The Desert Nights, Rising Stars
Writers Conference

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Picture of Hanif Abdurraqib, Ramona Ausubel, Deborah Miranda, and Achy Obejas in front of Old Main

Hanif Abdurraqib, Ramona Ausubel, Deborah Miranda, and Achy Obejas | Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference Advanced Workshops, 2019

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Advanced Workshops

Deeper engagement with conference faculty

Beyond panels, craft talks, and the rest of the regular conference schedule, the Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference features a number of advanced workshops that provide individuals with opportunities for deeper learning, closer feedback, and more personalized relationships with conference faculty.

By participating in advanced workshops, writers form tight-knit bonds with each other and become part of an intimate cohort ahead of the larger activities. Each workshop takes place the day before the conference (Thursday) and is about three hours long.

Advanced workshops are open to the public with a $25 discount for conference attendees. (Please note: advanced workshops are not included in the conference registration. Discount codes will be sent to attendees upon registration.)

To learn more about advanced workshops, you can view the list below. 

You can also meet our faculty, view this year's schedule, or find upcoming classes and workshops through the Piper Writers Studio

 

View Advanced Workshops

Picture of Ramona Ausubel in front of Old Main

How to Survive Your Novel
Ramona Ausubel
Date: Thursday, February 21, 2019, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Lecture, Workshop
Genre: Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Hybrid, Novels
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Starting a novel is hard. Finishing a novel seems nearly impossible. And the middle, well, the middle is a thousand years long. But! But! There are things you can do to turn walls into doorways and keep you moving forward. Join award winning novelist, Ramona Ausubel, in a course on discussing strategies for survival in writing your novel and for keeping the process fun, inventive and full of life. This workshop consists of both moments of lecture and exercises, so be prepared to learn, talk, engage, and put your thoughts and ideas on the page!
Picture of Hanif Abdurraqib in front of Old Main

Writing Away from a Good/Evil Binary
Hanif Abdurraqib
Date: Thursday, February 21, 2019, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Type: Advanced Workshop, Generative Workshop, Workshop
Genre: Poetry
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We too often rely on a “good/bad” binary to shape our characters and considerations in our stories. How do our complexities as human beings find their way to the page? In this generative workshop, join poet, essayist, and cultural critic, Hanif Abdurraqib, on an exploration on empathy and the dynamics of character in popular culture. The group will use an empathy tree in which participants figure out which characters in popular culture they find empathetic or non-empathetic.

Writing Down the Demons
Deborah Miranda
Date: Thursday, February 21, 2019, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Type: Advanced Workshop, Generative Workshop, Workshop
Genre: Poetry
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How do we summon creative power in the face of our personal and/or global demons? How can we speak of beauty when our world seems full of loss, grief, climate change, and political turmoil?  Thich Nhat Hanh says that the work of meditation is to transform “compost into flowers”; that is also the work of poetry.  This generative workshop will help you to re-see your demons as a form of poetic compost.