Available Workshops
- All Styles All Forms Fiction Manuscript Workshop, Fred Leebron
- The Breakthrough Manuscript Workshop for Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Writers, Abby Walters
- Write Now Workshop: Poetry and Nonfiction, James McKean
- Write Now Workshop for Fiction Writers, Daniel Mueller
- Young Adult, Middle-Grade, Verse Novel, Poetry, Genre Fiction Manuscript Workshop, Laura Ruby
Fred Leebron
All Styles All Forms Fiction Manuscript Workshop, fiction
Please prepare stories or a novel excerpt totaling no more than 20 pages (12 pt., double spaced). We will read these in advance and offer useful feedback on narrative and character arcs, the treatment of time, stylistic and point of view choices, the use of setting, and how to break your work apart and put it back together. This will be a fun, constantly engaging, and expansive experience. We will work to make each other’s fiction better and take it to the next level.
Fred Leebron has published three novels, a novella, and numerous short stories, winning both an O. Henry Award and a Pushcart Prize. He has founded and directed writing programs in Europe, Latin America, and the United States, and has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate level for nearly 30 years. His second novel, Six Figures, was made into a feature length, award-winning film in Canada, and he has worked on a number of film and television projects. He is coauthor of a Harcourt Brace textbook on fiction writing and coeditor of the Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Fiction. His collection of short fiction, The News Said It Was, was published in 2022.
Abby Walters
The Breakthrough Manuscript Workshop for Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Writers
Please prepare 15-20 pages (12 pt, double spaced) from a longer work in progress; this could be a story collection, novel, memoir, or collection of essays. We’ll read the samples from each work in advance, then spend workshop time considering what might benefit each writer’s work now; simultaneously, we’ll discuss how each writer’s work fits into the existing marketplace and identify the elements within the work that feel most urgent and exciting. These elements can be leveraged to break out a new voice or title in the publishing landscape. We will also discuss writing and editing fatigue and share strategies to help writers breakthrough to the finish.
Abby Walters is a literary agent at leading publishing, entertainment, and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Walters is based in the New York office and creates publishing opportunities across all agency departments. Some of her clients include Thao Thai, Honor Levy, Samantha Leach, Nadine Jolie Courtney, Christina McDowell, and more. Walters began her career at Random House in publicity and special events before joining CAA in 2017. She graduated from Miami University of Ohio with a degree in English literature. She is also a graduate of Columbia University’s Publishing Course and is originally from Cleveland, Ohio.
James McKean
Write Now Workshop: Poetry and Nonfiction
In his essay, “The Triggering Town,” Richard Hugo suggests that words or subjects can trigger our imaginations and inspire us to turn our attention to the music and play of language. Hugo says, “Your triggering subjects are those that ignite your need for words.” In this weekend workshop, I propose we spend time discussing how our own triggering subjects—memories, images, paintings, and places, for example—might lead us forward in our own writing. I will share a few prompts, poems, exercises, and methods. There will be time for writing in and out of class and sharing where these “triggering towns” have led you. Bring short pieces you have started or attend the workshop simply to regenerate. The goal will be to discover new possibilities for our essays and poems, to come away with new material, and maybe even to discover new approaches to the generation of our written work.
James McKean writes poetry and nonfiction. He has published two books of essays: Home Stand: Growing Up in Sports, and Bound; and three books of poems, Headlong (1987 Great Lakes Colleges Association’s New Writer Award), Tree of Heaven (1994 Iowa Poetry Award), and We Are the Bus (the 2011 X.J. Kennedy poetry prize from Texas Review Press). His work has appeared in magazines and collections such as The Atlantic, Iowa Review, Gettysburg Review, the Southern Review, and the Best American Sports Writing 2003, and has received a Pushcart Prize.
Daniel Mueller
Write Now Workshop for Fiction Writers
In this retreat, we’ll write from preassigned prompts, share what we’ve written with one another, and discuss what we’ve heard in a supportive environment designed to fuel creativity through the winter, spring, summer, and fall. For the first prompt, write a scene of no more than 1,000 words that includes the statement: “Did you get the dead guy’s toes?” Have fun and “bring” the story you’ve written to our first meeting.
Daniel Mueller is the author of three collections of short fiction: Anything You Recognize, (Outpost 19 Books 2023), Nights I Dreamed of Hubert Humphrey (Outpost 19 Books 2013), winner of a Santa Fe Writers’ Project Book Award, and How Animals Mate (Overlook Press 1999), winner of the Sewanee Fiction Prize. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including Pithead Chapel, The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, The Cincinnati Review, Gargoyle, Story Quarterly, CutBank, Joyland, Booth Journal, Solstice, Free State Review, Chicago Quarterly Review, Manzano Mountain Review, The Writing Disorder, Another Chicago Magazine, Mississippi Review, Story, Playboy, Alaska Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. He teaches at the University of New Mexico and low-residency M.F.A. program at Queens University of Charlotte.
Laura Ruby
Young Adult, Middle-Grade, Verse Novel, Poetry, Genre Fiction Manuscript Workshop
Working on a genre-defying teen dystopian romance? A middle-grade mystery? A speculative thriller? A YA verse novel? A poetry collection for children? In this workshop, we will discuss the challenges of writing for young people no matter what genre or age category you’re working in. We’ll cover the essentials of fiction craft including point-of-view, plot, pacing, staging, world, and emotional resonance, as well as those elements of craft specific to certain forms (i.e., line breaks in poetry, page turns in picture books). We will also discuss various revision strategies to help participants make their projects stronger whether you are a planner or a pants-er. Please prepare a manuscript—stories or novel excerpts—totaling no more than 15 pages (12 pt., double spaced) that we’ll read in advance, and be ready for a lively and informative workshop.
A two-time National Book Award Finalist, Edgar® Award Nominee, and Pushcart Prize Nominee, Laura Ruby writes fiction and poetry for adults, teens, and children. She is the author of 12 books, including Printz Medal-winning novel Bone Gap, as well as Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All, and the York trilogy. Her short fiction has appeared in The Florida Review, The Beloit Fiction Journal, and Nimrod International, among others, and her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Clockhouse #8, Poetry.Onl, and Sugar House Review. She is on the faculty of Hamline University’s master’s in writing for children and young adults program and makes her home in the Chicago area. Find her at www.lauraruby.com.