Made in Italy
Soho
Exhibit
Skype
Us!
__________
Il Chiostro
241 W. 97th St., 13N
NY, NY 10025
800-990-3506
fax: 858-712-3329
Telling Your Stories...
Creative Fiction & Non-Fiction Writing
with
Maureen Brady
and
Finishing your Manuscript
with Martha Hughes
October 11-18, 2008
Price for 1 week: $1,895 p/p
Palazzo
- Andy Holtzman
Telling Your Stories...
Maureen's uncanny ear protected my voice while guiding me to open new paths for my fiction. Il Chiostro is a Four Star experience: Brilliant food, sympathetic company, inspiring surroundings and excellent literary advice.
Louise
Farmer Smith, 2005
winner of the Glimmertrain Fiction contest
with a story workshopped in Tuscany with Maureen
Bring your imagination and your stories—both those you’ve already drafted and those still floating around in your head. Bring your desire to be stimulated by the magical aura of Venice and plan to gain renewed inspiration for your writing.
This workshop accommodates all levels of experience and is structured to meet the needs of each of its participants.
Workshop features:
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Writing exercises designed to bring out work waiting to be written or develop your characters, plots, or settings further
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Sensitive, yet rigorous critique of your work
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Individual conferences with Maureen
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Local side trips to nurture your writing and imagination
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Readings by students and faculty
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Lots of fun and camaraderie - the Il Chiostro experience!
Special Bonus: Upon registration, you may submit by September 15 up to 40 pages of material to be critiqued by Maureen.
Canal Boat -
photo by Andy Holtzman.
Finishing What You Started Out to Do
Many writers accomplish a significant amount of work over the years but never polish their manuscripts after the first draft. Others never finish a draft or write enough stories to complete a collection. In this week-long workshop taught by NYU's Martha Hughes, writers concentrate on finishing what they started out to do, possibly a long time ago. The goal of the workshop is to inspire participants to work, to renew their pleasure and dedication to writing and to gain momentum, so that writers leave at the end of the week with enough forward motion to keep writing upon their return home and tackle the last roadblocks to professional development.
To these ends, the features of this focused workshop are:
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Daily meetings in peer workshops to review both new material and revisions
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Inspirational and motivational techniques for those struggling with writer's block
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Constructive critiques for each writer from peers and from the instructor
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A private tutorial with the instructor for each participant. Writers who send forty pages of manuscript by September 15th also benefit from Martha's reading and editing of these pages.
The workshop accommodates all levels of experience and is structured to meet your needs, at whatever level you are.
Venice Lights
- photo by Andy Holtzman
About the Instructors: Maureen Brady, award winning author, creative writing teacher, and freelance editor has published three novels: Ginger's Fire, Folly, and Give Me Your Good Ear, and a collection of short stories: The Question She Put to Herself, as well as three books of nonfiction. Maureen teaches creative writing at NYU and The New York Writers Workshop at the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan. Her recent short stories have appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Spring, 2008, and the anthology, Just Like a Girl, Summer, 2008.
Recent successful students include: Susan Breen, The Fiction Class, Plume, 2008; Heather Terrell, The Crysalis, St. Martin’s, 2007; Aaron Hamburger, The View from Stalin's Head and Faith for Beginners, Random House, 2004, 2005 (winner of the 2005 Prix Roma); and Danielle Ofri, Singular Intimacies, (Beacon, 2003).
Maureen’s way with leading a workshop was relaxed, professional and empowering. This workshop, set in those glorious vineyards, had a special feeling about it. We all did a lot of writing, but it didn’t seem like work, and, on my return to Ireland, I was hungry to get writing, to take the feedback to my novel and finish it.
Patrick Chapman
Maureen Brady has the unique ability of reading a work in progress and quickly grasping both the intention of the author and the potential of the story he or she is trying to tell. Her expert advice has proved invaluable in my growth and development as a writer.
Aaron
Hamburger
View
from Stalin's Head, Faith for Beginners (Random House)
winner of the 2005 Prix Roma award
Click here to link to Maureen's website...
Martha E. Hughes received her MFA in Creative Writing from Bennington College. Her novel, Precious In His Sight, was published by Viking/Penguin. Also the author of two books of nonfiction, her essay was published in the anthology, Out of Her Mind: Women Writing about Madness, Random House.
Martha has taught the Advanced Fiction Workshop at New York University since 1991, was Fiction Fellow at the NY State Summer Writing Institute at Skidmore College for three years. She also founded The Peripatetic Writing Workshop, a summer writing program based on Shelter Island and Woodstock, NY. Many of her students and private clients have gone on to publish their novels, short stories and nonfiction books. Also a painter, she received her BFA in painting from Hunter College in 2006.
Martha Hughes set me on the road to becoming a successful author. Her astute comments on character, plot and pacing, as well as her willingness to share practical knowledge of the publishing business, helped me take the manuscript of my first book from a twinkle in my eye to a polished work that landed me a top agent. Whether you are serious about writing a saleable novel, or wish to hone your craft for your own edification, there is no better teacher and mentor than Martha.
Michele
Martinez
Melanie Vargas thriller series, including "Most Wanted,"
"The Finishing School," and "Cover-Up.
Martha combines uncanny emotional insight with the practical advice of a great editor. She has given me the confidence to believe in my stories and the tools to communicate them to others. I could not have published my book without her invaluable mentoring.
Keith
McDermott
"Acqua Calda", published
2005 by Carroll & Graf at Avalon Press
Click here to contact Martha with questions...
Price & Registration: $1,895 p/p ($400 single supplement)
Includes:
- Single or double room with ensuite bathroom and shower
- Daily continental breakfast and 5 dinners at local restaurants, including wine
- Workshop tuition
- Guided tour of Venice
- Selected excursions with class
Note: if you are traveling alone, we can match you with
a roommate.
Departure is on Saturday morning.
Price does not include:
- Airfare
- Lunch
- Independent meals and sight-seeing
- Workshop materials
To Register:
- Download Registration Form by clicking button at left
- Print, fill out and sign Registration Form
- Mail or fax it to Il Chiostro with a non-refundable deposit of $300 (address and fax number are on the Registration Form)
- You will receive a registration confirmation and subsequently, relevant information about your workshop, travel to Italy, arrivals, suggested supplies, etc.
- Or call us at 800-990-3506 to register by phone
Open Media
Exhibit