Writers Workshop

The University of Akron Wayne College in Orrville is hosting its tenth annual Writers Workshop, Saturday, April 6, 2013.  (Open to the public)

Download the 2013 Writers Workshop Brochure / Registration Form (PDF)

This year’s workshop allows writers and aspiring writers to meet published authors and participate in sessions about poetry writing, history writing, writing for newspapers, writing novels, and the art of telling stories with pictures.

As a participant, you will enjoy a continental breakfast followed by our authors’ concurrent workshop sessions, a panel discussion with the presenting authors, and lunch followed by special guest Tom Batiuk.

Each workshop session runs 75 minutes (topics are detailed in this brochure). Please choose two sessions to attend. Your $40 fee, due by March 29, covers everything for the day. Registration after the deadline will be $45 (including walk-ins that day).

After the awards ceremony recognizing student and regional writers, our speakers will have books for sale. Plan to spend time talking with them during the concluding sell-and-sign opportunity.

For program information or to register contact:
Susan Ackerman 330-684-8985 or 1-800-221-8308, ext. 8985

2013 Featured Speaker - Tom Batiuk – author of "Funky Winkerbean"
Tom Batiuk (born 1947 in Akron, Ohio) was once a junior high art teacher. He created the well-known comic strip Funky Winkerbean over 40 years ago. In those four decades, it has remained one of the most popular (and highly regarded) comic strips in America. Tom has recently published “The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume I: 1972-74” presenting the first three years for Funky fans to relive the trials and tribulations of his cast of memorable characters. Mr. Batiuk was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for the work that portrayed character Lisa Moore’s battle with breast cancer, compiled in the book Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe.

2013 Workshop Sessions

Cartooning 101 - Tom Batiuk
There is more to being a successful cartoonist than meets the eye. Award-wining artist – and story teller – Tom Batiuk will address this topic in an interactive question-and-answer session.

Biography: Tom Batiuk (born 1947 in Akron, Ohio) was once a junior high art teacher. He created the well-known comic strip Funky Winkerbean over 40 years ago. In those four decades, it has remained one of the most popular (and highly regarded) comic strips in America. Tom has recently published “The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume I: 1972-74” presenting the first three years for Funky fans to relive the trials and tribulations of his cast of memorable characters. Mr. Batiuk was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for the work that portrayed character Lisa Moore’s battle with breast cancer, compiled in the book Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe.

Ensnaring the Wary – Winning and Keeping the Impatient Reader - Cinda Chima
There is lots of competition for reader time—on-screen and off. This creates new demands for the writer. This hands-on session explores strategies for a compelling opening by using voice, character, conflict, action, pacing, mystery, and narrative tension to keep the reader on the page.

Biography: Cinda Williams Chima has authored two New York Times best-selling YA fantasy series: The Heir Chronicles and The Seven Realms. Her novels have received starred reviews in Kirkus and VOYA, and they have been included in many important listings: the International Reading Association Young Adult Choice; the American Library Association Best Fiction for Young Adults; the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age; Kirkus Best Young Adult Books; the VOYA Editors’ Choice; and the Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror list. Her novel The Exiled Queen won the 2011 Buckeye Teen Book Award. You can visit her at www.cindachima.com.

The Writing Process: Turning Historical Data into Narrative - Robert C. Doyle, PhD
How does a project get from idea to a finished book? Writing history involves both research and shaping the product of that research into readable (interesting) prose. This session will examine all that is involved in that challenging process.

Biography: A native of Philadelphia, Robert Doyle earned his BA and MA from Penn State and a PhD in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. He served as an officer in the U. S. Navy from 1967 to 1971, including Vietnam in 1968, 1970-71. Dr. Doyle taught at Penn State in the American Studies Program and in 1994 published Voices from Captivity: Interpreting the American POW Narrative. In 1994, he became a Fulbright Professor of American Studies at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität- Münster (Germany) and a Visiting Professor of American Civilization at the University of Strasbourg II (France). In 1997, his follow-up study, A Prisoner’s Duty: Great Escapes in U. S. Military History continued the story of Americans in military captivity. His most recent book, The Enemy in Our Hands, addresses the American treatment of POWs from the Revolution to the War on Terror. He has lectured at conferences in the United States, France, Germany, Austria, and Australia and is now a Professor of History at the Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio).

What Doesn’t Look Like a Lion: Creating by Cutting - Jeff Gundy
A sculptor once said something like this “to carve a lion, just get some stone, and then take out everything that doesn’t look like lion.” In this workshop we will look briefly at some poems that “leave out” a good deal, and talk about ways that poems can gain intensity and energy by saying less rather than more. Then we will try doing some writing that follows this principle.

Biography: Jeff Gundy’s sixth book of poems, Somewhere Near Defiance, will be published in 2014 by Anhinga Press, and his Songs from an Empty Cage: Poetry, Mystery, Anabaptism and Peace (essays) in 2013 by Cascadia. Recent work is in The Georgia Review, The Sun, Kenyon Review, The Christian Century, and Nimrod. A 2008 Fulbright Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Salzburg, he is working on a memoir, The Other Side of Empire. He teaches at Bluffton University.

Newspaper Writing and Reporting - Betty Lin-Fisher
Have you ever wondered about what life is like as a newspaper reporter? Want to hone your skills? Come learn the basics of news writing and editing in this interactive workshop.

Biography: Betty Lin-Fisher is an 18-year veteran of the Akron Beacon Journal and has worked as a copy editor, metro reporter and assistant metro editor. For the last 12 years, she has been the consumer reporter/ columnist and a general business reporter. She covers consumer issues as well as retail, grocery stores, utilities and banks. Her work has received many state and national awards. It is also regularly reprinted in national publications. A Chicago native, Betty graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Journalism and Environmental Studies. She lives in the Akron area with her husband and two children.