The in-person workshop…

The in-person workshop is up and running strong -- we had a great first session on Monday. But lots of people either couldn't make Monday nights or didn't live in Chicago, so per their request -- I'm going to try teaching the same workshop online. We'll see how it goes!

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Online Summer Writing Workshop: Writing Your Identity (with Mary Anne Mohanraj)

Each and every one of us possess complex identities, which include such elements as race, age, ethnicity, gender, orientation, religion, class, national, political orientation and much more. In this summer workshop, you'll be encouraged to write your identities through the lens of fiction and/or creative nonfiction. (All prose genres are welcome.) Participants will submit and critique short narratives (or excerpts from novels or novellas), in addition to doing weekly writing exercises. We'll aim to create powerful stories with rich and compelling characters, while also exploring the basic elements of fiction/non-fiction writing: plot, dialogue, point of view, setting, structure, and more. If time permits, we'll also address the business of writing -- sending out stories and novels, finding an agent, etc.

All levels of writers (including beginners) are welcome. The workshop will meet online through a private mailing list, over an eight-week period. Limited to 20 participants. All participants are expected to read and write one-page critiques for 1-2 stories or novel excerpts (up to 30 pages each) from the other workshop members; participants will receive written critiques from the instructor. We'll also meet in a weekly online chat session where participants can ask questions and exchange advice; attendance for the chat is optional.

Workshop dates: Saturday, June 28 - Sunday, August 15. Chat sessions will tentatively meet on Saturday mornings, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. CST (subject to the group's approval).

Required text: Ursula K. LeGuin's Steering the Craft

Pre-registration (until June 25): $175
Registration (after June 25): $200

To register, send e-mail to Mary Anne at m@mamohanraj.com; she'll send you instructions on where to send your check or PayPal order. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

INSTRUCTOR BIO:
Mary Anne Mohanraj is the author of several books, including BODIES IN MOTION (HarperCollins 2005), an exploration of sexuality, marriage, and Sri Lankan/American immigrant concerns. BODIES IN MOTION was a finalist for the Asian American Book Awards. She has also recently published a children's picture book, THE POET'S JOURNEY. She has edited several anthologies in erotica, and founded and edited Strange Horizons, a premier speculative fiction magazine.

Mohanraj has 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. She received an MFA from Mills College, and her Ph.D. from the University of Utah, specializing in post-colonial literature and creative writing.

Mohanraj teaches fiction and Asian-American literature at Northwestern University and will be teaching science fiction and fantasy writing at Clarion in the summer of 2008. She has previously taught creative writing and literature at Roosevelt University and the University of Utah. Mohanraj is currently writing a nonfiction travelogue/memoir, tentatively titled ARBITRARY PASSIONS, as well as a YA fantasy novel, and a mainstream literary novel. She lives in Chicago with her partner Kevin and their daughter Kavya. Learn more at http://www.maryannemohanraj.com.

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(please forward appropriately. thank you!)