Kentucky Writers Conference

Learn about the use of exposition in short story writing, looking at examples from some of the great short story writers: Chekhov (“Oysters”), Paley (“Wants”) & Hemingway (“Soldier’s Home”). Andrew Plattner teaches fiction and literature courses at Kennesaw State University and fiction courses at Emory University.

In mystery and thriller writing, the protagonist (a detective, private investigator, federal agent, average citizen, etc) is often pitted against an antagonist whose motives are heinous. The reader follows the narrative with great interest, waiting for the moment when the protagonist and the antagonist will have their final confrontation. Readers expect the protagonist to be an interesting, flawed character who experiences “raised stakes” on their way to solving the mystery. However, readers also expect the antagonist to be equally complex, with flaws and motivations in direct opposition to those of the protagonist. Writers often spend a great deal of time developing the protagonist, but how can that same attention be given to creating a complex villain that readers are going to “love to hate?” This workshop examines strategies and techniques that mystery/thriller writers can use to creating a complex, interesting, and passionate villain that will be worthy of challenging the protagonist physically and/or emotionally.

Critiques are critical to writers because things get lost in the transition from living in our brain to typing it out on the keyboard. Critical things get lost. But we—the author—can’t see those things. That’s why critiques are so important. Through her own personal experiences with hundreds of critiques, Roads will share the real purpose of giving critiques and receiving critiques, the types of critiques (the good, the bad, the soul crushing), proper critique etiquette, and how to find good critique partners. This is a workshop that has been presented numerous times at Romance Writers of American chapter events and at the Romantic Times Book Lovers Conference. Abbie’s first book Race the Darkness was a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick for Fall.

Richard Taylor is professor of English and Kenan Visiting Writer at Transylvania University and former Poet Laureate of Kentucky. Taylor has written numerous books, including Sue Mundy: A Novel of the Civil War; Girty; and Earth Bones.

In this workshop, literary agent Alice Speilburg will cover the basic structure of a query letter, tips and tricks for improving it, and tactics to avoid. Participants will then write (or revise) a query letter for their book, which they can then share for critiquing. The goal of this workshop is for participants to have a polished query letter in hand to send out to agents when they leave.

Alice Speilburg is the founding literary agent at Speilburg Literary Agency and has worked in publishing since 2008. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators, and The Authors Guild, and she is the Vice President on the board of Louisville Literary Arts. She represents narrative nonfiction and commercial fiction for adult and YA readers. For more information, please visit the agency website: speilburgliterary.com or find Alice on Twitter @alicespeilburg.

Ayser Salman was born in Iraq before it became a curiosity, and moved to America as a toddler. She is a writer and producer/editor for companies like Universal Pictures, Miramax Films, Disney, FX and Lantern Entertainment. Full workshop description forthcoming. Take a look at her author profile to learn more about her debut memoir, The Wrong End of the Table.

Learn the ins and outs of writing and illustrating picture books and chapter books from two seasoned pros. Jessica and Mary will also cover some industry best practices helpful to those writing middle grade and young adult as well.

The process of critiquing each other’s work, including before and after examples. (complete description forthcoming)

Most students with an interest in writing learn about fiction, memoir, nonfiction–but what about criticism? As a film critic, Weitzman gets paid to watch movies before anyone else sees them, interviews the stars who appear in them, and impact which art others choose to see. Weitzman, most recently a senior film critic at the New York Daily News, has taught many classes on film criticism. Her book, Renegade Women in Film & TV, incidentally, was written to appeal to all ages, beginning with teens. 

Join Michael Croley to study the art of the short story using examples from Allegra Goodman’s work along with John Cheever’s short story, “Reunion.” This workshop will cover all the bases, specifically, the movement necessary for a story to work.

Michael Croley was born in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The recipient of an NEA Fellowship in Literature in 2016, his work has appeared in Narrative, Catapult, Blackbird, Kenyon Review Online, Virginia Quarterly Review, the Paris Review Daily, and elsewhere. He teaches at Denison