Ann Arbor Book Festival
Writer's Conference
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Ann Arbor Book Festival is pleased to bring another inspirational Writer's Conference to the community. This will be a full-day experience where attendees can hone their skills in sessions led by a noted group of writers and instructors. These teachers have very impressive resumes and are excited to bring you their expertise and share their passion for writing.
The conference sessions will be held in Mason/Haven Halls on the University of Michigan Central Campus. Directions and location details are below.
Review the following information to make your selections for the individual sessions. When you are ready, click here to register and pay the registration fee. The $100 fee includes coffee, three small-group sessions, lunch, and a large group session on publishing. After registering, you will receive an email listing your session assignments. Plan to stay for the Author's Forum session at 5:00 in the Hatcher Gallery Room 100 to see Bonnie Jo Campbell in conversation about her work, National Book Award finalist American Salvage.
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) to:
AABF Writer's Conference
500 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
We are also very excited to bring you another "Breakfast with the Authors". For Conference attendees, the cost for the Breakfast is half-price ($10). You may review the details of the Breakfast by clicking here. On our Events page in the Giftshop, there is an option for Conference / Breakfast combo.
Location and Check-In
We will be in classrooms in Mason/Have Halls on Central Campus. This building is directly behind Angell Hall (435 S. State St. AA MI 48109). There will be volunteers to direct you once you enter the building; please look for signs for the Writer's Conference. You may also enter Mason/Haven Hall from the Diagonal Walkway; these buildings are on the west side of the Diag.
Parking Close to Mason / Haven Halls
The City of Ann Arbor has numerous meters and parking structures for use. We recommend using the parking structure located on Maynard Street between East William and East Liberty (see the Central & South Campus map) or the William-Fourth or the Ann-Ashley Street structures. The rate is $.80 cents per hour. There is also a parking structure on Fletcher just south of S. University.
Room Assignments
- "A" Sessions - Room 2407
- "B" Sessions - Room 2437
- "C" Sessions - Room 2449
- "D" Sessions - Room 2455
Writer's Conference Sessions
9:45 am - 10:15 am - Registration / Check-In
Please note: Check-In will take place in the Hatcher Graduate Library, Room 100. This is where lunch and the last session of the day will occur, as well as the Breakfast with the Authors. The Hatcher Library is at the south end of the UM Diag Walkway. The Mason/Haven Halls are directly to the west of the Library.
10:15 am - 11:30 am - SESSION 1
A. Feel the Power of Flooding the Page with your Thoughts - Debbie Merion
In this workshop, you will experiment with the freedom to write the worst junk in America. Get ready to be surprised with what emerges. Ironically, the most present, compelling first drafts result from quieting the censor in our heads. We'll write as a group — a powerful experience — and then listen intensely to recall exact words and phrases heard. The goal is to learn nonjudgmental writing and feedback techniques that lead to vivid writing.
Debbie Merion, MSW, is an author, writing consultant, and writing coach. She has coached the authors of Everything (Almost) in Its Place, published by St. Martin's Press and co-authored College Admissions: From Chaos to Control. Her consulting practice, Essay Coaching, has helped hundreds of students and adults find their voices and write winning essays and books. Over 100 of her own stories have appeared in the Ann Arbor Business Review, Ann Arbor Observer, Huron River Review, Crazy Wisdom Community Journal, Medicine at Michigan, and Movement. A former college English instructor, Debbie leads fun and encouraging writing workshops at the Ann Arbor Public Library, 826michigan, and all across the state.
B. Beginning the Novel – V.V. Ganeshananthan
The first hundred pages of a novel are make or break. What works? What doesn't? What information does a novelist put into the "beginning" of the story? We'll look at the beginnings of books by a range of authors and talk about pacing, themes, language, style, plot, and character. You don't have to read the whole book to appreciate a good beginning — that's the point. Readings to be provided at the session.
Sugi is a graduate of Harvard College, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where she was a Bollinger Fellow specializing in arts and culture journalism. She has written for The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, among others. She now teaches at the University of Michigan where she is the Zell Visiting Professor of Creative Writing. Her first novel, Love Marriage, was published in 2008.
C. Methods of vision & (re)vision - Aracelis Girmay
The work of revising is an exceptionally rigorous practice. I'd like for this workshop to serve as a space where we can explore methods of revision as a highly imaginative, exciting, &, sometimes, political practice. This workshop will be a generative workshop focused on the practice of surprising or honing the eye/I. It will be an opportunity for us to study a very small selection of high-stakes, beautiful work by Lucille Clifton, Nazim Hikmet, & Frida Kahlo. We will use these works as models to guide us through our in-workshop experiments. It will also be a chance for us to experiment with methods of revising lines, histories, & images. *Please bring one piece of your writing (typed or untyped) to workshop. It should be a piece you'd like to experiment with/revise. If it's a longer piece, please narrow it down to two pages).
Aracelis Girmay is the author of Teeth, a collection of poems published by Curbstone Press in 2007. Her poems have also been published in Ploughshares, Bellevue Literary Review, Indiana Review, Callaloo, and MiPOesias, among other journals. Her collage-based picture book, Changing, Changing: Story and Collages, was published by George Braziller in 2005. She has been a featured reader at the Udi Aloni Project Room, Studio Museum in Harlem, Bowery Poetry Club, & prisons in Trenton & Manhattan. A Cave Canem fellow, Girmay teaches writing workshops in New York & California.
D. Brainstorming, Work, and Creativity: Thinking Outside of the Box - Chloe Miller
Right brained or left, it doesn’t matter - being creative is essential in the current economy. Access your inner poet and your muse with poet and entrepreneur, Chloe Miller, who will lead a discussion of how to connect creativity with business planning and the generation of concrete ideas. This is a hands-on, interactive, process-driven voyage of discovery. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves.
Chloé Yelena Miller has published poems in literary journals such as The Cortland Review, Alimentum and Narrative, as well as essays and articles in magazines such as Edible and Family Chronicle. Her manuscript was a finalist for the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry. She teaches writing for Fairleigh Dickinson University and Northampton Community College, as well as works privately with adults. She received an M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a B.A. from Smith College. She reads blogs regularly about writing. You can read more about Chloe at http://chloeyelenamiller.blogspot.com.
11:45 am - 1:00 pm - SESSION 2
A. Why Writers Write and Why It Is Important - Walter Palesch
During this session, Walter Palesch will share his philosophy on the relevance of writing today. What are the goals of the writer when telling a story and the responsibilities one has to the integrity of the characters? He will discuss the importance of careful research when developing a historical novel. Finally, once the work is complete, what are the strategies you can use for getting your work into your readers' hands, both in the publishing and marketing areas.
Mr. Palesch spent 35 years in different corporate assignments, ranging from Program Manager, to Project Engineer and Vice President of Marketing. The projects took him to most European countries, South America, and most states in the US. Previous writing includes technical and script writing for Commercial Films, and satirical film clips used in training sessions. More recently he has written articles and published in various newspapers and magazines. His Memoir The Stolen Years will be completed this year, a story of 11 children attempting to escape to freedom from Soviet-occupied East Germany. He was one of those eleven and is the only one who actually escaped. A second work is an ecological disaster novel. He has lived in five countries, speaks five languages, and claims that English is the most elegant in his experience. He and his wife live in Ann Arbor.
B. Crash Course for Aspiring Writers - Jeannie Ballew
Do you have a secret book in you that you're longing to write but haven't because it feels so daunting? In this workshop, you will be introduced to a powerful book coaching process that will show you how to produce a rough draft of your entire non-fiction manuscript within two weeks. You will start by identifying your readership and work through specified steps to a complete finished rough draft.
Professional book coach and editor Jeannie Ballew, owner of Edit Prose, has been guiding writers through this dynamic, effective process for nearly ten years and has helped numerous writers get published. With a BA in Honors English and an MA in teaching English, she has been teaching writing for over 20 years. You can learn more at www.editprose.com.
C. YA Beyond Vampires - How to Write Uniquely - Darryl Markowitz
Is the purpose of art met in today's Young Adult literature? How can you write a unique work of literary art? In this workshop, participants will briefly discuss the writer as a literary artist. There will also be a writing exercise in creating compelling characters with moral/social views that you can continue to develop in later works.
Darryl S. Markowitz is a former educator from Pittsburgh, PA where he grew up, a speaker on the meaning of life, and the author of The Faithwalker Series, a dystopian fantasy for young and old alike. Succession: Book 4 of The Faithwalker Series, due to come out in July 2010, promises to be the most action-filled yet in the continuing saga of two teenage protagonists. Darryl is currently writing Book 5 and working in Columbus, OH.
D. The Girl With No Hands - Rachel McKibbens
This workshop will take a look at the cultural and literary significance of magical realism, as well as provide participants with writing exercises that ignite the use of startling imagery. We will also discuss the importance of cutting loose the binds of "truth" by allowing the fantastic to co-exist with the factual.
Rachel McKibbens was born in Anaheim, CA. She is a member and co-founder of the Right Coast Writers Brigade. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including World Literature Today, The New York Quarterly and Bowery Women: Poems. Among other honors, she is a New York Foundation of the Arts Poetry Fellow, a Pushcart nominee, and the 2009 Women's Individual World Poetry Slam champion. She has read her work at universities, schools, galleries and various other venues across the nation. She teaches poetry and creative writing across the country at all levels. An ex-punk rock chola with five children, she lives in upstate New York with writer Jacob Rakovan and four of their children. Her first book of poetry, Pink Elephant, was published in 2009.
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Lunch in the Hatcher Graduate Library, Room 100
Zingerman's will be providing refreshments for us. Come share some time with your fellow attendees and check out our Table Sponsors around the room.
Table sponsors for the lunch include:
If you have a chance, please stop by and visit their tables.
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm - SESSION 3
A. Make the Most of your Writing Time - Margaret Yang
You've blocked out your writing time - five hours on a weekend or five minutes between errands - and then something happens to derail your good intentions. It's too noisy. Your spouse wants to talk. You can't think of what to write about. What are you going to do? This workshop will provide tips for making the most of the writing hours (or minutes) that you've worked so hard to obtain. We will discuss why "just doing it" isn't enough and how to use your environment to your advantage. A small amount of planning pays off in increased productivity.
Margaret Yang is the winner of the Ann Arbor Writer's Festival short story contest 2009. A former restaurant critic for the Ann Arbor Observer, she now spends her days as a full-time parent and writer. She has published numerous short stories, and her agent is currently shopping her first novel. More about Margaret and links to her published short stories can be found at www.yangandcampion.com.
B. Drawing Fictional Characters - Ann Pearlman
Characters in novels keep us reading the stories. They are often what we remember about a favorite book. What makes a good character so compelling to the reader and how does the writer successfully create believable people on the page? Fiction writer/memoirist/biographer Ann Pearlman, author of the highly successful The Christmas Cookie Club, will take you through the experience of developing sound characters with their own personalities, even bringing her own tricks and exercises to get you started.
Ann Pearlman was born in Washington D.C. and, after moving around the Midwest gathering degrees and work experience, settled in Ann Arbor where her novel The Christmas Cookie Club is set. She studied writing at the University of Michigan, attended workshops at Sewanee and Squaw Valley Writers' Conferences and published her first book, Getting Free: Women and Psychotherapy in 1982. Keep the Home Fires Burning: How to Have an Affair With Your Spouse, followed in 1985, and garnered the attention of the Oprah Winfrey Show and several other TV talk shows. Her memoir, Infidelity, was nominated for a Pulitzer and made into a Lifetime movie by Lionsgate. Inside the Crips, with a foreword by Ice T, took readers into the life of a Crip gang member and the California Prison system. The Christmas Cookie Cookbook, a nonfiction book on starting your own cookie club, will be available in November 2010. The Christmas Cookie Club has been optioned for a feature film and Ann is keeping her fingers crossed the filming will occur in Ann Arbor.
C. Breaking New Ground in NonFiction - Micki Maynard
For non-fiction writers, getting past the conventional wisdom can be a challenge. What are the best methods to draw new conclusions about what may seem to be familiar subjects and get past the status quo? This session will offer helpful advice on the kind of research an author must do to build a case, break new ground and have the courage to stand behind their conclusions.
Author, journalist and scholar Micheline Maynard has written four books, including her latest, The Selling of the American Economy: How Foreign Companies Are Remaking the American Dream. Maynard also wrote the acclaimed 2003 book The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market, which foresaw the collapse of Detroit carmakers. She is a senior business correspondent for The New York Times, where her work has appeared since 2000. She holds an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a graduate degree from Columbia. Maynard is an adjunct faculty member at the Ross School of Business at Michigan, and has taught at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Maynard has won numerous awards and had work published in Fortune Magazine, USA Today, Newsday, and U.S. News and World Report.
D. Don't Succumb! Finetuning Story Ideas - John Hilton
Finding a compelling story line can be the biggest challenge in writing non-fiction. There's no formula for finding fresh insights and building an engaging narrative, but a longtime magazine editor offers some thoughts on the perils of cliches and the rewards of thinking for yourself. Attendees are encouraged to bring their ideas for nonfiction stories and they will be (constructively) considered, discussed, and tweaked.
A native of Marquette, Michigan, John Hilton is the editor of the Ann Arbor Observer. Hilton earned a Bachelor of General Studies degree from the U-M in 1974 and was a handyman and an autoworker before joining the staff of the Ann Arbor Observer in 1982. He serves on the boards of the North Central Property Owners Association, the Kerrytown District Association, and the Kerrytown BookFest. He was the recipient in 2009 of the inaugural Ann Arbor Book Festival "Leader in Literary Arts" Award.
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm - I've Finished my Book (Article, Essay, Etc.): Now What Do I Do? - 100 Hatcher Gallery Space
Today, writers experience a variety of choices when publishing their work. Our panel of authors will discuss their own experiences and share the strengths and weaknesses of particular scenarios, from the perspective of marketing and that of booksellers, too. The role of agents will also be addressed. Mary Bisbee-Beek will moderate this stimulating and informative discussion.
Mary Bisbee-Beek has worked in publishing since 1979. She has been the owner and Director of Beeksbee Books, an independent publicity and marketing consulting office, from 1992-2003. In 2003 she joined the University of Michigan Press, where she was the Director of Publicity and the Trade Marketing and Foreign Rights Manager. In 2008, she joined Literary Ventures Fund, where she is the Director of Marketing and Publicity.
Ellen Meeropol is fascinated with characters who live on the fault lines of political turmoil, so in September 2005 she left her nurse practitioner career to spend more time with them. She works part-time in an independent bookstore and teaches fiction writing workshops. Her short stories have been published in Bridges, The Pedestal Magazine, Portland Magazine, Patchwork Journal, and The Women's Times. Her script for the dramatic program "Celebrate the Children of Resistance" has been produced four times, most recently in Boston staring Eve Ensler, David Strathairn, Martín Espada and Angela Davis. Ellen's debut novel House Arrest is forthcoming from Red Hen Press in 2011.
Ann is teaching a session in the afternoon on character development in fiction (see Bio above) then she will join this discussion to share her experiences in publishing her work.
Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of American Salvage, published in 2009 and a finalist for the National Book Award. She is also the author of a collection of stories, Women & Other Animals, and a novel, Q Road. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize, the AWP Award for Short Fiction, and the Southern Review's 2008 Eudora Welty Prize for "The Inventor, 1972," which is included in this collection. Her work has appeared in Southern Review, Kenyon Review, and Ontario Review. She lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she studies and teaches kobudo, the art of Okinawan weapons, and hangs out with her two donkeys, Jack and Don Quixote.
