Winter Wheat

This conference is always a blast. Hope to see you there!

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Session proposals are now being sought for Winter Wheat: The Mid-American Review Festival of Writing, slated for November 8-11 on the Bowling Green State University campus.

Some sixty sessions are included as part of the Winter Wheat schedule, and nearly any creative writing-related topic is fair game. You do not have to be an expert to propose a topic -- just someone with a sincere interest and a willingness to prepare a satisfactory learning experience for the 12-20 people who will attend your 75-minute session.

Sessions will be held concurrently on Friday and Saturday of the festival, and participants will register for the topics of their choice. Successful sessions typically include a discussion of key ideas, a writing exercise to illustrate these ideas, and some time for sharing and discussion. Sessions must last the whole 75 minutes, so it is a good idea to OVER-prepare.

Student presenters frequently contribute to the Winter Wheat lineup, which provides a good chance to contribute to your vita or resume. If your session is chosen, you will join prominent writers and scholars, but in an intimate setting that is easy on the nerves.

Here are a few samples of sessions offered last year:

* Is Your Prose Falling Asleep? Shake it Awake!
* The Structural Integrity of a Story: Cause and Effect in Plot and Action
* Persona in Poetry
* The Tomcat and the Eagle: The Fight Between the Past and the Present in Memoir Writing
* How to Boil Water: Beginning Nonfiction
* The Harvest: A Discussion About Editing a Literary Journal
* How To Write a Novel
* Use of the Computer in Writing
* The Manifesto Workshop: Using the Powers of Observation to Write (or Co-Author) a Manifesto
* Writing Poetry of the Family
* Reinventing the Sonnet

Notice that some of these seem geared toward the novice ("Beginning Nonfiction"); others, toward a serious writing student ("Persona in Poetry"); and still others, toward very advanced practitioners of the genre ("The Tomcat and the Eagle").

To propose a session, please prepare a title and a brief (~25 words) description of what you would like to do. This should be e-mailed to festival coordinator Karen Craigo within a week or two (but do note that the schedule is filling up quickly, so the sooner, the better).

With questions, please call or write Karen at karenka@bgsu.edu/419-372- 2725.