Co-Coordinators Carolyn Locke and Lucy Turner have done a wonderful job organizing this year’s CWC Conference & Retreat. While there may still be a little tweaking of the times listed below, I couldn’t wait any longer to give everyone a sneak preview of what to look forward to:
Photo: Heather Huddleston
Monday, June 29th
11:00 – 1:00 Arrival and Check-in
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch (optional, additional cost)
1:00– 1:45 Opening Community Remarks Welcome, housekeeping, and announcement of Board and Coordinator vacancies
2:00 – 4:00 Query Yourself With Visiting Professional Seth FishmanEverything you need to know about how to find an agent and what you’re looking for. Organized by the MFAW Program
4:15 – 5:45 Plenary Panel and Discussion “Getting Lost” with panelists: Heather Huddleston, Sarah Shellow, and Sam Sherman, and moderator Kathryn Cullen-DuPont
5:45 – 7:00 Dinner
7:15 – 8:15 Community Meeting and Elections Nominations for New Steward(s) and Coordinator(s).(Please feel free to nominate yourself.) Election of CWC Board of Stewards
8:30 – 9:30 CWC Readings Please sign up for one slot for the week; that should allow everyone an opportunity to read. There will also be a table for CWC authors who have books to sell. (Individuals take responsibility for their own wares and sales.)
Tuesday, June 30th
7:00 – 8:00 Early Bird Yoga with Sarah Shellow or Heather Huddleston
7:45 – 9:00 Breakfast
8:00 – 9:00 CWC Information Table (for MFAW students) CLOCKHOUSE and CWC book sales
9:00 – 11:45 Individual Writing Retreat Please consider the dorm a quiet location during this time.
or
9:00 – 10:30 “Stations of the Word” with Sam Sherman, 2005. A CWC tradition: Sam Sherman will lead us through a series of timed writing prompts to start the week with writing. Bring a journal or notebook and something with which to write.
10:45 – 11:45 Board of Stewards Meeting
11:45 – 1:00 Lunch
1:15 – 4:15 DIScourse: Mysticism, Allegory, and the Adversarial in Writing Practice with Keith Backhaus, 2007. Oppositional forces, conflict, and the adversarial play necessary roles in the material and spiritual makeup of reality. The purpose of this workshop is to explore the adversarial forces inherent in the human condition (as an expression of the universal condition), their manifestation in the historical makeup of human thought and their necessary roles in how our perceptions and agency operate. The parallels between mathematics, myth and the act of creation can be traced and implemented in order to better the writing process and reorient our perception of writing itself as a sacred and transgressive act. Participants will trace cosmologies alongside geometry, compare numerous mythological figures and principles from around the world in terms of expression of the adversarial, and apply these concepts to the lived writing practice.
4:45 – 5:45 Clockhouse (Issue #3): Reading and Celebration. Refreshments will be served.
5:45 – 7:00 Dinner
7:15 – 8:15 CWC Readings Please sign up for one slot for the week; that should allow everyone an opportunity to read. There will also be a table for CWC authors who have books to sell. (Individuals take responsibility for their own wares and sales.)
Wednesday, July 1st
7:45 – 9:00 Breakfast
8:00 – 9:00 CWC Information Table (for MFAW students) CLOCKHOUSE and CWC book sales
9:00 – 11:45 Individual Writing Retreat Please consider the dorm a quiet location during this time.
or
9:00 – 11:30 Writing and Yoga with Heather Huddleston, 2007. Participants will be doing a gentle yoga practice accessible to everyone (modifications will be offered)—from beginners to advanced yogis, as well as writers of all genres. The focus will be on getting folks into certain asanas (postures) and then having them either write while in the poses or directly after the pose has been expressed. There will be time for writing and sharing in between and after the yoga practice. Bring a yoga mat (if you have one), a journal or notebook, and something with which to write; wear comfortable clothing.
11:45 – 1:00 Lunch
1:15 – 2:45 MAPLE CREAMEE RUN! Let’s organize carloads to go and sample this local specialty. Don’t miss it!
3:00-4:00 Board of Stewards Meeting (if needed)
4:30 – 5:30 Works in Progress Informal readings and feedback, all genres
5:45 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 – 8:00 Reading and Q & A, with Vising Writer Dani Shapiro
8:00 – 8:30 Book Signing & Reception, with Visiting Writer Dani Shapiro
8:30– 9:30 CWC Readings Please sign up for one slot for the week; that should allow everyone an opportunity to read. There will also be a table for CWC authors who have books to sell. (Individuals take responsibility for their own wares and sales.)
Thursday, July 2nd
7:45 – 9:00 Breakfast
9:00 – 11:45 Individual Writing Retreat Please consider the dorm a quiet location during this time.
or
10:30– 12:00 Fiction, Fact, Truth, and Memory: A Conversation with Visiting Writer Dani Shapiro. Dani Shapiro is the author of five novels, two memoirs, and most recently, national bestseller Still Writing, a witty, heartfelt, and practical look at the exhilarating and challenging process of storytelling. At once a memoir, a meditation on the artistic process, and advice on craft, her “love letter to other writers,” offers an intimate exploration of what it means to be a writer, to “hone and hone and chisel and chisel away at ourselves until we arrive at that true place, at the deepest level of specificity.” Still Writing distills lessons from Shapiro’s process, struggles, success, and wisdom to inspire writers at all stages of development to trust the work, trust themselves, and keep writing. Come talk to her and hear firsthand her insights from over twenty years of teaching and writing. Get to know her before you come by visiting her website, reading her blog, and watching her interview with Oprah on Super Soul Sunday (all available at: danishapiro.com).
11:45 – 1:00 Lunch
1:15 – 2:45 Life after Goddard: The Teaching Edition with MFAW alumna Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, 2005. The academic curriculum vitae is very different from a corporate resume. Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, assistant chairperson of the Department of Humanities and Media Studies at Pratt Institute, receives scores of applications for her department’s part-time positions every semester, and she has served on the Institute’s formal search committees for tenure-track faculty and department chair positions. In this to-the-point workshop, she’ll review (with colleagues’ permission!) the C.V.’s and cover letters that led to interviews and positions, and she’ll describe the ones that led to polite but immediate rejections. This workshop for MFAW students is also open to Clockhouse Writers’ Conference & Retreat participants.
3:00 – 5:00 The Walking Sonnet with Maggie Cleveland, 2011. In this workshop, we’ll try out one of Bernadette Mayer’s writing experiments using movement of the body or eyes to create a 14-line sonnet. This may involve a short hike or a visual/sensory exploration of a physical space – it’s up to you. Don’t worry if you haven’t written a sonnet before or if it’s been a long time; we’ll spend the first part of the session brushing up on the basics of the form. Please bring a notebook and something to write with.
5:45 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 – 8:00 MFA Closing Party
Please join other CWC participants as hosts of this party for MFA students and faculty. Please sign up to set up / clean up to make this party a great experience for all.
Friday, July 4th
7:45 – 9:00 Breakfast
10:00 – 11:00 Closing Community Meeting
11:00 – 12:00 Pack Up, Clean Up In support of the Goddard housekeepers, please leave your room tidy, strip the bed, fold the bed cover, and leave sheets and towels in the pillowcase on the bed.
11:45 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 Dorm closes
Hoping to see you there,
Kathryn Cullen-DuPont
