The Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference
About Us
Timothy Schaffert, Director
Emily Danforth, Assistant Director
Cody Lumpkin, Conference Associate
The Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference is in its sixth
year of bringing award-winning, widely reviewed writers of fiction, poetry, and
nonfiction, as well as influential publishing professionals, to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln to conduct weekend and week-long workshops. The workshops are
attended by people from all across the country-writers either just beginning to
find their voices, or in the process of polishing their work—many of whom return
year after year for the conference's invigoratingly creative environment.
What's NEW for the Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference?
The Prairie Schooner Workshops. The Conference has always had a
close association with the internationally renowned literary journal
Prairie Schooner—both the Conference and the journal are products of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln's
Creative Writing Department and, over the years, the Conference faculty
has included the people behind the journal—its editor, its readers, and its authors.
So, we've simply named our poetry, fiction, and nonfiction courses after the acclaimed
journal—now all our conference attendees can list Prairie Schooner Workshops
on their resumes and cover letters, and can be certain that the quality
of the courses is conveyed to the editors and agents to whom they show their work-Prairie
Schooner is one of our nation’s most revered journals, and one of its oldest. The
journal has a rich history too extensive to list here (its contributors have included
Truman Capote, Rita Dove, Tennessee Williams, Alice Hoffman, Eudora Welty, Joyce
Carol Oates, Charles Bukowski, Gregory Maguire, Chris Ware), and its influence in
the world of publishing has never been stronger. Winners of the Prairie Schooner
Book Prize have seen great success… just check out the enthusiasm for Brock Clarke's
new novel, his first after his Prairie Schooner Book Prize-winning collection Carrying
the Torch. And we're proud to again offer a master class with Hilda Raz,
the editor of Prairie Schooner.
The Website. The changes to our website are more than cosmetic. We’re in the process of
developing a conference that can serve its participants year-round, with access
to special online content, wikis,
extensive writer resources, and virtual workshops. Though this is all
currently under construction, we have already expanded our faculty pages to better
assist you in making a decision about which writer you’d like to work with—each
page includes a bibliography of the writer’s work, review blurbs, links to
excerpts and author web pages, and an exclusive five-question interview in
which the authors talk about their writing processes and inspirations. If you
haven’t yet, you should sign up for our email newsletter. Just drop a note to nswc@unl.edu, with your contact info, and we’ll keep
you updated.
The Director.
Still can't decide which workshop to sign up for? Email me, Timothy Schaffert (tschaffert2@unl.edu), or give me a call
(402.472.0908), and I'll be happy to help you. Just a bit about me: I'm the
author of three novels (The Phantom Limbs
of the Rollow Sisters; The Singing
and Dancing Daughters of God, a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers
pick; and Devils in the Sugar Shop, a
Book Sense pick and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice), and I'm a
former student of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's creative writing
program.
In addition to all of the above, the Conference continues to
offer panel discussions, readings, and
opportunities to socialize with our faculty. You'll also develop lifelong
friendships, writing partners, and professional connections among the other
students.
See you soon,
Timothy Schaffert
Director, Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference
202 Andrews Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588
402.472.0908
A note about the painting on our website: Edward
Hopper's iconographic portrait of a New York
scene, "Room in New
York," is owned by the Sheldon Art Gallery of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and has recently been part of a traveling
retrospective of Hopper’s work, the first comprehensive Hopper exhibit outside
of New York
in 25 years. The painting has also inspired the opera Later the Same Evening, which had its premiere at the National
Gallery of Art in Washington DC last summer. Hopper's work has
historically provoked the imaginations of artists, particularly writers and
filmmakers, with its narrative qualities. Hopper imagined the works as
collaborations with his wife, who posed for his work. Together, they developed
characters, coming up with names and biographies for the people in his paintings.
With that in mind, we asked some of the writers on our faculty to consider
what's going on in "Room in New York";
you can read their answers in the Q&A section of their pages on this
website.
Edward Hopper,
"Room in New York," 1932,
Oil on canvas,
29 9/32 x 36 5/8 x 1 1/4,
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden,
UNL-F.M. Hall Collection
