A Writer's Paradise is a summer writing intensive designed on a long-standing model of mentorship and craft training for creative writers. All kinds of writers and writing are welcome, as long as you are willing to learn from and engage with various genres and to experiment with your creative practice. After an introductory week, your four faculty will each run two weeks of the quarter (four distinct units) with evening classes designed to inspire, challenge, and diversify your approach to writing. Each two-week unit with a faculty-writer will include presentations on craft, inspiring exercises and prompts, examinations of the works of great writers, and guidance on process, technique, and revision. The fully online classes will keep you on track, connect you with other writers, and give you a window into the methods and madness of four practicing writers. In the middle of each two-week unit will be a Saturday writing retreat, with in-person and online options; this structured time to write will help you sink deeply into creative practice with others. Asynchronous study will allow flexibility with certain assignments and opportunities for peer critique. At the end of the quarter, you'll have a chance to share your writing and celebrate the work of your peers.
In the first week, based on the kind of writing that most interests you, you will be paired with one of the faculty as your mentor for a writing project (or projects) of your choosing—a collection of poems, a personal essay, a short story, a novel-in-progress, a memoir... you decide. With that mentor, you will agree to a plan of reading and writing throughout the quarter that will drive you through the summer, and you'll submit three major "packets" of work, including your writing, reflection on your work, and reflection on your chosen readings. These packets will receive in-depth feedback and open up a conversation with your mentor about your process and how to move your project toward a finished manuscript.
Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:
8 - Creative Writing
4 - Professional practices and skills for writers
4 - Independent study of a literary form/genre/author
Registration
Academic Details
writing, editing, publishing.