Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Summer Writing Festival offers more than 130 noncredit workshops over the sea-
son, on fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays, and more. In fact, the biggest challenge is narrow-
ing down the many options. Some of the alluring topics have been:
•
Writing a Novel When You Don't Know How
•
“It Was a Dark and Stormy Night”: Novel Beginnings
•
Writing for the Heck of It
•
The Art of the Anecdote
•
This Too Is Life: Memoirs on Illness and Health
•
Writing about Sex
•
Push Comes to Shove: Write a New Play a Week
Whether you've got the 13th draft of a short story or one semi-legible verse scribbled
on the back of last week's dry cleaner receipt, you're welcome to attend the workshops. The
only requirement is an interest in the written word. The weeklong sessions in June and July
meet from 2 to 5-ish, Monday through Friday. You'll also get a 20- to 30-minute conference
with your workshop leader, which most students find is worth the price of the workshop in
itself. Weekend workshop times vary, but generally begin Saturday morning and end by 4:00
Sunday afternoon.
Oh, and if your muse simply refuses to show up, it
is
possible to fraternize with other
human beings. Writers gather for breakfast each morning in the Iowa House's River Room.
There's a daily lecture series on writers and the writing life called the Elevenses (because
it meets at 11 a.m.), featuring a different topic and workshop leader each day. There's also
a Wednesday evening open mike and nightly readings at the Prairie Lights Bookstore. And
while you're on Dubuque Street, the tree-lined pedestrian mall where the esteemed bookstore
is located, check out its record stores, funky clothing shops, cafés, and art galleries.
