Writers Conference at Keene State College
KEENE, N.H., 05/20/09 - Keene State College announces that registration is open for its Writers Conference, July 26 to August 1.
Eight published, award-winning, nationally recognized writers in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry work one-on-one with conference attendees during the week. With four or five writers in workshops, instructors are able to focus their attention on students, both individually and in small groups.
Conference attendees also meet visiting writers, attend craft talks and readings, and spend time writing. The conference closes with a group reading by all conference participants.
Faculty brings a breadth of writing experience: Laurie Alberts is the author of novels, a story collection, and memoirs. She received the Michener Award for the Novel, the Katherine Anne Porter Prize, the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society Prize for short story, and an American Fiction award. Alberts teaches fiction and creative nonfiction in the Vermont College MFA in Writing Program.
Poet Celia Bland wrote Captions for Cartoons Not Yet Drawn and Soft Box. Bland’s poems appeared in Shenandoah, Natural Bridge, Heliotrope, Entelechy, Prima Matera, and Sui Generis. Dean of studies at Bard College, Bland teaches poetry and first-year seminar at Bard.
William Doreski authored 17 books of poetry, criticism, and memoir. An English professor, he has taught creative writing at Keene State College since 1982.
Jeff Friedman published four collections of poetry. His work appeared in American Poetry Review, Poetry, and The New Republic. He is a core faculty member in the MFA program in poetry writing at New England College.
Joseph Monninger has written eight novels and three nonfiction books. His work appeared in American Heritage, Scientific American, Sports Illustrated, and Ellery Queen. He has twice received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a fellowship from the New Hampshire Council for the Arts.
Christopher Noel, author of the novel Hazard and the Five Delights, the memoir In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing: A Geography of Grief, and the collection of short stories A Frail House, and has taught in the Vermont College Fine Arts in Writing Program since 1989. Noel also runs an editing service. He lives in East Calais, Vermont, where he runs Tall Rock Retreat, each summer and fall.
Dzvinia Orlowsky is founding editor of Four Way Books and author of four poetry collections, including Convertible Night, Flurry of Stones. She translated Alexander Dovzhenko’s novella, The Enchanted Desna. Orlowsky received a 2006 Pushcart Prize and received a Massachusetts Cultural Council poetry grant. She is a faculty member of the Low-Residency Solstice MFA Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College.
Roy Nathanson is an internationally acclaimed jazz composer and saxophonist. He is the bandleader of The Jazz Passengers. The Passengers recorded eight CDs, touring extensively in the United States and Europe over their 20-year career. Recently, Nathanson has concentrated on combining text and music in various ways: writing songs for performers such as Elvis Costello, Jeff Buckley, Deborah Harry, a radio play for NPR, and recording with his singing, talking, playing band Sotto Voce. His second CD with this group, Subway Moon, will be released in May as will his first collection of poems.
Nathanson also performs regularly with the poet Anne Waldman and has collaborated with Jeff Friedman, Gerald Stern, and other poets. Base cost is $990. Undergraduate or graduate level and conference housing is available for additional costs. Full payment is due by July 10, 2009.
Steven Kessler (800-KSC-1909 or 603-358-2290; skessler@keene.edu; Keene State College Writers Conference, Continuing Education Office, 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03435-2605) is the contact. A brochure and registration form are available online.
