Starting May 14, I'll be teaching again -- this time a writers' workshop for the Porcupine Mountains Folk School at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park just east of Silver City in western Upper Michigan. You all are invited, especially if you live in the western UP.
Here's the prospectus:
Words and the Porkies: An informal workshop for writers with the Porcupine Mountains as the backdrop and inspiration
Time: Four Saturdays, May 14 & 21, June 4 & 11, 2011, from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
Cost: $25 includes all four Saturdays. Scholarships are available. Please inquire at registration (906-884-4188)
Description: Students will focus on writing about “The Porkies” in a broad choice of genres, including the travel article, the essay, the journal, memoir, fiction, children's stories and poetry -- whatever is comfortable for each student. There will be readings of short passages about the wilderness by famous writers and poets as well as work by Porcupine Mountains artists-in-residence. Techniques of observation and fact-gathering, including interviewing, will be discussed. Basic assignments on subjects about The Porkies will be made in consultation with the students. Student work will be read and discussed and suggestions made, but no grading will be done.
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| Lake of the Clouds, the Porkies' most-photographed site. |
Requirements: A desire to write and the ability to use a typewriter or a computer. It is hoped that students will have access to them, as well as a printer, but some accommodation can be made for those who do not.
Special notes: A choice among short guided hikes and indoor activities will be offered to provide subjects for writing. Casual clothes and suitable shoes are recommended for the outdoor activities.
The instructor, Henry Kisor, assisted by Deborah Abbott, will be available for private consultations (included in the price) all weekend on those dates, either in person at the Folk School or via e-mail at author@henrykisor.com.
About the instructor: Henry Kisor is a retired literary editor of the Chicago Sun-Times as well as the author of three nonfiction books and four mystery novels. He has been a summer visitor to the Porkies since 1966. He and his wife, the children's book critic and author Deborah Abbott, spend their summers at a cabin on the shore of Lake Superior at Green, Michigan, that her father built in 1947.
Why is this workshop so inexpensive? It's a pilot project for the Friends of the Porkies Folk School, testing the waters to see if such an offering will attract people to the Porkies -- and I'm donating my time and experience.
Come on up and see us.
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| Falls on the Presque Isle River in the Porkies |
Cool! Wish I could attend, but a couple of those weekends are already committed. My topic would be about a colonial French plan, which never came to pass, to establish a colony for mining copper on the Union River in the 1730s.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Henry-
ReplyDeleteI'll have to miss 2 sessions but the price is worth it for only ten minutes of class, if you ask me. Can I still come? Or will you be taking attendence?
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Gosh, I wish I were somewhere near.
ReplyDeleteHermit, Eric: No reason you'd have to attend all four sessions. You might be able to come away with something valuable for your writing from just one or two classes.
ReplyDeleteWish I could attend - but Alabama is too far from there!
ReplyDelete