Writers' Workshop
From the Director
Dear Writer:
The Duke University Writers Workshop will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2009. In anticipation of this special milestone, we are offering a second workshop in 2008 – at the very end of September and in a new location – the Wildacres Retreat in Little Switzerland, North Carolina – a spot as beautiful as it sounds!
With our move to Wildacres this fall, there are three important opportunities you need to know about:
- We are lowering our tuition for the workshop in order to make the experience more accessible.
- We will be at Wildacres in residence with another talented group – Solatido: A Southern Singer/Songwriters Retreat and Workshop. The presence of these twenty-some musician/writers will offer us a chance to hear inspiring music and lyrics and to attend a free and fabulous concert by the primary Solatido instructor: Rounder recording artist Carrie Newcomer. See http://www.carrienewcomer.com.
- According to Wildacres policies, we will have a very limited number of single rooms available for Duke participants. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to find a fellow writer to join you as a roommate for this experience. (There are lots of places to write on the grounds. You won't be spending much time in your room, anyway!) Or, if you would like to bring a close friend or spouse who is not a writer to be your guest in a double room, the rate for a companion is very reasonable ($250). Your guest is encouraged to participate in the learning community by attending all meals and any or all of the whole group meetings during the workshop (but not the small group morning classes with your primary instructor.) There are many activities in the Little Switzerland area, including fishing, hiking, visiting craft studios, golf, and on the mountaintop itself is an environment of general peace and quiet for reflection or study.
The Duke Workshop requires that you select only one primary instructor for the week, but you will also have a chance to learn informally from other faculty members at mealtimes and more formally in daily afternoon and evening sessions with the whole group when each faculty member takes a turn reading and teaching from their own works. We'll also make some time for you to share your writing with the whole group. And yes, there is free time to rest, hike, journal, and generally renew your commitment to the craft of writing in an extraordinary setting. Meals are plentiful and the kitchen can accommodate special dietary needs within reason.
Note that some faculty members have offered to read up to 20 pages of your work in advance for critique. Please adhere to the deadline for mailing this work to your teacher in advance. Faculty members cannot read and comment on work outside the classroom that is not sent in advance by the specified deadline.
Please don't hesitate to e-mail me with any questions you may have about which instructor might be suitable for you.
Georgann Eubanks, Director
GE@minnowmedia.net
919-454-7429
Director of the Duke Writers' Workshop since 1989, Georgann Eubanks is the author of Literary Trails of the North Carolina Mountains: A Guidebook published by UNC Press in 2007. She is also a principal, with Donna Campbell, in Minnow Media, LLC, a full-service multimedia production company primarily involved in the creation of independent, public affairs documentaries for public television. Eubanks has published short stories, poems, reviews, and profiles in many magazines and journals including Oxford American, Bellingham Review, Southern Review, Duke Magazine, Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, and North American Review. She is a North Carolina Arts Council Literary Fellowship winner, recipient of a regional Emmy, and is past president of Arts North Carolina, the industry's statewide advocacy and service organization. See www.georganneubanks.net.
For more detailed information on the workshop and comments from participants, please visit our Duke Writers Community page at http://www.dukewritersworkshop.net