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Saturday May 17 / Sunday May 18 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	The Crafts of Poetry and Publication: Private Languages, Public Poems Instructor: Scott Challener Cost: $195/$170 members "There is a moment when a writer goes from writing private poems in a public language to writing public poems in a private language," Mark Strand once said. In this weekend workshop we'll investigate this strange and lovely statement by reading great poems that seem successfully "public," but written in a "private language." Since writers (like editors) are readers, we'll wonder about how such poems live in a reader's imagination. We'll venture, too, into our own private languages, and write from them. We'll question their publicity and publish-ability, and along the way, talk some about the practical craft of publishing poems. This weekend workshop, then, will be part reading poems, part writing poems, part workshopping poems, and part talking about publishing them.
Saturday May 17 / Sunday May 18 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	The Story Details Instructor: Rosie Sultan Cost: $195/$170 membersAsked for advice on how to move stories and novels forward, Charles Baxter has said, "Don't orphan your details." Concrete, specific details work to give a story life, and they are often what make them stand out in the publishing world . In this workshop, we will look at short examples from Baxter, Chekhov, Flaubert, and Ishiguro and examine how these authors create lively details of sight, sense, taste, touch , action and thoughts as springboards to further their plots. Using Baxter's The Feast of Love, an excerpt from Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and Flaubert's Madame Bovary, we will "borrow" their techniques as models to craft our own details of plot and character. By the end of the two days, we will hopefully have developed some tools to see our stories through to their best possible endings.
Saturday May 17 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Designing and Launching Your Website and Blog Instructor: Amy Marcott Cost: $95/$85 members An expanded version of this winter’s popular 3-hour seminar. This course will show you how to set up a personal website and/or blog and craft a smart, attractive, user-friendly site. You'll learn how to register for a domain name, where to find a host, and how much it all costs, then discover different strategies and do-it-yourself tools for designing your site (some for beginners, others for those with a bit more tech savvy). We'll look at models for author websites, and you'll learn the basics of web design and usability, how to write for websites and blogs, and how to drive traffic to your site by optimizing it for search engines. We'll also workshop some blog entries of our own. You'll leave with many practical resources to help you establish an Internet home. Amy Marcott is a web writer and editor at MIT who also assists with web redesigns and incorporating new technologies into online strategies.
Saturday June 07 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Writing Sex Scenes Instructor: Yael Goldstein Cost: $95/$85 members Writer (and friend of Grub) Elizabeth Benedict said, in The Joy of Writing Sex, that good sex scenes are “about sex and something else.” In this day-long expanded version of the popular winter seminar, you’ll discuss the implications of that rule as well as how to make your sex scenes sizzle or fizzle, depending on the goal of the story. You’ll look at some very good and very bad examples of sex scenes, laugh quite a bit, and leave the seminar with a better understanding of how to maximize the sex scenes in your own work.
Saturday June 07 / Sunday June 08 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Screenwriting Primer Instructor: Mark Fogarty Cost: $195/$170 members For anyone who has ever wanted to write a screenplay, this weekend will get you up and running. You will learn Hollywood format and structure and participate in writing exercises that will teach you how to write great dialogue and combat writer's block. Bring an idea to class and you will be guided through turning your idea into a refined pitch. The pitch will evolve into an outline that will become the structure of your screenplay. In one weekend you will be given the tools to begin your screenplay, and the prerequisite for an advanced screenwriting course at Grub Street or elsewhere.
Saturday June 07 / Sunday June 08 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Weekend of Strangeness Instructor: Nick Mamatas Cost: $195/$170 members Odd meats make for tasty sausage. We'll unlock your creativity and throw away the key with a number of exercises designed to explore and exploit the subconscious mind. Automatic writing, the exquisite corpse, the resume of dreams, these are just a few of the games we shall play. Class attendees will learn how to push past the boundaries of the real to come up with that perfect image or metaphor, or even to write their own wholly surreal or fabulist work. “High-concept” novels and stories are all the rage these days, and so one of the goals of this weekend is to break out of the comfort zone of your writing and create work that gets noticed.
Monday June 09 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Ask the Agent Instructor: Eve Bridburg $45/$40 members Grub Street founder and literary agent Eve Bridburg gives you the inside scoop of how a literary agency functions, how to get your work noticed, and how to find the right representation. She will help dispel the myths of agents as heartless “sharks” and discuss what makes a work of fiction or non-fiction attractive, what makes a good idea for a non-fiction book, and how to pitch your project effectively in writing and in person. Eve can speak to various projects, but, as an agent, she is actively seeking new works of literary and up-market fiction, YA fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction. She is also particularly moved by history, politics, parenting, motherhood and health and wellness. Recent sales include Kirsten Menger-Anderson’s short story collection: Dr. Olaf von Schuler’s Brain to Algonquin, world-renowned obesity expert Jim Levine’s NEAT Revolution to Crown, and Marine Captain Donovan Campbell's Joker One: One Platoon's Courage, Heartache, and Sacrifice on the Front Lines of Iraq to Random House.
Monday June 09 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Writing Is Rewriting: How To Revise Your Short Story Instructor: Cam Terwilliger $45/$40 members Though it's often said that revising is the key to publishable writing, revision is a process that many beginning writers find frustrating. Once you have a first draft of a story, what happens next? How do you follow through on the ideas your workshop suggested? How do you add depth to characters? How do you make the structure more direct? This seminar will teach a few basic concepts of revision that will help you address these issues, in addition to suggesting concrete techniques you can apply to stories at home. Whether it's exploring the possibilities of an initial draft, or adding the final touches, revision is a process no successful writer can do without. IMPORTANT: Students enrolling in this class will be required to bring a draft of a story in progress. Your story will serve as a frame of reference for the seminar's discussion and exercises.
Monday June 09 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	From The Ground Up Instructor: James Scott $45/$40 members You will leave this unique seminar with the beginnings of a brand-new story (or novel) that no one else in the world could have possibly have created. For the first part of the class, you and your classmates will collaborate on building a town and community using maps and other prompts provided by the instructor. You will then begin to investigate the town’s inhabitants, zeroing in on a few that will become your character(s), and you will have some time to work on your story individually. Throughout, the instructor will guide you with tips about craft and how to create the most compelling narrative from the details you discover. This model does come with a pedigree: a story written by the instructor in a similar seminar was recently published in One Story magazine. We can’t promise publication, but we can certainly promise a fun and productive evening.
Tuesday June 10 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM	Brown Bag Lunchtime Writing Series Do you work downtown and want to fit some writing into your day? Or do you have a schedule that gives you free afternoons instead of evenings? Bring your lunch and come on over to Grub Street for a Brown Bag Writing Workshop – a series recently profiled in the Boston Globe. For 45 minutes, you’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing with some cool writing exercises. Led by one of our award-winning instructors or ambassadors. Best of all, you’ll leave lunch with some new ideas to ponder for the rest of your day, and beyond. Maximum of 15 students. To sign up, email sonya@grubstreet.org or call 617.695.0075.
Saturday June 14 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Grub Street Lock-In $50/$25 members, fee includes catered breakfast and lunch, unlimited coffee, and sporadic wireless internet access. Taking a Grb Street class is a fantastic way to learn the craft of creative writing, as well as a way to connect with other writers, revise your manuscripts and get ideas for future stories. But it's not sitting down and actually putting pen to paper for multiple hours and cranking out the words. That's what the Lock-In is all about. For one day, be the dedicated writer you always want to be at our seven-hour catered lock-in. You'll meet and visit with Grub Street staff and other writers, eat good food, and have fun getting a month's worth of writing done in one afternoon at our inspiring headquarters. In fact, you'll have no choice. Open to writers of all genres.
Tuesday June 17 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Writing for Radio: Part One Instructor: Jennifer Mattson $45/$40 members Public radio is a writer’s dream come true. From commentaries to personal essays, memoir to satire, it’s a perfect place to pitch your wackiest ideas. But writing for broadcast is nothing like print. It's a beast all its own. Whether it’s the distinct voice of This American Life or the fast-paced daily news of All Things Considered, NPR is one of the most exciting places for today’s storytellers to air their work. Problem is most people don’t know enough about broadcast to navigate their way through the NPR system, no less a radio script. In the first evening of this intensive two-night seminar, you will learn the basics of how to write for the ear and the critical differences between print and broadcast. In the second and final meeting of this intensive two-night seminar, participants will begin writing a radio script so that each student will have some version, finished or not, of their ideal radio piece to take home. There will be an opportunity for you to receive feedback as well as share your thoughts with others.
Tuesday June 17 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	More Than Capes: Writing a Graphic Novel Instructor: Jorge Vega $45/$40 members Slowly but steadily, graphic novels have escaped the dimly lit confines of comic shops and found critical acclaim under the soft fluorescents of mainstream bookstores. Blending a static art form with compelling narrative and dialog, the graphic novel gives fans an engaging reading experience while presenting the writer with a unique set of creative challenges. How do you write with the human eye in mind? How do you write for two different types of audience-- the reader and the artist (your collaborator)? With graphic novels like Gene Yang's American Born Chinese being considered as a finalist in the 2007 National Book Awards, now may be the perfect time to give the comic medium another look and discover just how much it has grown.
Tuesday June 17 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Building a Writing Career Instructor: Ethan Gilsdorf $45/$40 members An expanded version of the “Hour of Power” seminar at this year’s “Muse and the Marketplace” conference: Join Ethan Gilsdorf for a practical, high-energy and inspiring discussion of how to create and sustain a career as a writer in an era when that’s becoming increasingly difficult. Find out how Ethan went from a naïve poet at 21 to a working freelancer at 33 to a published author at 42 – the twenty-year plan for success! Ethan will talk with you about strategies for building your career: how to be patient, stay focused, set realistic goals, stay engaged with the craft (via teaching, diversity in writing projects and genres, recharging batteries), the importance of finding and sustaining a writing community, writing for pay vs. writing for pleasure/art, networking, and sending out work.
Wednesday June 25 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Writing Sketch Instructor: Marty Johnson $45/$40 members Do you watch Saturday Night Live or funny videos online and think, "I could have written that?" Can you make your friends laugh but your ideas die on the page when you start writing? This 3-hour introduction to the art of writing sketch comedy will help you take those ideas and turn them into living, breathing sketches that audiences will love. You'll leave this seminar with a better understanding of the elements that make up great sketch writing and be well on your way to completing a sketch of your own.
Wednesday June 25 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Writing From Real Life Instructor: Judah LeBlang $45/$40 members Writers are observers, continually examining our lives and the lives of others. For memoir writers, and for those who write in other genres, our life experiences become the raw material of our creative work. In this seminar, we will focus on the key challenges in our lives today, and other hurdles we’ve overcome – in other words, difficult circumstances that might become the rich “raw material” for new work. We will discuss strategies for developing this material in a way that avoids the sentimental and general, and look at a few short examples of how other writers (i.e. Didion, Ehrenreich, Sedaris) use essays as a way of making meaning of difficult circumstances. By the end of the night, you will have chosen a topic and be on your way to writing about it in a thoughtful and critical way.
Wednesday June 25 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Writing for Radio: Part Two Instructor: Jennifer Mattson $45/$40 members See the June 9th listing of “Part One” of the seminar above.
Thursday June 26 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM	Book Party: Dirty Words Co-Sponsored by Four Stories Enjoy some celebratory group author action when guest authors Ellen Sussman, Ravi Shankar, Michael Lowenthal, Brian Bouldrey, Stephen McCauley, Amelia Perkins (and more!) read from Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex. From sexual relationships to sexual positions, from the classics to contemporary twists, Dirty Words collects the most titillating and provocative definitions of the most outlandish and often unspeakable sexual terms, as defined and explained by some of today's most exciting writers. The book includes contributions from Jonathan Ames, Thomas Beller, Maud and Nell Casey, Pagan Kennedy, Elissa Schappel, Katharine Weber, and many others, and steps in where time-honored discussions of the birds and the bees fall short. Refreshments provided, and copies of the book available for purchase. Free!
Saturday June 28 / Sunday June 29 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Surviving the Slush Pile Instructor: Laura van den Berg Cost: $195/$170 members Publication in literary magazines is one of the best ways for emerging writers to achieve credibility, recognition, and a larger readership. Yet, the quantity and diversity of literary magazines can be daunting for submitters. Do you have stories that are polished and ready to be seen by a literary magazine editor, but are unsure of how to prepare a cover letter or pick the magazines best suited for your work? Or have you been submitting for a while, but worry you might be doing something wrong? In this weekend seminar, students will learn to navigate the literary magazine landscape. We will discuss how you can position your story for the best possible read and common mistakes made by submitters, study examples of “good” and “bad” cover letters, workshop first pages of student manuscripts, discussing what’s likely to engage a reader or dismay them from continuing with the story, and learn how to determine which magazines are appropriate for your work. In addition, students will draft their own cover letters and leave the class with a specific and personalized submission plan. We will also discuss the role of networking in the submission process and how to successfully pursue contacts made at conferences and other literary venues.
Saturday June 28 / Sunday June 29 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Fiction For Children: “In the Beginning…” Instructor: Sara Pennypacker Cost: $195/$170 “Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. In that first sentence of CHARLOTTE’S WEB, published over fifty years ago, E. B. White has introduced character, problem, and setting, and generated tension - that ax blade demands attention. Today, more than ever, your chance of having a manuscript accepted depends on a compelling and polished first sentence, paragraph, and page. In this workshop, we will explore all aspects of writing for children – voice, theme, plot, character development, point of view, and publishing – from picture books through mid-grade novels, but we’ll special attention to the high-powered lens that is the beginning of the story. Writing is writing, but writing for children demands special skills and considerations: through discussions, readings and (very short!) in-class exercises, we will figure out what works and what doesn’t in children’s books, and then each participant will be able to present the beginning of his/her manuscript for group work-shopping.
Saturday June 28 / Sunday June 29 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Best Adapted Screenplay Instructor: Mary Baker Cost: $195/$170 members Screen adaptation is the craft of writing a film from existing material, and virtually any type of story – from novels to short stories to newspaper columns – can be crafted into a new, original script for film or television. Starting with analysis of the source material, students will learn some techniques specific to adaptation, including how to insure that your screenplay reflects the original material, while containing the necessary structure for telling the story within the allotted timeframe. In addition, this class will cover a wide range of practical screenwriting concerns such as character development, scene design and writing dialogue.
Tuesday July 01 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM	Spring Season Showcase Join Grub students from the winter term, plus two of our award-winning instructors, as they read (for 5 minutes each) from recent work. You’ll hear great fiction, non-fiction, poetry and screenwriting. Afterwards, the mic is open, and anyone in the audience is welcome to share their work for 5 minutes. Readers get free beer. Everyone gets free snacks. Sign-ups begin at 7pm. A great event for current Grubbies and those who want to check us out. Bring friends! Free! Donations appreciated.

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