The NHWP offers craft- and business-oriented workshops throughout the year for our members, and frequently for non-members as well.  Here’s what’s coming up:

The first Monday of every month is Writers’ Night Out.  Informal gatherings are held around the state where you can meet other writers and discuss what you are working on.  Find your closest group here.

Please see the bottom of the page for the NHWP Workshop Refund Policy and the NHWP Code of Conduct.

NHWP Open House (Social)

Saturday September 15, 2018, 1-4pm

Come join your friends at the NHWP at our autumn social and see the unveiling of our full 2018-2019 event calendar. At the Ford House on SNHU Campus (2500 N River Rd, Hooksett)

Working with an Editor, with Robin Baskerville (Workshop)

Saturday September 22, 2018, 1-4pm

Whether it’s self-editing, hiring a freelance editor or working with an in-house one once your work is sold, every writer needs an editor. Why lose out to another writer because unprofessional errors and clouded meaning speak louder than your creativity? In “Working with an Editor” Robin Baskerville explores what it’s like to work with a professional editor, how to maximize the experience, how to choose the right freelance editor for you, and what to watch out for. The three-hour workshop also covers the basics of proofreader’s marks, self-editing tricks, and the industry terminology used as a manuscript moves through the production process. Attendees will submit 500 words of their work to Baskerville for editing prior to the workshop. Pieces may be shared in class.

Robin Baskerville is a freelance editor and writer. Her clients run the gamut from just starting their writing careers to topping the New York Times Bestseller list. She is the former editor of Business NH Magazine and the winner of several state and regional awards for her editing and writing work at the Exeter News-Letter and the Hampton Union. For more information visit www.RobinBaskerville.com.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday, September 22 from 1-4pm.

COST: This workshop is $65 for NHWP members or $80 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

October is NHWP Horror and Dark Fantasy Month!

Horror, Humor, and Humanity: Three Keys to Scary Storytelling, with Jeff Deck (Workshop)

Saturday October 20, 2018, 10am-1pm

What’s a good scare without good stakes? How do you balance dread with moments of relief? In “Horror, Humor, and Humanity: Three Keys to Scary Storytelling,” Jeff Deck will show you how to make your horror fiction more compelling and affecting. Too often writers focus solely on the Horror element and neglect to add Humor and Humanity to their story, resulting in a flat tale that forgets to make you care whether the characters are killed by an axe murderer/wolfman/neo-Nazi slugoid. We’ll work on making our characters more relatable and interspersing moments of dark comedy between the frights in order to heighten each instance of tension. Workshop will be three hours including a writing exercise.

Jeff Deck is an indie author who lives in Maine with his wife, Jane, and their silly dog, Burleigh. Deck writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, dark fantasy, and other speculative fiction. Deck is the author of the new urban fantasy/mystery novel City of Ports, the supernatural thriller novel The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley, and the sci-fi gaming adventure novel Player Choice. He is the author, with Benjamin D. Herson, of the nonfiction book The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time (Crown/Random House). Deck is also a fiction ghostwriter and editor who helps other authors tell their stories, and he has contributed content to a couple of video games.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday October 20 from 10am-1pm

COST: This workshop is $65 for NHWP members or $85 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

A Sense of Dread: Employing the Senses to Evoke Suspense and Character Empathy in Horror Fiction, with Douglas Wynne (Workshop)

Saturday October 27, 2018, 1-4pm

In horror fiction, it’s the writer’s ability to craft suspense that keeps us turning the pages. But what exactly triggers a feeling of dread in life and entertainment? In this three-hour writing workshop, horror author Douglas Wynne examines strategies for crafting suspenseful scenes using sensory cues, character physiology, foreshadowing, and other literary devices. What to bring: a notebook and pen, laptop, or your preferred tools for writing and note-taking.

Douglas Wynne is the author of five novels: The Devil of Echo Lake, Steel Breeze, and the SPECTRA Files trilogy (Red Equinox, Black January, and Cthulhu Blues). His short fiction has appeared in numerous popular anthologies, and his Sense of Dread writing workshop was recently featured at StokerCon 2018 and the Kirk Hammett It’s Alive exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and son and a houseful of animals.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday October 27 from 1-4pm

COST: This workshop is $65 for NHWP members or $85 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

NWHP Critique Speed Match Up (Social)

Sunday October 28, 2018, 12-4pm

Are you looking for a critique partner or critique group to offer feedback on your writing?  Come to this event and meet a lot of potential critique partners at once!

This event will work similar to a Speed Dating event.  You’ll be briefly paired with a fellow writer.  You’ll each explain your writing projects and exchange contact information.  A bell will ring and you’ll switch to chat with a new person about your project.  At the end of the event, you’ll have a stack of contacts.  Get in touch with those who seem like a good critique match for your project.  You might even want to start a group with a handful of writers you met.  Plus, you’ll get lots of practice at honing your “elevator pitch” in describing your novel, memoir, short story collection, play, or whatever you’re working on.

This event will be at the Ford House on SNHU Campus (2500 N River Rd, Hooksett).  Refreshments will be served.  All attendees must sign up beforehand via the “Register Now” button below.  This event is free for all NHWP members.

In November, NHWP Celebrates NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)!

Hatbox Readings at the Hatbox Theater (Series)

Sunday November 4, 2018, 6:30pm

Hatbox Readings at the Hatbox Theatre in Concord is a series NHWP began for its members in 2016. This is a semi-regular event where actors read entertaining selections from ‘works in progress’ by three NHWP authors, and the audience offers feedback, critique, and reactions.

This event will not only allow the author to “hear” some of their novel, story, or book, but also receive immediate feedback.  The audience will experience new works from NH authors live and contribute directly to the creative process of a grateful author.

Follow this link to apply to the program as a writer.

All Hatbox Reading events are free for NHWP members, but $10.00 for the general audience.

Rewriting: A Guide For The Perplexed, with Jim Kelly (Online Webinar)

Wednesday November 14, 2018, 7-8pm

You are looking at a sentence that doesn’t work, a scene that has gone flat, an essay with a weak ending and pages and pages of scribbled notes from your writers workshop. Diagnosing writing problems is easy; prescribing the right treatment is hard. So how do you cure a sick manuscript? In this presentation we will look at specific techniques you can use to work on your narratives (the ten percent rule and hanging your pages on the wall, for example) and questions you will have to answer to before you can proceed (why are you the only person in the world who can write this piece?). We’ll consider the difference between revising on the fly during composition and re-configuring a finished draft. We’ll also discuss how to respond to comments from your editor.

James Patrick Kelly has won the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards; his fiction has been translated into twenty-one languages. His most recent story collections were this year’s The Promise of Space from Prime Books and Masters of Science Fiction: James Patrick Kelly published by Centipede Press in 2016. His most recent novel, Mother Go, was published in 2017 as an Audible original audiobook on Audible.com. He writes a column on the internet for Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and is on the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. Find him on the web at www.jimkelly.net.

WHERE: On the internet!  You can dial in from anywhere.  Most people attend from home.

WHEN: Wednesday November 14 from 7-8pm

COST: This workshop is $20 for NHWP members or $30 for nonmembers. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Become a Centurion: Strategies for Submission and Rejection, with R.W.W. Greene (Workshop)

Saturday November 17, 2018, 1-3pm

NaNoWriMo too easy? Become a Centurion. While your NaNoWriMo draft ripens into readability, here’s a new challenge … become a Centurion by earning 100 poetry, essay, or short-story rejections in twelve months. (Why is that a good thing? To get 100 rejections in a year, you need a lot of submissions, and the more you send out, the more likely you are to make a sale).

R.W.W. Greene is a New Hampshire writer and former NHWP board member who became a Centurion for the first time in 2017 with 128 rejections. In this two-hour workshop, Greene will take you through the steps of submitting your work, the mystery of rejectomancy, and the best methods of recuperation from a “thanks, but no thanks.”

If you’ve not made a submission yet, this workshop could be the first step into a larger world. If you’re a submission veteran, it could the impetus to aim a little higher, fire off some more shots, and see what you hit.

R.W.W. Greene is a New Hampshire writer with an MFA he exorcises in dive bars and dark coffee shops.  His work has seen daylight in Metaphorosis, Stupefying Stories, and Jersey Devil Press, among other places. Greene keeps a website at rwwgreene.com and Tweets @rwwgreene.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday November 17 from 1-3pm

COST: This workshop is $50 for NHWP members or $70 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

NHWP Winter Social

Saturday December 8, 2018, 1-4pm

Come join your friends at the NHWP at our winter social.  Bring a book to contribute to the free book exchange!  At the Ford House on SNHU Campus (2500 N River Rd, Hooksett)

Travel Writing for the Fearless, with Dan Szczesny (Workshop)

Saturday January 19, 2019, 10am-12pm

From the other side of town to the other side of the world, bringing a sense of place to your writing takes more than knowing geography: you have to get comfortable with discomfort! Immersing yourself into another culture is never easy. In this workshop, we’ll explore how to be a fish out of water – the pitfalls, dangers and joys of exploring another culture and how to turn that experience into a sellable travel essay or travelogue. Be prepared to bring your own travel adventure, or one you want to take, to the discussion.

Dan Szczesny is an author and journalist whose books include travelogues on Alaska, India and the White Mountains. His book, The Nepal Chronicles won the 2016 State Library and New Hampshire Writers Project Best Work of Non-Fiction award. He’s a Hemingway Foundation finalist for short fiction and has also written collections of short stories and poetry. His latest book, The White Mountain is a year-long exploration of the culture and characters of Mount Washington. He currently lives in Manchester with his wife and daughter. Learn more about Dan’s work at www.danszczesny.com.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday January 19 from 10am-12pm

COST: This workshop is $50 for NHWP members or $70 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

February is Romance Writing Month at the NHWP!

Fifty Shades of Fabio: Writing the Erotic Romance Novel, with Vivacia K. Ahwen (Workshop)

Saturday February 2, 2019, 1-4pm

Love it or hate it, modern erotic romance is it here to stay. Once called “bodice rippers” and “mommy porn,” the books which fall under this umbrella are at last gaining recognition and respect in the mainstream community. ER makes up over a third of all novels sold, with $1.8 billion dollar revenue in 2018, and with the convenience of e-reader, the market continues to boom. Authors in all fiction genres —not just popular romance– should be familiar with the language of “Romancelandia”. We’ll discuss history, tropes, formula, themes, characterization, and general tone of the erotic novel. Then we get down and dirty. That’s right, you’ll leave Fifty Shades of Fabio with a few pages of your own erotic fiction, because we’re going to brainstorm, write, and workshop. No critique. Just exploration, exercises, and likely a few laughs involved in our classroom adventure. Who knows? You may just end up ready to write the next naughty bestseller.

Rachel Robbins/Vivacia K. Ahwen is HarperCollins author of Reaching Lily, Finding Lily, Angels’ Prey, The Land of Nod, and a contributor to the anthology 47-16: Poetry Inspired By David Bowie. She graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington with a B.A. in English/Psychology, and a B.F.A. in creative writing. Ahwen went on to earn a creative writing M.F.A. at the Stonecoast Program, before becoming an English and creative writing instructor at the University of Maine at Augusta, Central Maine Community College, Thomas College, Erskine Academy, and Winslow High School. Though now writing full-time, she is also hosts one of the Maine Arts Commission artists-in-residence programs, offering six-week novel writing workshops for local high schools’ gifted and talented students. While continuing to write ER, her three current WIPs are a YA thriller, poetry collection, a graphic novel, and designing indie book covers. Like many authors, Rachel Robbins/ Vivacia K. Ahwen wears many hats, a few of which are stylish. You can find Vivacia on her WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, and HarperCollins pages, or email rachelingridrobbins@gmail.com.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday February 2 from 1-4pm

COST: This workshop is $65 for NHWP members or $85 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register Now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Up the Ante with GMC: Writing Conflict in Romance Fiction, with Emma Leigh Reed (Online Webinar)

Thursday February 7, 2019, 7-8pm

Writing romance requires the conflict to be an emotional driving force behind the plot. There’s a fine balance between a want and an obstacle. This webinar will focus on using GMC (Goal, Motivation and Conflict) to up the conflict ante in writing a romance.

Emma Leigh Reed recently moved to Tennessee after living in New Hampshire all her life. She has fond memories of the Maine coastline and incorporates the ocean into all her books. She has three grown children and is enjoying her empty nest. Her life has been touched and changed by her son’s autism – she views life through a very different lens than before he was born. Growing up as an avid reader, it was only natural for Emma Leigh to turn to creating the stories for others to enjoy. Emma Leigh continues to learn through her children’s strength and abilities that pushes her to go outside her comfort zone on a regular basis. She is the author of romantic suspense, women’s fiction and has co-authored children’s books.

WHERE: On the internet!  You can dial in from anywhere.  Most people attend from home.

WHEN: Thursday February 7 from 7-8pm

COST: This workshop is $20 for NHWP members or $30 for nonmembers. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

So You Think You Know Me? with Ana E Ross (Workshop)

Saturday February 9, 2019, 1-4pm

Ana E Ross focuses on three vital elements of characterization in storytelling – Goal, Motivation, and Conflict (GMC). Referencing characters from her books, she explains the importance of authors building such deep, personal relationships with their characters that they seem to jump off the page, right into the readers’ worlds. This interactive workshop invites you to bring a character you’re working on. We will interview your characters and find out everything you need to know about them in order to bring them to life.

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Ana E Ross, was born and raised in the Caribbean where she began indulging in romance novels at a very early age.  Ana holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire and a Master’s of Education from Lesley University, Massachusetts. A former Writing and English Literature teacher, Ana now pens steamy contemporary romances featuring sexy, alpha heroes and strong, beautiful heroines who fight and love with equal passion.  Her published works include three short stories, five books in her bestselling series, Billionaire Brides of Granite Falls, and three books in the spinoff series, Beyond Granite Falls. She is presently working on her Billionaire Island Brides series, featuring—once again—sexy alpha males and strong beautiful women.  Ana lives in the northeast, and loves traveling, tennis, yoga, meditation, everything Italian, and spending valuable time with her daughter.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday February 9 from 1-4pm

COST: This workshop is $65 for NHWP members or $85 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register Now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Preparing Your Manuscript Submission for an Agent’s Eyes, with Amanda Forbes Silva (6-Week Workshop)

Saturday February 16, 23, March 2, 9, 23, and 30, 2019, 1-4pm

The New Hampshire Writers’ Project is delighted to host our first 6-week writers’ “retreat” where you can work your manuscript into a polished version ready for agents, professional review, and publishing consideration. During this 6-week workshop, you will work directly with a professional writer and editor who will help you better evaluate your own writing and determine how to edit your own work for clarity and concision. Participants will benefit from a professional editorial eye and the feedback from peers that is targeted at improving their drafts for an agent’s review.  All genres are welcome!

Amanda Forbes Silva is a creative nonfiction writer and independent content editor, dedicated to fostering community via the written word and eager to support fellow writers in their own artistic endeavors while also pursuing her own.  Her work has been published in bioStories – later anthologized in bioStories’ Mothers and Other Creatures, Empty Sink, Emrys Journal, The Riding Light Review, Silver Birch Press, and Vine Leaves Literary Journal – later anthologized in The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2012.  Educated abroad, and later at the University of South Carolina (BA, 2004), Dartmouth College (MA, 2008), and Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA, 2012), Amanda nurtured a passion for reading and writing and a commitment to lifelong learning. She has broad experience in teaching, freelance consulting, and managerial editing. Her current work focuses specifically on editorial collaboration with authors and their book manuscripts, always with the goal of helping the writers to realize the best version of their work.  At the helm of her company, Cast Iron Content, Amanda Silva is personally motivated to provide opportunities for fellow creatives to pursue their passions and talents in a professional setting. Away from her desk, she acts in commercials, volunteers as an exercise rider at UpReach Therapeutic Riding Center, and escapes between the pages of a book as often as possible.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN:  February 16, 23, March 2, 9, 23, and 30, from 1-4pm each Saturday.  Participants in this workshop are expected to attend all 6 sessions.

COST: This workshop is 6 succeeding Saturday sessions for a total of $390 for NHWP members or $510 for nonmembers and is limited to 6 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register Now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Unifying Your Story Around a Meaningful Theme, with Jeanne Cavelos (Online Webinar)

Thursday March 14 2019, 7-8pm

As author Leslie What says, “A story that tells a truth in ways that the reader cannot forget is one worth reading.” Do your stories “tell a truth”? Is it a truth you believe in? Few writers realize that unity is key to creating a powerful and emotionally resonant story, and theme is key to creating a unified story. In this workshop, we’ll identify themes important to you and explore how to build a story from a theme so it is conveyed in an organic, not preachy, way. A way “that the reader cannot forget.” When the core of your story reflects your heart and mind, your unique way of seeing and understanding the world, it gives readers that experience we all seek: to see life through a new and unforgettable lens.

Jeanne Cavelos (jeannecavelos.com) began her professional life as a NASA astrophysicist. After earning her MFA, she moved into publishing, becoming a senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, where she edited award-winning science fiction, fantasy, and horror and won the World Fantasy Award. Jeanne left New York to pursue her own writing career and find an in-depth way of working with writers. She is the author of seven books, including the bestselling The Passing of the Techno-Mages trilogy and the nonfiction The Science of Star Wars. Her writing has twice been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Jeanne serves as director of the Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping writers of fantasy, SF, and horror improve their work (odysseyworkshop.org). Odyssey offers a summer workshop in NH, online classes, and numerous free resources. Jeanne has been nominated for a World Fantasy Award for her work at Odyssey.

WHERE: On the internet!  You can dial in from anywhere.  Most people attend from home.

WHEN: Thursday March 14 from 7-8pm

COST: This workshop is $20 for NHWP members or $30 for nonmembers. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Hatbox Readings at the Hatbox Theater (Series)

Sunday March 31, 2019, 6:30pm

Hatbox Readings at the Hatbox Theatre in Concord is a series NHWP began for its members in 2016. This is a semi-regular event where actors read entertaining selections from ‘works in progress’ by three NHWP authors, and the audience offers feedback, critique, and reactions.

This event will not only allow the author to “hear” some of their novel, story, or book, but also receive immediate feedback.  The audience will experience new works from NH authors live and contribute directly to the creative process of a grateful author.

Follow this link to apply to the program as a writer.

All Hatbox Reading events are free for NHWP members, but $10.00 for the general audience.

603: The Writers’ Conference (Annual Event)

Saturday April 27 2019, 8am-6pm

This is the annual writers’ conference of the NHWP.  More details will be released closer to the date.

NHWP Write-In (Social and Productivity)

Saturday May 4, 2019, 9:00am-3:00pm

Need a quiet, inspiring place to write for the day? Need a one day retreat to edit? Want to be inspired by a bunch of NH writers busily working around you and sharing their productivity?

The NHWP holds seasonal Write-Ins for its members where they can come and hang out with fellow writers at our headquarters on Southern NH University (the Ford House) and have a dedicated time to write.  We write all day, break for a social lunch, and then get back to writing or take part in an optional ad hoc critique session with fellow writers.

This event is free for all members, but we ask people to sign up so we can know numbers to provide refreshments.  So please hit the “Register Now” button below and claim a writing spot.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Stealing from Theater: Character Creation, with Will Alexander (Online Webinar)

Thursday May 16, 2019, 7-8pm

Create new characters and expand your understanding of your current cast via theatrical games and exercises. Taught by William Alexander, National Book Award Winner and current chair of the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at VCFA.

WHERE: On the internet!  You can dial in from anywhere.  Most people attend from home.

WHEN: Wednesday May 16 from 7-8pm

COST: This workshop is $20 for NHWP members or $30 for nonmembers. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Start that Memoir You’ve Always Wanted to Write! with Katherine Mayfield (Workshop)

Saturday May 18 2019, 1-4pm

Memoir is one of the hottest-selling genres today. Do you have one cooking in the back of your writer’s mind? Now’s the time to get it on paper! This workshop will get you started. You’ll learn what makes a compelling memoir, how and why to choose a theme, the importance of reflection in memoir, and techniques which are specific to the art of memoir-writing. You’ll also learn what “creative nonfiction” means in relation to memoir, and how to weave your truth into a riveting description of your life experiences.

This workshop is based on the Amherst Writers and Artists Method, and begins with presentation and Q&A, followed by several writing exercises, after which you’ll be invited to read your work if you wish, for positive commentary. Handouts are included. Comments from others are invaluable in learning how to tell your story so that readers can understand the depth and breadth of your experience, and also offer much-needed validation in the intensive process of writing memoir. Don’t delay! Start writing your memoir today!

Katherine Mayfield is the author of the award-winning memoir “The Box of Daughter: Healing the Authentic Self”, a concise guide to writing memoir, “What’s Your Story?”, “Lyme Disease in Remission,” and numerous other books. She has taught memoir-writing in Adult Ed classes throughout Maine for several years, and has worked as an editor for more than 20 years.

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday May 18 from 1-4pm

COST: This workshop is $65 for NHWP members or $85 for nonmembers and is limited to 12 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Helping the Poet Make a Better Poem, with Steven Cramer (Workshop)

Saturday, June 8, 2019, 1-4pm

It’s an old axiom that writing poetry requires both inspiration and deliberation. The late great poet Stanley Kunitz wrote: “Be prepared for everything, especially spontaneity.” In this three-hour workshop, we’ll honor both the critical and creative faculties of our brains (perhaps discovering that they’re closer siblings than we might have thought). We’ll first discuss work-in-process by participants—how many poems by each will depend on how many we are—asking ourselves the only question worth asking in a workshop: how might we help the poet make this poem the best it can be? Then we’ll engage in one or two writing “experiments” (a word I prefer to “exercise”) designed to encourage using language more as paint than as a vehicle for conveying information, favoring the sensory over making sense. Everyone will be invited, but not required, to read the results of their experiments out loud. We won’t “workshop” the outcomes of these experiments; it’s rare when a very first draft is prepared for rigorous critique. The drafts brought in for workshop, however, will receive thorough attention, feedback focused on craft, and care.

Steven Cramer is the author of five poetry collections: The Eye that Desires to Look Upward (1987), The World Book (1992), Dialogue for the Left and Right Hand (1997), Goodbye to the Orchard (2004)—winner of the Sheila Motton Award from the New England Poetry Club and an Honor Book in Poetry from the Massachusetts Center for the Book—and Clangings (2012). His poems and criticism have appeared in numerous journals, including AGNI, The Atlantic Monthly, Field, The Kenyon Review, The Nation, The New England Review, The Paris Review, and Poetry. Recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and two fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, he founded and teaches in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Website: www.stevencramer.com

WHERE: The workshop will be held at The Ford House on the campus of SNHU (2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106 — Directions and parking info here)

WHEN: Saturday June 8 from 1-4pm.

COST: This workshop is $65 for NHWP members or $85 for nonmembers and is limited to 10 students. Register now to ensure your spot in the class using the “Register now” button below.

Not a member? Want to join a community of writers working to foster an audience for literature in New Hampshire? Click here to join or renew your membership to the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Past Workshops:

Beyond the I: When Memoir Meets History with Mimi Schwartz

Online Tools to Track Your Submissions with Catherine Deiley

Working with Scrivener with Steve Carter

The Secret Architecture of Short Fiction with Tom Paine

Making Magic for Kids: Writing & Publishing Middle Grade and YA Speculative Fiction with ADI RULE AND ERIN E. MOULTON

introduction to flash fiction with ed ting

Political Writing: Advocacy with Tracy Hahn-Burkett

Author as Entrepreneur with Paul Durham

Self-Publishing 101 (Session 1) with Jessie Clever

Self-Publishing 101 (Session 2) with Jessie Clever

Putting Together Your Poetry Manuscript with Alice B. Fogel

Political Writing (Session 1) with Tracy Hahn-Burkett

Manuscript Critique with Gary Devore

Podcast Webinar with Kevin Flynn

Literature Out Loud with Masheri Chappelle

Editing Your Own Manuscript with Jeff Deck

Clever as a Cat and Working Like a Dog with Ann Garvin

Your First 250 Words with Jim Kelly

PROSE POEM WEBINAR: LOST AT THE HEART with MARIE HARRIS

Social Media for Authors with John Herman