Wild Writers Literary Festival 2021

A Long Look Back: Reimagining History in Your Writing
with Alysia Kolentsis, Jean McNeil, and Kathleen Winter.

Why do we return to the past as a way of understanding the present?

Alysia Kolentsis speaks to Kathleen Winter (Undersong) and Jean McNeil (Day for Night) about their use of real-life characters in fiction. Tune in to hear their process of reimagining historical figures as a way of exploring relationships, loss, trust. What do we learn when we recast history?

Beyond Ear Candy—Making Podcasts That Matter
with Chioke I'Anson, Waubgeshig Rice, and Claire Tacon.

A great podcast can memorialize, mobilize, and inspire.

Join Chioke I’Anson, Waubgeshig Rice, and Claire Tacon as they discuss the opportunities that podcasting presents for anyone looking to share essential stories. They will discuss how they use podcasts in education, writing, and community-building. Plus: hear their hot tips on getting started (even if you’re not an audio producer).

Body of Correspondence: Finding Connections Through Letters
with Ivan Coyote, Brian Francis, and Vinh Nguyen

Writing, at its core, is a tool for communication. Can the communication itself create story?

Join Vinh Nguyen as he talks to Ivan Coyote, author of Care Of, about how they connected with their fans by answering letters, Facebook messages and emails they collected over the years. Ivan is joined by Brian Francis, who wrote about responding to thirteen replies to a personal ad placed almost thirty years ago in his book Missed Connections. Join us for an exploration in finding connection through correspondence and discover how these writers changed by reaching out to strangers.

Finding Solace: Retreats and Reading
With Kirsteen MacLeod, Susan Olding, and Susan Scott.

Join this intimate, lively chat with leading stylists in creative nonfiction. Kirsteen MacLeod’s In Praise of Retreat and Susan Olding’s Big Reader lead us into territory that’s uncommonly strange and uncannily familiar. From monks and hermits to poetic geniuses and long lost loves, we’ll explore how nonfiction writers navigate the wild terrain they’re committed to exploring. Learn about wrangling controversial topics, packing for research trips, pitching to publishers, and the secret to producing work that is timely, beautiful, and arresting.

Forming First Collections
With Shashi Bhat, Kate Cayley, Carrie Snyder, and Katie Zdybel.

How does a group of stories become a collection?

Join Carrie Snyder as she talks to Shashi Bhat, Kate Cayley, and Katie Zdybel about their experience in publishing their debut, newly launched short story collections. Did these writers set out to create collections of short stories, or did the collections naturally form? What links the stories together? Tune in to unpack these questions and more, as they reveal the story behind their stories.

From Plants to Pages: Helen Humphreys on Field Studies
With Helen Humphreys.

Helen Humphreys spent a year working in an herbarium—and walked out with her latest book.

Fans of Helen Humphreys know that she has a knack for finding inspiration in unexpected places, from the Thames river to the apple. In Field Study, she takes a deep look at the forgotten world of herbariums and the people who amassed collections of plant specimens. How does Helen embark on her field studies, and how does she turn these sources into such captivating creative works?

From Stage to Page
With Nam Nguyen and Vinh Nguyen.

How can a writer inject the magic of the theatre into a written work?

Nam Nguyen was named one of NOW Magazine’s Breakthrough Stage Artists of 2019 for the production of his musical “A Perfect Bowl of Pho.” Nam has since transformed his inventive, energetic musical into a book. Join Vinh Nguyen as they dicuss this transformation, along with the story’s celebration of culture and food through performance and song. Tune in for a special showcase of work from the musical!

Love and Loss: Reflecting on Your Roots
With Lamees Al Ethari and Kamal Al-Solaylee.

A homecoming can take place in an airport terminal. It can also take place at your keyboard.

Join Lamees Al Ethari and Kamal Al-Solaylee as they discuss confronting national histories and personal stories in memoir. From Iraq to Yemen, both writers have tackled stories of devastating loss, balanced with reflections of love and peacefulness. How do they achieve this balance? And how did they maintain self-care while writing honestly and artfully about these stories?

Making a Living as a Writer
With Doretta Lau.

Writing is an art, but it is also a business. This workshop will reveal the key actions you must complete to set yourself up for financial success, with an emphasis on using digital tools to your advantage. Rest assured, if you hate Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, there are plenty of solutions to build community and cultivate an audience for your work. Put the stereotype of the starving writer behind you and take control of your career, one simple step at a time.

$150

Mentorship Fee

$150

Congratulations on being accepted into the 2021 Wild Writers Mentorship Program!

To continue with the process, you can make your payment of $150 on this page.

Mentorship: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
with Evelyn Lau, Susan Scott, and Isabella Wang.

The right mentor can mean the difference between a writer struggling with invisibility and finally feeling heard. But what does “right” even mean? Is chemistry important? What are the signs of a mentorship that is transformative versus transactional? How do you know when you’re ready for mentoring—or to step up as a mentor? Join Evelyn Lau, Susan Scott, and Isabella Wang in exploring the ethics, joys, perks, and benefits of this vital relationship in the writing world.

Quantum Physics, Biology, Genetics: How Three Women Use Science in Writing
With Madhur Anand, Erin Bow, Krista Foss, and Margaret Nowaczyk.

She blinded me with science…and creative writing!

Madhur Anand, Krista Foss, and Margaret Nowaczyk are in conversation with poet, novelist and science writer Erin Bow about how science informs their fiction, poetry, and nonfiction writing. Join us to explore how these three writers use science lyrically, creatively and intellectually without writing science fiction. We will consider the advantages (and disadvantages) of having scientific training, the limits of research, how scientific themes work in different forms, and the lyrical potential of the scientific lexicon.

Self-Publishing
with Paul Vermeersch.

This is not a how-to self-publish workshop, or a how-to get published seminar.

Instead, Vermeersch will discuss the historical and present-day contexts of self-publishing, its uses and usefulness, as well as its promises and inevitable pitfalls. Armed with a knowledge of self-publishing from Gutenberg to Instagram—a history rich with revolution, community-building, craftwork, and scams—attendees will be better able to decide for themselves if self-publishing is right for them and their writing project, or if pursuing traditional publishing might be more suitable.

Tamas Dobozy on Building the Perfect, Decrepit Utopia
With Tamas Dobozy and Ágnes Vashegyi MacDonald.

From its Greek origins, “utopia” is both a “great place” and “no place.” How do writers contend with this alluring, contradictory space? Join Tamas Dobozy and Ágnes Vashegyi MacDonald as they explore the fallible utopias of Dobozy’s work. Dive deep into discussions of unsettled histories, unearthed secrets, and that gnawing feeling…that something has been left unresolved.

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm

The Publication Process: Writer, Editor, and Agent Connect
With Jackie Kaiser, Pamela Mulloy, Jack Wang, and Janie Yoon.

How do you become a successful debut author? (And how long does it take?)

Join Jack Wang as he talks about the long and winding road to getting his collection of stories We Two Alone published. Jack will compare notes with his editor, Janie Yoon, and his agent Jackie Kaiser, who will help demystify the process. Tune in for a discussion about the small steps that have a big impact, the rejection along the way, and how Jack ultimately landed a publication contract.

11:00 am - 12:15 pm

Writing for a Young Adult Audience
with Erin Bow, Sara Martin, Sarah Raughley, and Heather Smith.

YA is a genre defined by its audience. So what does it mean to write Young Adult literature?

This session is for those who are interested in writing for the Young Adult market. Sara Martin will talk to Erin Bow, Heather Smith, and Sarah Raughley about their own experiences, challenges, and successes in writing YA fiction. They will explore how to define this sprawling genre, how they were drawn to it, and how they approach writing for their audience. Join us to hear their tips on writing for Young Adult readers and finding success in this competitive market.

Writing with Style
With Shashi Bhat.

As fiction writers, we aim to bring stories to life with language, while making them sound good, too. But how does a writer decide which details to include? What tools are available to give a story texture, specificity, and musicality without weighing down the narrative?

In this session, Shashi Bhat, author of The Most Precious Substance on Earth, will discuss some of her favourite techniques and strategies for writing with intention and style. Participants will leave with some exercises to try on their own.

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm

Youth Writers Workshop
With Paul Coccia and Natasha Deen.

This workshop series is free to attend for youth aged 14-18, but applications are required and registration is limited. Applications are due by Tuesday, November 2 at 11:59 PM EST.

APPLY TODAY!

Workshop Schedule:

Saturday, November 6 at 1:00 PM EST

COMPARE & CONTRAST: Character Crush!
There are a myriad of ways to build characters. Join Paul and Natasha and see how their different—and sometimes, overlapping—styles can help you when it comes to creating characters that readers will never forget.

Saturday, November 13 at 1:00 PM EST

COMPARE & CONTRAST: Plot Pick-Up!
Think there’s only one way to outline—think you HAVE TO outline? Join Paul and Natasha and learn the myriad of ways to bring plotting—and outline flexibility—to your manuscript.

Saturday, November 20 at 1:00 PM EST

The final meeting will offer youth writers the chance to share their work with the group!

Zeitgeist Poetry: Writing That Speaks to the Moment
With Selina Boan, Evelyn Lau, Jen Sookfong Lee, and Sarah Tsiang.