THE WRITERS INSTITUTE
Jeff VanderMeer
Writing Imaginative Fiction: A Wonderbook Workshop
3 days: Wed., November 19 – Fri., November 21, 9 a.m. - Noon
Course will take place at Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus
Want to register? Click here for instructions.
How do you balance the practical and the imaginative in your writing and revision? How can you merge the organic, subconscious elements of your fiction with the need to be analytical? Learn the answers as you critique manuscripts with and receive instruction from Jeff VanderMeer, author of the award-winning Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction, the world's first fully illustrated fiction-writing guide.
Exercises will include finding the autobiographical in the fantastical, use of freedom and constraint to energize even the most traditional approaches, and analysis of successful but atypical scenes as the jumping-off point for discussion of characterization, setting, and the numinous. VanderMeer's critiques will provide you with detailed specific feedback on your story but also general analysis that will help you with all of your fiction. This workshop is suitable for-and welcomes-all modes and styles of fiction. Join what promises to be a diverse group of beginning and intermediate writers for a workshop that is fun, energizing, and uniquely illuminating.
Jeff VanderMeer's most recent fiction is the NYT-bestselling Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance), released in 2014. This highly-praised series lauded by the likes of Stephen King, Karen Joy Fowler, and Robin Sloan has been acquired by publishers in 16 other countries.
His Wonderbook, the world's first fully illustrated, full-color creative writing guide, has won multiple awards, been featured prominently in national media, and is taught at many universities, including Brown. VanderMeer has edited or coedited over a dozen iconic fiction anthologies, has taught at, among others, the Yale Writers' Conference and the University of California at San Diego, lectured at MIT and the Library of Congress, and serves as the co-director of Shared Worlds, a unique teen writing camp located at Wofford College. Previous novels include the Ambergris Cycle, with nonfiction titles including Booklife: Strategies & Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer and the essay collection Monstrous Creatures.Through an imprint VanderMeer founded he publishes award-winning fiction in translation, primarily from Finland and Sweden. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife, the noted editor Ann VanderMeer.
Date and Time
Wednesday, November 19 – Fri., November 21,
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
This is a non-credit course.
Want to register? Click here for instructions.