Fall Creative Writing Festival

Dr. Tribbey has forwarded the following invitation to us from Dr. Nathan Brown of the University of Oklahoma:

" . . .I wanted to let you know about a wonderful workshop opportunity this fall at Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch. I’ve wanted to teach here for quite some time, and this year they have accepted my course proposal!

"This is a great opportunity to focus on writing for an entire week in a small group setting among some of the most beautiful, quiet, and inspiring hills you will ever see in Northern New Mexico. Watch a sunset in this place, and you’ll suddenly know what Georgia O’Keefe was painting about all those years." ["Pedernal," at right, was painted in 1941.]

Click here to see the Ghost Ranch website and get a feel for the program overall, and click here to go directly to the registration page for Dr. Brown's course (which is described in detail below) :

Creative Journaling and Its Role in Learning to Write

October 10 - 16, 2010 Ghost Ranch Abiquiu
Registration fee: $350 + housing & meals
Before August 15: Save $100

This workshop serves as a general introduction for those who do not necessarily have an educational or experiential background in writing, but who do have events, family memories and life-stories that they want to preserve for, and share with, younger generations.

We will focus on: 1. Conversation and its role in sparking ideas for writing and creativity in general; 2. How a daily journaling practice can actually “teach” us to become better writers; 3. How to incorporate photographs, scraps, sketches and other visual elements to enhance our stories; and 4. The nature of “memory” and “storytelling,” and how keeping a daily journal enriches the mind and spirit.

Whether the writings are of a personal -- and of the “now” -- nature, or are intended for the children and grandchildren of future generations, this class demonstrates skills and techniques on how to engage readers as well as how to make memories more “colorful” and “memorable.” This course promotes mindful dialogue and the sharing of ideas, as well as the ways in which current and/or historical events play into making family or personal memories more meaningful to readers.

Nathan Brown is an award-winning author, musician, performer and photographer. He holds a PhD in Creative and Professional Writing from the University of Oklahoma, where he teaches writing. Mostly he travels now, performing readings and concerts as well as speaking and leading workshops in high schools, universities and community organizations on creativity, creative writing and the need for readers to not give up on poetry. He has published six books: My Sideways Heart, Two Tables Over (winner of the 2009 Oklahoma Book Award for Poetry), Not Exactly Job (finalist for the 2008 Oklahoma Book Award), Ashes Over the Southwest, Suffer the Little Voices (finalist for the 2006 Oklahoma Book Award) and Hobson’s Choice. And his new CD, “Gypsy Moon,” was just released this last spring.