Faculty Preview: Cathryn Essinger

In anticipation of the 28th Annual Antioch Writers Workshop (July 6-12), we've asked some of this summer's faculty to talk about why they're excited, what participants can expect from this summer's workshop, and to give some writing advice. This installment features Afternoon Poetry Seminar Instructor, Cathryn Essinger.

Why are you excited about being part of this summer’s Antioch Writers’ Workshop? 

I am excited about teaching at Antioch this summer, because I know what a big difference this workshop can make in a young writer’s life.  I attended Antioch’s first writers’ workshop in 1986, and I have come back again and again summer, sometimes as a participant, occasionally as a teacher, but most often just to listen and to support other creative writers.   Antioch has become a touchstone in my life. This is where I found my first writing community.   If I am not in Yellow Springs in July, I want someone to send out a search party!

What can participants look forward to in working with you? 

I think I run a pretty traditional workshop where everyone talks and gets as much feedback as possible on their own work.  That said, I think it’s important to remember that once a poem is on the table, even though the author’s name is still on it, it belong to the reader.  I also believe that writers often learn more from critiquing one another’s work than from having their own work analyzed.  A workshop critique may or may not change that particular poem, but it does change the way writers approach their next piece.  It’s also important to come with an open mind and the desire to help other writers improve their work.  I’d like to think that workshops give every writer a little push into their writing future.

In the spirit of the 28th annual Antioch Writers Workshop, what is the best advice you can give to writers in 28 words or less? 

Be good to yourself—no guilt!  But, do something every day to remind yourself that you are a writer, someone who sees the world with a writer’s eyes.

Visit our website for more information about 2013 Summer Faculty, available programs, and registration information. We look forward to seeing you soon at the 28th Annual Summer Antioch Writers' Workshop!

Faculty Preview: Roxane Gay

In anticipation of the 28th Annual Antioch Writers Workshop (July 6-12), we've asked some of this summer's faculty to talk about why they're excited, what participants can expect from this summer's workshop, and to give some writing advice. This installment features Afternoon Fiction Seminar Leader, Roxane Gay. 

Why are you excited about being part of this summer’s Antioch Writers’ Workshop? 

I love working with writers and I know how passionate Antioch attendees are so I'm excited to see what we can do together.

What can participants look forward to in working with you? 

They can look forward to frank advice about the current state of publishing and, more importantly, frank advice about the stories we generate together. We'll also have a lot of fun and I'll share some of the writing I love most so they can see what I look to when seeking literary inspiration. 

In the spirit of the 28th annual Antioch Writers Workshop, what is the best advice you can give to writers in 28 words or less? 

Give a damn. 

Visit our website for more information about 2013 Summer Faculty, available programs, and registration information. We look forward to seeing you soon at the 28th Annual Summer Antioch Writers' Workshop!

Faculty Preview: Dinty W. Moore

In anticipation of the 28th Annual Antioch Writers Workshop (July 6-12), we've asked some of this summer's faculty to talk about why they're excited, what participants can expect from this summer's workshop, and to give some writing advice. This installment features Morning Creative Nonfiction / Memoir Instructor Dinty W. Moore. 

Why are you excited about being part of this summer’s Antioch Writers’ Workshop? 

I have been hearing talk for years now about the Antioch Writers’ Workshop and what an excellent summer conference experience can be found there, and just last year I managed my first visit to Yellow Springs. The Conference combined with the locale promises to be one magnificent week, plus the list of other faculty has me chomping at the bit: I want to take classes with everyone else, not just teach my own. 

What can participants look forward to in working with you? 

I believe in the mystery and magic of the artistic process, but I also believe a writer needs to have an overflowing toolbox labeled “craft and technique” in order to capture those dreamlike moments of realization and insight, so my classes tend to spend time on the nuts and bolts: How do writers capture character in just a few strokes of the pen? How do writers create metaphor to give fullness to an essay? What is voice and where is it found? I also believe in having fun, so we’ll do some of that as well. 

In the spirit of the 28th annual Antioch Writers Workshop, what is the best advice you can give to writers in 28 words or less? 

 We learn from our mistakes, so we must always be writing.

Visit our website for more information about 2013 Summer Faculty, available programs, and registration information. We look forward to seeing you soon at the 28th Annual Summer Antioch Writers' Workshop!

The 2013 Summer Morning Lineup

All full-week participants and those who sign up for the Morning Only A La Carte option gather for these lectures which include the opportunity to ask writing questions of the faculty members. The instructors may incorporate in-class writing or optional homework. These classes are all held at Antioch University Midwest.

Morning Fiction with Lee Martin

Morning fiction classes are an examination of the elements of fiction (e.g., plot, character, and point of view) with discussion of how these elements work in successful writing led by Lee Martin, Pulitzer Prize Finalist author of The Bright Forever, and three other novels, including Break the Skin.

Lee Martin

Martin's other books are the novels, River of Heaven and Quakertown; the memoirs, Such a Life, From Our House, and Turning Bones; and the short story collection, The Least You Need to Know. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in such places as Harper's, Ms., Creative Nonfiction, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, and Glimmer Train. He is the winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council. He teaches in the MFA Program at The Ohio State University, where he was the winner of the 2006 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. www.leemartinauthor.com

  

Morning Poetry with Cathy Smith Bowers

Morning Poetry classes led by Cathy Smith Bowers are an examination of the elements of poetry (e.g., form, meter, and sound) with discussion of examples of successful poems.

  

Cathy Smith Bowers

Cathy, who was named Poet Laureate of North Carolina in 2010, is the author of four books: The Love that Ended Yesterday in Texas (inaugural winner of the Texas Tech University Press First Book Competition, 1992); Traveling in Time of Danger (Iris Press, 1999), A Book of Minutes (Iris Press, 2004), and The Candle I Hold Up to See You (Iris Press, 2009). Her powerful poems about family and loss have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The Georgia Review, Poetry, The Southern Review and The Kenyon Review. She is currently on the faculty for Queens' M.F.A. in Creative Writing Program, UNC Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program and at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.

Morning Creative Nonfiction/Memoir Instructor-Dinty W. Moore

Morning Creative Nonfiction/Memoir classes led by Dinty W. Moore examine the elements of nonfiction (e.g., structure, research, and accuracy) with discussion of how these elements work in successful writing.

  

Dinty W. Moore

Dinty is author of numerous books, including The Mindful Writer: Noble Truths of the Writing Life, Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction, and the memoir Between Panic & Desire, winner of the Grub Street Nonfiction Book Prize. Having failed as a zookeeper, modern dancer, Greenwich Village waiter, filmmaker, and wire service journalist, he now writes essays and stories. He has been published in The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, Harpers, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, Gettysburg Review, Utne Reader, and Crazyhorse,

among numerous other venues. Dinty lives in Athens, Ohio, which he calls "the funkadelicious, hillbilly-hippie Appalachian epicenter of the locally-grown, locally-consumed, goats-are-for-cheese, paw-paws-are-for-eatin', artisanal-salsa, our-farmers-market-rocks-the-hills sub-culture," where he grows his own heirloom tomatoes and edible dandelions, and teaches in and serves as director of Ohio University's BA, MA, and PhD in Creative Writing program.

Professional Skills for Writers 

A different talk every day! Professional Skills for Writers brings together different voices in the writing community. 

Monday--Self-Editing Grammar Boot Camp for Writers (Rebecca Kuder and Becky Morean)

Tuesday--Agent Talk by Hannah Brown Gordon (Foundry Literary + Media)

Wednesday--First book talk by AWW alumni Jen Violi

Thursday--Agent Talk by Suzie Townsend (New Leaf Literary)

Friday--Literary Magazine Editors' Panel, with Tobin Terry (Chagrin River Review), Nathan Floom and Jason Teal (Heavy Feather Review), and Christina Dendy and Matthew Birdsall (Mock Turtle Zine)  

ADDITIONAL Afternoon Professional Skills for Writers 

(NEW THIS YEAR) 

Monday--How to Give a Pitch (led by Sharon Short)

Tuesday--How to Give a Reading (led by Tobin Terry)

Register for the Full-Week or Morning Only A La Cart Option on our website.

Introducing 2013 AWW Afternoon Fiction Seminar Instructor -- Sherri Wood Emmons

Sherri Wood Emmons Sherri Wood Emmons is a freelance writer and editor. She is a graduate of Earlham College and the University of Denver Publishing Institute. A mother of three, she lives in Indiana with her husband, two fat beagles, and four spoiled cats. Her novels include Prayers and Lies and The Sometimes Daughter, both published by Kensington.

Introducing 2013 AWW Morning Creative Nonfiction / Memoir Instructor -- Dinty W. Moore

Dinty W. Moore Morning Creative Nonfiction / Memoir Instructor Dinty W. Moore is author of numerous books, including The Mindful Writer: Noble Truths of the Writing Life, Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction, and the memoir Between Panic & Desire, winner of the Grub Street Nonfiction Book Prize.  Having failed as a zookeeper, modern dancer, Greenwich Village waiter, filmmaker, and wire service journalist, Moore now writes essays and stories. He has been published in The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, Harpers, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, Gettysburg Review, Utne Reader, and Crazyhorse, among numerous other venues.  Dinty W. Moore lives in Athens, Ohio, which he calls "the funkadelicious, hillbilly-hippie Appalachian epicenter of the locally-grown, locally-consumed, goats-are-for-cheese, paw-paws-are-for-eatin’, artisanal-salsa, our-farmers-market-rocks-the-hills sub-culture," where he grows his own heirloom tomatoes and edible dandelions, and teaches in and serves as director of Ohio University’s BA, MA, and Ph.D. in Creative Writing program.

Introducing 2013 AWW Morning Poetry Instructor - Cathy Smith Bowers

Cathy Smith Bowers, who was named Poet Laureate of North Carolina in 2010, is the 2013 Morning Poetry Instructor. 

Cathy Smith Bowers

Cathy is the author of four books: The Love that Ended Yesterday in Texas (inaugural winner of the Texas Tech University Press First Book Competition, 1992); Traveling in Time of Danger (Iris Press, 1999), A Book of Minutes (Iris Press, 2004), and The Candle I Hold Up to See You (Iris Press, 2009). 

Her powerful poems about family and loss have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The Georgia Review, Poetry, The Southern Review and The Kenyon Review. She is currently on the faculty for Queens' M.F.A. in Creative Writing Program, UNC Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program and at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.

Introducing 2013 AWW Afternoon Poetry Seminar Instructor -- Cathryn Essinger

Cathryn Essinger

Afternoon Poetry Seminar Instructor Cathryn Essinger is the author of three books of poetry--A Desk In The Elephant House, which won the Walt McDonald First Book Award from Texas Tech University Press, and My Dog Does Not Read Plato, which was the runner up in the Main Street Rag book competition in 2004. Her third book, What I Know About Innocence, was published in 2009, also from Main Street Rag press, and includes a video poem produced by her son, David, a fiction writer and professor at the University of Findlay. 

Essinger’s poems have been anthologized in The Poetry Anthology: 1912-2002, Poetry Daily: 366 Poems, and in O Taste and See: Food Poems. Her work has been featured on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac. 

Cathryn Essinger's new work has appeared in such places as The Southern Review, New England Review, and Quarterly West. She received an Ohio Arts Council grant and was Ohio’s Poet of the Year in 2005. She is a member of The Greenville Poets, a small but well-published poetry group that does workshop presentations and supports the work of younger writers. She is a retired Professor of English from Edison Community College, in Piqua, Ohio.