Westport Writers' Workshop

From CT IWWG member Jessica Bram:

Now Registering for Fall 2007 Workshops
Westport and Greenwich Locations

Creative Nonfiction and the Personal Essay
with Jessica Bram

The genre called "creative nonfiction" can take many forms including personal essays, memoir, informative articles, commentaries, and editorial writing. What they have in common is that the raw material we work with is truth. This workshop will give participants wide latitude to explore the various forms of creative nonfiction.

Emphasis will be on writing craft. Participants will develop and practice the various narrative techniques that make creative nonfiction and the personal essay interesting, informative, and compelling.

WHEN:
8 Tuesdays, 2 to 4 p.m.:
Sept. 25, Oct. 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov. 6, 13, 27

WHERE:
32 Webb Road, Westport

COST:
$390 for 8-week session.

MAXIMUM CLASS SIZE: 6

Fiction Writing
With Suzanne Hoover, Ph.D.

Fiction writing is surely one of life's great adventures. If you are ready to start the journey, to plunge courageously into the writer's world of inventing and problem-solving, this workshop is for you. And be assured, you will be helped and guided at every step along the way.

At the very heart of both literature and life, storytelling structures our sense of time passing. It imagines for us who we are and who we might become. At its best, it is the last refuge of a sense of magic in our adult lives. While film has taken over the more spectacular and visual side of storytelling, fiction still works its timeless, incomparable magic with imagination and words alone.

This workshop will dig into the art and craft of fiction. It is geared to writers whose stories are already on the way, or at least have already been conceived. We will take turns lighting the way for each other.

WHEN:
8 Mondays, 7 to 9:30 p.m.:
Sept. 17, 24, Oct. 8, 15, 22, 29, Nov. 5, 12

WHERE:
First Congregational Church of Greenwich
108 Sound Beach Avenue
Old Greenwich, Connecticut (Exit 5 off I-95).

COST:
$445 for 8-week session.

MAXIMUM CLASS SIZE: 8

The Examined Life
with Jessica Bram

Everyday life offers us unlimited opportunities for reflection and for making sense of the world around us. Join us to explore the fascinating material generated by our own lives and at the same time, learn the writing techniques to make your writing more engaging, interesting, and effective. Focus will be on personal essays, memoir, opinion columns, and other forms of creative non-fiction. Written work will be shared in a constructive and supportive atmosphere.

WHEN:
8 Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Sept. 28, Oct. 5, 19, 26, Nov. 2, 9, 16, 30

WHERE:
32 Webb Road, Westport

COST:
$390 for 8-week session

MAXIMUM CLASS SIZE: 6

Memoir Writing for Seniors
with Jessica Bram

What better reason is there to finally write one's memoirs than to pass down a wealth of material and wisdom to the next generations?

Geared to seniors, this is a friendly, supportive workshop in which to write your memoirs, share your memoirs with others, and learn good writing techniques to make your work interesting and enjoyable. This workshop is ideal for beginners who wish to get started writing their memoirs for the first time. It is also geared to those who have already done some memoir writing and are ready to share and further shape their work.

This workshop is based upon a highly popular Memoir Writing workshop that Jessica Bram taught for several years at the Lifetime Learners' Institute in Norwalk.

WHEN:
6 Thursdays 2-4 p.m.
Sept. 20, 27, Oct. 11, 18, 25, Nov. 1

WHERE:
Greenwich Location, to be determined

COST:
$375 for 6-week session.

MAXIMUM CLASS SIZE

How To Register:

Mail a check for the full registration amount to:

Jessica Bram Communications
32 Webb Road
Westport, CT 06880

About Jessica Bram:

Jessica Jessica Bram is a writer whose commentaries are regularly heard on the National Public Radio station WSHU during NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." Her personal essays have been published and syndicated in national and regional newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Child Magazine Women's Journal, Country Accents and the Gannett Newspapers. Jessica Bram has taught writing and literature as an adjunct faculty member of Norwalk Community College. She has also taught courses in memoir, essay, and creative nonfiction writing at the Lifetime Learners Institute, Norwalk Community College's Extended Studies and Workforce Education program, and Westport Continuing Education.

About Suzanne Hoover Ph.D.:

Suzanne Hoover holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University in English and Comparative Literature. The author of two novels and a highly experienced teacher of fiction and essay writing, Suzanne was for 25 years, until her recent retirement, a full-time member of the Literature faculty of Sarah Lawrence College. Among the courses she taught at Sarah Lawrence was a very popular course for students in the prestigious Graduate Writing Program, in narrative craft and story structure. Prior to teaching at Sarah Lawrence, Suzanne taught literature at Wellesley College. In 1977 she delivered the Shakespeare lectures at SUNY, Purchase. In addition to her full time teaching, for over 20 years Suzanne taught evening courses in writing at the non-credit Sarah Lawrence Writing Institute.

For questions or more information, visit www.westportwritersworkshop.com or contact Jessica Bram at (203) 227-3250 or jessica@jbram.com