News & Events

UNC Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program Offers Fall Workshops

August 17, 2010

Local writers will have the opportunity to hone their skills with UNC Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program's fall workshops in poetry and prose. These classes, which meet for ten weeks, are open to all interested writers but class size is limited; early registration is suggested.

Christine Hale, a novelist and memoirist, will teach “Ten Straight Steps to a Surprising Story: A Fiction Workshop,” from 6-8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting Sept. 15, at Randolph Learning Center, 90 Montford Ave. This workshop offers students a set of in-class exercises, out-of-class assignments, guided revision and workshop feedback intended to leave participants with a first or second-draft story that will upend both the reader’s and the writer’s expectations

Wordfest Director Laura Hope-Gill, who is the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s Poet Laureate, will teach “With All My Voice: A Poetry Workshop in Exploration, Reflection and Risk” from 2-4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, starting Sept. 14, at the Kellogg Center, 11 Broyles Rd., Hendersonville. Hope-Gill will explore voice and its many possibilities by reading an array of poems from different cultures, movements and schools and by watching films about poets and artists.

Vicki Lane, author of the Elizabeth Goodweather mystery series from Bantam Dell, will teach “A Beginner’s Guide to Novel Writing – The Nuts and Bolts Approach: A Fiction Workshop” from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, starting Sept. 14, at Montford Books & More, 31 Montford Ave. A workshop for beginning or in-process writers who want to write a novel with popular appeal, this class will combine instruction in the basics of setting, plot, characterization and dialogue with practical and cautionary information about seeking an agent, submitting a manuscript and building a career.

Writer Sebastian Matthews, author of “In My Father’s Footsteps,” will teach “Using Techniques from Classic Cinema to Improve Your Prose: A Creative Prose Workshop” from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursdays, starting Sept. 16, at a location to be announced. Students will watch movies such as Orson Welles’s “Citizen Kane,” Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall,” Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient” in order to learn classic cinematic techniques that are applicable to creative nonfiction. Students will practice applying these filmic techniques through a variety of exercises.

Children’s book editor Joy Neaves, who has worked with many renowned authors, will teach “Wizards, Wild Things, and Vampires: A Workshop in Writing for Young Readers” from 6-8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting Sept. 15, at Randolph Learning Center, 90 Montford Ave. This workshop is for serious writers who are working on picture books, poetry or longer works of fiction intended for children. Emphasis will be on reading and critiquing each other’s work and Neaves will respond at length to submissions.

Poet Pat Riviere-Seel will teach “What Is Found There: A Poetry Workshop” from 2-4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting Sept. 15, at the Mountain Heritage Center on Green Mountain Dr. in Burnsville. Open to beginning and experienced poets, this class will focus on techniques and strategies as students explore new ways to approach and revise poems. Using craft-based exercises, students will write a poem each week and discuss the work in class.

Veteran teacher Katherine Soniat, whose fifth book of poems is forthcoming from Louisiana State University, will teach “Dreams, Memories and Photographs: A Poetry

Workshop” from 6-8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting Sept. 15, at Randolph Learning Center, 90 Montford Ave. In this class, Soniat will investigate ways to deepen and sharpen poetic voice through the use of imagery, explored in photography and dreams. This workshop is also open to fiction writers who would like to work intensively on a section of their prose.

Veteran screenwriter Jessie Wilcox, who served as director of development and story editor at major studios including Paramount and 20th Century Fox, will offer “Screenwriting: A Workshop on the Spec Script” from 6-8:30 p.m. on Mondays, starting Sept. 13, at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, 281 Edgewood Rd. Wilcox will explore the basics of screenwriting and proper screenplay formatting through a series of writing assignments to help develop story ideas and begin work on scripts.

Each course qualifies for two UNC Asheville credit hours in literature and language. Tuition and fees are $197.06 for in-state students and $1,059.06 for out-of-state students. A $20 non-refundable application fee for new students will also be charged.

For more information or to register, call UNC Asheville's Office of Distance and Extension Education, at 828.232.5122. Applications are also available at http://www2.unca.edu/agc/great.asp.