Writers' Workshop
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
GENRE WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
This workshop will blend discussion with generative exercises, focusing on the key elements of creative nonfiction. You’ll have the opportunity to practice new techniques while sharpening existing work. We’ll also read short excerpts from published pieces to illustrate concepts, giving you the tools to enhance your writing and spark new project ideas.
In this workshop, we will focus on a different mentor text each session, analyzing craft elements and themes. Through discussion and writing exercises, we’ll generate work inspired by the text’s techniques. There will also be time for sharing your writing and receiving constructive feedback from both peers and the instructor.
In this workshop, we’ll explore how to make place a living, breathing character in your novel. We’ll discuss techniques to weave setting into your story in a way that feels authentic and resonant. Through readings, exercises, and feedback sessions, you’ll develop practical tools to help you write settings that are more than just backdrops—they’ll become integral to your characters and story.
This workshop will focus on the art and craft of writing a novel. We’ll explore techniques, process, and the essential tools every novelist needs. Through writing prompts and group discussion, you’ll have the chance to share your work, receive feedback, and develop new ideas for your novel-in-progress.
This workshop will blend short lectures with in-depth discussions, but the real focus will be on workshopping your writing. We’ll use specific moments from student work as springboards to dive into larger conversations about craft, creativity, and opportunities for growth. Be prepared to engage in thoughtful, constructive critiques and leave with practical insights to improve your writing.
This workshop will balance generative writing exercises with group discussions and workshopping of poems. Each day will offer time for writing, and we’ll focus on helping you develop new work while also exploring various poetic forms and techniques. By the end, you’ll leave with a collection of new drafts and a deeper understanding of the craft of poetry.
Coming soon!
Home is more than a place—it’s an idea, a memory, a set of contradictions. In this workshop, we’ll explore how to reconcile the beauty, pride, and pain tied to our homes, particularly within the Appalachian context. Through poetry, we’ll write and reflect on what it means to be both shaped by and at odds with where we come from. Expect to wrestle with the complexities of identity, culture, and belonging.
In this workshop, we’ll analyze short stories together, focusing on techniques that can elevate your craft, such as balancing exposition and dramatization, and learning how to create authentic voices. Participants will also have the opportunity to share their work generated during writing prompts. If there’s interest, we’ll offer workshops for complete story drafts as well.
AFTERNOON SESSION & CRAFT LECTURE DESCRIPTIONS
Obsession can fuel some of the most memorable writing. In this generative workshop, we’ll explore the intense emotions and ideas that drive us, and use writing prompts to help you channel that energy into your work. Whether your obsession is a person, place, or idea, this course will help you uncover what compels you to write and find the power in your own creative obsessions.
Picture book authors and illustrators rarely get to work together as words and art come to the page, but the collaboration between author Jayne Moore Waldrop and illustrator Deborah Slone set a new standard as they envisoned Back to Our Nests for Shadelandhouse Modern Press. Waldrop and Slone will discuss the process of bringing a picture book about nature into the world and making sure the story and art accurately reflect a strong sense of place and a child’s wonder about her shared habitat.
Every time we write, we play with time, often without realizing it. So how? We’ll explore the diverse ways writers manipulate time on the page, from the micro-level to the macro. For even though Mr. Prufrock measured out his life in coffee spoons, he said, “And indeed there will be time, there will be time.” So, no coffee spoons, please, just bring your pens.
Have you ever wondered what your writing would look like next to illustrations? Whether you love to doodle during boring work meetings or are a big fan of comics and graphic novels, this course is for your: a writer who wants to explore using illustrations in your work. All skill levels are welcome – there is no need to feel intimidated because of your level of experience or style. Illustrations can mean anything from drawing to collage to photography to digital art.
Who was the Brier?
The history and memories of the Brier at Hindman.
The ten-minute play packs a punch, capturing entire worlds in the span of a single scene. In this workshop, we’ll examine the challenges and joys of writing in this compact yet powerful form. Amy Wegener, Literary Director at Actors Theatre of Louisville, will guide you through the creative process, offering insight on character development, dialogue, and structure, while using dramaturgical tools to explore this unique form’s potential.
It sounds easy. Just take notes from that verbose uncle and change names and viola. But it usually isn’t so easy, nor without risks. This session will explore the how’s, why’s, and hazards, interlaced with stories, advice, and discussion.
Have a stack of poems and wondering how to turn them into a book? In this session, poet and editor Katerina Stoykova will guide you through the process of organizing your poems, whether you’re aiming for a chapbook or a full-length collection. We’ll discuss everything from structuring your material and choosing a title to staying motivated through the process. You’ll leave with practical tools to make your collection come together.
Editing with an ear toward sound and the physiological effects of sounds on the body.
Poetry often requires a sense of freedom, a willingness to break away from conventions. This workshop will encourage you to embrace the “free” in free verse, pushing past traditional boundaries and embracing the raw, unfiltered urge to create. Through reading and writing exercises, we’ll explore the power of breaking the rules and trusting our instincts as poets.
Appalachia is a place full of rich voices and unforgettable stories. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore their own “mountain story” through guided writing exercises. We’ll dive into the memories, places, and people that shape our sense of home and community, uncovering the complex relationship we have with where we come from.
In this session, we’ll explore the history and lasting impact of Hindman Settlement School on local and regional culture. The discussion will center on the ways in which the school’s legacy continues to shape the artistic and cultural landscape of the area, particularly in relation to the preservation of Appalachian heritage.
This session combines a craft lecture with discussion and generative writing on how understanding sound in poetry can strengthen our skills as readers and writers. We’ll look at model poems and try our hand at drafting a poem with particular sound qualities.
For this session, writers will be creating a woven bookmark. First, writers will be shown a demonstration on traditional weaving techniques, like a Plain weave or Tabby weave, followed by a Rya knot. Students will then use their knowledge of these techniques to create their own personal woven bookmark.
Come try your hand at learning to play Kentucky’s State Instrument, the mountain dulcimer! The mountain dulcimer is an intuitive and generous instrument and even if you’ve never played a musical instrument before, you’ll be strumming some simple Appalachian tunes before you know it! If you have a dulcimer, feel free to bring it! Otherwise, you can borrow one of our classroom set of instruments.
PRE-RETREATS
Beginning Saturday July, 25
REVISION PRACTICES
with Marianne Worthington | Writer-in-Residence
FROM PROMPT TO PITCH
with Jim Minick
Consider this to start: “This is a ___ (story, novel, poem, memoir, essay, etc.) about___.” This simple phrase I’ve used as a freewriting prompt at all stages in the writing of both fiction and nonfiction. At the beginning, this phrase becomes a jumping off point to explore character, theme, and plot. In the middle of the process, this phrase opens to freewrites that work through tangles of plot to unloose what’s really happening underneath. And in the final parts of the process, this phrase can become the base for a pitch for an agent or editor, and then also, the cover description for a book. So this workshop combines craft with the business of writing with exercises to practice and explore.
BECOMING: WRITERS & THE ART OF THE INSTANT SONG
with Matthew Sidney Parsons & Sarah Kate Morgan
This pre-workshop retreat focuses on the power of songwriting as a literary form—its advantages, challenges, and unique limitations. Participants learn the skills needed to transform stories, poems, and essays into songs, developing an instinct for what belongs on the page and what belongs in the air. Open to writers of all levels, this session includes musical support from Hindman’s traditional arts educator Sarah Kate Morgan, who will help beginners learn essential chords on guitar or dulcimer and will help you turn your writing into SONGwriting. Part 101 course and part creative catalyst, this workshop offers beginners a clear entry point and gives experienced writers a set of tools to streamline their craft or infuse it with new energy.
