Get Lit! Writing Workshops

Get Lit! Writing Workshops, slated for Saturday, April 21, 2007, will be held at the Spokane Club, 1002 W. Riverside Ave. (at Monroe), Spokane. Writing genres covered in the workshops will include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for young adults, and book design.

Register for workshops through the Get Lit! office in advance to assure your spot in workshops. Either download the Get Lit! 2007 Workshop Registration Form and mail it in or drop it off to:

Get Lit! Workshops

705 West 1st Ave., Suite 421

Spokane WA 99201

or phone in to (509) 623-4284 (for Visa / MasterCard payment).

The fee for a workshop is $50 for one and $45 for your second. Students are eligible for a 50% discount (show current student I.D. at workshops check-in). Workshops seats are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis.

Get Lit! 2007 workshops are presented by the Eastern Washington University Press.

You also are invited to attend either of the free panel discussions, The Editor's Craft or Elizabeth Bishop, from noon to 1 p.m.

Essays Are People, Too
Nonfiction writing workshop by Natalie Kusz. 9-11:30 a.m.

If you've had the experience of knowing (or being!) a person who makes you say, “Someone ought to write about him/her,” then you're ready to ask yourself, “Am I that someone?” Come discuss the questions a professional writer faces when deciding how to construct an essay on a person. Learn what makes a private person publicly relevant, how to take a character beyond “interesting” into “artful,” and more. We'll review examples of published work about people and practice short writing exercises that will help illustrate how essayists craft people into literature. Bring writing materials, reading glasses, and plenty of brain cells.

Writing for Young Adults

By Beth Cooley . 9-11:30 a.m.

From coming up with ideas to sticking to a writing schedule to finding a publisher, this workshop will look at all aspects of writing for Young Adults. Special focus will be given to authenticity of character and voice. Participants are invited to submit 3-5 pages of fiction or poetry appropriate for a YA audience.

This Year You Write Your Novel

By Walter Mosley. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

$10.00 tickets at Auntie’s Bookstore, by calling 623-4284, and at select Get Lit! events.

Master storyteller Walter Mosley will explain how the writer-in-waiting can turn out the first draft of a novel in one year. This lecture is based on his new book of tips and practical advice for accomplishing this goal.

Before a Poem is Started and After a Poem is Finished

For writers who finish their poems and think their work is done.

By Alberto Ríos. 1:30-4 p.m.

Explore a new sense of direction and cultivate the many lives inside a “finished” poem. In the process find ways to overcome writer’s block and its even more sinister first cousin, writer’s freedom. Editing or proofreading a finished piece isn’t enough. That’s not what finishing means. Instead, how might we make a poem better in profound ways and not simply cosmetic ones? How do we reach farther than we have and farther than we can? How can the piece of writing itself be partner to the process? This is what the workshop will explore in substantial discussions and energizing techniques.

Book Design and Production Critique

By Ed Marquand. 1:30-4 p.m.

Discuss examples of books and design presentations from Marquand Books to illustrate design and production points. Participants may bring books that they would like to review – your own or the work of others. We will discuss format, design, layout, typography, production, printing, and related issues.

Willow Springs Workshop for Teen Writers, 3-5 p.m., Free

Pre-registration requested (phone 509.623-4349) but not required.

High school writers and poets are invited to workshop their poetry (4 poems) or prose (up to 12 pages of fiction or nonfiction) in small groups led by the editors of Spokane ’s national literary journal, Willow Springs.

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