Taos offers budget workshops for students, aspiring writers, and culture voyeurs at UNM
The Poor Writer’s Workshop (June 7—July 2)
The Soul of the Southwest (July 5—30)
The Poor Writer’s Workshop runs from June 7 to July 2, Mon.—Fri. from 8 am to 10:15 am at UNM’s Upper Division Seminar Room on Ledoux St. Revise your memoir, screenplay, dissertation, thesis, journal, autobiography, letters, essays, columns or articles into a fiction or nonfiction book. Prepare for that professional or expensive workshop later or surrender to your reader’s pleasure tomorrow with a little help from your friends. Remember, there is no such thing as writing, only rewriting. Neophytes and experienced writers looking for reader responses are all welcome. Let’s jump-start and finish those projects we’ve all been thinking about. Come hither, my friend.
Students intent on finishing their BUS degree can take English 423. Advanced Creative Writing—Creative Nonfiction for credit. Senior citizens (65 & over) can take the course for only $5 per credit hour. This advanced course in writing emphasizes the principles of revision and close reading as an aid in learning the craft. We shall combine the workshop experience with classroom study of published authors as well as some theorists on style.
Bill Whaley, M.A. (ABD), local publisher and editor of Horse Fly (1999-2009) is your coach and guide. The best readers of your work are your fellow participants.
Textbooks and Supplies.
Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, by Joseph M. Williams (Longman, New York)
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose (HarperCollins Publishers)
Excerpts (Handouts, Internet): Plato, Aristotle, Demetrius, Longinus, Croll, Hazlitt, Bacon, Pater, Montaigne, Emerson, and a variety of 19th, 20th , 21st Century examples from published writers, concerning style. Readings and assignments will be adapted to student needs and purposes.
Course Requirements. Students will present a writing project or series of essays, etc. for revision of not less than twenty-five pages for 80% of the grade. Readings, responses, quizzes and class participation will count for 20% of grade. Class discussion will focus on style and reading in workshop format.
“Soul of the Southwestâ€
In English 397, those who wish to learn about the underlying history of mystery in Taos, aka “The Soul of the Southwest†will discuss Regional nonfiction, including selections from authors, whose books are mentioned below as well as excerpts TBA. We will invite available authors to join us. And we will look at how the myths measure up against the actual record in terms of trying to understand the place called Taos and the people called Taosenos.
This second 4-week course runs from July 5—30. (M-F) 8—10:15 am at the seminar room, UNM Upper Division on Ledoux St.
Textbooks and Supplies.
David Stuart’s Anasazi America (UNM Press), Hampton Sides’ Blood and Thunder (Doubleday), Frank Waters’ To Possess the Land (Ohio University press), Suzanne Forrest’s The Preservation of the Village (UNM Press), Flannery Burke’s From Greenwich Village to Taos (University Press of Kansas), R.C. Gordon-McCutcheon’s “The Taos Indians and the Battle for Blue Lake (Red Crane Books), Acequia; Water Sharing, Sanctity, and Place (School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe)
Selections from D.H. Lawrence, John Nichols, Tony Hillerman, Rudolfo Anaya, Levi Romero, and local writers and artists, Jonathan WarmDay, John Suazo, and Richard Trujillo TBA.
Course Requirements. Students will be required to read and respond to assigned literature. Readings, responses, quizzes and class participation will count for 20% of grade. A final paper, counting for 80% of the grade, will be required. The student will summarize some aspect of the readings and compare the literature to a current popular perspective of Taos or the Southwest.
For more information, contact UNM Taos Bachelor and Graduate programs, (575) 758-2828, 246-B Ledoux St., Taos, NM 87571. You can email the instructor bwhaley@newmex.com.