|
Elizabeth
Jarrett Andrew offers classes through the Loft Literary Center, United Theological
Seminary, and Hamline University. This page lists upcoming class
offerings. In this advanced seminar limited to three creative nonfiction writers, we will read, review, and discuss students’ book-length (150+ pages) drafts. During our first meeting, we will discuss what to expect of a good book and techniques for reading and giving feedback on manuscript drafts. Following classes will be devoted to in-depth discussions of a single manuscript. We will focus on issues of book development: thematic unity, character arc, building tension or deepening engagement, structure, and illumination of the inner story. Students are expected to read a full student manuscript between seminar meetings and write a letter to the author summarizing their feedback. In this way, participants receive peer feedback and support alongside the direct guidance of a mentor. Our final class will focus on creating and launching revision plans. Writers must submit a book summary, opening and sample chapters, and a letter outlining your goals for this seminar as an application for the class. Please contact Elizabeth for more information. This is a private class, held in person in Minneapolis. Date and time will be chosen according to participants' schedules. ************************************************************************* Writing
Journey, Sacred Journey: Writing as a Spiritual Practice
Spend a weekend exploring how writing well can become a spiritual commitment—to uncovering and witnessing the truth (be it in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry), to opening your heart to the reader, and to a creative engagement with the larger world. The practice of writing gives us a structure for self-discovery and increased awareness. Together we will do exercises, converse about the writing process, and study examples from master writers to learn how every stage (from the initial messy draft through revision to the final release) can be an invitation to spiritual growth. Robert Frost said, “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” With the leisure to write and reflect in a beautiful landscape, we will together expand our potential for surprise. This retreat is for writers of any level of experience. This retreat was previously offered by the Loft Literary Center at St. John's University. This year I will offer it at the ARC Retreat Center, a beautiful log lodge in the woods about 75 minutes north of the Twin Cities. We'll have home-cooked meals, time to write, and lively conversations. Please join me! For more information, call ARC at
(763) 689-3540 or check out their website at www.arcretreat.org. Next Steps in Creative Nonfiction Location: Open Book Day: Tuesdays Dates: 9/14 – 12/7 (no class 11/23) Time: 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Cost: Sliding Fee Scale The initial flush of inspiration is over; now you have a draft of a short memoir, essay, or other work of creative nonfiction. This course will help you sharpen your focus, strengthen scenes and reflections, and begin to consider an audience for your work. We’ll learn techniques for seeing old work with fresh eyes: how to reenter your text; good habits in receiving and incorporating feedback; how to use outlines and maps for discovering structure; when to cut, when to add, and much more. We will apply these techniques as we read and offer feedback on each other’s work. Please bring your draft (not more than twenty pages) to our first class. 15% writing exercises 35% lecture/discussion 50% feedback For more information, go to www.loft.org. *************************************************************************Beginning Spiritual Memoir Location: Open Book Day: Fridays Dates: 9/17 – 12/10 (no class 11/26) Time: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Cost: Sliding Fee Scale The details of your personal story resonate when told in the context of faith struggles and spiritual experiences. In this course for beginning and intermediate writers, we will explore memoir as a forum for expressing relationship with what you name divine. We will also look at how the writing process parallels the process of spiritual growth. Together we will participate in writing exercises, discuss selected readings by contemporary memoirists from a variety of religious and secular backgrounds, and generate material on topics such as early childhood, holy places, work, our bodies, crisis, doubt and prayer. 20% presentation or lecture 20% writing exercises 20% reviewing work by master writers 40% discussion, sharing of writing For more information, go to www.loft.org. back to top |
|
home | writing resources | books | biography | contact
© 2008 Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew; all rights reserved. |