Saturday, October 20th , 9am -12pm
WRITING THE PERSONAL ESSAY with NANCY KLINE
What do I know? (Que sais-je?) asked Michel de Montaigne, and in an effort to find out, he invented the essay. (Essayer in French translates as “to try” or “to assay.”) In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore what we know and don’t know and didn’t know we knew.
Nancy Klein's short stories, essays, memoirs and translations of modern French poetry have appeared widely. Her personal essay “Missing Paris” appeared in Best Women’s Travel Writing 2011. Writes for The New York Times Sunday Book Review, published nine books. She teaches for the Bard Prison Initiative, Poets & Writers and the Woodstock Library.
Saturday, October 20th, 12:30pm - 3:30pm
DOCUMENTING REALITY with JAIME BERNANKE and TERESA GIORDANO
Learn how to transform true stories and real-world experiences into narratives for the small screen. DOCUMENTING REALITY guides you through the non-fiction TV writing world outlining the tools needed to create television programming that is informative and engaging, from natural history, history, science and biography to programs focusing on true crime and social justice.
Jaime Bernanke and Teresa Giordano are documentary television writers with decades of experience writing and producing all forms of non-fiction television. They’ve worked on long and short form specials and series for various networks including National Geographic, PBS, History Channel, Discovery, Starz, OWN, and A&E.
Saturday, October 20th, 3:45pm - 6:30pm
CRAFT AND VISION: WRITING FOR FILM with KATIE COKINOS
Any and all concerns about screenwriting do’s and don’ts will be left outside the door of this non-screenwriting-but-writing-for-film-workshop. We will be diving enthusiastically into the realm of our watery imaginations. Let’s figure out a way to awaken, support, and cultivate our own voices so we can in turn liberate our own stories.
Katie Cokinos is a writer and director who has made over ten shorts, and a featurette, Portrait of a Girl as a Young Cat (2000), and whose feature film, I Dream Too Much (2016), starred Eden Brolin, Diane Ladd and Danielle Brooks and was filmed in Saugerties. PORTRAIT is available on Vimeo and IDTM is on Netflix. She is presently working on her next project, THE NATURE OF THINGS, also set in Saugerties.
Sunday, October 21st, 10am - 12:30pm
NATURE AND POETRY with WILL NIXON
A walk out to the Saugerties Lighthouse with a notebook and pen in hand to see what nature has to teach. We' ll write a poem that stretches our imagination as well as our observation skills. If you can look at an autumn leaf and see a story of life, you can write a poem. "If I were to name the three most precious resources of life I should say books, friends, and nature; and the greatest of these, at least the most constant and always at hand, is nature," wrote John Burroughs, the celebrated Catskills nature writer, a century ago.
Will Nixon and Michael Perkins were recently honored by The Woodstock Land Conservancy for their popular book,WALKING WOODSTOCK: JOURNEYS INTO THE WILD HEART OF AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS SMALL TOWN. Will Nixon's poetry books include ACROSTIC WOODSTOCK, LOVE IN THE CITY OF GRUDGES, and MY LATE MOTHER AS A RUFFED GROUSE.
Sunday, October 21st, 1:30pm - 4:30pm
SCREENWRITING AS STORYTELLING with JANET GRILLO
We'll use core principles of dramatic structure as identified in Aristotle's POETICS that are still in use today. Storytellers have been using these techniques for thousands of years and we still read and watch the stories of those who do it well. We'll deconstruct spectacle (visual impact), plot, character, diction (dialogue), and melody (how does music affect drama?), the three act structure (beginning, middle, end), and dramatic unity. The group will engage in an ad-hoc storytelling exercise. No previous experience necessary.
Janet Grillo is an Arts Professor at NYU Tisch Film School and an acclaimed writer/producer/director: FLY AWAY, JACK OF THE RED HEARTS.
3 Tuesdays: October 2, 9 & 16, 6pm - 7:30pm
LIQUID DEMOCRACY with JOAN REINMUTH
Writing Contemporary Satire, meeting for three sessions. We will work under the headlines to reflect on contemporary policies (and whatever else comes our way).
Joan Reinmuth is a retired nurse with a good track record for persuasion. Classically trained on the streets of New York City where comedy lives. Experience with festivals, cabaret, NYC comedy club scene, house concerts and writing workshops.
Saturday, October 20, 1:30PM to 5PM
Culinary tour of Saugerties from the Farmers Market through Saugerties Village and its restaurants..
Friday, October 19 - Sunday, October 21
Six workshops + Readings
Expert instruction in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screen and TV writing. Limited enrollment. Early registration begins in July. All workshops $10; readings are free.
Readings will take place on Saturday night and on Sunday late afternoon.
Saugerties Village locations and Saugerties Lighthouse
Friday, October 19th, 7pm -10pm
LOVE AND CLARITY with JANA MARTIN
A craft class for anyone who wants a way to dive in and produce energized writing, an effective way to free yourself from static and second-guessing and get words down on a page. By the end of this workshop you’ll have a short prose piece on its way to finished that gleams with your voice.
Jana Martin is a fiction and nonfiction writer, editor and teacher. Her work includes RUSSIAN LOVER, SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES, articles and stories in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Glimmer Train, The Weeklings