For those of you who want to go beyond the books and explore the inner workings of the magical and confounding act of writing, Decatur Book Festival's Writers Conference offers a great opportunity to learn from experienced, published authors. The Writers Conference @ AJC DBF, presented by Agnes Scott College, has a number of writing workshops on everything from memoir writing, character development in fiction, ways to discover the truth in poetry, to finding your way to a major publishing house of your own.
We'll kick things off Friday with a keynote address by Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times best-selling author of Gods in Alabama; Between, Georgia; The Girl Who Stopped Swimming; and, her latest, Backseat Saints. Nine writing workshops will follow, given by some of our finest local authors as well as out-of-towners here for the Festival, and we'll cap off Friday's events with conversation and cocktails in the courtyard. Then the festival keynote, from National Book Award-winning novelist (and author of a seminal essay on fiction writing) Jonathan Franzen.
On Saturday and Sunday, panel discussions on a range of topics of particular interest to writers will happen throughout the day on festival stages—and there’s even a quiz show on grammar to delight word freaks. Check out the Writers Conference Track for details. The Friday Workshops will be at Agnes Scott College. Workshops are free, but you must register to reserve a space. To register, send your name and the name of the workshop you would like to attend to workshops@decaturbookfestival.com.
For directions and to download the campus map, click here. Parking is available in the West Parking deck, P2 on the campus map. Cross the street to building #5, Presser Hall. Maclean Auditorium, where the keynote address will be held.
We hope to see you there!
Robert Frost said, “no tears for the writer, no tears for the reader,” but how does a writer work effectively with emotionally difficult material, moving through his or her own trauma to create powerful and effective writing that serves the larger narrative?
In this workshop, Handler will draw from the work of leading nonfiction authors to examine the rewards for the writer – and the reader – in confronting tears, finding joy, and meeting on the page the little known continuation of Frost’s quote: “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.”
Participants will create new work or expand existing work through a variety of in-workshop writing exercises. This workshop is open to fiction and nonfiction writers at all levels.
Let’s face it, the rules have changed for writers. Reaching your audience (and getting paid for it) now requires new skills; most notably social-media savvy and the ability to build a web-based platform. This workshop, hosted by Atlanta's favorite writer (who is also the host of the city's most popular blogging workshop) will teach you the basic fundamentals you need in order to meet that requirement.
The workshop will be on the relationship between performance and writing. Harrison will not only be talking about performance poets or writing written to be presented in a performance on TV, in a movie, in a play, on a concert stage, or in a video, even though those definitely involve performance. At one point in time, every successful writer has to give a reading of their work. That is a performance, as are interviews etc. This workshop will deal with preparing for a performance, and all the aspects of a good performance, as well as the after-math of a performance.
Poets are often in conversation with other poems and the poets who write them. These writers react to, agree with, and sometimes quarrel (occasionally politely) with the ideas and sentiments that their predecessors and peers offer in other works. Along with offering the writers inspiration, these conversations in verse often allow the reader to think with the poet instead of having the poet think for the reader.
This workshop – led by two writers whose poems are often in conversation with one another – will explore how poems can and do speak to each other, looking at sample poems for inspiration as well as discussing a selection of participants’ work.
Author M.L. Malcolm writes for mainstream publisher Harper Collins, but her road to success was a winding one; she began her career at a small press and worked her way up to a major publishing house. M.L. will explain what makes a small press or self-published book attractive to a larger house, and share practical advice on how to position yourself to make the leap, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction.
Graphic Novels are book-length comics, and over the past ten years have become a larger and larger part of the book market. Join cartoonist and comics professor Chris Schweizer and a few special guests to find out just what goes into making a good graphic novel and what you need to know to find the right publisher.
Writing is an art, while publishing is a business, and art and business will always be uneasy bedfellows. Business is essentially competitive in nature, while art is collaborative. This workshop focuses on techniques that help the writer separate these disparate elements so they work more effectively as artists and more professionally as authors. Most artists rely on mentors and peer feedback while polishing their work, and this workshop also teaches emerging writers how to give and receive crits, how to form a writing group, and how to use community to take their writing to the next level when pursuing publication.
A good character is the starting point for most works of fiction, because until you know who you’re writing about, it is nearly impossible to know what they’ll do. Unfortunately, when people write for children—whether in sweet picture books or action packed novels—they often get enticed away from character, because in a book for kids, anything feels possible. Dragons fly in through the window. Stuffed animals become real. Unicorns roam free. In children’s books, the endless magical possibilities (as well the overwhelming trends and stereotypes) tend to distract us from our character, who is also our foundation. In this class we’ll begin at the beginning. Together we’ll construct a character for a children’s book, and then we’ll discuss a wide range of crazy plot possibilities in different genres and formats. We’ll think about what our character might do, and what our character would never do. (Not even with a sexy vampire.)
Twenty-six year old author Jackson Pearce (SISTERS RED and AS YOU WISH) talks about taking your manuscript from outline to published novel and all the steps in-between— while you're still trying to figure out college applications. Go from freshman to senior in a high-school themed writing workshop that will teach you everything you need to know about the publishing industry, and everything you need to know about how to keep your parents/friends/teachers from rolling their eyes when you say "I want to be a writer." This workshop is focused on the publishing industry and how to approach it as a young author, not the writing craft— those who are either actively working on or who have completed a manuscript or short story are encouraged to attend.
Thank Goodness for our Sponsors!
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This is YOUR festival. We are very grateful for our corporate sponsors, but we count on individual donations to ensure that the festival is free to all. If you are looking forward to this year's festival, please consider joining us in building this great tradition! Any contribution you make will help ensure that this is the best AJC DBF ever. Donate now.
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