AWW Alumni / Faculty News -- Janet Irvin

Janet Irvin - 2010 Goddess Award Recipient
Janet Irvin won the 2010 Goddess award for her short story, "Pawns," published in the May 2011 Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. The Goddess Award is given to the first Antioch Writers' Workshop participant from a summer session, male or female, who earns publication for a piece that was begun, revised, or critiqued during the week of the workshop. Find details and about the Goddess Award, as well as The "We Really Should Read More Poetry" Award on the AWW Scholarship page at antiochwritersworkshop.com. The scholarship deadline for AWW 2011 is Friday, April 15.

The Antioch Writers' Workshop is proud of the work done by its alumni and faculty. Check the blog regularly for updates on the big things AWW alumni and faculty are doing.

Writing Tips from AWW 2011 Faculty -- Jamey Dunham

As part of our blog series, Antioch Writers' Workshop 2011 Faculty share their tips for writing. You can read complete bios of AWW 2011 Faculty at antiochwritersworkshop.com. Check back regularly for more  writing tips. 

Jamey Dunham - Afternoon Poetry Seminar

Associate Professor of English at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

Selected Publications: The Best American Poetry 2005 (Scribner, 2005), The Bible of Lost Pets (Salt Modern Poets, 2009)

Selected Awards: Inaugural winner of the Crashaw Prize.

Quick Tips:

1. If you feel you need publication to validate yourself as a writer, you will probably never find the validation you're looking for. Still, anyone can and will be published if they keep at it. It's simple, keep writing and never give up on yourself. If you write good work, it will find a home eventually.

2. Remember that contests, like publishing, are different animals from writing. Writing is art and what truly matters. Success in contests and publishing relies upon others and their own subjective decisions. Do not confuse success with talent.

3. Find your own voice first and foremost; however, if you are unwilling or unable to do so, steal your voice from the very best you can find. There is no excuse for plagiarizing mediocrity, swing for the fences!


UPDATE:  Meet Jamey Dunham this weekend at the Second Sunday Free Writers’ Workshop on Sunday, April 10, 2:00-3:30 p.m. at Books & Co at The Greene. The free workshop brought to you by Antioch Writers’ Workshop and Books & Co will address “Poetry Writing Techniques for Poets, Fiction Writers and All Kinds of Writers!” Read more about the Second Sunday Free Writers' Workshop here.

Writing Tips from AWW 2011 Faculty -- Jim Daniels

Even if it's as simple as "just keep writing," writers look for advice from successful writers to challenge their process, to inspire, and in some cases even to comfort. Check back regularly as the Antioch Writers' Workshop 2011 faculty offer a few quick tips to help writers keep writing and keep writing well. Complete bios of the AWW 2011 faculty are available at antiochwritersworkshop.com

Jim Daniels - Morning Poetry

The Thomas Stockman Baker Professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University.

Selected Publications: Thirteen collections of poetry, including, most recently, From Milltown to Malltown, and Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry (2011).

Selected Awards: The Brittingham Prize, the Tillie Olsen Prize, the Blue Lynx Prize, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and two from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Quick Tips:

1. Read everything you can by the writers you admire.

2. Try to develop a writing routine so that the time doesn't just disappear.

3. Find a community of writers to share your work with-people who are going to be careful, honest readers who will aid in the revision process.