What happens when a phrase recurs, when language circles back on itself again and again? This lecture explores how repeated phrases and lines can add depth and meaning to writing across genres. We’ll look at examples from a range of authors (from Samuel Beckett to Shane McCrae, from Ali Smith to Gertrude Stein), and we’ll ask how refrain can become resonance. We’ll also consider how repeated phrases work in language and life more broadly: the things we say every day, the words we live by...

Voice is vital in fiction. It’s often the inspiration to start writing: a new voice arrives. Yet the voice(s) in any story or novel must also develop, shift tones, serve the plot, evoke the larger world. How do you sustain a powerful convincing voice throughout a work of fiction? How does voice help create setting, conflict, politics, the passage of time, all while sounding and feeling like a person? This lecture will explore the possibilities and challenges of voice. We'll discuss Hilary Plum’s...

We are in one of the most politically tumultuous times in decades. People are struggling to make sense of the daily news. One of the best tools for education, issue engagement, and advocacy is creative writing. Making a generalized political issue a personal one by zooming in on individual experience using artful language and narrative moves social issues out of the intellectual realm into the emotional realm for a reader. Moving readers emotionally through artful writing can be much more...

Creating cultural characters involves understanding and empathizing with different experiences. Mainstream society is based on certain ideas, perceptions, values, and beliefs that are accepted as the norm. These norms are the standards by which everything and everyone else is judged. Too often “different voices” become problematic stereotypes rather than rich, complex images and ideas. This lecture will specifically explore three elements that make up the uniqueness of culture: the physical...

We want our first draft to be amazing. Sometimes, our first draft isn’t amazing. But rather than experience this as disheartening, we can turn to what musicians and athletes know in their bones: to accomplish our goal, there must be hundreds, even thousands of hours of practice. Whether it’s running laps, playing scales, or penciling a sketch before committing a vision to paint, our creative endeavors flourish through an appreciation for practice. Practice is a kind of blossoming, an...

Whether you’re writing for page, stage, or screen, understanding how to “find the funny” can sharpen your storytelling vision and voice for writing in all formats and genres. Drawing from her years in Chicago’s legendary comedy scene — as a performer, producer, and writing professor — comedy writer Kat O’Brien shares tools from the trade that every writer can use in their work. This talk explores how finding levity and executing a “comedy punch-up” isn’t just about punchlines — it’s about...

Creating characters that pulse on the page presents special problems for writers of historical fiction and memoir. Not only are they trying to breathe life into nouns, verbs, and maybe a few adjectives, they are attempting to reanimate characters who may have lived and died 50 or even 150 years ago. In this lecture, we'll discuss different sorts of research as well as specialized writerly tricks to reanimate the dead. In addition to Eric's experience, this lecture will reference the work of...

Great news: your manuscript has been signed with a publisher! Now comes the work of turning a manuscript into a book. Susan Hill Newton, managing editor at University of Iowa Press, will walk you through the steps of working with your editor(s) as you learn to let go and let the business of publishing take the lead. Offering advice on and insight into how authors benefit by learning to trust the process, Susan will speak to the author–editor relationship, the editorial process, the crossover...

The proliferation of Creative Nonfiction departments came with a campaign for a new and distinct genre. Since “truth” is relative (the argument often went) and memory is unreliable, why not mix fictive techniques with fact and experience to better “shape” nonfiction narratives? OK, but what becomes of our contract with the reader when we embellish or omit key elements of what we know, or invent what we don’t? How far is too far? What’s creativity, and what is making shit up? This talk, rife with...

The process of finding a literary agent is both a simple and straightforward endeavor and an emotional roller coaster. Through an FAQ format, we will discuss the basics of query letter writing, best practices for researching and reaching out to literary agents, common mistakes to avoid and etiquette to keep in mind, what your rejections might teach you about your project and its place in the marketplace, and how to keep your ego intact through the process of finding an agent for your book. We...

A campus is more than a setting. It is a collection of characters, a set of social mores, an intersection of identities, and a time capsule. Situated in its broader community, the campus is also a nexus of insiders and outsiders. In other words, it is a microcosm of society. Great campus fiction provides essential craft lessons on world-building and satisfies the question at the heart of creative writing: Why does this story matter? This lecture will examine campus fiction with the goal of...

As writers, we shape stories — but the stories we tell ourselves often shape us in return. This cross-genre lecture invites participants to examine the narrative structures that influence both our creative work and lived experience. We’ll consider how personal and cultural narratives inform voice, form, and content — and how revising these inherited frameworks can open new imaginative possibilities. Through writing exercises and the discussion of examples from literary works, participants will...

As writers, we shape stories — but the stories we tell ourselves often shape us in return. This cross-genre lecture invites participants to examine the narrative structures that influence both our creative work and lived experience. We’ll consider how personal and cultural narratives inform voice, form, and content — and how revising these inherited frameworks can open new imaginative possibilities. Through writing exercises and the discussion of examples from literary works, participants will...

Are you an author hoping to publish a book and wondering how it will make its way into bookstores? Join Sidekick Coffee & Books owner Katy Herbold as she shares insider knowledge on the book-buying process, what bookstores look for, and how authors can identify their purpose in writing a book and increase their chances of getting stocked. Learn what happens after publication and how to best position your book for success on the shelves.Katy Herbold  is the owner of Sidekick Coffee & Books in...

Real people often find their way into our stories, whether as supporting characters in nonfiction or as inspiration for characters in fiction. Writing about them can be tricky, especially when a character's memories of past events don't align with yours. Because memory is often imperfect, what do we need to consider when writing about real people, directly or indirectly? How much should we rely on our own memories versus others' perceptions of events? And when and how do legal matters come into...

Mistakes are an inevitable part of the writing journey as you find your way into the world of a novel manuscript. However, some mistakes can be prevented if you know what to avoid. In this lecture, Afabwaje Kurian will distill the lessons she learned in the ten years it took her to complete her debut novel. This lecture will pull from Kurian's experience and will cover approaches to navigating novel architecture, shaping characters, trusting beta readers, honing authorial sensibility, and...