Odyssey Writing Workshop 2011
Sue
If you write science fiction, fantasy, or horror, you might be
interested in the Odyssey Writing Workshop. The 2011 workshop will be
held from June 6th to July 15th at Saint Anselm College in Manchester,
New Hampshire. Odyssey provides a great opportunity to improve your
skills and receive feedback from editors and authors. More
information can be found in the press release below, or on the
workshop website www.odysseyworkshop.org. The director, Jeanne
Cavelos, is always happy to answer questions and discuss the
workshop. You can email her at jcav...@sff.net.
Cheers,
Susan Sielinski
Odyssey Administrator
susansi...@yahoo.com
www.odysseyworkshop.org
Publicity Release
November 2010
ODYSSEY WRITING WORKSHOP
ANNOUNCES ITS 16th SUMMER SESSION
About Odyssey
Since its founding in 1996, Odyssey has become one of the most
respected workshops in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror
writing community. Odyssey is for developing writers whose work is
approaching publication quality and for published writers who want to
improve their work. The six-week workshop combines advanced lectures,
exercises, extensive writing, and in-depth feedback on student
manuscripts. Top authors, editors, and agents have served as guest
lecturers, including George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, Jane Yolen,
Terry Brooks, Robert J. Sawyer, Ben Bova, Nancy Kress, Elizabeth Hand,
Jeff VanderMeer, Donald Maass, Sheila Williams, Shawna McCarthy,
Carrie Vaughn, and Dan Simmons. Fifty-three percent of Odyssey
graduates go on to professional publication.
The program is held every summer on Saint Anselm College's beautiful
campus in Manchester, NH. Saint Anselm is one of the finest liberal
arts colleges in the country, dedicated to excellence in education,
and its campus provides a peaceful setting and state-of-the-art
facilities for Odyssey students. College credit is available upon
request.
Jeanne Cavelos, Odyssey's director and primary instructor, is a best-
selling author and a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell
Publishing, where she won the World Fantasy Award for her work. As an
editor, Cavelos worked with many different types of writers and found
ways to help all of them improve their work. She provides students
with insightful and constructive critiques of their work. "I give the
same unflinchingly honest, concrete, detailed feedback that I provided
as a senior editor," Cavelos said. Her typewritten critiques average
over 1,200 words, and her handwritten line edits on manuscripts are
extensive. In addition, she guides students through the six weeks,
gaining in-depth knowledge of their work, providing detailed
assessments of their strengths and weaknesses in private meetings, and
helping them target their weaknesses one by one.
Odyssey class time is split between workshopping sessions and
lectures. An advanced, comprehensive curriculum covers the elements
of fiction writing in depth. While feedback reveals the weaknesses in
students' manuscripts, lectures teach the tools and techniques
necessary to strengthen them.
The workshop runs from June 6 to July 15, 2011. Class meets for four
hours in the morning, five days a week. Students spend about eight
hours more per day writing and critiquing each other's work.
Prospective students, aged eighteen and up, apply from all over the
world. The early admission application deadline is JANUARY 31, and
the regular admission deadline is APRIL 8. Tuition is $1900, and
housing is $775 for a double room and $1550 for a single.
Meet Our 2011 Writer-in-Residence
Odyssey's 2011 writer-in-residence is award-winning author Gary A.
Braunbeck. Braunbeck has published 25 books, over 200 short stories,
and co-edited 2 anthologies. Though he is best known as a writer of
dark fantasy and horror, he has also published in the fields of
mystery, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, bizarro, Western, and
mainstream literature. His work has won numerous awards. But most
important, Gary is an experienced and highly praised teacher and
mentor. Gary serves as an adjunct professor at Seton Hill
University's Master's program in Writing Popular Fiction. He has also
taught writing seminars and workshops around the country
Other Guest Lecturers
The 2011 workshop has an exciting line-up of award-winning guest
lecturers, who also happen to be some of the top teachers in the
field: authors Elizabeth Bear, Barry B. Longyear, Theodora Goss, and
Christopher Golden; and editor John Joseph Adams.
Odyssey Graduates
Graduates of the Odyssey Writing Workshop have been published in the
top fiction magazines and by the top book publishers in the field.
You can find their stories in recent issues of many magazines,
including Realms of Fantasy, Analog, Asimov's, Weird Tales, Orson
Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, and Fantasy Magazine; and in
recent anthologies, including Wild Cards I, The Living Dead 2, Blood
Lite 2, and Full Moon City. Recent novels published by Odyssey
graduates include Kitty Goes to War and Discord's Apple by Carrie
Vaughn, published by Tor Books; Dark Designs by Luisa Prieto,
published by MLR Press; Kings and Assassins by Lane Robins, published
by Del Rey; Foxfire by Barbara Campbell, published by DAW; The Bastard
Queen by Elaine Isaak, published by Swimming Kangaroo Books; and
Ghosts and Echoes by Lyn Benedict, published by Ace Books.
Rhiannon Held, a graduate of the 2006 workshop, just sold her first
novel, Silver, and two sequels to Tor.
She describes her development as a writer this way: "What I was
missing was the bigger picture. . . . That's what Odyssey and Jeanne
Cavelos gave me. Looking back, I wouldn't tell you that Odyssey taught
me plot, or Odyssey taught me dialogue. It did, of course, very good
plot and very good dialogue, but more importantly it taught me to
think about writing, and to learn about writing. It gave me a
fundamental mindset that has helped me learn after Odyssey, and keep
learning even now. . . . Odyssey gave me the thinking and learning
skills to succeed."
Comments from the Class of 2010
"I've taken part in other writing programs, and I can attest to the
fact that Odyssey is in a different league. . . . I am so exhausted,
but so happy to have experienced Odyssey. I would do it again in a
heartbeat. And I wish I could do it again. I wholeheartedly
recommend Odyssey to any writers who are dedicated to seriously
improving their craft." --Meira Marom
"Odyssey is tougher and more intense than any workshop or writer's
conference I've attended. By having one mentor and total immersion,
I've made more breakthroughs in six weeks at Odyssey than in two years
in an MFA program. Jeanne is thoughtful and compassionate, but
doesn't let students get away with anything. Her insightfulness and
dedication are Odyssey's greatest resources." --Eileen Wiedbrauk
Other Odyssey Resources and Services
The Odyssey Web site, www.odysseyworkshop.org, offers many resources
for writers, including online classes, a critique service, free
podcasts, writing and publishing tips, and a weekly writing
LiveJournal, as well as more information about how to apply. Those
interested in applying to the workshop should visit the Web site,
phone (603) 673-6234, or e-mail jcav...@sff.net.