Home
Salons
Writing Workshops
New
Blog
Media Services
About NWMA
Richard Hugo House & NW MediaArts Present:
Writing Fantastic Fiction Workshop Series
Winter/Spring 2008
The literature of speculative fiction provides the perfect oeuvre to hold a mirror up to humanity and look at who we are and what we might become. By telling tales of "the other" we discover ourselves. By projecting current trends forward, we ask "what if?" and compare the world that is with worlds that might be. Fantastic fiction has long been the home of astute social commentary and in-depth exploration of what it means to be human. Important work is being written in the realm of fantasy, science fiction, mythic and fabulist fiction, and these workshops provide an opportunity to work with masters of the field.
This workshop series will take you on a voyage of discovery as critically acclaimed authors from around the country arrive in Seattle to teach a day-long workshop focusing on writing tools that will further your craft and provide you with tools to sharpen your skills, whether writing fabulist fiction or mainstream. Each author will teach a one-day Sunday workshop and give a reading and book signing for the general public the following day, Monday, at 7:00 p.m. Workshops include discussion, in-class writing exercises and critiquing.
Visiting Authors
Robert Ferrigno
|
Ellen Klages
|
James Patrick Kelly
|
Elizabeth Hand
|
Nancy Kress
|
Breathing Life Into Characters; the Heart of Good Story
Instructor: Robert Ferrigno
|
Character is the core of good storytelling, a way to not only illuminate the tale, but a way to make us care about the tale being told. A bus going off a cliff in India is a one-inch story at the back of a newspaper. A writer who gives us a glimpse of one person on that bus, a young mother clutching her child with worry as the bus careens along the Mana-Lei highway down the slope of the Himalayas, a young mother praying as the driver grinds the gears, tires spinning, a young mother whose eyes shimmer while watching the child snore peacefully... until one of her tears falls on the child, waking it. That's more than a one-inch story. I'm interesting in teaching writers techniques that make their characters come alive, make them more than marionettes dancing in the service of plot, but characters that breathe and exist after the last page is turned.
We'll also talk about the business of writing; the things I've learned supporting a family for twenty years on writing novels alone. There should be some fun involved.
Robert Ferrigno, a former creative writing professor and newspaper reporter, is the author of nine novels, the most recent of which is Prayers for the Assassin (Scribner, 2006). Prayers is set in Seattle, thirty-five years in the future, after a civil war has left the United States divided into two nations, a Muslim republic and a Christian Bible Belt. Fun ensues. Both a NY Times and LA Times best seller, Prayers has been published in numerous foreign editions.
His first novel, The Horse Latitudes, was called "the fiction debut of the season" by Time magazine. Previously nominated for several Shamus Awards, and winner of the 2007 Gumshoe Award for Prayers for the Assassin, Robert is praised for his sharp dialogue, excellent, sometimes quirky characterizations, and his perceptive cultural insights. Almost all of his novels have been optioned for film. Robert has college degrees in Philosophy, Film Making and Creative Writing. An engaging and open speaker, Robert will teach characterization at his workshop and close with a talk on the business of writing.
Robert will also read from his new novel at the Fantastic Fiction Salon.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Min. 10 Max. 16.
Please bring lunch.
Registration & tuition information
Child's Play: Writing YA Fiction
Instructor: Ellen Klages
|
By the time we are adults, many of us have lost the sense of wonder we had as children. We no longer believe in magic. Fantastic fiction writers are an exception. They are adults who believe in their hearts that if you just go around the right corner, or open the right door, you will find something out of the ordinary. A lot of the "classics" of 20th-century literature began as books for children — Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, even The Hobbit. And today, in the post-Harry Potter world of publishing, fantastic literature for young adults has never been a more vibrant market. We'll talk about what difference — if any — there is in writing for adults or younger folk, play around with words and ideas and imagination (and how to get that onto the page), and we'll become reacquainted with the wonder that lies lurking just under the surface of everyday life. It will be an extraordinary day.
Ellen Klages is an award-winning writer whose short fiction has has appeared in anthologies and magazines, both online and in print. Her first novel, The Green Glass Sea, is the winner of the 2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 2007, Judy Lopez Award for Children's Literature, a finalist for the 2007 Locus Awards and the Quill Awards, and was #1 on the BookSense Winter 2006/2007 Children's Picks List. Her newly released short story collection, Portable Childhoods, received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly, and includes her Nebula Award-winning story, "Basement Magic."
Ellen will also speak at the Fantastic Fiction Salon.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Min. 10 Max. 16.
Please bring lunch
Registration & tuition information
Story Doctoring 101
Instructor: James Patrick Kelly
|
Have you ever gotten stuck in mid-plot, or finished a draft of a story knowing there were still flaws? Maybe an editor has asked for a rewrite that leaves you scratching your head? Stories can go wrong in all kinds of ways: from wooden characters to bland settings, from slow beginnings to predictable endings. This workshop offers techniques for analyzing a variety of story problems with a series of exercises that will help you recomplicate plots and teach your characters to speak in their true voice. You will learn how to identify and — with perseverance — cure a variety of literary maladies that might be weakening your fiction. Bring a sick story or an idea that has yet to gel.
James Patrick Kelly's short novel "Burn" won the Nebula Award in 2007. He has won the Hugo Award twice: in 1996, for his novelette "Think Like A Dinosaur" and in 2000, for his novelette, "Ten to the Sixteenth to One." His fiction has been translated into eighteen languages. With John Kessel he is co-editor of Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology and Rewired: The Post Cyberpunk Anthology. He writes a column on the internet for Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine and is on the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine.
Jim will also speak at the Fantastic Fiction Salon.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Min. 10 Max. 16.
Please bring lunch.
Registration & tuition information
This is the Way the World Ends
Instructor: Elizabeth Hand
Photo Copyright © 2007 by Liza Trombi |
The popularity of a new genre of fiction that reflects what's really happening in the world today has surged dramatically since 9/11. Writers have realized that it's a good time to be addressing in fictional terms some of the issues we're facing. People are feeling helpless in the face of global warming, the erosion of human rights, political extremists and terrorism. Eco-tourism has taken off as people rush to see rainforests and glaciers before they disappear. What we write can be empowering and timely; whether we write a cautionary tale or describe a world where solutions have been found to some of our problems.
What would it take to dissolve one of the world's problems? What would the fulcrum be that could stop what's going on and change everything? How would you do world building based on the patterns of extinction we're dealing with now? Plague, flooding, extinction of species; what is the domino chain impact?
You'll come away from this workshop with ideas for both cautionary/post-apocalyptic tales and stories that portray possible solutions to issues as we build scenarios off of what we're dealing with now.
Elizabeth Hand is the author of nine novels, including Generation Loss, a 2007 Washington Post Notable Book, and three collections of short fiction, including Saffron & Brimstone: Strange Stories and the World Fantasy Award-winning Bibliomancy. Her fiction has received two Nebulas (including the 2007 short fiction award for "Echo"), two World Fantasy Awards, two International Horror Guild Awards, the James Tiptree Jr. Award and the Mythopoeic Society Award, as well as an Individual Artist's Fellowship from the Maine Arts Commission/NEA. She is a longtime contributor of book reviews and criticism to the Washington Post, Village Voice, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, DownEast, and Salon, among others. She lives on the coast of Maine with her two teenage children and her partner, UK critic John Clute.
Elizabeth will also speak at the Fantastic Fiction Salon.
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Min. 10 Max. 16.
Please bring lunch.
Registration & tuition information
Writing in Scenes
Instructor: Nancy Kress
|
What's the difference between a story that's "almost there" and one that is successful? Very often, it's scene structure. You may have a wonderful idea and compelling characters, but if your execution is formless, they're wasted. Join us for a day of exploring what makes a scene work, including orientation, purpose, reaction, reversal, tension, and promise. We'll discuss concepts, look at professional examples, and do a few writing exercises. Don't hold back.make a scene!
Nancy Kress is the author of 21 books, including sixteen novels, and well over a hundred short stories. Her work has earned three Nebulas, a Hugo, and a John W. Campbell Award, and has been translated into a dozen languages. For sixteen years she was the "on Fiction" columnist for Writer's Digest magazine; currently she writes a similar column for a magazine in China. She is also the author of a highly praised book on writing, Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing.) Nancy regularly teaches writing at Rochester Arts Center and at summer writing festivals around the country.
Nancy will also speak at the Fantastic Fiction Salon on May 19, 2008.
Sunday, May 18th, 2008
10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Min. 10 Max. 16.
Please bring lunch.
Registration & tuition information
|
Co-sponsored by
|
|
How to Register
Tuition
Non-member tuition is $100.00.
If you already are or become a member of Richard Hugo House at the time of registration, take the member tuition rate of $90.00.
Clarion West Alumni also get the member rate for these classes.
Complete Winter Quarter class list, including tuition information, is available at the Richard Hugo House website.
Register by Phone:
Call Hugo House at (206) 322-7030 with your credit card information from 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. weekdays, and Noon-5:00 p.m. Saturdays (except holidays).
Register by Fax:
You may also fax your registration and credit card information to (206) 320-8767.
Register by Mail:
- Fill out the registration form
- Mail the form with your tuition check or credit card information to:
Registrar
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
Registration information at Hugo House
Hugo House does not offer online registration at this time.
For more information:
Leslie Howle
NWMediaArts
events@nwmediaarts.com
Previous Workshops