I'm offering two quick morning weekday writing classes this March (during my Spring Break); details below.
$45 for each three-hour session; light lunch, tea and juice will be provided. All levels of writers are welcome. The workshop will meet in person in Oak Park at my home, near Washington and Wisconsin. Class size is limited to 10 participants.
Registration deadline, Sunday, 3/24.
1) Basic Fiction Craft. We'll work quickly and intensively through much of Ursula K. Le Guin's writing book, STEERING THE CRAFT, doing a series of writing exercises aiming towards refining and honing our craft. We�ll cover the basics of character, plot, setting, POV, and structure. The book isn�t required; handouts will be provided. But I do recommend it, if you�d like to buy it before the class. Tuesday, 3/26, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
2) The Business of Writing. We�ll discuss business aspects of the writer�s life, covering such topics as cover letters (for short form and long), querying and working with agents, sample contracts, workshopping, MFA and PhD programs in writing, putting together a writer�s web page, the worth of contests, attending conferences, and more. Wednesday, 3/27, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
INSTRUCTOR BIO:
Mary Anne Mohanraj is the author of BODIES IN MOTION, a Sri Lankan-American novel-in-stories (HarperCollins) and nine other titles. BODIES IN MOTION was a finalist for the Asian American Book Awards, has been translated into six languages, and was selected for the One Book, One Truman program at Truman College. Mohanraj was recipient of a Breaking Barriers Award from the Chicago Foundation for Women for Asian American arts organizing; she has also received an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Prose, a Neff Fellowship in English, a Steffenson-Canon Fellowship in the Humanities, and the Scowcroft Prize for Fiction. Mohanraj is Clinical Assistant Professor of fiction writing and literature at the University of Illinois, Associate Coordinator of Asian and Asian American Studies, and Executive Director of both DesiLit (www.desilit.org), an arts organization supporting S. Asian and diaspora literature, and the SLF (www.speclit.org), an arts organization supporting speculative fiction. Her next book, The Stars Change, is forthcoming Spring 2013 from Circlet Press.