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2008 Workshop
Leaders are: |
CONNIE MAY FOWLER and PAUL JOHNSTON
Both workshop descriptions and Leader
Bios are listed below:
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July 7th -July 14th 2008 |
Aegean Arts Circle Workshop Two
Workshop Instructor:
CONNIE MAY FOWLER
CONNIE MAY FOWLER
WORKSHOP:
Writers
attending the Aegean Arts Circle eight-day workshop will find
themselves immersed in all aspects of the creative process.
Overlooking the mythic and beautiful Aegean Sea, attendees will
explore their own writing and that of their workshop peers.
Craft issues such as point-of-view, character arc, pacing, and
more will be discussed in tandem with the stories and needs of
the participating writers. General topics of concern for
working writers such as finding an agent, how to keep the muse
by your side, and revision tactics will also be discussed.
The
strengths and weaknesses of the submitted manuscripts will be
explored respectfully and in detail so it is important that
writers arrive with open minds, fair hearts, a willingness to
work hard, and a commitment to respect each other in a kind,
honest, and civil manner. Having one’s writing looked at with a
critical eye is daunting. It is important that we approach the
writer’s workshop with a commitment to explore the manuscripts
for areas of accomplishment, promise, and problem. Ripping
apart a manuscript for the sake of one’s ego is not what we’re
about. Our discussions are meant to help each writer discover
the deeper potential of their work. And while kindness and
honesty are key, it is also important that we come to Andros
prepared to listen to what is said and re-VISION our writing and
skills based on what we glean from the workshop experience.
Participating writers will come to Andros with different levels
of expertise; this will help make for a dynamic and exciting
workshop. Because one person might be further down their
artistic path than another is not a negative; it simply means we
will generously share our insights and gifts for the benefit of
the individual and the group.
Some
people will be working on fiction projects, others on
non-fiction. We will calibrate our exercises and comments to
meet the participants’ various needs and will discover the rich
intersection where the worlds of fiction and non-fiction meet.
At the
end of the eight-day Andros experience, it is my hope that each
writer leaves with a greater commitment to the creative process,
a greater understanding of the art and craft of writing, and
concrete strategies for elevating their manuscripts to the next
level. It is also my hope that participants leave Andros
feeling they have found a community of writers who will help
sustain and feed their creative energies for years to come.
CONNIE MAY FOWLER BIO:
Connie May Fowler is a
novelist, memoirist, and screenwriter. Her most recent work,
The Problem with Murmur Lee, was published by Doubleday in
January 2005 and by Broadway Books in March 7, 2006. It was
chosen as Redbook’s premier book club selection.
In 2002 she published
When Katie Wakes, a memoir that explores her descent and
escape from an abusive relationship.
She is the author of five critically acclaimed novels
including Remembering Blue which was awarded the Chautauqua
South Literary Award and Before Women had Wings, recipient
of the 1996 Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the
Francis Buck Award from the League of American Pen Women.
Three of her novels have been Dublin International Literary
Award nominees.
Ms. Fowler adapted
Before Women had Wings for Oprah Winfrey. The result was an
Emmy-winning film starring Ms. Winfrey and Ellen Barkin. Her
work has been translated into 15 languages and is published
worldwide. Her essays have been published in the New York
Times, London Times, International Herald Tribune, Japan
Times, Oxford American, Best Life, and elsewhere. In 2007
Ms. Fowler performed in New York City at The Player’s Club
with actresses Kathleen Chalfont, Penny Fuller and others in
an adaptation based on The Other Woman, an anthology that
contains her essay “The Uterine Blues.”
In 2003 Ms. Fowler
performed in The Vagina Monologues alongside Jane Fonda and
Rosie Perez in a production that raised over $100,000 for
charity. She is currently writing her seventh book, a novel
with the working title How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly.
In addition to writing, Ms. Fowler has held numerous jobs
including bartender, food caterer, nurse, television
producer, TV show host, antique peddler, and construction
worker.
From 1997-2003 she
directed the Connie May Fowler Women Wings Foundation, an
organization dedicated to aiding women and children in need.
From 2003-2007 she served as the Irving Bachelor Professor
of Creative Writing at Rollins College and directed their
visiting author series
Winter With the Writers. Ms. Fowler travels the
country, speaking on topics such as writing, self-employment
in the arts, literacy, domestic violence, child abuse,
environmental issues, and popular culture. She teaches
writing workshops and seminars globally. She is the founder
and CEO of Below Sea Level: Full Immersion Workshops for
Serious Writers. She is a Florida native.
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June 23rd -June 29th 2008
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Registration Closed (Please see Workshop Two,
above) |
Aegean Arts Circle Workshop One
Workshop Instructor:
PAUL JOHNSTON
PAUL JOHNSTON
WORKSHOP:
My aim for this workshop: (whether
you are a beginner or experienced writer), is
that you will leave Andros with new insights into the
nature of fiction writing and, most important, new
approaches to tapping into your
personal creative well-springs. Writing is a
solitary pursuit, but much can be learned by comparing
knowledge and experiences.
My method of teaching fiction writing combines academic and
practical approaches. Expect to cover character development,
narrative voice, plotting, language, theme and location in
our workshop. You will then write exercises and your texts
will be discussed. Although priority will be given to work
produced during the course, I will be happy to comment on
participants' works in progress. I
will also be available to meet with you privately for a
short meeting to discuss your specific works-in-progress.
As we are in Greece, I think it appropriate that we devote
an hour each evening to major modern Greek writers. We will
read and discuss works by world-class poets such as Seferis,
Elytis, Cavafy and Ritsos, as well as listening to musical
settings of the texts. This will give a poetic
counterbalance to the days' fiction writing.
PAUL JOHNSTON BIO:
Paul Johnston
is one of the UK's most highly regarded and exciting crime writers. He
rocketed onto the scene with his debut novel, Body Politic, which
won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger for best
first novel in 1997. Set in a futuristic Edinburgh run by a supposedly
benevolent totalitarian regime, it introduced the maverick investigator
Quintilian Dalrymple. A further four novels consolidated Quint's
position in contemporary crime fiction's major league of engaging and
unusual heroes. Body Politic has recently been optioned for film/
TV, and Paul is working on a new edition to celebrate the book's
tenth anniversary. Quint's adventures have been published across the
globe, from the USA, to Greece, to Japan, to Denmark, and points
between.
Paul was born in Edinburgh in 1957. He
lived there before going to Oxford University to study ancient and
modern Greek. He also obtained an M. Phil. in comparative literature,
and has a Master's in Applied Linguistics from Edinburgh University. He
taught English for several years on a small Greek island. He has a
longstanding relationship with Greece - its language, its history and
its culture - and spends much of his time there. He has a Greek wife,
Roula; their daughter Maggie was born in 2006. Paul also has a
nineteen-year-old daughter, Silje, from his previous marriage. His
knowledge of Greece and its people led to a trilogy of novels featuring
another cult detective, the half-Greek, half-Scottish Alex Mavros - they
are A Deeper Shade of Blue, The Last Red Death (winner of
the Sherlock Award for Best Detective Novel, 2004) and The Golden
Silence. They were all critically acclaimed. The Golden Silence
is currently being developed as a film in Greece.
When he is not writing, Paul spends
his time reading, listening to music, playing the guitar and trying to
stop his younger daughter from ransacking the house. He has been
involved with the Edinburgh International Book Festival for over ten
years and last summer racked up the highest score for chairing other
authors (thirty events).
The Death List, Paul's ninth
novel, was a new departure. Set in modern-day London, it was inspired by
the wonderfully gory Jacobean revenge tragedian John Webster. Paul
regards the book as a warm and compassionate take on the world of crime
fiction publishing - not. It has been published to acclaim and high
sales in the U.K., the U.S.A. and Australia, and will be available in
numerous other languages from 2008. A sequel, The Soul Collector,
will be published in the U.K. in September 2008.
Paul is also an experienced teacher of
creative writing. He has been involved with courses of varying length at
Birkbeck College London, the University of Thessaloniki, the British
Council Athens, and at numerous literary festivals. He is currently
studying for a Ph.D. in creative writing from Scotland's prestigious St
Andrews University, writing a non-crime novel about the Gallipoli
campaign of World War One.
Paul Johnston's web-site is
www.paul-johnston.co.uk.
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