This class will focus on how we can use an investigation and exploration of the wider world as a springboard for writing more nuanced and resonant personal narratives. How can we situate our stories in larger social, political, and cultural spheres? How might we use research, journalism, or lyric association to show the connections held within our own stories? By the end of this course, participants will have greater fluency with blending various types of nonfiction and a more thorough understanding of the possibilities for opening up their personal narratives. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss a longer piece of their own work and read each other’s; while much of that discussion will focus on feedback for these pieces, we will also talk about how to grow and sustain communities of like-minded (and sometimes not like-minded!) readers. Participants will also have the option of completing short daily writing assignments that model the various strategies of approaching a narrative and are based upon the authors we read, such as Zadie Smith, Emily Maloney, Elena Passarello, and Lidia Yuknavitch. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week.

Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book tells the seemingly simple story of two characters passing a single season on a small island, and yet writers ranging from Ali Smith to Phillip Pullman to Kathryn Davis have praised the novel’s “magnitude” and “genius,” and have suggested that it “comes to represent the whole universe.” In this generative prose workshop, we will use Johnson’s deceptively minimal masterpiece as a touchstone as we begin to assemble our own summer books from the unique driftwood floating in our memories and imaginations. How might a whole world—or at least a whole book—be constructed out of these discrete pieces? What locations, seasons, or characters from our own imagined or actual experiences might intersect—or bump surprisingly against one another—to yield a sustained and sustaining longer work? What narrative and expressive possibilities might be afforded by dispensing with causal plot structures, and by imagining a book not as a propulsive progression but as a more mysterious container for discontinuous but coalescing material? We will endeavor to answer such questions by collaboratively reading the crystalline, yet obscurely connected, components that comprise Johnson’s novel, alongside selections from other books built out of small prose blocks by writers like Sei Shōnagon, Giada Scodellaro, Maggie Nelson, and Sigrid Nunez. Just as crucially, we will explore the novelistic potential of the vignette by responding to writing prompts inspired by all we’ve discussed and discovered. By the end of the week, each student should expect to have started their own [Iowa] Summer [Writing Festival] Book! Lovers of literature (and summer!) at all levels of experience are welcome. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts.

Good storytelling requires a sure touch with narration, characterization, and dialogue. None of these ingredients can be neglected. But when do you use which? How do you find the right balance? This is a nuts-and-bolts craft workshop for fiction writers of all levels. Novelists, short story writers, and flash aficionados are all welcome. We’ll compare the merits of first-person and third-person narration, and the extra risks of using the second person. We’ll also dissect characterization techniques and the question of empathy. Does your main character have to be “likeable”? What is “likeable” anyway? We’ll also ask questions about dialogue, idiolect, and profanity (yes, swearing is an artful activity!). We’ll reflect on when to give your characters a rest and let your narrator do the talking. The common saying, “Show, don’t tell” isn’t always true, but this fact begs the questions: How do I show? When do I tell? During the week, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on what you produce; AND, for participants who desire it, we will workshop writing you bring from home. (This last activity is not obligatory, but it is encouraged.) I’ll also supply reading materials from eminent writers to illustrate key issues. Whether you’re an experienced writer or a newbie, whether you’re in the process of revision or haven’t finished your first draft, you will leave this workshop with a keener appreciation of the tools at your disposal and how they might serve your writing. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week; workshop writing you bring from home.

This weeklong workshop is intended for anyone whose writing project involves bringing the past to life, whether it’s your own life, the life of family members, or the life and times of fully fictional characters. Some topics we’ll consider: What’s the best way to conduct your research, then incorporate that research into your narrative? How do you animate the past? If you’re writing memoir and the significant events have already happened, how do you make them feel fresh for the reader? What are some writerly tricks when writing historical prose, and what are some common pitfalls to avoid? Workshop members are expected to arrive with a 5- to 10-page sample of their writing project, which the group will consider. We’ll also generate new work using directed writing prompts. Instructor Eric Goodman’s eight book, Mother of Bourbon, a historical novel, will be published in April 2025. His sixth book, Cuppy and Stew (2020), combined historical fiction and faux memoir, so he’s spent considerable time in the past five years wrestling the past onto the page. In this first-time workshop, he’ll pass on what’s he learned. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week; workshop writing you bring from home.

Whether your story unfolds in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, an urban stockyard, a college campus or a quiet neighborhood, setting is a vital element. It shapes mood, deepens themes, and influences character. Setting is not necessarily a lengthy description of native plants and trees, although—if it’s integral to the unfolding drama—it can be. Nor is setting simply a backdrop. Setting is more akin to the air we breathe and, in some stories, the way we breathe it. In this course, we’ll explore techniques that evoke atmosphere, integrate sensory details, and make setting an active part of the plot. Together we’ll analyze literary examples of iconic worlds and identify the elements that make them vivid and unforgettable. We’ll consider the scope of setting, by comparing stories whose drama sprawls across entire towns to those contained within a home’s four walls. We’ll consider how sensory details create mood, genre, and atmosphere. Since all worlds—whether speculative, contemporary, or historical—have their unique histories and rules, we’ll study a variety of techniques for worldbuilding. We’ll use the language of film, too, to think about framing place through long-shots and close-ups. Whether you’re seeking inspiration for a new project or revising something old, this course will help you hone the contours of your fictional worlds. Participants will be given writing prompts at the end of each class and will share their short responses on the following day. Feedback will be given in class. Through a combination of collaborative craft talks, writing exercises, and peer feedback, participants will learn how to infuse their settings with sensual details, to evoke tension and mood through setting, as well as how to frame their settings. This course is for beginning and experienced writers alike. Participants will revise existing material or generate new material in response to daily prompts. Participants will share their responses in class and receive instructor and peer feedback orally. While we’ll draw largely on published fictions for inspiration, this course welcomes writers of all genres who wish to imagine and compose evocative settings. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week.

In this generative poetry-writing workshop, students will learn to recognize and manage that most slippery of pronouns in life and in poetry, “you.” Who “is” you in this poem? Can “you” be a cat? A bus? A planet? Me? Are you so vain you think this poem is about you? How dare “you”? Has this poem even met me? What is it this poem wants from me, the reader? Alternatively, what do I (the poet) want from you (the reader)? In five days with five respective units, we will cover: Unit 1: Cover letter (the private is public) Unit 2: The direct address (who are you this time?) Unit 3: The indirect address (expert eavesdropping) Unit 4: Mistaken identity (I thought you were someone else) Unit 5: I (who am I to address you thusly?) Students will have the opportunity to share work with one another, to read the works of life-changing poets, to receive feedback on previously written poems regarding how to radically re-envision their relationship to the reader (or you), and to meet one-on-one with me towards the end of the course. All levels welcome. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week; workshop writing you bring from home.

Memoirists face two essential tasks: First, to tell the story of plotted action, the narrative of what happened. And second, to tell the story of one’s own change and growth over time and reflecting on what it all means. That second story is where the author’s larger message is conveyed, elevating one person’s experience from the unique and personal to the universal and shared. It reveals what your story is about. But how do we bring that deeper message up to the surface and articulate it to readers in a meaningful way? And how can we expect to achieve this, if we haven’t yet identified what that larger message is? As Vivian Gornick has emphasized, what happened to an author is not what matters. What matters is what the author makes of those experiences. This class will help you clarify what you make of your own story, and give you tools for sharing these insights with readers. We’ll identify the underlying themes and archetypes of your nonfiction narrative. We’ll also work on creating passages of reflection and analysis that will resonate deeply with readers. Come to this intermediate-level workshop with pages you’ve already polished or first-draft work you’re ready to revise. You’ll generate new writing through in- and out-of-class assignments. Plan to share some pages during the week, and to offer other participants as much as you’ll receive. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week; workshop writing you bring from home. Bringing writing from home is welcome but not required.

This workshop is designed for fiction writers who are familiar with the workshopping process, who feel comfortable with at least some of the craft elements, and who have a story or novel excerpt that they would like to keep revising. The class will give constructive feedback on new manuscripts, highlighting what is working well in this draft and where the next draft might go. The workshop welcomes a wide range of story types, and our guiding principles will be to meet each story where it’s at and to see it on its own terms. As we read and comment on each other’s drafts, the conversation will also explore the writers’ toolbox, discussing topics such as plot, character, time management, point of view, language, image, and more. Looking at one’s work critically can be tough, but this session will be uplifting. The tenor will be professional, decorous, critically informed, and—I hope—inspiring. Plan to send, in advance of our meeting in Iowa City, the story or novel excerpt (no more than fifteen pages) you would like to share. In this workshop, we will workshop writing you bring from home.

If you were to find out that the heart of your poem is different from your own heart, would you still care about it? What if your poem doubted, or contradicted, something you have always believed or held dear? What if it misbehaved in public, got arrested, called you in the middle of the night to come down and bail it out—would you show up for it? If your answer is yes, then this workshop is for you. We will spend part of each session revising work participants submit in advance, and the other part composing new poetry. Revising and composing—every writer loves one of these a lot more than the other, but both are vital to master. To compose we must walk in the dark, go through doorways, and surprise ourselves on the page. We must be willing to play like children and not care about sucking. To revise we must put ourselves in the shoes of the reader, and zero in on what the poem wants to say, which is seldom (if ever) what we want to say. We must be ruthless, willing to cut even our best line if it advances the poem. This workshop is for anyone with a love of poetry writing, hungry to stretch their craft and deepen their approach. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; workshop writing you bring from home.

Let’s say you have a book idea, a book in progress, or a bunch of fragments that you hope will someday come together as a book. Let’s say that you’re unable to see exactly how everything should fit together or what the glue of the narrative is. Perhaps you’ve kicked around an idea for years but haven’t really committed to it, or possibly you’ve written the book already or are halfway through and have stopped. If this sounds like you, then you might consider writing a book proposal, whether you intend to submit this proposal to a publisher or not. Book proposals don’t have to be submitted to a publisher, but they can be an opportunity for you to understand your book more clearly and help you finish it. In this weeklong workshop, we will go through the process of writing proposals to potential publishers (or to yourself). While submitting a book proposal makes the most sense for writers of nonfiction or memoir, as it’s rare for a book of fiction to sell on one, anyone who wants to get a better handle on a longer project, regardless of genre, will benefit from this workshop. Even finished books need proposals sometimes to whet the appetites of agents and editors. We’ll learn about sample chapters, comparing your book to others, identifying your audience, and the chapter-by-chapter outline. Come to the class with one idea or several, or an outline (no more than 500 words) of your book in progress, or simply your frustration that the book you started years ago still isn’t done. While we can’t promise a cure-all, the book proposal might be a helpful tool for you. The class will largely be generative and will include daily exercises. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; offer feedback/first impressions on writing you produce in our week; workshop writing you bring from home.