make the most of your time.

3. There is no criticism, only feedback. The industry professional with whom you’ll meet is here to give you an honest assessment of your manuscript and its potential to be published. Remember, they are evaluating your work not only on its artistic merit and the quality of the writing, but also as a product which would have to compete in the literary marketplace.

4. Manage your expectations. Be prepared for the possibility that you may have some work to do before your work is ready to be published.

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Four-day Workshop:Meets daily: Wednesday, May 7 –

Saturday, May 10, 9 a.m. - Noon

Nonfiction and the Craft of Storytelling with Amy StewartThe best nonfiction reads like a novel. Even when we're reporting the facts, our writing is stronger when we understand how characters, conflict, drama, plot, and setting come together to create a story. This class borrows storytelling techniques from novelists and applies them to memoir, creative nonfiction, reported journalism, history, and other forms. We'll study examples tailored to the participants' projects and do in-class exercises to help shape their work into a compelling narrative.

Please submit a one-page synopsis of a current writing project by email to Nicole Swift at [email protected] no later than April 21.

Amy Stewart is the award-winning author of six books on the perils and pleasures of the natural world, including four New York Times bestsellers, The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Bugs, Wicked Plants, and Flower Confidential. She has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other newspapers and magazines, and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and the American Horticulture Society’s Book Award.

Four-day Workshop:Meets daily: Wednesday, May 7 –

Saturday, May 10, 9 a.m. - Noon

Creating Fictional Art with Robert Olen ButlerThe workshop will focus on the creative process for beginning or advanced writers. We will address such issues as what is art; what is distinctive about the way the artist addresses the world, the inner self, and the objects to be created; and what are the essential characteristics of fiction. These essentials are best explored — especially in short workshops — by my proposing an aesthetic theory of the short short story, both as a distinct art form and as a paradigm for the crucial beginning pages of any effective work of fiction. During the workshop, the students will write exclusively in the short short form. Students must read my book, From Where You Dream, before the workshop. I will administer writing exercises to spur students’ daily output. The goal is to lead the students into the depths of their artistic unconscious and illuminate the intrinsic nature of narrative.

Robert Olen Butler has published fourteen novels and six volumes of short fiction, one of which won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. He is the 2013 recipient of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature. Among his many other accolades are a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and two National Magazine Awards in Fiction.

/thecenteratmdc @thecenteratmdc / page 07

Amy Stewart

Robert Olen Butler

Richard Blanco

Judy Sternlight


Three-day Workshop:Meets daily: Wednesday, May 7 –

Friday, May 9, 2 - 5 p.m.

The Spirit and Craft of Poetry with Richard BlancoThe writing of the inaugural poem, “One Today” reconfirmed for me that the creative process is as much about craft as it is about spirit. Through readings and class discussions, we will first focus on some of the essential elements of crafting a poem, namely: imagery, construction of the line and stanzas, rhythm, and poetic closure. However, we will also discuss the manner in which poetry is also a spiritual journey to reach oneself and others. As such, we’ll explore how a poem's emotional center and spiritual reason for being affect its relative success or failure, and discuss matters relating to creative process, inspiration, and writing practices. In this dynamic and interactive workshop setting we will critique each other's work with a balanced focus on both the spirit and craft of our poems. For begginers and advanced writers.

Richard Blanco stands as the youngest, first Latino, and first openly gay person to serve as the presidential inaugural poet, joining the ranks of such luminary figures as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. His books of poetry include: City of a Hundred Fires, which received the prestigious Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize; Directions to The Beach of The Dead, awarded the PEN American Beyond Margins Award; and Looking for The Gulf Motel, winner of the Patterson Poetry Prize, the Thom Gunn Award, and a Maine Literary Prize.

Three-day Workshop:Meets daily: Wednesday, May 7 –


Prepping Your Novel for Prime Time with Judy SternlightCompleting a draft of your novel is a major accomplishment, but no book is finished without revision. What are the areas to refine before showing your work to agents, editors, publishers or the general public? Drawing on participants’ manuscript samples and brief synopses, this interactive class will touch on the importance of the opening pages, narrative tension, pacing, dialogue, descriptive language, and more. This workshop will provide you with tools to fine-tune your manuscript.

Participants should submit the first ten pages of their novels as well as a 100 word description of the novel (in the style of copy that appears on the back of a paperback cover) by April 18 to Nicole Swift at [email protected].

Judy Sternlight, a former editor at Random House, Ballantine, and The Modern Library, has worked with numerous authors, including Marie-Helene Bertino, Rita Mae Brown, Gwen Florio, Bret Anthony Johnston, Peter Matthiessen and Daniel Menaker. She recently edited The Brown Reader: 50 Writers Remember College Hill, featuring original essays by prominent writers who attended Brown University, including Edwidge Danticat, Jeffrey Eugenides and Rick Moody. Judy’s books have won numerous prizes, including the National Book Award and the Commonwealth Prize.



Three-day Workshop:Meets daily: Thursday, May 8 –


and Saturday, May 10, 9 a.m. - Noon

The First 20 Pages: Establishing Voice, Method and Narrative Stakes at the Beginning of Your Memoir with Bill Clegg and Jill BialoskyWith people, you only get one chance to make a first impression and with your manuscript, it’s the same. This workshop will concentrate on the opening pages of a memoir manuscript with a focus on establishing voice, method and narrative stakes. The workshop will include a combination of manuscript feedback and examining examples of how other writers have started their memoirs.

Participants should submit the first 20 pages of their memoirs by April 18 to Nicole Swift at [email protected].

Jill Bialosky is an executive editor and vice president at W. W. Norton & Company. Among the many award-winning, critically acclaimed books she has worked on are the bestselling History of Love by Nicole Krauss, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn, The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall, The Bishop's Daughter by Honor Moore, finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Packing for Mars, Bonk, Spook, Stiff and Gulp by Mary Roach, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin, finalist for the Pulitzer and National Book Award, The Undertaking by Thomas Lynch, finalist for the National Book Award, America's Favorite Poems and several other America's Favorite Poem Project anthologies edited by Robert Pinsky. She is the author of three poetry collections, The End of Desire; Subterranean; Intruder. The Skiers: Selected Poems was published in the UK. Her memoir, History of a Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life was a New York Times Bestseller. Her poems and essays have been published in many magazines and literary journals.

Bill Clegg is an agent at WME representing fiction, narrative non-fiction, memoir and poetry. Some the of the authors he represents include Lauren Groff, Amy Waldman, Akhil Sharma, Tao Lin, Diane Keaton, Amanda Copeland, John Waters, David Levithan, Mary Jo Bang, Daniyal Mueenuddin and Anjelica Huston. He is the author of the memoirs Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man and Ninety Days. His writing has been published in New York, The New York Times, Esquire and

Harper's Bazaar.


Jill Bialosky

Bill Clegg

Andrés Correa Guatarasma


Taller de 4 días:Miércoles 7 al viernes 9 de mayo, 6 - 9 p.m. y sábado 10 de mayo, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Taller de Creatividad Periodística: El Arte de Preguntar con Andrés Correa GuatarasmaAparte de ser la herramienta más típica del trabajo reporteril, la entrevista es un género periodístico en sí mismo. Pero no es exclusiva del periodismo. Un mundo inmediatista, informativamente saturado y pleno de canales comunicativos accesibles para la mayoría, implica un alto compromiso de actualización y formación constantes. Ello, enmarcado en variables de contextualización, responsabilidad y amplitud para entender -- y luego poder procesar- tantas situaciones, actores y públicos geográficamente dispersos y por ende heterogéneos en lo político, económico, cultural, social y religioso.La entrevista es una herramienta en toda profesión que implique búsqueda e intercambio informativo. En general, la entrevista es una actividad humana de convivencia diaria, basada en la comunicación, en todas sus formas.Este Taller se concibe para encaminar a cualquier persona en “el arte de preguntar”, es decir, cómo acceder a la información de manera eficiente y ética a través de la interacción humana, en sus diversas modalidades.

Andrés Correa Guatarasma es un Editor y reportero de diarios y revistas. Ha laborado en El Universal (Venezuela, matutino fundado en 1909) y la agencia Associated Press (AP), entre otros. Asesor y estratega de medios. Profesor de Información Internacional y Periodismo Internacional (UCAB, Venezuela), analista internacional, tutor y asesor de Tesis de Grado. Experiencia creativa y analítica en medios audiovisuales y teatro. Máster en Relaciones Exteriores, Licenciado Cum Laude en Comunicación Social. Actual corresponsal y columnista del diario El Universal en Nueva York. Cuatro veces finalista del “MetLife/Nuestras Voces”, el concurso de dramaturgia hispana más

importante de EEUU.


EN ESPAÑOL × EN ESPAÑOL × EN ESPAÑOL × EN ESPAÑOL × EN ESPAÑOL


Lunchtime ReadingsLunchtime Readings are open to the public. The cost of lunch is included for participants registered for at least one Institute workshop. A limited number of lunches will be available for purchase on site that same day.

Wednesday, May 7, 12 - 2 p.m.

Robert Olen Butler, Richard Blanco and Amy Stewart Thursday, May 8, 12 - 2 p.m.

Bill Clegg, Jill Biolosky and Judy Sternlight


Open Mic for Miami Writers Institute Participants Saturday, May 10, 12 - 1 p.m.

Andres Correa (in Spanish)

Pitch-O-RamaBooks & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables

Saturday, May 10, 2 - 4 p.m.

FREE! Practice the art of the one-minute pitch before a panel of literary agents and other industry professionals. A tight, effective verbal pitch can help you sell your idea and, just as importantly, force you to keep your project focused and on track. Think of it this way: You’re in an elevator with the agent or editor of your dreams and you have one minute to pitch your book idea. What do you say? Get instant feedback on your book idea and some free advice. Best pitch gets a prize!

Participation in the Pitch-O-Rama is free and open to everyone by signing up, first come, first served. Writers Institute registrants may sign up beginning at noon on Saturday, May 10. Non-registrants may sign up beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 10.

Visit thecenteratmdc.org for details.

Mark Siegel

Rick Bragg

Teresa Dovalpage

John Dufresne

Lynda BarryMark Siegel

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Documents

2014 Miami Writers Institute