Fall Writerfest 2022

Fall Writerfest 2022 will start on the Sunday after Labor Day, September 11, 2022. We had a great experience at Fall Writerfest 2021 and are looking forward to doing it again. Workshops will be announced in the spring of 2022. 

Workshops and Seminars - What's the Difference?

Sometimes people tell me they don't understand the difference when I talk about a workshop or a seminar at Fall Writerfest. A workshop meets every morning. You preregister for one of the five workshops (play writing, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, or work-in-progress). You will hear from your instructor before you get to Pyramid and you will be in that workshop with that instructor for the full program. Each workshop is limited to eight participants. The seminars meet once after lunch and you attend on a walk-in basis. Anyone attending Fall Writerfest can attend any or all of the seminars. We will be offering at least one of these each day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We may offer as many as six, in two time slots, one after the other over the three days.

The workshops and the presenters are already announced on this blog; people are registering for them now. The seminars will be announced around August 12, one month before the program begins. Once you are registered and paid in full for Fall Writerfest through the Pyramid Life Center, you can enroll in a workshop by telling me (at EllieOLeary@gmail.com) which one you want. You do not need to pick a seminar until the day it is being presented and you decide whether or not you want to walk-in.

Coffee and Centering with Nelle - 7:30 - 8:00am in the Dining Hall

Coffee and Centering with Nelle

7:30 - 8:00am in the Dining Hall

Breakfast is served at 8:00am in the Dining Hall, but coffee and tea are available by 7.

You’re invited to start your day with coffee and “centering” from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. with Nelle Stanton. Themes for each day will focus on the tasks of a writer: attention to setting, deep listening, body awareness, being “here now” as preparation for work, and letting go in order to receive. 

These topics are inherently spiritual as they speak to the unseen reality of our daily lives. None are religious - at least not the way they will be offered this week. 

Caffeine and deep relaxation may seem like an odd combination. They do, however, fuel the Body-Mind-Spirit nexus of creativity. At least, that’s the plan!

- Nelle Stanton is a retired healthcare chaplain trained in various forms of meditation, energy healing, and spiritual expression.

Registrations and Workshops

Fall Writerfest is a program held at Pyramid Life Center. Because there are two entities, registration is a two step process. Register to attend at the Pyramid Life Center. Their website is  here. 

All participants will be in one of the five workshops. To reserve a spot in a particular workshop, email EllieOLeary@gmail.com. You can email to check on availability, but you will have to be paid in full to hold a place in a workshop. The five workshops are  - play writing, creative non-fiction, poetry, fiction, and work-in-progress. Workshop descriptions are in previous posts.  

Work in Progress with Ellie O'Leary

Already working on something? This is for those writers who want to go on a retreat but are also working on an on-going project – something they don’t want to leave for the better part of a week or something they are looking forward to finally having some time set aside for serious work. We will meet each morning to discuss and set goals. The rest of the morning and as much of the afternoon as you like are available for your writing. Individual appointments for goal setting will be available.

Ellie O’Leary, Poet Laureate of Amesbury, Massachusetts, often writes about growing up in the village of Freedom, Maine. Her debut poetry manuscript Breathe Here was published in 2020  and her memoir Up Home Again  is forthcoming, both with North Country Press. She hosts a monthly poetry reading, has published poetry, fiction, and non-fiction in numerous journals and anthologies, and has an MFA from the Stonecoast Program. 

Creative Non-Fiction with Jeff Campbell

 Personal Narrative: Turning Life into Story

This creative nonfiction workshop explores how to take the raw materials of our lives and shape them into compelling stories with impact, emotion, and insight. The main focuses are honing observation, narrative structure, personal perspective, and revision techniques. Participants are asked to bring a 1,000-word (max) personal narrative (details to come), which will be used during the workshop. Or just bring yourself and the stories you want to tell.

 

Jeff Campbell has enjoyed a diverse, almost thirty-year career in publishing as a freelance book editor, author, and writing teacher. As an editor, he has helped authors tell their stories and shape their manuscripts in nearly every nonfiction genre, from science to self-help, memoir to history to sports. As an author, he was a Lonely Planet travel writer for a dozen years, and most recently he has published YA nonfiction; his third and latest YA book, Glowing Bunnies!?: Why We’re Making Hybrids, Chimeras & Clones (Lerner Books) is due in spring 2022. For more, visit jeffcampbellbooks.com.

 

Poetry with Therese Broderick

 Four Takes on the Praise Poem: Anger, Grief, Joy, Serenity

In this workshop, we will write and explore poetry that affirms the struggles as well as the blessings of our lives.  Clapping, singing, and finger-snapping will be encouraged.  Each participant will receive a packet that includes: sample poems, writing prompts, history of the praise poem, podcasts, and tips for craft-based feedback. Beginners welcome.  

Therese L. Broderick, MFA, MLS, has served the community of writers in Albany, New York, for more than twenty years in numerous roles, including board officer, contest judge, classroom guest poet, and facilitator for Albany Area Poetry Chat. Her poems have been published in many venues, both paper (Poet Lore) and digital (New York State Writers Institute), and have received several awards, including an Intro Journals Project prize from the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, and the Overall Winner prize from The Poetry Project with Poetry Ireland. She is the author of four chapbooks, the most recent of which, Green-Weak, is available for free at https://redwolfjournal.wordpress.com. Her first full-length collection, Breath Debt: Poems, was published in 2018. Her poetry hacks may be found at Terzanelles.

 

 

Playwriting with Tom Coash

From Blank Page To Stage - A Playwriting Workshop focusing on how to write a short play. Everybody has stories they want to tell but when confronted with the blank page have no idea where to start. This workshop will incorporate simple, fun writing exercises, discussion of the elements of a good play (such as structure, strong motives, compelling dialogue), and strategies with the aim of making those first few lines easier to write. Whether you’ve yet to write your first play or have several under your belt, the workshop is aimed at anybody who’s ever stared at that blank page (and empty stage!) and wanted to fill it.

Tom Coash is a playwright, producer, and director. Coash's plays have been produced worldwide and won numerous playwriting awards, including the National Theatre Critics Association's Osborn Award, the Clauder Competition, and an Edgerton Foundation National New Play Award. Coash currently teaches playwriting at the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast MFA Writing Program.  

 

Fiction with Clif Travers

“I hate you. I love you. Stop talking!”

Exploring the said and the unsaid

Realistic dialogue is crucial, but there is so much that can be revealed about character relationships beyond the words they share. In this workshop we will begin with dialogue and then move beyond it, to the revelations that you can reveal to the reader that go deeper than the spoken work. Each participant should come to the workshop with a character they would like to explore. Through some of the techniques we’ve done before, we’ll create a significant relationship for our characters, and then we’ll develop scenes and stories that come from that exploration.

What our characters say within their relationships is important. But what they don’t say is equally significant. Let’s discover both.  

 

Clif Travers is a visual artist and writer, recently relocated to his home state of Maine after too
many years in Brooklyn, NY. His writing has been featured in Underwood Press, freeze frame
fiction, Crack the Spine Anthology, and Coffin Bell Journal, among others. He received his MFA
in creative writing from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. His collection of short
stories and novellas titled The Stones of Riverton is under consideration by Islandport Press.
They are tales inspired by the gravestones in his hometown in Western Maine and are based on
the rumors of the suspicious deaths of those who lie beneath them.
Clif lives in Portland, Maine with his adorable pup Ollie.

 

Pyramid Life Center

 The Pyramid Life Center website is now taking registrations for the 2021 season. The fee for the Fall Writerfest is $300. Restrictions and distancing will apply. Register here.

Fall Writerfest 2021

Fall Writerfest is back in the planning stages for 2021. We will be announcing the workshops and other plans as they develop. The dates are Sunday, September 12 to Thursday, September 16. There will be workshops in the morning (preregistration required), seminars in the afternoon on a walk-in basis, and evening readings for those who wish to signup. The Pyramid Life Center will be limiting numbers this year; we will not be able to accommodate spouses, partners, children, or pets at this program.