2011 Creative Writing Day

Featuring Workshops in Fiction, Poetry, Children's Literature, and Songwriting

Monday, July 25 and Tuesday, July 26
Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Grand Hall
$25 per day, or $40 for both days

2011 Daily Schedule:
8:30 a.m. -- Registration
9:00 a.m. -- Introductions and readings of writers
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. -- AM writing workshops
12:00-12:30 p.m. -- Book signings and sales
12:30-1:45 p.m. -- Lunch (on your own)
2:00-4:00 p.m. -- PM writing workshops

2011 Writing Workshops

“Songwriting Craftsmanship” by Jim Lauderdale
Tuesday, July 26, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Legendary Nashville and Grammy Award-winning songwriter, Jim Lauderdale, will share experiences from his music career, perform select pieces from his catalog, and take attendees through his own songwriting process. He will share tips on constructing songs and will answer questions about writing for personal pleasure and for the masses. Whether you are a beginner or professional writer/songwriter, this will be a rare opportunity to share ideas with an artist at the top of the “A” list of contemporary songwriters.

"What Are Good Poems and How Do You Make Them Better?"
by Henry Hart
Monday, July 25, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Most poets want to write good poems. But what are "good" poems? Are there any general criteria that determine good poems? We've all had the experience of reading poems in a literary journal that we think are bad and undeserving of publication. After such a disillusioning experience, some of us may have decided that there are no general standards, that editors simply publish whatever suits their fancy. In this workshop I will discuss the problem of good vs. bad poetry, offer various definitions of good poetry, suggest ways to make your poems better, and give advice about publishing poetry. I will also discuss the tricky business of revising poems and give an exercise intended to improve your skill as a reviser. The workshop will end with Q & A.

"How to Make Your Poem as Unique as Your Fingerprint"
by Henry Hart
Tuesday, July 26, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

When well-known poets appear in public, someone in the audience often asks, "How did you discover your voice?" or "When did you discover your voice?" Many of us consider these questions important because we assume that when you find your voice readers and reviewers will consider you an original poet. Fans will compliment you for "making it new." Judges of poetry competitions will take notice and perhaps even give you an award. In this workshop, I will discuss the complicated issue of voice—how your voice is related to crucial experiences in your past, how reading helps you develop your voice, and how the study of poetic technique plays a role in creating an individual voice. Since our goal as poets is to get our fingerprints or voiceprints down on the page, I'll talk about the process that some poets go through in order to express their individuality in an individual way. I'll give examples of poets who found their voices as they matured and poets who, for better or worse, tried to change their voices after they matured. Q & A will follow.

"Yes, You Can Write a Song about Anything" by Mary Munsey
Monday, July 25, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

You can find topics for song material in all kinds of situations. Some subjects lend themselves to poignant personal lyrics and melodies while social injustices and hard times evoke driving lyrics and music. Life provides plenty of ideas for songs. Keep a notebook handy. Buy a voice recorder and keep it close by. Learn to play a guitar or keyboard or partner with someone who does. Live awhile, look around and write about it all. Don't be afraid to express what you feel. If you're meant to write, you will. If it's therapeutic and personal to you, it probably expresses universal feelings. You'll be surprised how many lives you can touch with a song. We'll explore structure, story lines, internal rhymes, themes, and development.

"So You Want to Write a Screenplay" by Belle Avery
Monday, July 25, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

"If I had a nickel for every time someone told me their life could be a movie..." In this workshop, Belle Avery will help participants learn how to write that story in screenplay format and will highlight what producers look for in a screenplay, explaining what works, what does not work, and why. She will warn of the pitfalls many screenwriters fall into. Avery will explain the difference between TV and FILM writing and will overview the successes and failures of adaptations from book to screen. Avery promises, "If there is a screenwriter inside of you, you will walk away with the right tools to start."

"The Art of Writing for the Theater" by Rick Rose
Monday, July 25, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

This playwriting workshop will focus on character, structure, and dialogue. After a brief discussion, the class will be given a situation and asked to write a short scene involving given characters. We will then read and critique each scene, focusing on the positive elements in each piece

"Backstory as a Springboard into Playwriting"
by Catherine Bush
Tuesday, July 26, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

The play begins. Lights up on two characters entering a room, looking for something. Then turn to each other and… what? What do they say? What do they do? Why are they here? What are they looking for? Why am I writing this play?! Help! If you've always wanted to write a play but have found yourself staring at your first sentence, stuck -- then this is the workshop for you. Using investigative techniques -- and a lot of imagination -- we will spend the first half of each session developing a backstory for two specific characters and an action they are undertaking. You will then be given the opportunity to write a short dramatic scene incorporating this backstory. Scenes will be read aloud at the end of each session and discussed.

About the Authors

Jim Lauderdale is a multi-talented performer and songwriter, with successes in both country and bluegrass music. He is among Nashville's "A" list of songwriters, with songs recorded by artists such as Patty Loveless, George Jones, and The Dixie Chicks, just to name a few. Jim's Grammy-nominated album Could We Get Any Closer? was named among the Top 100 of 2009 by Americana Radio Songs. He received "Artist of the Year" and "Song of the Year" awards from the Americana Music Association (2002). Jim was a 2002 Grammy Winner for Lost in the Lonesome Pines with Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys (Best Bluegrass Album), and a 2008 Grammy Winner for The Bluegrass Diaries (Best Bluegrass Album). He has been the annual host of the Americana Music Awards for the last seven years (2003-2010), and he hosted Tennessee Shines, a concert series broadcasted on WDVX, during its 2008-2010 run at the Bijou Theater in Knoxville, Tennessee. His latest CD, Patchwork River was co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Along with his extensive writing career, Jim has opened for Johnny Cash at the Montreux Jazz Fest and has toured with Elvis Costello as a member of Sugarcanes, Lucinda Williams, Ralph Stanley, Nick Lowe, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhonda Vincent and Merle Haggard among many others. He is featured in the 2010 Gwyneth Paltrow film Country Strong. He has recently appearance on Austin City Limits as a member of Elvis Costello's Sugarcanes band, and 2010 performances with Willie Nelson on The Late Show with David Letterman, The View and PBS' Soundstage. Jim is featured on the new Elvis Costello CD, National Ransom, for which he co-wrote the song "I Lost You." He has been performing as a member of Elvis Costello's Sugarcanes band as they toured in support of Elvis's Grammy Nominated Secret, Profane & Sugarcane and is featured on the latest Willie Nelson CD, Country Music, produced by T Bone Burnett.

Henry Hart has published three books of poetry. His first book, The Ghost Ship, was a finalist for the Walt Whitman Award given by the Academy of American Poets, and his third book, Background Radiation, was a finalist in the National Poetry Series. He has also published critical studies of Seamus Heaney, Robert Lowell, and Geoffrey Hill. His biography of James Dickey was runner-up for the Southern Critics' Book Circle Award in 2000. He was an editor of The Wadsworth Anthology of American Literature and one of the founding editors of VERSE magazine. He has published poems in The New Yorker, Poetry, Best American Poetry, Southern Review, Notre Dame Review, Sewanee Review, Denver Quarterly, Gettysburg Review, and many other journals. His scholarly essays have appeared in the Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Twentieth Century Literature, Contemporary Literature, New England Review, and elsewhere. In 2010 he received Virginia's Carole Weinstein Poetry Award. He is currently the Mildred and J.B. Hickman Professor of Humanities at The College of William and Mary.

Mary Munsey, a native of Abingdon, Virginia, received a BA in music education from Emory & Henry and an MM from James Madison University. She's been an elementary general music teacher, middle and high school choral director and adjunct music instructor at Virginia Highlands Community College. For the past ten years, she has been the music teacher at Watauga Elementary, where she's played her folk songs for her students and encouraged them to write, sing, and peform their own music too. She has a wide and varied music career, currently playing with her variety group Tennessee Garden in which she sings lead and plays alto sax, keyboard, guitar and bass. She has done solo and ensemble performances at the Bluebird Café in Nashville, the Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon, the Crooked Road General Store in Saltville, the Carter Fold in Hiltons, Virginia, just to name a few. In 2009 and 2010, she placed second in the IBMA's (International Bluegrass Music Association) lesson plan contests, and her song "Nine Days Old" won the 2010 Woody Guthrie International Folk Songwriting Contest.

Belle Avery's career in film began in 1986, copy writing, editing, and creating motion picture trailers for films like "Gorillas in the Mist," "Goodfellas," "Rain Man," "Die Hard," and others. In 1991, Belle began ghost writing for studio/independent film and TV. 1994 saw her first debut as a director/writer/producer on the movie "Innocent Obsession." In 1995, Belle went on to be a director/writer for a Metropolitan Pictures/Paramount Pictures film, "Malevolence." She then adapted In Search of Sugihara for the screen; the documentary won the Academy Award. From 2001-2006, Belle worked as a consultant to German Film Funds, Nova—Kalima, Mikona, and Linovo Production Companies which financed "Red Dragon," "The Scorpion King," "The Bourne Identity," and other films. In 2005, she co-wrote and produced "The Keeper." In 2006-2007, Belle executive produced "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, and Marisa Tomei. She also produced "Grizzly Park," and served as executive producer on "My Sexiest Year." In 2008, Belle produced New York Times Bestselling Author Steve Alten's books Meg and The Loch as feature films and is developing Lady Colt and Goliath for TV. With over twenty years experience, Belle has worked with some of the most prestigious figures in Hollywood, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford, among others.

Now in his nineteenth year, Richard Rose holds the position of Producing Artistic Director for historic Barter Theatre, The State Theatre of Virginia, and is only the third Artistic Director of Barter in its illustrious 78-year history. Rick has produced and directed theatre throughout the United States including off-Broadway in New York. Since coming to Barter, Rick has more than tripled the annual attendance with over 163,000 people attending Barter annually. He has brought Barter into the international spotlight through an international exchange with Russia, New York productions, the premieres of new works and the founding of Barter's "Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights." Rick has directed, choreographed, designed, and/or written over 150 productions at Barter Theatre -- among his favorites are "The Full Monty," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Keep on the Sunny Side," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Déjà vu," "Wit," "My Fair Lady," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Camelot," "Sundown," "Patient A," "Driving Miss Daisy," "Wooden Snowflakes" and "Death of a Salesman." His original adaptations of plays have been extremely successful with Barter audiences including "It's a Wonderful Life," "A Modern Christmas Carol," "Dracula!," "Jane Eyre," "Wuthering Heights," "Alice in Wonderland," and, acknowledge as one of the best new regional theatre plays of the year, "Frankenstein." Rick has done post-graduate work at New York University and worked for the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. He has his Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing and Design from the University of California at Davis and his Bachelor of Arts from St. Norbert College, DePere, Wisconsin where he was recently honored with a "distinguished achievement award in Humanities."

Catherine Bush lives in Abingdon, Virginia where she is the Playwright-in-Residence for Barter Theatre, The State Theatre of Virginia. In addition to her plays produced at Barter Theatre ("The Other Side of the Mountain," "The Quiltmaker," "Comin' Up A Storm," "Wooden Snowflakes," "The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig," "Where Trouble Sleeps," etc.), Catherine's work has been seen throughout the country. An award winning production of "Tradin' Paint" was celebrated in Atlanta in the spring of 2009, and her musical "I'll Never Be Hungry Again" continues to be produced nationally. Her other plays include "The Frankenstein Summer" (Red Light Theatre District, NYC), "The Executioner's Sons," (Echo Theatre, TX), and "Just a Kiss" (New Theatre, FL), which was a finalist for the 2007 Steinberg Award presented by the American Theatre Critics Association. Her plays for young audiences have been commissioned and produced by the Barter Players, and several have toured to schools across the southeast United States.

Other Creative Writing Day Events

Literary Reading
Monday, July 25, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church

Jim Lauderdale in Concert, along with Mary Munsey
Tuesday, July 26, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Heartwood

Other Literary Events

Appalachian Readers Book Club Reading and Sale
Tuesday, August 2, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Capo’s Music Store, 903 East Main Street
Free Admission

Readings from books selected for the Appalachian Readers Book Club from August 2010 to July 2011. Copies of books selected will be available for sale, as well as books by local Appalachian authors, books about Appalachia and based in Appalachia. Some local poets and authors will be offering readings as well and signing their works. For more information contact Amy Ball Braswell at 276-525-1880 or by email, caposmusicstore@gmail.com.

Haunts of the Blue Ridge Highlands
with Joe Tennis
Tuesday, July 26, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Capo’s Music Store, 903 East Main Street
Free Admission

Local writer, Joe Tennis, will read and sign Haunts of the Blue Ridge Highlands. A Confederate soldier forever lost at Cumberland Gap, the wispy woman of Roanoke College and the spectral horse that runs the streets of Abingdon are among the restless spirits of southwestern Virginia.

Join local author Joe Tennis as he takes readers on both sides of the Blue Ridge to explore the ghostly tales of Appalachia and the Crooked Road. Peer over the rim of the New Castle Murder Hole, dive into the mysteries of Mountain Lake and wander among the lost graves of Wise County to discover the haunted lore of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Highlands. This book bridges the Blue Ridge Parkway and follows the entire length of the Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. It explores a couple dozen counties, with tales of towns called Fincastle and Saltville tucked away in Virginia’s scenic southwestern corner. Each chapter is based on a blend of folk legends, longtime traditions, historical research and firsthand accounts.


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