The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing was founded in order to give writers the opportunity to develop their craft amongst established authors. The Institute offers a comprehensive week-long focus on writing, providing writers with the neccessary time to devote to their art, in the idyllic setting of the Vineyard. Each summer, the institute invites published authors, literary journal editors, and university creative writing faculty from around the country to lead writing workshops, work one-on-one with individuals, and provide the necessary tips and tools for editing and publishing their work.
Often finding the time and space to write is one of the more difficult hurdles of writing. Our goal is to make the writing program experience a personal one that aids in building a writing community, establishing friendships with other writers, and offering contacts in the industry. Participants include individuals of varying ages and writing abilities, from published writers to skilled beginners. The institute also offers the opportunity to engage with faculty outside of the workshop during nighttime readings and receptions, as well as a catered panel discussion on the craft of writing. These nighttime events and one-on-one editing sessions allow participants and faculty to spend time together, offering a more intimate experience than most summer writing programs. In addition to the primary seminar, the institute offers specialty workshops, and individualized editing sessions to provide a full day of writing, inspiration, and creativity. We hope you will join us this summer!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 13, 2009
Schedule
Sunday July 11th: 7-9 pm: Welcome Reception and Faculty Reading: All participants are invited to come and meet the faculty. Enjoy wine and hor'd oeuvres and settle in for an intimate reading from our visiting authors.
Monday-Friday July 12th-16th:
10:00-12pm:Specialty Workshop with Guest Faculty
1:00-3:00: Individual Editing Meetings
3:00-5:00: Writing Seminar
Writing Seminar (Instructor: Alexander Weinstein) Every day begins with the main writing seminar. The seminar offers students the opportunity to build on their craft over the stretch of the week. We will focus on the central elements of craft, including dialogue, character development, language, and narrative voice. The seminar gives writers the chance to develop new work, build upon in-class writing assignments, and strengthen previously written material.
Monday July 12th: Narrative Voice/Tone: A crucial element in storytelling is not just what you say, but how you say it. This class will focus on developing the narrative voice which tells your stories. We will experiment with a range of narrative voices so to best capture the voice that your story wishes to speak with.
Tuesday July 13th: Language and Structure: Part of creating a story is envisioning the structure it will inhabit. In this class we will look at a number of different structuring tools that can help bring your stories to life. As well we will explore how language use, sentence structure, and word choice can help your story become more engaging, dynamic, and alive.
Wednesday July 14th: Creating Believable Characters: We’ve all heard the notion of allowing your character’s to come alive. This workshop will teach you the methods necessary to accomplish this task. Who are your characters? What are their hopes and dreams, their passions and hates? We will deepen our understanding of characterization, and in turn begin to allow our characters to speak back.
Thursday July 15th: A Dialogue Workshop: In this class we will tackle the often difficult tool of dialogue. In particular we will focus on making your characters’ dialogue sound as believable as the dialogue of the real world, and how to make each character's voice distinct.
Friday July 16th: Breaking the Rules: There are no rules in writing but the rules the writer invents. Still, there are tendencies and expectations created by realistic fiction. We will look at these "rules" and how to effectively break them. As well, we will explore the more experimental edges of fiction writing.
Individual Editing Meetings (Miciah Bay Gault) During midday, those signed up for one-on-one conferences meet with our visiting literary editor to discuss their manuscripts (see registration for information on submitting your manuscript for editing). For those not signed up, this open period allows time to explore the island, take a swim at the nearby beach, grab some lunch, or devote time to writing.
Specialty Workshops: The group reconvenes in the mid-afternoon for specialty workshops. Each day begins with a workshop led by our visiting faculty. Specialty workshops are designed by the authors to focus on a particular element/genre of the writing craft.
Monday July 12th: Miciah Bay Gault: Constructing the Sentence: At Hunger Mountain, the editors are looking for great story-telling, but we're also looking for well-crafted sentences. Sentences are the building blocks of fiction, yet they're often overlooked by writers. In this workshop we'll talk about how to get your story editor-ready. We'll go over manuscript format, cover letters, and--most important--line-editing practices. Learn how to make your sentences tight, concise, and rhythmic. Learn how to treat each sentence like its own small work of art.
Tuesday July 13th: Megan Savage: Microfiction and Short Forms
Wednesday July 14th: Christopher Citro: The Magic of Setting
Thursday July 15th: Editing Workshop
Friday July 16th: Abdel Shakur: Publishing before you Perish: Ishamael Reed once said, writing is fighting, and although that accurately conveys the experience of a writer wrestling with both truth and words, it can just as easily apply to the world of publishing. This workshop will be geared towards answering common questions about literary publishing: Who reads manuscripts at literary journals? What are they looking for? When is your work ready to be published? Where can you find the best fit for your work? How does the editing process work once your piece is accepted? Aside from these burning concerns, we’ll read and workshop stories, talk about literary craft, and consider the bigger question of why we write in the first place.
Saturday: 11-1 pm: Panel Discussion and Lunch: Bringing the Muse Home: In order to grow as a writer, the ability to create both a space and time to continue the writing process is a crucial element of writing. This panel discussion will address the dilemma of time, and techniques the visiting faculty use to purse the profession of writing. The faculty will discuss methods of integrating the work done throughout the week into one’s daily life.
Saturday 7-9 pm: Reading Celebration and Closing Ceremonies: As a closing ceremony to our week together, workshop participants will have the opportunity to share their work with the group and the faculty. Wine and hor’d oeuvres will be served, and we invite everyone to come, relax, and celebrate each other’s voices.
Monday-Friday July 12th-16th:
10:00-12pm:Specialty Workshop with Guest Faculty
1:00-3:00: Individual Editing Meetings
3:00-5:00: Writing Seminar
Writing Seminar (Instructor: Alexander Weinstein) Every day begins with the main writing seminar. The seminar offers students the opportunity to build on their craft over the stretch of the week. We will focus on the central elements of craft, including dialogue, character development, language, and narrative voice. The seminar gives writers the chance to develop new work, build upon in-class writing assignments, and strengthen previously written material.
Monday July 12th: Narrative Voice/Tone: A crucial element in storytelling is not just what you say, but how you say it. This class will focus on developing the narrative voice which tells your stories. We will experiment with a range of narrative voices so to best capture the voice that your story wishes to speak with.
Tuesday July 13th: Language and Structure: Part of creating a story is envisioning the structure it will inhabit. In this class we will look at a number of different structuring tools that can help bring your stories to life. As well we will explore how language use, sentence structure, and word choice can help your story become more engaging, dynamic, and alive.
Wednesday July 14th: Creating Believable Characters: We’ve all heard the notion of allowing your character’s to come alive. This workshop will teach you the methods necessary to accomplish this task. Who are your characters? What are their hopes and dreams, their passions and hates? We will deepen our understanding of characterization, and in turn begin to allow our characters to speak back.
Thursday July 15th: A Dialogue Workshop: In this class we will tackle the often difficult tool of dialogue. In particular we will focus on making your characters’ dialogue sound as believable as the dialogue of the real world, and how to make each character's voice distinct.
Friday July 16th: Breaking the Rules: There are no rules in writing but the rules the writer invents. Still, there are tendencies and expectations created by realistic fiction. We will look at these "rules" and how to effectively break them. As well, we will explore the more experimental edges of fiction writing.
Individual Editing Meetings (Miciah Bay Gault) During midday, those signed up for one-on-one conferences meet with our visiting literary editor to discuss their manuscripts (see registration for information on submitting your manuscript for editing). For those not signed up, this open period allows time to explore the island, take a swim at the nearby beach, grab some lunch, or devote time to writing.
Specialty Workshops: The group reconvenes in the mid-afternoon for specialty workshops. Each day begins with a workshop led by our visiting faculty. Specialty workshops are designed by the authors to focus on a particular element/genre of the writing craft.
Monday July 12th: Miciah Bay Gault: Constructing the Sentence: At Hunger Mountain, the editors are looking for great story-telling, but we're also looking for well-crafted sentences. Sentences are the building blocks of fiction, yet they're often overlooked by writers. In this workshop we'll talk about how to get your story editor-ready. We'll go over manuscript format, cover letters, and--most important--line-editing practices. Learn how to make your sentences tight, concise, and rhythmic. Learn how to treat each sentence like its own small work of art.
Tuesday July 13th: Megan Savage: Microfiction and Short Forms
Wednesday July 14th: Christopher Citro: The Magic of Setting
Thursday July 15th: Editing Workshop
Friday July 16th: Abdel Shakur: Publishing before you Perish: Ishamael Reed once said, writing is fighting, and although that accurately conveys the experience of a writer wrestling with both truth and words, it can just as easily apply to the world of publishing. This workshop will be geared towards answering common questions about literary publishing: Who reads manuscripts at literary journals? What are they looking for? When is your work ready to be published? Where can you find the best fit for your work? How does the editing process work once your piece is accepted? Aside from these burning concerns, we’ll read and workshop stories, talk about literary craft, and consider the bigger question of why we write in the first place.
Saturday: 11-1 pm: Panel Discussion and Lunch: Bringing the Muse Home: In order to grow as a writer, the ability to create both a space and time to continue the writing process is a crucial element of writing. This panel discussion will address the dilemma of time, and techniques the visiting faculty use to purse the profession of writing. The faculty will discuss methods of integrating the work done throughout the week into one’s daily life.
Saturday 7-9 pm: Reading Celebration and Closing Ceremonies: As a closing ceremony to our week together, workshop participants will have the opportunity to share their work with the group and the faculty. Wine and hor’d oeuvres will be served, and we invite everyone to come, relax, and celebrate each other’s voices.
Registration
Program Dates: July 11th-July 17th 2010
The program fee for the 2010 Summer Writing Program is $1200.00. The program fee covers participation in both the morning workshop and afternoon seminar throughout the week, the panel discussion, both evening readings, and a one hour editing conference with the visiting literary journal editor. Please note that the program fee does not include travel or accommodations.
Registration: In order to ensure that all participants receive the optimal amount of time and individual attention, there are a maximum of 15 spaces available. To reserve your seat in the workshop, the institute requires a non-refundable deposit of $400 by June 1,2010. Please make out all checks to MVICW and mail to:
The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing
Attn: Alexander Weinstein: Director
7 East Pasture Rd.
Aquinnah, MA 02535
Manuscript Registration: If you plan on taking advantage of the individual editing sessions, you must submit your writing (up to 30 pages) by June 1, 2010. This allows our visiting literary editor the time to devote comprehensive attention to your work. Once successfully registering for the workshop, please mail your manuscript by e-mail attachment to:
miciahbay AT gmail DOT com
The program fee for the 2010 Summer Writing Program is $1200.00. The program fee covers participation in both the morning workshop and afternoon seminar throughout the week, the panel discussion, both evening readings, and a one hour editing conference with the visiting literary journal editor. Please note that the program fee does not include travel or accommodations.
Registration: In order to ensure that all participants receive the optimal amount of time and individual attention, there are a maximum of 15 spaces available. To reserve your seat in the workshop, the institute requires a non-refundable deposit of $400 by June 1,2010. Please make out all checks to MVICW and mail to:
The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing
Attn: Alexander Weinstein: Director
7 East Pasture Rd.
Aquinnah, MA 02535
Manuscript Registration: If you plan on taking advantage of the individual editing sessions, you must submit your writing (up to 30 pages) by June 1, 2010. This allows our visiting literary editor the time to devote comprehensive attention to your work. Once successfully registering for the workshop, please mail your manuscript by e-mail attachment to:
miciahbay AT gmail DOT com
Accommodations
The Vineyard has many beautiful locations to spend the week. The Martha’s Vineyard On-Line website www.mvol.com is an excellent resource, providing a comprehensive listing of accommodations based on your preferences and price range, including hotels, vacation rentals, and bed and breakfasts. As well, the website offers a listing of restaurants, beaches, golf courses, nature trails, and other activities and sightseeing information.
For more inexpensive accommodations the Martha’s Vineyard Hostel offers accommodations starting at $35/night. Their website is www.usahostels.org/cape/himv/index.shtml
The red hat inn www.theredhat.com is a wonderful bed and breakfast located walking distance from the workshop. Workshop participants staying the week receive a 10% discount. However space is limited and so early reservations are suggested.
For more inexpensive accommodations the Martha’s Vineyard Hostel offers accommodations starting at $35/night. Their website is www.usahostels.org/cape/himv/index.shtml
The red hat inn www.theredhat.com is a wonderful bed and breakfast located walking distance from the workshop. Workshop participants staying the week receive a 10% discount. However space is limited and so early reservations are suggested.
Travel to the Vineyard
Travel to the Vineyard is easily available by car, bus, or plane.
By Bus: The main bus company that services travel to Martha’s Vineyard from New York, and the New England area is:
Peter Pan Bus lines: www.peterpanbus.com
By Air: The main airline carriers that fly directly to Martha’s Vineyard are:
Cape Air: 1-800-352-0714 www.flycapeair.com
US Airways: 1-800-428-4322 www.usairways.com
Taxi Service from the airport is available through:
www.mvol.com/directory/transportation/taxis
By Car:
If planning on driving to the island, boat reservations are highly recommended. You can book your boat reservation through
The Steamship Authority: 508-477-8600 www.steamshipauthority.com
By Ferry:
There are a number of ferries that travel to the Vineyard. The following website offers a comprehensive listing: www.mvol.com/directory/transportation/Ferries
Car Rental on the Island:
www.mvol.com/directory/transportation/car_rentals
By Bus: The main bus company that services travel to Martha’s Vineyard from New York, and the New England area is:
Peter Pan Bus lines: www.peterpanbus.com
By Air: The main airline carriers that fly directly to Martha’s Vineyard are:
Cape Air: 1-800-352-0714 www.flycapeair.com
US Airways: 1-800-428-4322 www.usairways.com
Taxi Service from the airport is available through:
www.mvol.com/directory/transportation/taxis
By Car:
If planning on driving to the island, boat reservations are highly recommended. You can book your boat reservation through
The Steamship Authority: 508-477-8600 www.steamshipauthority.com
By Ferry:
There are a number of ferries that travel to the Vineyard. The following website offers a comprehensive listing: www.mvol.com/directory/transportation/Ferries
Car Rental on the Island:
www.mvol.com/directory/transportation/car_rentals
Saturday, April 11, 2009
About the Instructors: Christopher Citro
Instructor
Christopher Citro, born and raised in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, came to Bloomington by way of Lawrence, Kansas. He currently teaches writing at Indiana University. He is Associate Editor for Lyric Poetry Review, an Associate Poetry Editor for Indiana Review, and co-hosts The Poets Weave on the NPR station WFIU.
He won the 2006 Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award for Poetry, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
His writing has also been published, or is forthcoming, in Harpur Palate, The Cincinnati Review, Poet Lore, Permafrost, Faultline: Journal of Art & Literature, Burnside Review, Ghoti Magazine, CutThroat, Redactions, Arsenic Lobster, Inch Magazine, Stone Table Review, Juked, Coal City Review, Whistling Shade, Spout Magazine, I-70 Review, and elsewhere.
His criticism has been published in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Indiana Review.
Orbiting the Sundress, his first chapbook, was published by Unholy Day Press in 2004.
About the Instructors: Miciah Bay Gault
Editor/Co-Director
Miciah Bay Gault is the managing editor of Hunger Mountain, the literary journal of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Miciah’s fiction has appeared in AGNI, and is forthcoming in The Literary Review. Her work has been nominated for Best New American Voices and twice won the Peter Neagoe Prize for Fiction. She received her MFA at Syracuse University, and has taught writing and literature at Saint Michael’s College, Woodbury College, Syracuse University, and the Cape Cod Conservatory for the Arts. She currently lives in Montpelier with her husband and 8-year old stepdaughter.
About the Instructors: Megan Savage
Instructor
Megan Savage: Megan Savage has received fellowships from Ledig House International
Writer's Residency and Indiana University where she completed graduate studies in Creative Writing. Her work has appeared in Spork, Subtropics, and Barn Owl Review, and has been twice nominated for Best New American Voices. She has led writing workshops at the Putney School Summer Arts Program and Write Around Portland. Currently, she is based in Portland, Oregon where she teaches writing at Portland College, and tries to ride her bike across at least one bridge a week. Her work can be read at
sporkpress.com/weeklies/prose/archives/00000028.htm
sporkpress.com/weeklies/prose/archives/00000022.htm
sporkpress.com/weeklies/prose/archives/00000025.htm
About the Instructors: Abdel Shakur
Instructor
Abdel Shakur: Abdel Shakur is the former editor of Indiana University's award-winning literary journal, Indiana Review. As editor, he was responsible for the widely-acclaimed funk issue, which featured poetry, fiction, and art with a funk aesthetic. Abdel has edited authors such as Stuart Dybek, Wendy Rawlings, Alberto Rios, Peter Selgin, Laura van den berg, and Tom Kealey. He is a recipient of the Culbertson Award for Teaching, the Jean Shepard Literary Award, and the Guy Lemmon Public Writing award. Abdel currently teaches Humanities at ACT charter school on Chicago's west side, through the Teach for America program. He lives with his wife, Candice, and beloved cat, Sally. Read more about his views on funk, writing, and politics at his blog, www.misstraknowitall.blogspot.com and www.postnoills.com/main/?p=59
About the Instructors: Alexander Weinstein
Director/Program Coordinator/Instructor
Alexander Weinstein is a graduate of Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Colorado. He has been working as a creative writing teacher and freelance editor for the past ten years. He leads fiction workshops throughout the United States and Europe and currently teaches creative writing at Indiana University. The recipient of the Ernest Hemingway Fellowship in Fiction and a T.C. Steele Artist in Residence, his work has appearded in the Hawaii-Pacific Review, Acapella Zoo, Fiore, and he is a regular contributor to Canvas Literary Magazine. His work deals with the trials and tribulations of modern life and other maladies of the pre-apocalyptic era.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Photos of Martha's Vineyard
The Aquinnah Cliffs at Sunset-a beautiful place to take a walk after a long day of writing.
Photos of Martha's Vineyard
The Sengekontacket pond offers an idyllic place to kayak, canoe, or wade in for a swim.
Photos of Martha's Vineyard
The little fishing town of Menemsha is a great place to get fresh fish, and enjoy local seafood while relaxing on the docks.
Photos of Martha's Vineyard
The historic town of Oak Bluffs has many beautiful walking streets and historic gingerbread cottages.
Photos of Martha's Vineyard
The living room at the Institute offers an intimate space to relax between workshops and speak with visiting faculty.
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