Writing Seminars
Check back in early, April, 2009 to find out which world-renowned authors will be leading intensive writing seminars at the 2009 Festival of Books. For details on the seminars held in 2008, please scroll down.
In 2008, for the very first time in the Festival's history, six intensive 2-hour writing seminars were offered featuring worldwide renowned writers in an intimate setting – only 50 seats per seminar! Tickets cost $100 per seminar and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster or at select Ticketmaster locations, including Ritmo Latino, Beverly Center and select Macy’s locations.
Ron Carlson
Saturday, April 26th, 2008 11:00am – 1:00pm
Title: The Short Story: Surviving the Draft
Celebrated author Ron Carlson lead this 2-hour seminar with a lecture including samples of fiction from his work and others that illustrate the craft of fiction writing and the way forward into the darkness. His primary focus was on the short story and he spoke about the entire process: idea to draft, with all notes in between focusing on surviving the draft. A Q & A session was incorporated towards the end of the seminar.
Novelist and short story writer Ron Carlson has received citations in Best American Short Stories twelve times since 1984. His work has appeared in a variety of publications including Harper’s and GQ. He is the author of two story collections, "Plan B for the Middle Class" and "The News of the World", and three novels, the most recent of which, "Five Skies" is his first adult novel in more than 20 years. Ron currently teaches at University of California, Irvine.
Thomas Curwen
Saturday, April 26th, 2008 1:30pm – 3:30pm
Title: Bring on the Lions: Writing the Non-fiction Narrative from the Inside Out
Human beings are hard-wired for narratives. We fall effortless into the spell of a good story, and there is no greater game than capturing a portrait of life that keeps readers hanging on until the bitter end. Yet the road to writing a successful narrative is dark and perilous. It is also both an art and science. It begins with sound reporting and a love of language. It combines strategic pacing with a jazzman's sense of rhythm. You must be a strong writer, a good editor -- and finally, you must love what you're doing. In this seminar, Thomas Curwen held an extended conversation about the writing and pleasure of a good story. So bring pen and paper, and be ready to write, talk and discuss the meaning of this wonderfully foolhardy endeavor.
Thomas Curwen is an editor at large for the Los Angeles Times. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for his 2007 story, Attacked by a Grizzly. He has a master's degree in Creative Writing from USC and was a recipient of a 1991 Academy of American Poets prize. In 2002, he received a Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for mental health journalism.
A. Scott Berg
Saturday, April 26th, 2008 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Title: Biography: Telling Lives
A. Scott Berg conducted a two-hour seminar on Life Writing in its various incarnations--including "objective" biography, autobiography, psychobiography, memoirs, and diaries. Part lecture, part question-and-answer period, the class examined some of the elements that go into the writing of life stories--selecting a topic, primary research, interviews, secondary research, organizing and analyzing material, writing and rewriting techniques.
A. Scott Berg is a renowned biographer of "Max Perkins: Editor of Genius," for which he received the National Book Award, "Goldwyn: A Biography", which bestowed upon him a Guggenheim Fellowship, and "Lindbergh", for which he was awarded 1999's Pulitzer Prize for biography. His most recent book is a memoir of a legendary star Katharine Hepburn, called, "Kate Remembered." He is currently working on a biography of Woodrow Wilson.
Jane Smiley
Sunday, April 27th, 2008 10:00am – 12:00pm
Title: Write a Novel in Two Hours!
Or not! What is a novel? How do you write one? Novelist Jane Smiley used material from her book, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel", to illustrate some of the ways an aspiring writer might approach his or her own ambition to write a novel. Lecture, Q and A, and discussion were interspersed throughout the two hours. Seminar participants could read the two chapters in Thirteen Ways entitled "A Novel of Your Own, part 1" and "A Novel of Your Own, part 2", but advanced preparation was not essential.
Jane Smiley is one of the most beloved novelists and author of more than ten works of fiction. She is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, and in 2001 was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She received the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature in 2006. Her latest novel is "Ten Days in the Hills". Smiley lives in Northern California.
Robert Pinsky
Sunday, April 27th, 2008 12:30pm – 2:30pm
Title: Listening to Words: The Vocality of Poetry
Robert Pinsky lead this 2 hour seminar by concentrating on the physical materials of poetry: the sounds of vowels and consonants arranged to make words and sentences. As when someone is noodling at a piano or shooting baskets or playing with paints or whittling, the physical material sometimes draws out ideas and feelings. The group viewed some of the Favorite Poem Project videos from the DVD included with an Invitation to Poetry. A Q & A session was incorporated towards the end of the seminar.
Robert Pinsky, an American poet and former Poet Laureate of the United States, is the author of several collections of poetry, most recently, "Gulf Music: Poems". He received the 1997 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee for "The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966-1996". He is also the author of several prose titles, including "The Sounds of Poetry", which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Stephen J. Cannell
Sunday, April 27th, 2008 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Title: Television, Film and Bestselling Novels
Stephen J. Cannell lectured on how to adapt a novel to the screen. He talked about modifying and condensing material without compromising its creative content, how to interface with the marketplace and get your work seen, as well as tips on construction when writing novels, screenplays and for television. A Q & A session was incorporated towards the end of the seminar.
Stephen J. Cannell is the bestselling author of numerous novels, including the critically acclaimed Shane Scully series, which includes his latest installment, "Three Shirt Deal". He is one of television's most prolific writers, having created or co-created more than 40 shows, including The A-Team and 21 Jump Street. Cannell has received multiple awards including the Marlow Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Writers of America and the WGA Paddy Chaefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement.
