ÿþ<html> <head><title>Winter Wheat 2010 Schedule of Events</title> <meta name="keywords" content="Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat, Winter Wheat"> <meta name="generator" content="HTMLpad"> <meta name="description" content=" "> <meta name="author" content="Mid-American Review"> <meta name="copyright" content="Copyright 1999 Mid-American Review"> </head> <body> <p> <p> <center><font face="Garamond" size = "+2"> <center><p><i>Help us grow.</i><br> <font size="+15">Winter Wheat</font><br> <font size="+2">The <i>Mid-American Review</i> Festival of Writing</font></center><p></font></center> <p> <p> <font face="Garamond"> <h1><u>Thursday, November 17th</u></h1><br> 7:30 PM &mdash; Reading by fiction writer and essayist Kyle Minor. Location: Prout Chapel, BGSU Campus.<p> <h1><u>Friday, November 18th</u></h1><br> <b>1:00 PM to 2:15 PM &mdash; First Session Block (Choose one from listings A1 to A8)</b><br> <b>2:30 to 3:45 PM &mdash; Second Session Block (Choose one from listings B1 to B8)</b><br> 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM &mdash; Dinner Break<br> 7:00 PM &mdash; Reading by poet Ann Townsend.<br> Location: Union Theater, Second Floor, Bowen-Thompson Student Union<p><p> <h1><u>Saturday, November 19th</u></h1><br> 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM &mdash; Registration<br> <b>9:00 AM to 10:15 AM &mdash; First Session Block (Choose one from C1-C12)</b><br> <b>10:30 AM to 11:45 AM &mdash; Second Session Block (Choose one from D1-D12)</b><br> <br> <b>1:00 PM to 2:15 PM &mdash; Third Session Block (Choose one from E1-E12)</b><br> <b>2:30 PM to 3:45 PM &mdash; Fourth Session Block (Choose one from F1-F11)</b><br> 4:00 PM &mdash; Reading by Seth Fried<br> Location: Union Theater, Second Floor, Bowen-Thompson Student Union <p><p> <b><u>Session listings:</b></u><br> <b>Friday 1:00-2:15 Sessions</b><br> A1: &quot;Lively Beginnings, Tired Beginnings<br> Brad Felver<br> This session will aim to unearth some differences between strong story openings and weak ones. What is it exactly that makes one compelling and the other forgettable? How can you catch the eye of editors without imposing a formula or selling out your own aesthetic? <p> A2: The Power of Place in Your Poetry<b><u></u></b> <br> LewEllyn Hallett<br> Our surroundings, whether a room, a city or all of nature, can be a powerful element of the poetry we write. We ll consider poems about place, as well as how place and environment figure in poems that are about something else entirely. Participants are invited to bring a poem of their own that s rooted in place, but this is not required. There will be in-class exercises to help us draw inspiration from place and incorporate our environment more effectively into our poems.<p> A3: A Recipe for Memoir<br> Meredith Doench<br> The memoir, with all its open spaces for the study and reflection of a life, remains a wildly popular genre. The style or form of the genre, however, has experienced what author Paisley Rekdal claims,  a quiet revolution. Authors are working more and more with different elements such as lyrical movement, images, style and even paintings or photography in order to better tell the story of their lives. In this workshop, we will work with the form of memoir and explore how different formats can widen areas for exploration and, ultimately, lead to a better understanding for both the writer and the reader. <p>A4: Prompt-Dependent: A Glorious Poetry Addiction<br> Kristin LaTour & Donna Vorreyer<br> In this session, we will discuss the positive role that poetry writing prompts can play in reviving your muse and taking your work in new directions. We will work through at least one prompt together, share first drafts, and provide an extensive resource list of both online and print prompts. <p> A5: Food Writing: Subgenre or Multigenre? <br> Sarah Lenz & Amanda Rzicznek <br> This session has been moved to Saturday, in the D8 slot (see below). <p>A6: Summer Session Shenanigans<br> Lucy Biederman & RJ Ingram<br> This session is a brief overview of some programs that academic minded people can go on during their summer hiatus. We will talk about the application process, the dynamics behind different programs, the realities behind working with strangers, and have lots of information on programs we've been to and know about. <p> A7: Why the Cat Wrote a Song<br> Kelly Strauch<br> Ever considered writing from the perspective of something other than a rationale, adult human being? In this session, we ll consider why you might want to try (or avoid?) unusual narrators in your writing, beginning with a discussion of such narrators in the lyrics of contemporary music. Poets and fiction-writers equally welcomed. <p> A8: Rewriting the Mythic: Using Ancient Voices in Modern Persona Poetry<br> Jana Russ<br> In this session we will take a look at iconic and archetypal figures in contemporary persona poems, discuss crafting a mythic persona, learn some how-tos and what-not-to-dos, and spend some time writing & workshopping our own persona poems. <p> <b>2:30 to 3:45 Sessions</b><br> B1: Pure Psychic Automatism: The Early History of Surrealism and Surrealist Games <br> Jason Hudnell & Karissa Morton<br> In this session, we ll explore some of the main ideas of the first generation of surrealist writers such as André Breton, Louis Aragon, and Philippe Soupault. We ll look at how surrealism related to other early 20th century hot-button issues like Freudian psychoanalysis and communism. We ll conclude with a few writing activities that the original surrealists performed. <p> B2: Flash Fiction vs. Prose Poetry<br> Eric Schlich & Jade Ramsey<br> What s the difference between a short short and a prose poem? Is there a difference? Does it matter? In this session we will be exploring several concise pieces and discussing their poetic and narrative techniques. Then we ll write our own. <p> B3: canceled <p> B4: Sacred Objects: Detail the Fictional World with Real Stuff.<br> Sherri Hoffman<br> Find, name, and infuse your writing with objects to deepen character, become metaphor, and carry story. <p> B5: Prompt Writing: Creative Approaches to Student Engagement<br> Dan Lambert & Luda Polyakova<br> This session is on prompt writing for university students. We will explore the aims of creative prompts and the most practical ways to engage with them. We will then have time for impromptu writing and sharing of the results. <p> B6: The Writing Process: Rituals, Habits, and the Anti-Technology Experience<br> Paul Morin<br> Dust off your notebook and pen. In this session, you will be introduced to different philosophies that writers have about the act of writing: when to write, how long to write for, and what medium to write on. In particular, we will explore the movement of writers who swear by the kinesthetic experience of writing by hand (or typewriter). Then, we will end the session with a handwritten writing prompt. <p> B7: Session Canceled. <p> B8: Pushing Students as Writers: Three Exercise for Poetry Students & Teachers<br> Eric Bliman, Heather Hamilton, & Brandon Whiting<br> The most overlooked resource of the creative writing classroom is collaboration. We ll discuss a range of exercises involving student collaboration teachers can use to push the boundaries of students' individual voices and comfort zones.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the second part of the session, we ll discuss why having students write purposely 'bad' poems helps them recognize alternatives to cliché. We ll discuss not only how you can direct your students in writing  bad poems, but also the surprise successes that often arise from the unexpected juxtapositions the prompt requires.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the third portion of the session, we ll discuss punctuation in poetry: whether punctuation s necessary or not, the differences in effect among commas, semicolons, colons, dashes and their real rhetorical effects in a poem as well as purely poetic ways of varying distance such as indenting, line spacing and enjambment.<p> <b>Saturday, 9:00 to 10:15 Sessions</b><br> C1: Infusing music into the story: How to embrace digital publishing opportunities through multimedia presentation and collaboration<br> Mark L. Berry<br> In this session we'll learn to write stories that rock literally. <p> C2: Poetry Not Yet Discovered as Poetry<br> Jessica Zinz<br> In this session, we will uncover our own poetry from already-printed texts. We will do generative exercises based on a cut and paste model while using historical documents, criminal case files, historical documents, scientific texts, and so on. In this workshop you will come with me to discover poetry in places it has not yet been found while learning some quirky little ways to start generating work. <p> C3: Dissonance in Language and Imagery<br> Nathan Riggs<br> This session is designed to explore the uses of cognitive dissonance, often seen as a bad thing, as a tool to develop new metaphors and means of expression in poetry. <p> C4: Good Heavens: Infusing the Afterlife into Your Fiction<br> Heather Startup<br> In this seminar, we ll examine several novels and at least one short story, searching for commonalities among their portrayals of the afterlife. There will be a discussion of some of the techniques and guidelines followed by many books incorporating the afterlife, and we ll end with some writing exercises. In the passages on the supernatural, these writers methods strengthen character, the reader s sense of the narrator s reliability, and the story as a whole.<br><br> Suggested Reading:<br>  Louise s Ghost by Kelly Link<br> The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver<br> The Third Policeman by Flann O Brien<br> The Turn of the Screw by Henry James<br> <p> C5: Fanfiction: Sweet, Sexy Fanfiction<br> Amy Denham<br> Do you enjoy a nice piece of Sam/Frodo slash on a hot summer's day? Does the prospect of a Buffy/Firefly cross-genre make you squeal like a fangirl? Has your deep-seated need to impose yourself into the cultural phenomena you obsess over ever resulted in hours spent laboring over a particular Sailor Moon pairing? For a break from the literary scene, join us in a discussion of fanfiction: as a practice, a genre, a tipping-off point into Something Potentially More Serious, and a very necessary personal catharsis. <p> C6: Using Prompts to Prompt You in the Writing Direction<br> Suzanna Anderson<br> When you have stared at a blank page for hours, it's time to turn to a prompt. Discover available resources and begin making your own. <p> C7: Session canceled. <p> C8: Writing Online: It Doesn t Suck<br> Nathan Floom & Jason Teal<br> In this session, we will work to alleviate certain biases & rumors associated with electronic publishing & its discontents. Session attendees will learn some of the ways in which they might discover venues for online publishing, newer startups & older mainstays. Where electronic publishing is heading is another topic which will be covered. <p> C9: Fiction is the Truth Liberated from the Tyranny of Fact<br> Robert Masterson <br> Ernest Hemingway once wrote what he called the shortest novel in the world: For Sale/Baby Shoes/Never Worn. In that spirit, this workshop views examples of truthful and meaningful poetry/prose that are based on fact. Participants will expand upon simple, factual, journalistic descriptions of events. <p>C10: Poem as Machine<br> Nick Strum<br> This session will be an historical and aesthetic overview of the concept of  poem as machine through Williams, Russian Absurdism, neo-Surrealism, to the present. <p> C11: Take This Job and Write It! Employing the Language and Energy of Even the Worst Jobs<br> Jason Kapcala<br> We've all held jobs we loved and hated. This session will focus on how to take those vivid experiences, the idiosyncratic language of the steel mill or the local greasy spoon, and use it to inject vitality and authenticity into a narrative.<p> C12: What You See & What You Don t: Exercises on Generating Prose through Perspective and Erasure<br> Don Peteroy & Dietrick Vanderhill<br> By situating multiple first-person discourses around a single event, writers can explore the consensual nature of objectivity. In this exercise writers will describe a pre-determined event through the eyes (and biases) of three characters.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the second part of this session, participants will first identify lackluster prose quality in a sample paragraph. Afterwards, we ll generate lists of good and bad qualities. Then we ll perform an erasure on a sample page eventually rewriting this erasure narrative in condensed form. <p> <b> 10:30 to 11:45 Sessions</b><br> D1: A Crash Course on Slippery Poetic Devices<br> Emily Peiffer<br> During a poetry workshop, were you ever complimented on your use of synesthesia, metonymy, or antimeria? Did you just smile and nod, hoping your blank stare didn't betray you? What's that stuff again? In this session we're going to review some of the trickier poetic devices that are often forgotten or overlooked. We will define these terms, look at examples, and try to write some ourselves. Trusting we have time, we will also look at some often-forgotten poetic forms such as the pantoum and cento. Be sure to bring paper and something to write with!<p> <p> D2: Beyond the Lecture: Rethinking the Foundation of Instruction in the University<br> Cody Rush-Ossenbeck, Marissa Marangoni, Eric Wasserman, & Tobin Terry<br> Lecturing solely is obsolete. Designed for the medieval world, it can no longer adequately serve our colleges. With the advent of the information age, we have forever changed the way we disseminate and absorb knowledge. In this panel, veteran professors discuss their experiences with progressive forms of instruction, both in their own education and in the classroom. <p> D3: The Daily Dozens: A Journaling Technique for the Practicing Poet<br> Margaret Rozga<br> Journal entries that devolve into ho-hum summaries of moods and weather reports rarely lead to insightful turns of thought and image. This session will present examples and practice in a journaling technique to keep you writing toward the poem. <p> D4: Driving off the Cliff: Escalation in Fiction<br> Eric Schlich<br> In this session we will be using Donald Barthelme s  The School and George Saunder s reading,  The Perfect Gerbil, to discuss premise, pattern, and the escalation of tension in a short work of fiction. Then we ll begin our own short pieces. <p> D5: Session Canceled. <p> D6: Anatomy 101: Using Anatomical or Neurological Language in Poetry<br>Erin Miller and Karissa Morton<br> In this session, we ll explore the infrequent use of biological terms or themes in poetry. We ll look at the works of some contemporary poets such as Eric Weinstein and Rafael Campo. We ll also present you with some interesting anatomical/neurological terms and diagrams. At the end, we will all write our own poems of the body. <p> D7: The Wolf at the Door: Reading and Translating Breton Fairy Tales of Marie de France<br> Mary O'Malley<br> Marie de France wrote Breton lais, fables, and other works in Anglo Norman French around the late 12th Century. Historians theorize she lived among the center of either the French or British Court. There has been much speculation concerning her identity. This session will discuss the translation of her texts, including an exploration of werewolves and some of the other elements of magic that easily lend themselves to current fiction and cinema. We'll end with a writing exercise. <p> D8: Food Writing: Subgenre or Multigenre? <br> Sarah Lenz & Amanda Rzicznek <br> In this lecture/workshop, join Amanda McGuire Rzicznek (food editor Connotation Press and food columnist <i>BGNews</i>) and Sarah Lenz (contributor Connotation Press and food blogger) in the debate over food writing as a niche genre or as a multimodal approach to literary writing. McGuire Rzicznek and Lenz draw from David Shields s <i>Reality Hunger: A Manifesto</i> to discuss modern, multi-medium food writers such as Anthony Bourdain, Ruth Riechel, and Niger Slater. As co-stars of the new hybrid video-essay project, <i>Spatula</i>, McGuire Rzicznek and Lenz also bring their personal experience to the table. Come to this session with an appetite and a notebook.<p> D9: TwittFict<br> Travis Neumeyer, Alicia Harmon, & <i>Prairie Margins</i> staff<br> Using Twitter, we'll be encouraging people to challenge themselves to create micro-stories in 140 characters or less. <p>D10: Writing about the Grotesque<br> Beth McKinney and Misha Rai <br> We will look at the history of grotesque in writing, we will be looking at some famous examples and following prompts to begin a piece of writing in the session. <p> D11: Craptastic! How to Avoid Writing Vic Lit (Victim Literature)<br> Renee Nicholson<br> Bad things happen sometimes to good writers. This session will focus on writing those authentic experiences while avoiding self indulgence and sentimentalism. <p> D12: Context and Subtext: Exercises on Incorporating both Levity and Weight into Your Prose<br> Jason Nemec & Brian Trapp<br> In this session we'll be discussing theories of humor and workshop exercises to generate comic scenes. The exercises will focus on comic perspective and clashes of context.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the second part of the session we will generate a scene where two characters are having an argument about an apparently benign object, but are in fact arguing about something much bigger (one character has wronged the other in some way, etc.) Ideally participants can use this basic prompt to write a simple, powerful scene.<p> <b>1:00 to 2:15 Sessions</b><br> E1: Microbrew<br> Christine Chapman, Lauren Veith, & Prairie Margins staff <br> Acquire a taste for Microfiction: what makes 250 words or less a whiskey shot, boutique ale, or vinegar? Sample works, create your own, and hone it to ambrosia. Presented by Prairie Margins. <p> E2: Recovering Memory to Write Fantastic Tales<br> Beth McKinney & Misha Rai<br> If there is a sliver of a memory that's been haunting you or one that you think is mundane and can't figure out why it keeps coming back to you and you're looking for a fabulous recreation or exorcism that requires ink, paper, words, typing and possibly everything including a flesh-eating kitchen sink then this session is what you're looking for. This is a place where you can feel free to begin a story, poem or a work of literary non-fiction whilst also looking at some examples by published writers. <p> E3: TransGenre: Beyond Fiction and Nonfiction<br> Heather Momyer<br> Blurring fiction and nonfiction occurs in metafiction, historical fiction, autobiographical fiction, and confessional poetry. The blur slides into nonfiction when writers face memories, dreams, the lies they tell themselves, or the concept that identities are performances. This session will explore what happens when we refuse to recognize those genre borders. <p> E4: Resistance, Necessity, and Change: Zines from the underground, from the grassroots, from the ground up<br> Taira Anderson & Stephenie DeArcangelis<br> This session will answer the questions: What is a zine? How do zines differ from literary journals, magazines, or newspapers? What can a zine do for a person, a community, a life? What makes the zine unique and worthy of our attention? How does one contribute to a zine? This session is an opportunity for you to create work in a collaborative, art-rich, expressive space. Here, we will seek to provide inspiration without judgment, tools without requirements, and art without restriction. If you're itching to create, to breed, exhaust, writhe, grapple-- join us. <p> E5: The Moving Vehicle of Eco Poetry<br> Susann Moeller & Connie Everett<br> Eco Poetry provides a vehicle for crosspollination between Writers and Environmental Scientists and Activists for the common good of our communities at large. To facilitate this exchange of scientific facts and their translation into poetic expression, we first share specific topics and their scientific data. Factually inspired, participants choose one topic and explore it in a 3-fold exercise by weaving ecology into language, connecting literary imagination to our landscape, natural history, and a sense of environmental urgency. <p> E6: Synesthesia: Writing Poems Inspired by Classical Music<br> Anna Rose Welch<br> How does one generate poetry from music? While the condition "Synesthesia" is rare, classical music can still be a tool for any writer looking to for inspiration. This session will help introduce writers to the ways that classical music can be used to generate images and emotional responses while writing poetry. We will read some examples of poetry that explore the influence of classical music on the overall tone and shape of the poem, as well as listen to some pieces by famous classical composers from different time periods in order to begin our own compositions. <p> E7: Breaking Through with the Oracle: Overcoming Writer s Block with the I Ching<br> Valerie Rose Carey <br> The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is a central work of both Confucianism and Taoism. Its vivid images and symbols have inspired Chinese writers since antiquity. In the 20th century, the psychologist Carl Jung employed it as a method for exploring the unconscious, and it was foundational for his theory of synchronicity. In this session we will explore its usefulness as a creative impetus--a spur to our literary imaginations. <p> E8: Anthropomorphism in Literature: From Fables to Sociopolitical Commentary,<br> Melissa Mickael<br> Why does it sometimes take a talking rabbit to provide us with insight regarding human society? From Aesop and the Jãtakas to Richard Adams and Walter Wangerin Jr., this session will cover a brief history of anthropomorphism in literature and facilitate discussion as to why it has been so effective. Participants will also get the chance to try putting fur or scales on their own characters. <p> E9: The Seven Basic Plots<br> Lawrence Coates<br> Archetypal narratives continue to have genuine power for storytellers of all stripes. In his 2003 book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, scholar Christopher Booker attempted to define and delimit the shapes of traditional stories. In this presentation, novelist Lawrence Coates will give a critical and informative overview of Booker's thesis and discuss how archetypal narratives can be used in contemporary fiction. <p> E10: Flannel Shirts to That Interweb Thing<br> Eric Wasserman & Christopher Drabick<br> In this session we'll explore how the 1990s shaped the current literary sensibilities of fiction writers who came of age in the pre-9/11 decade, and the lasting mark those years left on contemporary prose. For those who remember it like it was yesterday as well as younger writers with only vague recollections. Includes writing exercise on the role of memory in constructing fictional narratives that capture time and place. <p> E11: The Poem as Persona<br> Christian Bloomfield & Chelsea Cooper<br> The session will cover the idea of persona poetry asking the writer to stretch their imagination and take the form of an object. Presenters will provide hardcopy and audio examples of persona poetry (e.g. Billy Collins  The Revenant ), and will present visual slides to supplement the discussion. <p> E12: Let's Get it On: What We Write About When We Write About Sex<br> Dawson Steeber<br> Through articles and examples of good and bad sex scenes, this panel will discuss the reasons for writing about sex the motivation(s) behind desire. <p> <p><b>2:30 to 3:45 Sessions</b><br> F1: Horsefucker and Frosty the Snowman Meets The Stand: Writing Beyond Your Comfort Zone<br> Alison Balaskovits and Michelle Zuppa<br> In this exercise, participants will attempt something they think they can t do, or can t do well. Suggestions to include a different genre (like speculative fiction instead of realism), an unusual POV, or a new form (maybe a prose poem instead of a long story).<br> Afterward, we will discuss the exercises as a group, helping each writer determine what s working well, what might work in revision, and what might not be worth saving. Alison and I will share our own experiences using this exercise to develop stories. <p> F2: A Novel in Lines: Telling the Story, One Poem at a Time<br> Erin Keane<br> The contemporary novel in verse is the ultimate hybrid form, an intentional intermingling of literary bloodlines, creating the narrative structure of a novel through poems rather than traditional chapters. Writing a novel in poems is, in some ways, not so different from writing a straightforward novel: we consider point of view, story, structure, characterization, and style. And yet, by virtue of telling a story one line at a time, the novel in poems is a curious little mutant with its own needs and desires. In this session, we will review excerpts of published novels in verse, discuss how a poem sequence can enlarge to form a novel, consider techniques for maintaining or switching voice and point of view, and draft a prologue poem. <p> F3: Break into Feature Writing for Regional Publications<br> LewEllyn Hallett <br> Have you read coverage of an event you attended or a story on your favorite hobby and thought, I could ve written that? Well, you could ve, but how do you package your idea with an original angle and an engaging lead and sell it to the appropriate editor? This workshop will be your crash course in how to identify regional (and even national) publications that pay freelance writers for stories like yours, how to find and interview experts, and uncover the unique approach that will grab your readers. We ll practice generating ideas and writing leads, and examine the structure of articles targeted for newspapers, magazines or websites. <p> F4: Grammar Made Simple! How to Tinker with Your Prose<br> James Dunham<br> This session will be a kind of crash course in grammar, in which we explore both how sentences work and also how to get the most punch and word economy out of rewriting them. <p> F5: Forensic Story Work: or How the Beginning should give away the End<br>John Hattaway<br> In this session we will use forensic writing analysis as a foundation for writing fiction with the intent of crafting a story with a structured beginning and a foundationally logical ending. <p> F6: Session Canceled. <p> F7: Found Poetry, Exploring the Everyday<br> Jessica Bixel<br> This session will introduce and explain how found poetry functions, explore published found poetry, and provide the materials to create a found poem for each person in attendance. <p> F8: Writing Young Characters Authentically<br> Dallas Woodburn<br> This session is centered around the difficulty of presenting children and teenagers in an interesting, genuine way when writing fiction for adults. To address this topic, we will look at examples of contemporary literary fiction, such as Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and Stuart Dybeck's Childhood and Other Neighborhoods; delve into our own memories of childhood and adolescence through writing exercises; and discuss the boundary between young adult (YA) fiction and literary fiction featuring young characters. <p> F9: Writing 9/11<br> Dustin Parsons<br> After exploring several examples of poetry, fiction and memoir written about 9/11, we'll then talk about writing about the experience either for the moment itself or for mining those emotions for other projects. <p> F10: The MFA Thesis Relationship<br> Eric Wasserman, Michael Goroff, David Giffels, & Annie Murray <br> This panel will discuss navigating the back and forth between thesis candidate and thesis director when entering the final stretch towards earning one s graduate degree in creative writing. How does a director recognize what the student is attempting and guide that project without being tempted to rewrite it his or her own way? How does the thesis candidate determine when to embrace advice or decide it does not match his or her own sensibility? Students and teachers alike are welcome to join the discussion with this panel of current and former creative thesis teams. <p> F11: How Long is the Coastline of a Poem? Science in Contemporary Poetry<br> Rebecca Faught<br> Science and poetry may seem to be opposite approaches to the world; however, many contemporary poets use scientific concepts and structures to inform their work.<p> <br><center><a href= "wwhome08.html"><font color = "#FF0000">Click here to return to the Winter Wheat homepage.</font></a><p> <a href= "ww11reg.html"><font color = "#FF0000">Click here for the online Winter Wheat registration form.</font></a><p> <p><p></center> </background> </body> </html>