FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ellen Waterston, Director
The Nature of Words
Phone: 541.330.4381
Email: info@thenatureofwords.org
Website: www.thenatureofwords.org
Editors: An event logo and author headshots are
available upon request.
Gotta Write? Want to Be a Better Reader?
Learn from Award-Winning Authors at The
Nature of Words
Workshops Are Filling Fast - Enroll Now!
Bend, Oregon. October 18, 2008. Do you have a yen to write for magazines? Or want
to gain insights into fiction writing from award-winning authors? Are you an
aspiring nature or historical writer or closet poet? Maybe you don’t write, but
want to learn the art of being a better reader. Whatever motivates you to enjoy
writing and reading, there’s a workshop for you at The Nature of Words, Central
Oregon’s premier literary event. Enroll now to guarantee you can participate in
the workshops of your choice on November 7 and 8. Small group sessions give you
an opportunity to talk with and learn from award-winning authors and poets
By popular demand, this year’s workshops
include The Art of Reading (How to Be a
Better Reader), which will be taught by Christopher Zinn, former executive
director of the Oregon Council for the Humanities. Zinn lectures and
writes on American literature and culture. He frequently offers this popular
workshop in the Portland area for those who want to gain a greater
understanding of and appreciation for literature.
Workshop tickets can be purchased from the
Ticket Mill in Bend (phone 541.318.5457) located in the Old Mill District.
Other
workshop offerings include intriguing topics, all taught by guest authors who
also happen to be great teachers. Choose from these authors and sessions (see The
Nature of Words website at www.thenatureofwords.org/Events/Workshops for full
workshop descriptions):
Fiction
Pam Houston, winner of the Pushcart
Prize, O. Henry Awards and inclusion in Best
American Short Stories of the Century, will offer Writing From the Physical
World and Juggling a Chainsaw, an Apple and a Toaster.
Luis Urrea, 2005 Pulitzer Prize
finalist, Lannan Literary Award winner and member of the Latino Literature Hall
of Fame, has titled his workshop (offered twice) The Hummingbird’s Workshop:
The Theory and Practice of Trust.
Ursula K. Le Guin, icon of the science
fiction and fantasy genre, and winner of the National
Book Award, five Hugo Awards, a Pushcart Prize, and the PEN/Malamud Award,
will offer a group discussion and Q&A session titled Going Through the
Looking Glass with Alice.
George Venn, a workshop-only guest
author, and award-winning poet, writer,
literary historian, editor, linguist, and educator will discuss (offered
twice) Where Can I Find That? Tools for Writing Historical Fiction.
Literary Nonfiction
Charles Bowden, non-fiction author,
essayist, journalist, and Lannan Award winner, will discuss Writing for
Magazines: Formula or Free Style (offered twice).
Craig Childs, naturalist, adventurer
and desert ecologist, and winner of the Colorado Book Award and Spirit of the
West Literary Achievement Award has chosen two separate topics: Full Frontal
Nature Writing and Where Do Stories Come From?
Poetry
Ekiwah
Adler-Belendez, a 19-year-old poet prodigy from Mexico who published his
first collection at age 12, has titled his workshop (offered twice) Poems From
the Inner Witness.
Judith
Barrington, poet and memoirist who has published three collections of
poetry, and a memoir that won the Lambda Book Award and was a finalist for the
PEN/Martha Albrand Award, and a text on writing literary memoir, will teach two
separate workshops titled What Makes a Poem a Poem: On Not Going to the Edge of
the Page, and a non-fiction workshop, What Makes a Memoir a Memoir: The Three
‘I’s of Personal Narrative.
Patricia
Smith, internationally renowned performance poet, recently named National
Book Award nominee, winner of the Pushcart Prize and Carl Sandburg Award, will
focus her workshops (offered twice) on Walking Through the Long Ago.
In
addition to two days of workshops, The Nature of Words includes two evenings of
guest author readings, a VIP reception, a dinner and panel discussion, an open
mic and the Rising Star Creative Writing Competition awards for young writers. More
information about the workshops and other events at The Nature of Words is available
at www.thenatureofwords.org, via email
at info@thenatureofwords.org or by
calling 541.330.4381.
About Our Sponsors
The Nature of Words is made possible thanks to the generous support of
Central Oregon Community College, Collins Foundation, Old Mill District, Oregon
State University-Cascades Campus, Starview Foundation in support of Deschutes
Land Trust, Writing Ranch, and an anonymous donor. Additional support is being
provided by Bank of the Cascades, BMC Cardiology, Brooks Resources, Caldera,
Cascades East, Cascade Publications, Clear 101.7 FM, Craig and Linda Moore, Dan & Bonnie
Wieden in Honor of Caldera, Deschutes Brewery, Deschutes County Board of
Commissioners, Deschutes Public Library Foundation, Devore’s Good Food, DVA
Advertising & Public Relations, Emily Bonavia, Friends of Cascades Academy,
Greer, Mahr & Associates LLP, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation,
John Martin Landscapes, Margaret Heater, Mike and Sue Hollern Advised Fund of
the Oregon Community Foundation, Mike & Susan McKnight, Mount Bachelor
Village Resort, Nancy and Trent Tyler, Oregon Cultural Trust, Pepsi-Cola
Bottling Company of Bend, Ray Lansing and Angelina Montoya, Robberson Ford, Ron
and Molly Foerster, Sally Russenberger, Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, S.
Parkman Shaw Fund, Shelk Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, Sun Forest
Construction, The Bulletin, The High Desert Museum, The Kinsman Foundation, The
Roundhouse Foundation, The Source Weekly, Umpqua Bank, University of Oregon, US
Bank Foundation and William Smith Properties.
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