“Transformations” is a workshop devoted to helping writers or would-be writers transform their autobiographical material into fiction. Beginning writers are often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of memory and experience they possess and need to find ways to identify and focus on the truly resonant details of their lives. In this workshop, participants will engage in a series of writing experiments that help to uncover significant memories and experiences—the ones that might form the basis of stories and novels.
Participants will learn as well about the importance of using precise details and images to create vivid prose. We will do several writing experiments that encourage the writer to use precise sensory detail and images, rather than abstraction, in telling a story.
Alice Lichtenstein received a MFA from Boston University where she was named the Boston University Fellow in Creative Writing. She has received a New York Foundation of the Arts Grant in Fiction and the Barbara Deming Award in Fiction. She has twice been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony. Alice is the author of three novels: The Genius of the World (Zoland Books, 2000); Lost, (Scribner, 2010); and the forthcoming, The Crime of Being (Upper Hand Press, 2019). Lost was a long-list Finalist for the Dublin IMPAC International Award in Fiction.
Lichtenstein has published stories in several literary journals. Most recently her work has appeared in: Narrative Magazine (Fall 2018); Post Road, Short Story, and Digital Americana.
Lichtenstein has been an instructor of creative writing at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY for twelve years. She has also taught fiction-writing at Boston University, Wheaton College, Lesley College, and the Harvard University Summer School.
The location is George Stevens Academy, library (see side bar for address and map). Registration is required with a workshop fee of $35. If you have questions about this workshop you can email word.bluehill@gmail.com or call Blue Hill Books at 207/374-5632.
Materials: pencil (or pen) and paper—and an eagerness to get started on that long put aside novel or story!