Writers Workshop

The University of Akron Wayne College in Orrville is hosting its nineth annual Writers Workshop, Saturday, April 14, 2012.  (Open to the public)

Download the 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, nonfiction writing, writing for publication, writing humor, and the birth of a book.

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 Jim Daniels.

Each workshop session runs 75 minutes (topics are detailed in this brochure). Please choose two sessions to attend. Your $40 fee, due by April 6, covers everything for the day. Registration after the deadline will be $45 (including walk-ins that day).

Our speakers will have books for sale after the awards ceremony, recognizing student and regional writers. 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

Featured Speaker - Jim Daniels
Jim Daniels is a writer of many accomplishments. He has published thirteen books of poetry, most recently Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry (2011). He has published four volumes of short fiction, the latest, Trigger Man (also published in 2011) and three screenplays that have been produced as independent films. In addition, he has edited or co-edited four anthologies. Jim has won numerous awards (among them the Blue Lynx Poetry Prize and the Bellingham Prize for Poetry) and has received two fellowships from the National Endowment For the Arts and two from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. His poetry has appeared in the Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies, and it has been featured on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac.

Jim is a graduate of Alma College and Bowling Green State University, and he is the Thomas Stockham Baker Professor at Carnegie Mellon University where he teaches creative writing.

Workshop Sessions

From Both Sides of the Desk: Publishing From the Perspectives of Writers and Editors - Grace Butcher
What do writers need to know? What are editors looking for? This session will consider these and other key questions about the processes of writing and editing. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with Grace Butcher who has a wealth of experience as both writer and editor.

Biography: Writer, editor, teacher, athlete, and actress, Grace Butcher truly is a Renaissance woman. She has been publishing poetry since the ‘60’s, competed nationally and internationally in track, competed in motorcycling events in Europe and America, won recognition as both an actress and a playwright, and established and still edits The Listening Eye, the literary journal of Kent State’s Geauga Campus. Her poetry has appeared in dozens of journals, including Poetry, The Antioch Review, and Kansas Quarterly. Her collections of poetry and prose reflect the wide range of her avocations and passions.

Turning Your Nonfiction Story Idea Into a Book - William Croyle
Everyone has a story to tell—and some of those stories are worthy of turning into books. This workshop will take the audience from beginning to end—searching for and recognizing a good story idea, writing a proposal, finding an agent, crafting the story, and marketing it.

Biography: William Croyle is a reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer. He is the author of Angel in the Rubble: The Miraculous Rescue of 9-11's Last Survivor with Genelle Guzman-McMillan (Simon and Schuster, 2011) and I Choose to be Happy: A School Shooting Survivor's Triumph Over Tragedy with Missy Jenkins (Langmarc, 2008). He is currently working on several more inspirational books. William lives in Erlanger, Kentucky with his wife, Debra, and their three sons.

Writing Your Life: The Self-Portrait Poem - Jim Daniels
Participants will read and discuss a number of poems that are self-portraits of one form or another, and then will write a draft of a poem that uses some of the structural devices or techniques of the sample poems. Participants will share their work with the group and discuss each other's poems.

Biography: Jim Daniels' recent books include Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry, his thirteenth book of poems, and Trigger Man, his fourth book of short fiction (both published in 2011). He has also written the screenplays for three independent films, including Mr. Pleasant (2011). He has received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and two from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He is the Thomas Stockham Baker Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Writing Amish Fiction For Today's Market - Mary Ellis
In this session, writers will learn how to properly research, write, sell, and market their inspirational novels, specifically Amish fiction—a genre still expanding and finding new audiences.

Biography: Mary Ellis grew up near an Amish settlement and fell in love with their agrarian lifestyle. Her debut Christian book, A Widow's Hope, was a finalist for the 2010 ACFW Carol Awards and runner-up for the Holt Medallion Award for romantic fiction. She is currently working on her ninth novel set in the Amish community. When she's not writing, she enjoys gardening, bicycling, swimming and traveling with her college sweetheart, her husband of many years.

800 Sundays of Fun: Lessons of a Weekly Humor Columnist - John Lorson
Writing a weekly column can be both a blessing and a curse. With the need to be funny linked to a regular deadline, one starts to look at life differently. This session will look at John's career and some of the many lessons learned from fifteen years, lessons that can be applied to any type of writing. Learn tricks to “find the funny,” recognize a keeper, prove-out your material, and put it all together in a package that will keep readers coming back.

Biography: John Lorson's humor column Send Help (with comic illustrations by his wife Kristin) has appeared in local newspapers since 1996. It is presently featured in the Sunday Living section of The Daily Record (Wooster) and the weekly Shopper News (Millersburg). Send Help—Delights, Dilemmas and Delusions of a Modern Midwestern Man was published in 1999. A second book, tentatively entitled Master of None will be published this spring. John is the coordinator of the Wayne College Holmes County Higher Education Center in Millersburg.