Additional Programs

The Center for Northern Studies
Mountain Cultures Semester
Summer Farm Semester
Wildbranch Writing Workshop
Global Field Studies
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Courses By Visiting Faculty

A BOOK EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE
John Barstow
This course will explore the mechanics, etiquette, and protocols of submitting a manuscript to a publisher and the publishing process from acquisition to bound book. Once a writer completes a draft of a manuscript, the writing process may become less solitary and more collaborative, as an editor begins to comment on the work and query the author about possible revisions. The course will give participants a behind-the-curtain glimpse of the editorial process, including discussion of the various ways different writers approach the task of reworking their initial drafts. We will consider how an editor raises questions about topic, theme, structure, narrative development, chapter organization, and style.

UNAFRAID TO SPEAK
Janisse Ray
In 1994, Janisse Ray was herself a student at Wildbranch. During the past decade, she has supported herself and her family by writing. In this workshop she will tell the story of her evolution to self-employed activist and writer. She will talk about choices and risks, about dedicating yourself in service to the world, about the role of the artist in society, and about unplugging from industrial capitalism’s stranglehold on a whole, sensible existence. She will answer questions about the process of writing, of publishing, and of protecting with your words the rent communities of life, human and wild.

A MAGAZINE EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE
Jennifer Sahn
What do magazine editors want? How do they make selections for their respective publications? What do they expect from writers? What can the writer do to increase the chances of being published? This workshop will address the craft of writing from the perspective of the editor. From initial contact to final changes to an article, we will discuss how writers and editors work together, the different responsibilities they face, and the ways in which the most fruitful relationship between them can be developed. The workshop will also address the many different kinds of writing that are needed to describe our relationship with nature--literary, scientific, journalistic, educational, experiential, descriptive--and how writers can learn to match their style and interests with appropriate publications.

INTERNET PUBLISHING ROUNDTABLE
Facilitated by H. Emerson Blake
This roundtable session will explore the vast terrain of online publishing. Workshop participants and faculty are welcome to join in a discussion of various online media outlets, who publishes what, and how to begin writing for the Internet—whether it be a blog, assignment, or writing for an online magazine on spec.

WORKS IN PROGRESS
H. Emerson Blake and Jennifer Sahn
This course provides an opportunity for participants to receive individual, in-depth feedback on a piece of writing from one of Orion magazine’s senior editors. Participants wishing to take advantage of this offering should submit a manuscript to Wildbranch by May 10, 2007. Individual meetings will be scheduled during the workshop week.

Click here for the Workshop Daily Schedule