Photo Recap: Winter Wheat 2014

Winter Wheat: The Mid-American Review Festival of Writing was a huge success! Many, many thanks to all the attendees, presenters, and keynote readers who made this year’s Winter Wheat the biggest and best ever. From the opening reading on Thursday night to the sessions and reading on Friday to a packed Saturday full of workshops, readings, and a post-party at Grumpy Dave’s Pub, it was a dazzling event. Thanks for being there, and we’ll see you in 2015! In the meantime, here are just a few photos from the event:

2WW_MAR table
MAR Editor-in-Chief Abigail Cloud works the Winter Wheat registration desk.
WW_Biddinger session
Mary Biddinger leads her workshop, “The Manuscript Whisperer: On Turning a Pile of Poems Into a Book.”
WW_Anne Valente session
Attendees filled the room for keynote reader Anne Valente’s workshop, “Where Books Begin: The Nuts and Bolts of Starting a Novel.”
WW_Bookfair
The Winter Wheat bookfair!
WW_Bookfair Rubbertop
Rubbertop Review was just one of the journals represented at the bookfair.
WW2_after party
The Winter Wheat post-party at Grumpy Dave’s Pub in downtown Bowling Green!
WW7_Inters Prairie Margins
The Prairie Margins staff (and MAR interns!) celebrates a successful Winter Wheat.
WW23_open mic
Scott Beal reads at the open mic.
WW28_Matt Abby Marcus
Author, BGSU MFA alum, and Winter Wheat presenter Matt Bell, MAR Editor-in-Chief Abigail Cloud, and Winter Wheat keynote reader Marcus Wicker celebrate at the post-party.

 

Until next year!

Laura Maylene Walter, Fiction Editor and Winter Wheat Co-Coordinator

Winter Wheat Preview 2014: Websites for Writers

“Websites for Writers: Launch Your Website in a Weekend” with Nikkita Cohoon
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2:30pm-3:45pm (Session F3)

Websites-for-WritersHaving a web presence has become increasingly important for networking, job searches, and establishing yourself as a professional writer. Your website can act as your online business card or resume, and serve as an archive for your publications, and with a blog it can provide your own platform for sharing your writing. Where do you begin, and how can you do it for little to no cost? In this session, we’ll go over some of the most popular website platforms to determine what will work best for you and how to set up a professional website with a custom look and feel. Nikkita Cohoon offers more details below:

Who should attend?
Anyone who would like to carve out their own corner of the web simply and professionally.

What can attendees expect from your workshop?
We’ll go over free or low-cost website services, and how to make them work for you. You’ll leave with good building blocks to begin creating your own website, focusing on content and functionality.

Name one fun fact or bit of trivia about this session:
You don’t have to know one line of code to create a beautiful website. (However, there are code poets out there making website code as art!)

Quick! Summarize the benefits of this workshop in 10 words or fewer:
Quick tricks and tips for a free & fancy website.

Any last words?
Creating a website can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. This session will take away some of the intimidation and equip you with the tools you need to get started. I’m thrilled to be back at BGSU among my esteemed colleagues and friends!

wheatpencilnobackThe countdown to Winter Wheat 2014 has officially begun! In these final days leading up to the event, we’re giving our presenters some space here on the blog to share additional details about their sessions, so be sure to check back for more previews. (Remember, this year’s Winter Wheat is bigger and better than ever — see this sessions list for proof.) For more information on the conference, which takes place Nov. 13-15 on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, visit the Winter Wheat site.

Winter Wheat Preview 2014: Writing Collaborative Poetry

“Two Heads Are Better Than One: Writing Collaborative Poetry” with Callista Buchen & Amy Ash
Saturday, Nov. 15, 1:00-2:15pm (Session E10)

two headsIn this workshop, participants will move beyond writing a poem as an isolated act by a single author. Instead, we will explore the possibilities of writing collaboratively, examining the legacy, future, and publication of collaborative poems. The bulk of the session will be devoted to writing collaboratively, discussing and trying out innovative strategies and approaches for writing poetry with a partner or partners. Presenters Callista Buchen and Amy Ash offer more details below:

Who should attend?
Everyone! Collaboration is a great way to stretch your creative muscles and find those you didn’t even know you had. Working with others energizes and inspires you and brings you into immediate conversation with writing partners. There are lots of little victories to celebrate (and you never have to celebrate alone).

What can attendees expect from your workshop?
A concise discussion of the history and resurgence of collaborative poetry, and lots of time to write. We’ll do work all together, exquisite-corpse style, as well as engage in different methods of writing collaboratively. No need to come with a partner(s). We’ll work it out.

Name one fun fact or bit of trivia about this session:
Want to publish your collaborative poems? We’ll talk about how and where.

Quick! Summarize the benefits of this workshop in 10 words or fewer:
Two heads really are better then one. Come find out.

Any last words?
“The most delightful part about our collaborating is the shared creative burden. Even when we think we are stumping one another, providing lines that seem almost impossible to finish, the other can usually think of something to follow right away. We are open to mess and mayhem. We have found what we believe to be a third voice, a voice that is neither Maureen’s nor mine, but rather some poetic hybrid.” —Denise Duhamel, on her collaboration with Maureen Seaton

Image: Tambako the Jaguar
wheatpencilnobackThe countdown to Winter Wheat 2014 has officially begun! In these final weeks leading up to the event, we’re giving our presenters some space here on the blog to share additional details about their sessions, so be sure to check back for more previews. (Remember, this year’s Winter Wheat is bigger and better than ever — see this sessions list for proof.) For more information on the conference, which takes place Nov. 13-15 on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, visit the Winter Wheat site.

Winter Wheat 2014 Preview: Dealing with Literary Rejection

“We Regret To Inform You: Dealing with Literary Rejection” with Laura Maylene Walter
Saturday, Nov. 15, 9-10:15am (Session C8)

4463478302_c7b380e78c_zWriters get rejected. It’s a fact of life, but it can still be difficult to swallow. In this session, we’ll examine literary rejection in all its glory by exploring actual rejections, including the famous, the funny, the crazy, and the bizarre. We’ll consider why literary rejection stings, break down the most common reasons for rejection, discuss the best ways to handle it, and develop strategies to turn that “no” into a “yes.” This session is led by a widely rejected (and published) writer and editor. No one will be rejected from this session! Presenter Laura Maylene Walter offers additional details below.

Who should attend?
Any writer who ever has or ever will be rejected.

What can attendees expect from your workshop?
The venting of frustrations. The sharing of ridiculous/heartbreaking/agonizing rejections. A behind-the-scenes look at rejection from the fiction editor of Mid-American Review. And, most of all, a practical look at why your work is being rejected.

Name one fun fact or bit of trivia about this session:
During this session, you’ll have the exclusive opportunity to take a peek at my rejection wall of shame, aka a display of years and years of my personal rejection documentation. Come and bask in the glory of my failure.

Quick! Summarize the benefits of this workshop in 10 words or fewer:
You can only prevent rejection if you stop submitting.

Any last words?
“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.” – Sylvia Plath

Image: Caro Wallis
wheatpencilnobackThe countdown to Winter Wheat 2014 has officially begun! In these final weeks leading up to the event, we’re giving our presenters some space here on the blog to share additional details about their sessions, so be sure to check back for more previews. (Remember, this year’s Winter Wheat is bigger and better than ever — see this sessions list for proof.) For more information on the conference, which takes place Nov. 13-15 on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, visit the Winter Wheat site.

Winter Wheat 2014 Preview: Lines That Bind

“Lines that Bind: Using Constraints and Experiments to Generate Poems” with Rochelle Hurt and Linwood Rumney
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2:30-3:45pm (Session F5)

Above: Photo (taken by Rochelle Hurt) from A Humument: A Human Document (a treated Victorian novel) by Tom Phillips
Above: Photo (taken by Rochelle Hurt) from A Humument: A Human Document (a treated Victorian novel) by Tom Phillips

In this session, we will explore experimental methods of writing poetry inherited from Oulipo and Surrealist practices. After an overview of formal exercises with erasures, centos, exquisite corpse, palindromes, univocalism, and homophonic translation, we will examine how these exercises can develop into meaningful poetry. Using published examples as guides, participants will then generate their own material from interactive experimental prompts.

Who should attend?
Anyone interested in learning about and trying out different approaches to writing poems.

What can attendees expect from your workshop?
We’ll introduce Oulipo and Surrealist techniques, manipulating texts to make new poems.

Name one fun fact or bit of trivia about this session:
We’ll compose a group cento!

Quick! Summarize the benefits of this workshop in 10 words or fewer:
We’ll investigate assumptions about what “writing” means.

Any last words?
“Beauty will be CONVULSIVE or will not be at all.” –from Surrealist André Breton’s novel Nadja


wheatpencilnobackThe countdown to Winter Wheat 2014 has officially begun! In these final weeks leading up to the event, we’re giving our presenters some space here on the blog to share additional details about their sessions, so be sure to check back for more previews. (Remember, this year’s Winter Wheat is bigger and better than ever — see this sessions list for proof.) For more information on the conference, which takes place Nov. 13-15 on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, visit the Winter Wheat site.