IU Writers Conference announcement

[Patsy Rahn]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Writers' Conference, now
in its 71st year, will welcome an award-winning lineup of authors to
the Bloomington campus of Indiana University from June 5-10 for a
weeklong festival of readings, classes and workshops.

Classes include "Writing the Unthinkable" with Lynda Barry; "The Art
of the Blog" with Gary Ferguson; "The Art of Screenplay" with Jill
Godmilow; and "Poetry" with Julia Story. The Writers' Conference will
also offer fiction workshops led by best-selling author of Await Your
Reply, Dan Chaon, and IU Professor Tony Ardizzone, as well as a poetry
workshop with award-winning poet Patrick Rosal.

The three workshops can each accommodate 15 students. Participants can
opt to attend the classes only, along with the brown-bag lunch
discussions and evening readings. The cost to attend a workshop plus
all of the classes is $525 for the week; the classes-only fee is $275
for the week.

"The workshops always fill up fast," said Bob Bledsoe, director of the
conference. "This year, we're promoting the conference as the perfect
'stay-cation' for local writers. We also expect a large contingent of
out-of-towners, as usual. We've got a great faculty lineup, including
our own Tony Ardizzone, of IU's Creative Writing Program. I anticipate
that the experience for this year's participants will be valuable and
exciting, as it is every year."

Barry, a fiction writer and popular cartoonist, is the Eisner and R.R.
Donnelly Award-winning author of What It Is, One! Hundred! Demons!,
and the seminal alternative comic strip, Ernie Pook's Comeek. Chaon's
fiction has appeared in a number of literary journals and anthologies,
including Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize and the O.
Henry Prize Stories.

The conference will screen the film Silent Light at the new IU Cinema,
which Godmilow will use as the foundation for her class on
screenwriting

Participants can earn up to two credit hours at the graduate or
undergraduate level for the workshops, which may be applied toward
professional or teacher certification. Early application is highly
recommended. The conference is open to writers of all levels.

The Indiana University Writers' Conference is a non-profit
organization that supports creative writing in Indiana, the Midwest
and throughout the country. For an application and more information
visit: http://www.iuwc.indiana.edu.