This workshop is FULL. If you'd like to be added to the wait list, please email programs@mainewriters.org.
A Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Level: All Levels
You’re at a karaoke bar, and it’s your turn at the microphone. Your friends pushed you up on stage, and just before the song begins, you curse the gods for not giving you a voice like Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, or Lady Gaga. You give your friends at the bar the middle finger because you have always avoided karaoke night. But here you are, on stage and under the lights.
You can only sound like who you are. Instead of imitating one of the greats, you might as well use and develop what’s original or striking in you. As Oscar Wilde said (and he sure did say a lot of things): “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
This workshop is intended to strengthen your natural writing voice and/or discover your voice if you haven’t come across it already. You have a natural writing voice—let’s figure out what its range is and what it might be best suited for.
This workshop will be a series of short, prompted writing exercises, small group feedback, and large group sharing and reflection. The intent of each prompt is to identify genres and modes to which your voice is suited, and to explore how you might broaden your voice’s range and how all the small and large decisions you make as a writer determine what your voice is. From word choice to sentence structure to narrative perspectives, all these choices make up that elusive thing called voice. Borrowing from Leo Strauss's concept of logographic necessity and the unassailable Strunk and White, this workshop will strive to uncover the compelling and singular voice in you.
+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur online via Zoom. Students do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before their class if they are first-time users. On Thursday, October 7, from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, MWPA staff will offer a tech help session on Zoom. Students are encouraged to attend the tech help session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, if they have any tech concerns, use Zoom infrequently, or simply would like to test their connection, and those who do not are responsible for ensuring that they are able to use Zoom on their own. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the test session and the class.
+ REQUIRED EQUIPMENT A reliable, fast internet connection (broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE), speakers & a microphone (built-in or USB plug-in), and a webcam (built-in or USB plug-in).
If you would like to quickly and easily test your internet connection and your computer’s compatibility with Zoom, click HERE. Full details on supported Operating Systems, internet browsers, and more can be found HERE. To download and familiarize yourself with Zoom, click HERE.
Phuc Tran’s acclaimed memoir, SIGH, GONE: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and The Fight To Fit In, received the 2020 New England Book Award for Nonfiction and the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Memoir. SIGH, GONE was named a best book of 2020 by Amazon, Audible, Kirkus Reviews, and many other publications.
His 2012 TEDx talk “Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive” was featured on NPR’s Ted Radio Hour.
Phuc has been a high school Latin teacher for more than twenty years while also simultaneously establishing himself as a highly sought-after tattooer in the Northeast. He graduated Bard College in 1995 with a BA in Classics and received the Callanan Classics Prize. He taught Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit in New York at the Collegiate School and was an instructor at Brooklyn College’s Summer Latin Institute. Most recently, he taught Latin, Greek, and German at the Waynflete School in Portland, Maine.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact Hannah Perry at hannah@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-228-8263 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one full scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due on September 27 at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION