Writers who are serious about improving their understanding of their
craft can turn to Grand Valley State University Writers Retreat August
5-7 for a weekend of first-rate instruction. The weekend will be
packed with seminars, workshops, readings, individual consultation,
and writing time, all led by established professional writers.
Participants can choose from two tracks -- non-fiction/memoir or
poetry. They will discover new perspectives in the company of other
writers and use the retreat setting to put full attention to their
writing. The participating writers will interact with established
authors, in a small workshop setting. They'll hear expert advice about
getting published from editors and publishers. Other topics include
how to turn an idea into a first draft and to use imagination to
transform personal memories into meaningful writing. All the while,
the participants will develop a sense of community with other writers.
Visiting memoirist Michael Steinberg and poet Alice Friman will lead
sessions along with Grand Valley faculty writers Ander Monson and
Patricia Clark. Clark was recently named Grand Rapids Poet Laureate.
The retreat runs August 5-7 and will be held at Grand Valley's Pew
Grand Rapids Campus located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids.
Retreat goers will be lodged in Winter Hall, which features apartment
style rooms and private bathrooms. Readings will take place at the
DeVos Center's intimate Loosemore Auditorium. Inspired by the beauty
of the campus and energized by the rhythms of Michigan's second
largest city, participants are sure to enjoy an atmosphere of
creativity, learning, and sharing.
The cost for the workshop is $495 per person. The registration fee
includes workshop instruction, materials, lodging/linens, meals,
parking, and computer access. Scholarships are available. To apply for
a scholarship, complete a one-page statement of financial need and
explain how you hope to benefit from the retreat.
Registration is available online at www.gvsu.edu/learn or by calling
(616) 331-7180. MEDIA NOTE: Clark and Monson are available for
interviews by calling Brian J. Bowe at (616) 331-2221.
INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES
Michael Steinberg is a memoirist, teacher, and the founding editor
of the award-winning literary journal, "Fourth Genre:
Explorations in Nonfiction." His latest book, "Still
Pitching," was chosen by Foreword Magazine as the 2003
Independent Press memoir/ autobiography of the year. It was also cited
by the American Association of University Presses and the Melton
Center for Jewish Studies as a recommended book for public and school
libraries. Other books include "Peninsula: Essays and Memoirs
from Michigan;" "The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers
of/on Creative Nonfiction;" and "Those Who Do, Can: Teachers
Writing, Writers Teaching" (the latter two co-edited with Robert
Root). Additional awards include the Missouri Review Editor's Prize, a
Roberts Writing Award, the Harness Race Writers of America Award for
feature writing, and a Writers' Voice Fellowship. His essays and
memoirs have been cited several times as Notable Essays of the
Year in Best American Essays and Best American Sports Writing.
He taught writing at Michigan State University for more than two
decades. More recently, in addition to teaching at several writers'
conferences, he's been on the faculty of both Vermont College and
University of Southern Maine low residency MFA programs.
Alice Friman's latest book is "The Book of the Rotten
Daughter," (forthcoming from BkMk Press). Her other books are
"Zoo," (University of Arkansas Press, 1999), winner of the
Ezra Pound Poetry Award from Truman State and the Sheila Motton Prize
from the New England Poetry Club; "Inverted Fire," (1997
BkMk); and "Reporting from Corinth," (1984, Barnwood).
Friman is professor emerita of English, Creative Writing, and Poetry,
and the associate editor of Arts & Letters at Georgia College and
State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. Friman has received
fellowships from the Indiana Arts Council and the Arts Council of
Indianapolis, has been invited to teach at Curtin University in
Australia, and she has had residences at such artists colonies as
Yaddo and the Millay Colony. Among her numerous awards are three
prizes from the Poetry Society of America and the 2001 James
Boatwright Prize for Poetry from Shenandoah.
Ander Monson teaches nonfiction and fiction workshops at Grand
Valley State University where he is an assistant professor in the
Writing Department. He edits the magazine Diagram and the New Michigan
Press, and he is the senior editor of the Del Sol Press. Two books
were published in May 2005: "Other Electricities," a book of
stories, by Sarabande Books, and "Vacationland," a poetry
collection, by Tupelo Press.
Patricia Clark's new book, "My Father on a Bicycle," was
published by Michigan State University Press in March 2005. The
award-winning poet-in-residence and professor of writing at Grand
Valley was named in March as the poet laureate for the city of Grand
Rapids. Clark was also the recipient of a Creative Artist Grant from
ArtServe Michigan for 2003. Clark won the first book award from Women
in Literature for her previous book of poetry, "North of
Wondering." She is also the co-editor of "Worlds in Our
Words: An Anthology of Contemporary American Women Writers." Her
poems have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Slate, Stand
Stand, New England Review, North American Review, Pennsylvania Review,
Black Warrior Review, and Seattle Review.
