war on gravity

SPRING 2008 WRITER-TO-WRITER APPLICATIONS STILL AVAILABLE!
EXTENDED Deadline to Apply: February 20, 2008

Calling all writers! Applications are now available for our spring
session of Writer-to-Writer, the artistic mentorship program designed
to give advanced writers the opportunity to reach their next level of
artistic development. Writer-to-Writer creates intimate relationships
between artists; mentors act as artistic catalysts and partners,
providing each mentee with artistic feedback and professional guidance.

WRITER-TO-WRITER: SPRING 2008 MENTORSHIPS:

Anya Achtenberg (fiction/memoir)
DISCOVERING THE UNLIVED LIFE:
WRITING INTO THE MYSTERY OF YOUR CHARACTERS
The work of character development is central to discovering the real
story, rather than imposing a story onto our characters. Full
development of character in story work is not separate from the real
work we do in the world, that of continually crossing borders—internal
as well as external—with openness and knowledge, compassion and
respect. For our characters to unfold their truths in their full
dignity or brokenness, their astonishing beauty or cruelty, we must
work to understand their deepest yearnings in a way that often goes
beyond their own ability to articulate them.

In this mentorship, each participant will agree to “live with” one or
two characters for the duration of the mentorship, although new
characters may emerge, and new dimensions open of other, perhaps less
central, characters. We will work to deepen our ability to bring the
power of authentic beings into our writing, and extend our range to
include characters we may dislike or fear, characters that puzzle or
fascinate us, as well as those with whom we identify. We will challenge
ourselves to go beyond our preconceived notions, our projections of our
own points of view, our societal and cultural biases, our fear and lack
of knowledge, into understanding the lives of others in our global
community, in our own neighborhood or family.

We will go beyond the back story, beyond what a character has lived up
to the moment that we meet them. An unlived life is hidden within the
life each character must live to get by. You will explore your
character’s internal terrain, a land of yearning bordered by
frustration, overwork, social pressures, forgetting, distractions, and
violences, large and small, yet charged by the deep human desire for
expression and connection, for fulfillment of the individual and social
self in creativity and community. We will look at these evocative and
emotional issues in our discussions and in the illuminating work of
diverse writers. We’ll work in far-reaching but focused writing
explorations to cross boundaries that not only free our writing, but
deepen our understanding of, and respect for, the worlds and characters
we write about.



Sherry Quan Lee (poetry)
Bookmaking: Writing to Save Your Life
What does the map of your life look like? Are there stop signs,
detours, back roads, freeways, and tunnels? Do you travel one
particular road over and over again? Are you writing that one story
over and over again? Does your collection of stories need closure? Is
closure possible?

Memoir can be the stories remembered and made sense of as you chart the
map of your life. Memoir can be the connection, the collection of
those stories. Memoir can be your stories written in poetic form.
Memoir can be poetry enhanced with pictures, and other visual
materials.

In this mentorship, we will explore the healing power of poetry as
memoir. Initially, we will examine the stories that navigate your life
in order to discover the theme of your memoir. Your theme will be your
writing prompt to gather more material. We will discuss poems belonging
in your book, but emphasis will be on overall theme, organization,
format, and production. This mentorship is for poets (who may
sometimes write prose) interested in completing a chapbook or
manuscript draft.
* * * * * * * * *

Read more about our Spring mentorships with Anya Achtenberg
(fiction/memoir) and Sherry Quan Lee (poetry) online here:
http://www.intermediaarts.org/pages/programs/literary/wtw.php.
Applications attached, and available online!

This program is supported by the Jerome Foundation in celebration of
the Jerome Hill Centennial and in recognition of the valuable cultural
contributions of artists to society.






Julie Bates, Literary Programs Manager
Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls MN 55408
Tel: 612.874.2815
Fax: 612.871.6927

Create. Engage. Inspire. Change.
www.intermediaarts.org