The International Writers’ Workshop-Ghana
- Fiction Writing Seminar: Mapping the possible
- Nonfiction Writing Seminar: Memory & Travel
- Poetry Writing Seminar: The Mine: The Past as Poetic Resource
- Faculty
By keeping class sizes small, we maintain an intimate, intensive and supportive atmosphere. IAWW faculty work with participants on their writing both in group sessions and one-on-one. Always the emphasis is on how best to advance the participant's artistic goals.
Fiction Writing Seminar: Mapping the possible
In this workshop we will explore what is possible in fiction. Our focus will be on querying boundaries and learning and honing literary techniques in a format of vibrant and open discussion. Investigating the limits and potential of the form, we'll identify and examine the deep structures at work in various texts. Using this process, students will gain an understanding of how strong narratives are crafted, within or outside traditional narrative conceptions. We will focus on reading excerpts from books and students will need to bring a copy of a story of no more than 10 pages that we can use as studies in how to construct characters, structures, plots and use thematic variables. This course will be demanding but it will also be fun.
Nonfiction Writing Seminar: Memory & Travel
Working from the premise that writing is a primary tool we can use to discover things about ourselves and the world, this course is designed to help us write our way into our own storied truths and true stories.
We’ll workshop our own life stories and travel memoirs, rendered in prose or poetry, with an eye to fashioning precisely articulated pieces alive with drama and richly drawn true-to-life characters. Some questions we’ll consider include: how do we write about an exciting trip without draining the excitement out of it? How did we come to live where we live today? Where did our families come from and what did they leave behind? How did we get to this stage in our lives?
To expand our technical repertoires, we’ll study the full spectrum of genres. For example, to add heft and power to our writing, we’ll investigate how fiction writers develop scenes and characters; alternatively, we’ll study how poetic techniques of compression and lyricism can freshen and sharpen our prose.
Equal parts literary discovery and self-discovery, this course will consist of writing assignments, craft discussions, talks on publishing issues, and of course the careful comment and critique of participant work.
Poetry Writing Seminar: The Mine: The Past as Poetic Resource
In this workshop we will learn a variety of productive techniques for incorporating the past into your present and future work. Through reading, discussion and writing exercises, we will learn a variety of ways poetry can be used to contemplate and communicate details gleaned from historical texts, facts, figures, and events. We'll discuss methods for using real and imaginary people, facts and artifacts; we'll explore how structure, word choice, and other authorial decisions develop tone and influence our perception of the poem and its subjects; and we'll discover ways traditional and contemporary forms can be employed in a manner that refreshes your poetry. We'll find new ways to explore the histories that surround us and come to a greater understanding of how histories of place, culture, and family can provide exciting inspiration for vibrant and engaging poems.