Ann Arbor Book Festival - Writer's Conference 2008

Writer's Conference
Friday, May 16, 2008

The second annual Ann Arbor Book Festival Writer's Conference will be a full-day experience where attendees can hone their skills in sessions led by visiting Festival authors. The conference will be held on the University of Michigan central campus. Over the years, this campus has been home to many well-known writers from Arthur Miller to Elizabeth Kostova.

Review the following information to make your selections for the individual sessions. When you are ready, click here to register and pay the $100.00 registration fee. The fee includes light morning snacks and lunch provided by Ann Arbor's own Zingerman's Deli! After registering, you will receive an email listing your session assignments, specific location information and directions.

Alternatively, you may download a form, fill in all applicable information, and send the completed form along with a check (made out to Ann Arbor Book Festival) for $100.00 to:

Ann Arbor Book Festival
500 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Location and Check-In

We will be in Mason-Haven Hall which is attached to Angell Hall (435 S. State St., AA MI 48109). You can get directions from highways to this part of central campus from our Maps and Information page.

Here is a link to a campus map with Mason-Haven highlighted in pink.

Parking is available in various structures near campus and on the street in metered parking. You can read more information on our Maps and Information page.

Sessions will take place in 4 classrooms in the University of Michigan's Mason-Haven Hall. This building is directly behind (actually attached) to Angell Hall. If you come in the Angell doors facing State St., follow the signs through the building to Mason-Haven and Tisch Hall. If you come in the other side of the building that faces the Diagonal Walkway, you will enter Mason-Haven. The lobby area is referred to as the "Fishbowl" area. *** PLEASE NOTE: There is a Ground Floor in this building. Thus, rooms with "1" at the beginning are on the floor one up from Ground level. ***

"A" Sessions - Room 1436

"B" Sessions - Room 1448

"C" Sessions - Room 1460

"D" Sessions - Room 1469

To check in when you arrive, please stop in the lobby of Mason-Haven Hall. We will have a table there and some materials for you. We want to make sure you have arrived safely and have everything you need.

A special thank you to the sponsors of our Writer's Conference: Michigan Humanities Council and Zingerman's Community of Businesses.

2008 Writer's Conference Sessions

8:00 am - Registration / Refreshments and Networking

8:30 am - 9:30 am - SESSION 1

A. Faith in Writing - Dale Brown

For more than 20 years, W. Dale Brown has been interviewing authors about wrestling with the sacred in their writing. As a former English professor at Calvin College and director of its Festival of Faith and Writing, Brown has been in a unique position to listen to voices that, he insists, "are preaching up a tempest in resistance to trends in postmodern fiction". Whether or not writers weave their own belief systems into their work can be an issue. Dr. Brown will help to give you an informed perspective on the intersection between faith and fiction and the role of religion in the work of a writer.

Dale Brown is the first director of the Buechner Institute at King College in Bristol, Tennessee. For 20 years, Brown has taught literature and writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and for more than 10 years was the director of the Festival of Faith & Writing. Brown has published extensive interviews with more than 30 American writers. Many of these were included in his book Of Faith & Fiction.

B. Poetry - The Art of Revision - Greg Rappleye

In the construction of a poem, each word and line is critical to conveying the underlying theme. This session will examine the careful revising process that goes into creating the final poetic piece.

Greg Rappleye is corporation counsel for Ottawa County, Grand Haven, Michigan. He is the author of two poetry collections, Holding Down the Earth and A Path Between Houses, as well as two chapbooks. A past Bread Loaf Fellow in poetry, he has won a number of awards, including a Pushcart Prize, the Paumanok Poetry Award, and the Brittingham Prize, and he was the first runner up for the 2007 Dorset Prize.

C. How to Maneuver in the Nonfiction Market - Julie Halpert, John U. Bacon

NOTE: This section is now full. Please select from our other options offered at the same time.

Nonfiction work covers a broad range of topics. For the writer, there are basic elements that are critical for success. Julie Halpert, author of numerous articles for The New York Times, Newsweek, and The Washington Post, will help you to learn what you need to know so you can maneuver successfully in this area.

Julie Halpert is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post, and others. She is a frequent on-air contributor to public radio programs and the author of Making up with Mom: Why Mothers and Daughters Disagree (April, 2008).

John U. Bacon has written for TIME, the New York Times, ESPN The Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, among others, earning national honors for his work. He has authored five books on business and sports, the most recent being Bo's Lasting Lessons, which hit the New York Times and Wall Street Journal business best seller lists. Bacon also teaches sports history and journalism at the University of Michigan and Miami University (Ohio), delivers speeches across the country, provides commentary on Michigan Public Radio Friday mornings at 6:30 and 8:30, and hosts "Off The Field" on WTKA.com Sunday mornings, 10-12. John can be reached at Johnubacon.com.

D. Writing about your Passion - Diane Wilson, Geri Larkin

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Some authors come to writing when powerful life events compel them to share their stories. How to take your own life experiences and turn them into powerful reading is a challenging yet fulfilling endeavor. Activist-turned-writer Diane Wilson will share her experiences, detailing how you can use the written word to express your passionate activism and make others aware. Geri Larkin will speak to infusing your writing with that about which you are most passionate. She will discuss how to use your passion and expertise and make enjoyable, instructive reading that is vibrant without being preachy.

Diane Wilson is the author of An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas. It is a remarkable book, telling the story of Wilson's life as a female shrimp boat captain and an environmental activist fighting devastating toxic pollution from chemical and plastics manufacturers on the Texas Gulf Coast. The use of language in her work has been compared to Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx.

Geri Larkin gave up a successful career as a management consultant to become a dharma teacher and start the Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple in Detroit. She has used her writing as a way to tell others of her spiritual journey and how the lessons she has learned can positively impact daily life — bringing inner joy and uncovering inner creativity and enthusiasm. She is the author of ten books, including Stumbling Toward Enlightenment, The Chocolate Cake Sutra, and First You Shave Your Head.

9:45 am - 10:45 am - SESSION 2

A. Writing Motherhood - Lisa Garrigues

How to take your everyday experience and use it to express yourself in writing will be the theme of this session. In her book Writing Motherhood, longtime writing teacher Lisa Garrigues dispels the myth that motherhood is an impediment to creativity. Drawing on her own efforts to balance the demands of motherhood with her dream of writing, she will show how everyday life is a rich source of stories, and how writing can provide a means to both understand and document your experiences. Writing exercises and topic discussions will round out the hour.

Lisa Garrigues is an award-winning author, educator, and speaker. Her first book, Writing Motherhood, published by Scribner in 2007 and released in paperback this spring, inspires women to mine their everyday lives for stories to preserve and pass on. In addition to teaching Writing Motherhood, Lisa leads a variety of other writing workshops in memoir. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and earned a master's degree in education from Teachers College, Columbia University. To learn more, visit www.writingmotherhood.com.

B. Identifying Writer's Craft Ideas in Children's Books - Mychelle Martin

Writers sometimes examine the work of authors to enhance their own writing. In this session, the process of identifying writer's craft ideas will be explained and modeled. In addition, you will also work in small groups to read and identify craft ideas in selected books. Participants will take away a number of craft ideas for use in their own writings.

From her teenaged days of keeping a personal diary, Mychelle Martin has enjoyed journaling her thoughts about life and its experiences. She believes in the power of well- crafted words. Mychelle presents workshops on teacher research, writing, and journaling. She is a National Writing Project Fellow. During the summer of 2006, she attended writing workshops with Natalie Goldberg in Taos, New Mexico, and Lucy Calkins at Columbia University in New York. She holds a Masters degree from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Mychelle currently teaches a fourth grade classroom of aspiring young authors and conducts Writing Workshops for area teachers.

C. Freelance Writing - Julie Halpert and Ellen Piligian

NOTE: This section is now full. Please select from our other options offered at the same time.

Many writers find freelance writing to be a fruitful (and often lucrative) way to use their skills. There is a wide range of possibility for writers in this field – our session leaders are well-versed in freelancing and will give you many solid instructions and recommendations for pursuing this activity successfully.

Julie Halpert is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post, and others. She is a frequent on-air contributor to public radio programs and the author of Making up with Mom: Why Mothers and Daughters Disagree (April, 2008).

Ellen Piligian is a metro Detroit freelance writer whose subjects ranged from Olympic athletes to careers in public heath to moms who rock. She has been a stringer for People magazine since 1999 and senior writer for International Figure Skating since 1997. Bylines have appeared in the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Model D, The New York Times, The Metro Times, Strut, Signature, Vital, Teen People, Seventeen, Air Tran's Go! Magazine and Southwest's Spirit Magazine, among others. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.

D. The MFA Degree - Does Every Creative Writer Need One? - Eileen Pollack, Stephen Haven, Ken Foster

For writers, the decision about obtaining a Master of Fine Arts in order to advance their career is a big one. This panel will feature three different perspectives to help you make an informed decision. You’ll hear from a successful published writer (with an MFA), a director of a full-time MFA program, and a director of a low-residency MFA program.

Eileen Pollack is the author of the novel Paradise, New York, a work of nonfiction entitled Woman Walking Ahead: In Search of Catherine Weldon and Sitting Bull, a collection of stories called The Rabbi in the Attic, and, most recently, In the Mouth: Stories & Novellas. She is the Zell Director of the MFA Program at the University of Michigan.

Stephen Haven directs the low-residency MFA Program at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. He is Professor of English and also Director of the Ashland Poetry Press. He is the author of two books of poems, The Long Silence of the Mohawk Carpet Smokestacks (2004) and Dust and Bread (April, 2008). Syracuse University Press will also be publishing a book-length memoir The River Lock: One Boy’s Life along the Mohawk (May, 2008).

Ken Foster lives in New Orleans with his three dogs, Brando, Zephyr and Sula. His work has appeared in Salon, The Believer, McSweeney's, Bomb, The New York Times Book Review, Time Out New York, The Village Voice and other publications. A collection of his short stories, titled The Kind I'm Likely to Get, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His memoir, The Dogs Who Found Me, was featured on NPR's "Fresh Air" and was followed by a collection of essays, Dogs I Have Met (2007). Foster received his MFA from Columbia University and has been awarded fellowships to Yaddo, the Sewanee Writers Conference, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Wesleyan Writers Conference.

10:45 am - 11:15 am - Signings from morning presenters / Networking

11:15 am - 12:30 pm - Lunch Session – "First page reviews" - Kevin Smokler, Jane Bernstein, Lisa Garrigues

*** As of May 4, we now have enough submissions for this activity. Thanks to those who responded. ***

It was a dark and stormy night...

The ever-important first line and first page of a novel, memoir or even non-fiction work can make or break the entire work. Here is your chance to have the first page of your work-in-progress reviewed and gently critiqued by a panel of experts.

Simply submit the first page of your book to Lori Tucker-Sullivan by Monday, May 12, 2008: lsullivan@independentbooksellers.com. The first page will be read aloud by local radio personalities. Our panel of authors and editors will then offer their suggestions for improving your work - a better hook, a catchier first paragraph, or possibly agreement that it can't get any better. First pages will be read aloud during lunch, and all readings will be anonymous. No more than one page (typed, 12-pt. Times Roman type, 1" margins) will be accepted and read. There is no additional fee for this reading/critique.

Join us for a lively and informative lunch that will provide participants with a useful critique in a casual and friendly atmosphere.

Panelists include:

Kevin Smokler is the editor of Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times (Basic Books) which was a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2005 and the co-founder of BookTour.com.

Jane Bernstein, was born in Brooklyn, NY, and educated at New York University and Columbia University. She is the author of five books, most recently Rachel in the World.

Lisa Garrigues is an award-winning writer and experienced educator. In addition to teaching WritingMotherhood, she leads a variety of courses and workshops in writing memoir.

Jenni Ferrari-Adler - Agent, Brickhouse Literary Agency

12:45 pm - 1:45 pm - SESSION 3

A. Creating and Sustaining Support through Writing Groups - Nancy Shaw, Scott Beal, Michael Dwyer

Writing is a very solitary activity. To help in the process, many writers find participating in a writing group helps to stimulate the creative process and alleviate the solitary nature. Come hear about three different groups and learn how a group can help you.

Nancy Shaw is the author of Raccoon Tune, the 2008 Michigan Reads! children's book, as well as the best-selling Sheep in a Jeep and six other sheep tales. Among her honors are Parents' Choice Awards, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year citations, Parenting magazine's Reading Magic Award, and a Hopwood Award. She teaches writing classes for adults and gives writing talks for school and library audiences.

Scott Beal is currently Dzanc Books Writer-in-Residence at Ann Arbor Open School and Program Advisor for the Short Story Workshop at the Neutral Zone. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies, and he is the author of the chapbook, Two Shakespearean Madwomen Vs. The Detroit Red Wings.

Michael Dwyer is a broadcast journalist, travel columnist and freelance writer. He was host and producer of the award winning program Travel & Adventure Radio and he is published nationally and internationally. Michael hosts a monthly writer's group to discuss the business of writing. The Freelancer Marketplace brings local writers together with the goal of publishing and selling more work.

B. Writing Children's Books: From 1st Draft to Publication - Shutta Crum

Shutta Crum will share her expertise on the process of publishing once you have a completed work. She will discuss revising for editors and publishers without losing your original voice. The process of working with an illustrator will be explored. She will also touch on dealing with agents and the ups and downs of this relationship.

Shutta Crum is a retired children's librarian. Her titles include Bravest of the Brave, A Family for Old Mill Farm, Spitting Image and My Mountain Song. She was born in Paintsville, Kentucky, and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information, visit www.shuttacrum.com.

C. Creative Non-Fiction - Ken Foster

NOTE: This section is now full. Please select from our other options offered at the same time.

After years of publishing fiction and journalism in a variety of respected magazines, Ken Foster found his greatest critical and commercial success writing about his unexpected love for stray dogs, and in particular, the American Pit Bull Terrier. Yet he may have never written his bestselling memoir The Dogs Who Found Me if not for the constant badgering of a friend and editor who insisted that readers would find his everyday experiences interesting. His session will help you to explore how to use everyday knowledge and experience to write compelling works for everyday readers.

Ken Foster lives in New Orleans with his three dogs, Brando, Zephyr and Sula. His work has appeared in Salon, The Believer, McSweeney's, Bomb, The New York Times Book Review, Time Out New York, The Village Voice and other publications. A collection of his short stories, titled The Kind I'm Likely to Get, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His memoir, The Dogs Who Found Me, was featured on NPR's "Fresh Air" and was followed by a collection of essays, Dogs I Have Met (2007). Foster received his MFA from Columbia University and has been awarded fellowships to Yaddo, the Sewanee Writers Conference, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Wesleyan Writers Conference.

D. A Specific Look at Publishing Contracts - Jenni Ferrari-Adler (Agent), Jofie Ferrari-Adler (Editor)

Legal contracts for writers can be intimidating if not overwhelming for the untrained in this area. A published writer and an agent will examine this issue and present information for you that can help you to successfully navigate these issues.

Jenni Ferrari-Adler is an agent at Brick House Literary Agents and the editor of ALONE IN THE KITCHEN WITH AN EGGPLANT, Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone (Riverhead, 2007). Jenni is a graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Michigan, where she received an MFA in fiction. Her short stories and food writing have been published in numerous magazines.

Jofie Ferrari-Adler is an editor at Grove/Atlantic, where he acquires and edits fiction and nonfiction. Recent and forthcoming titles include Joe McGinniss Jr.'s The Delivery Man, William J. Bernstein's A Splendid Exchange, Allan Lichtman's White Protestant Nation, Chris Ayres's Death by Leisure, and Christopher Beha's The Whole Five Feet. Previously he worked as an editor at Viking Penguin, the Avalon Publishing Group, Four Walls Eight Windows, and as a bookseller. He is a regular contributor to Poets & Writers magazine.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm - SESSION 4

A. Writing Exercises for Children's Authors - Cynthia Furlong Reynolds

This presenter is a much-published author of children's books (L is for Lobster: A Maine Alphabet, S is for Star: A Christmas Alphabet, The Far Flung Adventures of Homer the Hummer. Cynthia will lead you in writing exercises to get your creative juices flowing. Mini-assignments will focus on aspects of generating ideas for children's books. (Two of Cynthia's publications arose out of exercises just like this.)

At a very early age, Cynthia Furlong Reynolds discovered that her calling was to help people tell their stories; she later told about that experience in her children's book Grammie's Secret Cupboard. Her career began as a journalist and a news liaison, working on the staffs of the Portland Times, St. Petersburg Times, Omaha World-Herald, Princeton University (Associate Director, Office of Communications/Publications),and the University of Tampa (Director, Communication/Publications). As a freelance writer juggling writing time with motherhood, her byline has appeared in dozens of magazines, journals, and newspapers around the country. She has also written a number of oral histories, for individuals, towns, non-profit organizations, and corporations.

B. The Author-Agent Relationship - Jenni Ferrari-Adler

NOTE: This section is now full. Please select from our other options offered at the same time.

Agents play a key role in getting a book published. An agent will work on your behalf to sell your manuscript, and provide myriad support throughout the publishing process. But how do you know who the best agent is for you? And how do you make your manuscript stand out among the hundreds received each week? Join this session to find answers to this crucial piece of the publishing puzzle.

Jenni Ferrari-Adler is an agent at Brick House Literary Agents and the editor of ALONE IN THE KITCHEN WITH AN EGGPLANT, Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone (Riverhead, 2007). Jenni is a graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Michigan, where she received an MFA in fiction. Her short stories and food writing have been published in numerous magazines.

C. How to Choose the Right Printer for You - Keith Reisinger, 360Digital Books

You have finished your carefully crafted book – a novel, nonfiction, a book of poems – and now you need a printer. In today's publishing arena, there are a myriad of options. Keith Reisinger will walk you through these choices to help you find the best-fitting printing arrangement for your work.

Keith Reisinger is Executive Vice President of 360Digital Books based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The company is a complete digital book manufacturer that offers many different trim sizes and bind styles and a range of other facets. His company has helped many writers with these aspects of publishing.

D. When Memoir gets Personal - Jane Bernstein

NOTE: This section is now full. Please select from our other options offered at the same time.

For writers, subjects that are extremely personal offer a special challenge. How do you write about your feelings when they may be unpopular? How do you write honestly about others who may be impacted by your work? As Jane Bernstein's daughter Rachel grew up and needed more than a parent's devotion, both mother and daughter were confronted with formidable obstacles. Rachel in the World tells of their barriers and successes with the same honesty and humor that made Loving Rachel, Bernstein’s first memoir, a classic in its field. Jane will offer advice about how to approach real life issues in memoir writing. The session will touch on how elements of the novel, like character development and even dialogue can help you maneuver through sometimes difficult waters.

Jane Bernstein was born in Brooklyn, NY, and educated at New York University and Columbia University. She is the author of five books, most recently Rachel in the World. Her film work includes the screenplay for the Warner Brothers movie Seven Minutes in Heaven. Her essays and articles have appeared widely in such places as The New York Times Magazine, Ms., Creative Nonfiction, The Massachusetts Review, and Glamour. Among her fellowships and awards are two Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowships, one in creative writing and one in media arts, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Creative Writing. Jane is a professor of English and creative writing at Carnegie Mellon University and lives in Pittsburgh, PA.

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm - SESSION 5

A. Plot Development for the Novel Writer - Maureen Freely

NOTE: This section is now full. Please select from our other options offered at the same time.

What fiction does best is to chart the way things change. That is why plot and the arc of a story are so important. But they rarely work if they are prepackaged and imposed. So where does plot come from? How do you go about creating a story that convinces, surprises, and - most important - rings true? Maureen Freely is an accomplished writer, as well as translator of others' works. She will present substantive information for the aspiring novelist as you look at successfully developing the plot of a story.

Maureen Freely, the celebrated translator of Orhan Pamuk's Nobel Prize-winning Snow, is a writer, translator, and professor at the University of Warwick in Bath, England. Her new novel, Enlightenment, offers a startling vision of Turkey, its people, and one American girl trapped in the fray.

B. Blogging for the Serious Writer – Ron Hogan, Claudia Mair Burney

Many writers today hit the keyboard on a daily basis, sharing their thoughts and creativity with readers in the blogosphere. Lately blogging has been offered up as a more challenging form of writing than novel-length prose. Its challenges include its frequency, the often narrow focus of topics, and the need to keep the writing fresh day-in and day-out. Is blogging the writing of the future? Is it good practice for the aspiring writer who hopes to be published someday? This session will take a look at the development of blogging over the past few years.

Ron Hogan is the author of The Stewardess is Flying the Plane (2005), a visual tribute to '70s Hollywood. In addition to editing (and writing a good chunk of) the literary website Beatrice.com, he writes about the business side of publishing at GalleyCat. Mr. Hogan is frequently invited to speak to aspiring writers and published authors alike, along with other publishing industry professionals, about the book-blog phenomenon and other transformative trends in publishing.

Claudia Mair Burney is a blog to book author. Her blog Ragamuffin Diva http://ragamuffindiva.blogspot.com led to a multi-book contract with Simon and Schuster. She's the author of newly released Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man, Death, Deceit, and Some Smooth Jazz, and Zora and Nicky: A Novel in Black and White.

C. Story Ideas – Angela Wynn

In this workshop, participants will learn the five story components - How and where to begin a story as well as audience do's and don'ts. You will also practice what you've learned by creating a two-sentence story pitch.

Angela Wynn is Blackboard bestselling author and lecturer powered with enthusiasm. Since the publication of her debut novel, Everything She Wants, Angela has been inspiring others to pursue their dreams and turn their talents into success. As the manager of Angelwrite LLC, a consulting company specializing in interactive lectures on empowerment and performance-based instruction on writing fiction, she tours the country inspiring others to achieve. Driven by her entrepreneurial spirit, Angela is a frequent workshop presenter at annual conferences held by the Detroit Writers Guild, Detroit Women Writers and the International Women's Writing Guild.

D. Intellectual Property Issues – Ken Wachsberger, Katy Dobrowitsky, Kristen Spano

Completing a manuscript is far from the end point for an author. Once your work is ready to publish, what do you need to know about protecting your efforts? Where does an agent fit into this picture and is using one always necessary? How do you successfully maneuver through publishers contracts and other legal issues unfamiliar to writers? This session will provide a primer on intellectual property issues and offer options for the writer who may soon be venturing into these unknown areas of the business.

Ken Wachsberger has been called the dean of I-Search teachers today. He is an internationally respected editor and writer who has taught writing and researching, creative writing, composition, journalism, and writing for self-discovery at Michigan colleges, universities, and prisons for over twenty years. Ken founded Azenphony Press in 1987. Subject areas of current and upcoming books include the First Amendment, the underground press of the Vietnam era, censorship, the Holocaust and Jewish resistance, the I-Search paper (a first-of-its-kind textbook), and writing for self-discovery.

Katy Dobrowitsky and Kristen Isaacson Spano are both practicing attorneys in the Detroit office of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, LLC. Both specialize in intellectual property law and have litigated cases covering trademark and copyright procurement, including U.S. Patent and Trademark Office inter-party proceedings, copyright and trademark infringement cases and Internet disputes. Katy received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2001. Kristen is a 1999 graduate of Wayne State University Law School. Both are members of the American Bar Association.

4:30 pm - 5:00 pm - Signings from afternoon presenters / Networking