Contact: Jane Finalborgo[email protected]631-287-8313
SOUTHAMPTON COLLEGE TO HOST ITS FIRST MAJOR NATIONAL WRITERS CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE FRANK McCOURT, BILLY COLLINS, MARGARET ATWOOD, E.L. DOCTOROW, JULES FEIFFER, ROGER ROSENBLATT, NORA EPHRON, AND JOHN GUARE
Southampton, N.Y. - In the summer of 2002, the Writing Program at Southampton College of Long Island University will host its first major national writers conference, running from July 17 to July 28.
Workshop classes will be led by some of the finest writers and teachers of writing in the country. U. S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins will teach poetry, Pulitzer Prize-winner Jules Feiffer will lead an intensive workshop on the screenplay, and another Pulitzer winner, Frank McCourt, will teach the memoir. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning essayist Roger Rosenblatt will lead a workshop in the essay, while workshops in the novel and the short story will be led by prize-winning fiction writers Bharati Mukherjee and Clark Blaise.
Lectures and other instruction will be offered by novelist Margaret Atwood, winner of the Booker Prize, by E.L. Doctorow, winner of the National Book Award, by noted screenwriter and director Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally), and by Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter.
A staged reading of a John Guare play will feature Kathleen Turner, Alan Alda, and Roy Scheider, with Tony Award-winner Guare in attendance.
Some of the country's most respected book editors, such as Robert Gottlieb of Knopf, Alice Mayhew of Simon and Schuster, and Jane Isay of Harcourt Trade, will be on hand to discuss their craft. An extensive list of cultural and social events will fill out the 12 days of the conference.
The conference will also offer a special seminar on screenwriting, hosted by author Kaylie Jones and featuring Academy-Award nominees Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle,) and Terry George (In the Name of the Father), plus many other directors and scriptwriters.
"Nothing of the scope and quality of this conference has been tried in this area before," said Robert Reeves, director of the conference. "We will have the best and the liveliest instruction by some of the country's top writers, in one of the most beautiful settings imaginable. My hope is that this ongoing conference, along with our year-round program in writing, will help establish Southampton College as an intellectual focal point for the region."
The Southampton Writers Conference is made possible through a grant from the Tomorrow Foundation and will be presented in connection with Barnes and Noble and the 92nd Street Y in New York.
The conference is designed to offer inspiration and guidance to new writers, established authors, editors, and teachers of writing in all genres, as well as anyone seeking instruction that is friendly, rigorous, professionally useful, and intellectually challenging.
Workshops are open to both published and unpublished writers. Early registration is encouraged, as workshops are limited to 12 writers and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline for scholarship consideration is April 2. All other applications are due by May 1. For application forms and further information, contact the Summer Writers Conference at 631-287-8175 or email [email protected]. Visit the web site at www.southampton.liu.edu/summer.
The Writers Conference is part of Southampton College's Program in Writing. The program's regular faculty include essayist Roger Rosenblatt, novelists Indira Ganesan and Robert Reeves, and distinguished authors including Shana Alexander, Spalding Gray, Jules Feiffer, Kaylie Jones, Matt Klam, Avery Corman, Billy Collins, and Peter Matthiessen. The program has formed a partnership with the 92nd Street Y in New York where it helps sponsor the discussion series "Roger Rosenblatt and Friends."
Southampton College is located on the eastern tip of Long Island in the Hamptons, one of the country's premier ocean resorts.
###Photos available by e-mail.
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