Summer Course Schedule

Posted: May 23rd, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized |

Mixed Levels Creative Nonfiction: Personal Essay & Memoir (with Chris Daley in Los Feliz)
Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 12, 2011 to August 30, 2011

In this mixed-levels course, students will read, discuss, and write essays (or chapters) that will explore the genre(s) of personal narrative and memoir. The readings will be selected to stimulate thinking, exemplify different techniques and styles, and suggest techniques for engaging personal and creative expression. There will be in-class and homework exercises that address topics such as persona, audience, story, description, memory and truth, and ethical considerations specific to the genre. Students will have the chance to workshop their writing in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire each member of the class.

This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Los Feliz, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional delicious snack—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
Course fee: $380 for new students; $340 for returning students (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Intermediate/Advanced Creative Nonfiction: Personal Essay and Memoir (with Chris Daley in Los Feliz)
Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
August 11, 2011 to September 29, 2011

This advanced level course is designed for writers who have started a memoir or essay collection and have some idea of the persona, audience, and purpose driving their work. There will be some assigned readings, but the focus will be on developing projects through a process of drafting, feedback, and revision in a challenging but supportive environment. Weekly in-class and homework exercises will help establish and refine structure, style, voice, and texture. Students will discuss the particular generic concerns of personal narrative and memoir, and they will have the opportunity to submit work for review every other week. An advanced project or previous enrollment in the Introduction/Mixed Level course strongly suggested.

This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Los Feliz, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional delicious snack—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
Course fee: $380 for new students; $340 for returning students (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Mixed Levels Poetry Writing Workshop (with Elline Lipkin in Studio City) *CLASS FULL; EMAIL WRITINGWORKSHOPSLA@GMAIL.COM TO GET ON WAIT LIST **
Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
June 30, 2011 to August 25, 2011 (no class July 7th!)

This mixed-levels class is designed to immerse students in both the power and pleasures of poetry.  Weekly, you will study examples of both traditional and modern poetic forms, such as the sonnet, villanelle, and sestina, and look at other poetic techniques such as use of rhyme, meter, metaphor, imagery and the line.  Students will be offered in-class exercises to use as a starting point for their own work and then be invited to continue with these as they develop a sense of poetic voice and vision.  You will have short critiques of students’ works-in-progress as well as additional reading offered to expand understanding of the breadth and depth of this genre, both through its lyric traditions and more innovative forms.

This course will take place in Studio City, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$380 for new students; $340 for returning students.  (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Poetry Master Class
(taught by Sarah Manguso in Los Feliz)

Saturday, June 18, 2011
3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
Fee: $120

This one-day master class is designed for poets of all experience levels who want to become more attentive readers and writers. The instructor will discuss the various functional components — syntax, semantics, lineation, lexicon, imagery, rhetoric, tone — of one poem by each participant, with particular attention to the component that supplies that poem’s propelling engine. She will then present a “companion work” by an established writer that uses similar engines, and suggest possible revisions. She’ll also conduct two exercises: one an exercise in content generation, the other a revision/compression exercise that the class will do collaboratively.

This master class will take place in the instructor’s home in Los Feliz, where sparkling water, fresh lemonade, and snacks will be served.

Application protocol: Once you sign up, you will be asked to email two poems directly to the instructor.  The instructor will choose one poem to present to the group. Before the class, all participants will receive an electronic document containing all poems and companion works to be presented during the class.

A writing prompt can be provided for anyone who would like to sign up but is intimidated by the prospect of submitting work beforehand.

If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com.

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Mixed Levels Fiction Writing Workshop (with Mary Guterson in the Melrose/Highland area) ** CLASS FULL; EMAIL WRITINGWORKSHOPSLA@GMAIL.COM TO GET ON WAIT LIST **
Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
June 28, 2011 to August 16, 2011

This mixed-levels class is designed for both short story writers and those just embarking on their novels. For the first four weeks, you will do in-class writing exercises and discuss published short fiction and novel excerpts from a craft perspective. You will cover such topics as characterization, pacing, point of view, structure, voice, and scene, and there will be short take-home writing assignments designed to help you progress with your manuscript.  In the final four weeks of the course, you will be expected to turn in either a short story manuscript or a novel excerpt (maximum 25 pages), to be critiqued by the instructor.  Students will also share excerpts and works-in-progress with the group in a workshop environment designed to inspire and challenge every member of the class.

This course will take place in the Melrose area, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$380 for new students; $340 for returning students.  (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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3-Hour Creative Writing Exercise Sessions
$25 per student

There are two sessions to choose from.

Saturday, June 11th, from 10 am to 1 pm
Fiction Writing with Leslie Parry in Pasadena **CLASS FULL: EMAIL WRITINGWORKSHOPSLA@GMAIL.COM TO GET ON WAIT LIST **

Saturday, June 25, 2011 from 11 am to 2 pm
Nonfiction Writing with Chris Daley in Los Feliz **CLASS FULL; EMAIL WRITINGWORKSHOPSLA@GMAIL.COM TO GET ON WAIT LIST **

In this 3-hour class, you will do a series of short in-class writing exercises that will give you new ideas and/or help you further develop projects you’ve already begun.  Some of the exercises will be favorites from previous courses, and some will be new.  You’ll go from one exercise to the next fairly quickly, and by the end of the session you’ll have pages upon pages of new material.  Those of you who are interested may stay for 15-20 minutes after the session to share one exercise with your fellow writers.

Enrollment is limited to 8 students per session.  Coffee, juice and sparkling water will be served!
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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