The Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference

Weekend Workshops [+]

Week-long Workshops [+]

The Basics

  • Limited space available, so register early! Registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and individual workshops close when they have reached capacity.
  • Participants may enroll for one weekend workshop only, one week-long workshop (or master class) only, or a combination of one weekend and one week-long workshop.
  • In addition, week-long participants may enroll in the Conference Short Courses: a package of three one-hour sessions addressing agents and query letters, an author's approach to developing a presence on the Internet, and a discussion of small press publishing.
  • A non-refundable deposit is required with each registration in order to guarantee workshop spots and manuscript consultation. Deposits apply toward the total cost of tuition.
  • Tuition includes registration in the writing workshop(s) and participation in special events, such as readings, receptions, and panel discussions.

Payment

  • Weekend workshop: $250. Week-long workshop: $525. Combination weekend/week-long workshops: $700. Master class in fiction: $1,300. Master class in poetry: $800. Master class in memoir/nonfiction: $1,000. Conference Short Course package: $100.
  • You may pay by credit card (Visa or MC), check, or money order. Please visit the registration page of the website to register online or to download a registration form, or call us at 402-472-3067. Tuition does not cover the costs of transportation or lodging.
  • Cancellation Policy: For cancellations made on or before May 1, 2009, your tuition will be refunded less the non-refundable deposit. No refunds will apply to cancellations made on or after May 2, 2009. In the event that a workshop is full or cancelled, and you do not wish to transfer to another workshop, you will receive a refund of your entire payment.

Weekend Workshops, June 13th - 14th, 2009

Weekend workshops meet for a total of eight hours: two hours on Saturday morning, two hours on Saturday afternoon, and the same on Sunday.

The Insider's Story: Getting Published

Instructors: Lauren Cerand and Jessica Regel
What makes a book a bestseller? Do I even want to write bestsellers? How many copies must a book sell to be successful? How do I find a publisher to begin with? And once I do, how do I find my readers? What can I be doing online, and what roles do booksellers play? Lauren Cerand, a publicist and publishing insider, and Jessica Regel, a New York City literary agent, will answer your questions about the publishing process, while also offering a portrait of the contemporary publishing scene. They'll tell you the truth about editors, agents, contracts, and marketing, while also offering insights into the creative process—they'll tell us how business and creativity can merge into a graceful partnership.

Kick-Start Your Memoir: Finding a Focus

Instructor: Joy Castro
With the welter of raw experience we've all had, the hardest part of writing a memoir or personal essay is knowing where to begin. In this generative workshop, you'll produce new writing from several surprising, engaging points of entry. We'll also discuss ways to stay on track and keep a clear focus in your work. Poets and fiction writers welcome.

Plot (And Other Four Letter Words)

Instructor: Sean Doolittle
Whether you're working on the next Gatsby or the next DaVinci Code, at some point every writer faces the same question: what happens next? It's no coincidence that compelling fiction requires the reader to ask themselves the same question (and care deeply about the answer). Come with your sleeves rolled up and we'll focus on plotting as a combination tool for jumpstarting a stalled narrative, developing character, and creating dramatic depth at the same time.

Stolen Goods: Finding Poetry

Instructor: Anthony Hawley
In this class you get to exercise your sticky fingers, lifting, stealing, borrowing, appropriating, possessing, and repossessing. Over the course of this weekend workshop we will write poems using exclusively "found" material and language.

Week-long Workshops, June 14th - 19th, 2009

The week-long conference begins Sunday evening with an introductory workshop. The workshops run from 9 am to noon each morning, Monday through Friday, and are followed by readings, panel discussions and other special events, as well as personal writing time, in the afternoons and evenings.

Master classes in poetry, fiction, and memoir/nonfiction

Instructors: Jonis Agee, Meghan Daum, Anthony Hawley and Hilda Raz
Each master class is limited to six students and includes a week-long workshop of student work and an individual reading and critique of your book-length manuscript by the workshop instructor. (This year's master class instructors are Jonis Agee in fiction, Anthony Hawley and Hilda Raz in poetry, and Meghan Daum in nonfiction.) Your entire manuscript will be read and critiqued prior to the conference, and your conference week will be spent in an Intensive workshop. The focus of the master class will be specifically directed toward the final revision and preparation of your manuscript for submission for publication. Those interested in enrolling should send a two-page synopsis of the novel or memoir, or a description of the poetry collection, as well as a chapter of prose or ten pages of poetry for screening. For the Master Class in the novel (up to 375 pages), the charge is $1300. The Master Class in nonfiction or memoir (up to 375 pages) is $1000. The Master Class in Poetry (up to 80 pages) is $800. Payment in full is due with registration.

The Wandering I [Or "Setting Things Straight"]

Instructor: Daphne Beal
You've been someplace beautiful or strange or life-changing, and you want to write about it, but somehow your prose reminds you too much of the travel guide you carried or someone else's description of the place. In this class, we'll discuss what makes effective cross-cultural writing whether it's fiction or non-fiction. Using published examples, in-class exercises, and workshops, we'll figure out how to use narrative voice, plot, and dialogue, in addition to setting, to convey the particular experience of a place. Students may submit up to 25 pages of fiction or non-fiction that addresses the experience of living or traveling through someplace foreign. The setting could be within the United States, but should be limited to real-life places (no fantasy settings, please).

In the Beginning: A Novelist/Editor's Perspective

Instructor: David Ebershoff
Ever go to a bookstore, pick up a book from the front table, turn to Chapter One and read a few lines? How often do you return that book to the pile and move on? In this workshop we'll focus on the beginning -- the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first page, the first chapter. Your job as a writer is to convince the editor and the reader to turn the page. We'll look at examples that -- boom! -- grab you; and others that, well, don't. We'll also discuss how the first chapter can and should determine many other aspects of a book.

Intimate Dialogues: Conflict & Discovery

Instructor: Jewell Parker Rhodes
Through texts and film, we will explore two-person dialogues--moments of intimacy (subtle, explosive, and sexual). Examining characterization, imagery, and conflict, we will try to establish which writing skills best create authentic intimacy and help drive the necessary revelations (both internal and external) to create satisfying scenes and emotional arcs. Essential techniques for writing effective dialogue, building tension, and suspense will all be discussed.

Structural Secrets: Gaining Control Over Your Fiction By Thinking About Structure

Instructor: Curtis Sittenfeld
In this class, we'll read one another's short stories and novel excerpts (up to 60 pages) and analyze them primarily in terms of structure. Are information and events presented in the best possible sequence? Does what happens prepare the reader for whatever happens next? Is the whole greater than the sum of the parts? We'll develop a vocabulary for discussing structure and a framework for understanding the structure of all stories and novels, both our own and other people's. In doing so, you'll be amazed by the larger patterns you see and, ideally, you'll come away with the ability to make your writing do what you intend instead of feeling like you're at its mercy. To a lesser extent, we'll also discuss issues of character development, language (including dialogue), and the business of publishing.

In Sight: Poetry and Image

Instructor: Grace Bauer
Anyone who loves to write (and read) might question the old adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words." In this workshop, we will look to paintings, photographs, artifacts, and other objects from our environment to find subjects for our poems and/or ways to ground our writing in physical details. We'll attempt to focus our attention and explore our personal interactions with the world around us through a variety of writing exercises designed to generate new poems and help us re-vision works in progress. Open to both beginning and experienced writers, the workshop will be structured, yet allow for enough flexibility to address particular interests and concerns of the participants.

How to Deliver That Knock-out Line: Insights From a Poet and Editor

Instructor: Glenna Luschei
William Stafford has said that his favorite poems present early and frequent verbal events. As an editor I read for the lines that grab me at the beginning and keep me reading. Sometimes that punch will come at the end as in James Wright's immortal line, after praising the beauty of the firmament, "I have wasted my life." How does the poet create the line the reader will always remember? This workshop will ponder that question.

Freedom Writing: Writing From Life

Instructor: Aaron Raz Link
Write your way out of the idea that your personal voice as a writer isn't important, and into writing that matters. How does it matter to write with the freedom of your own voice? Where does your own voice touch the pulse of a place, a generation, a way of life, a community? How can the specific details that only your life can offer--objects, textures, moments--evoke both personal meaning and collective experience for your readers? This class is suitable for writers thinking about a nonfiction project, as well as for those with a memoir or other work in progress. We'll focus on experiential and writing exercises to help you find the center of what matters to you--and your readers--in your writing now.

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Conference Short Courses

Many conference registrants have requested even more instruction, so we've added our new package of Conference Short Courses for week-long participants. Those who've registered for a week-long workshop or master class can also purchase the Short Course package, which includes three two -hour sessions to be held in the afternoons throughout the week. The topics of the sessions: Agents and publishing (an abbreviated version of the weekend publishing course); an independent press symposium (discussion with publishers and editors of small presses and literary magazines); and an author's guide to establishing an internet presence. The Conference Short Course package costs $100.