Springfed Writers & Music Series

Springfed offers classes in poetry, prose, fiction, young adult fiction, creative writing and memoir.  Scroll down to view all of the classes.

Register for the class before the first session. Registration online here or with form below.

Poetry

Putting it All on the Line: Advanced Poetry Thursdays with Kristine Uyeda: Springfed Headquarters, Royal Oak, Thursdays, February 6, 13, 20, 27, March 6 & 13, 7pm - 9pm. THIS CLASS IS FULL

Putting it All on the Line: Advanced Poetry Saturdays with Kristine Uyeda: Springfed Headquarters, Royal Oak, Saturdays, February 8, 15, 22, March 1, 8 & 15, 1pm - 3pm. One of poetry’s great powers lies in the linebreak.  Lineation controls pacing, the unfolding of meaning, and the escalation or mutation of emotion.  In this workshop, we’ll have a selection of essays to stimulate discussion on line break, as well as a series of prompts and model poems to guide our practice.  Each week, we’ll briefly discuss some aspect of the line before workshopping participants’ poems. Limited to 8 poets.  Kristine Uyeda is a Kundiman fellow whose poems and micro fiction have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies.  She holds an MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts.  Poets who haven’t been in Springfed classes before please send 3 sample poems to kristineuyeda@gmail.com   REGISTER HERE

Getting Personal-Time, Memory & Form: Intermediate/Advanced Generative Mixed-Genre Workshop with Kristine Uyeda: Springfed Headquarters, Royal Oak, Friday nights, February 7, 14, 21, 28, March 7 & 14, 7-9 pm. An emotional intimacy with her subject can provide a writer with a powerful field of material, but also the challenge of writing without the benefit of distance.  In the first session, we’ll spend time generating a body of material through a series of guided free-writes.  In the following sessions, writers will apply various craft techniques and constraints to shape this material in a variety of ways.  Through this process, writers will be able to experience how their material responds to the challenge of form/restraint and experiment with in different emotional and narrative registers.  Workshop will include weekly quick-writes and a discussion of participants’ work from a previous prompt. This workshop is open to poets and short-form (250 words or less) prose writers.  Limited to 8 writers.  Kristine Uyeda is a Kundiman fellow whose poems and micro fiction have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies.  She holds an MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts.    REGISTER HERE

Poetry Workshop with Dawn McDuffie: The Cathedral Church of St. Paul Educational Annex, Detroit, Tuesday nights, February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 4 & 11 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm. We will take your good poem and make it into a better, more compelling poem.  We will encourage new skills and flights of imagination through discussion of poetic forms and revision techniques. Dawn McDuffie has taught creative writing since 1999 and is the author of Flag Day in Detroit and Bulky Pick Up Day. Her poems have appeared in Rattle, Feminist Studies, The MacGuffin, and the anthology, Mona Poetica. Her essay, "Humor and Poetry," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  REGISTER HERE

A Creative Writing Workshop with Zilka Joseph: Interfaith Center, 704 Airport Blvd., Ann Arbor 48108, Mondays, February 10, 17, 24, March 3, 10 & 17, 6:30 - 8:30 pm. For writers who want focused and critical feedback on their poetry, short fiction, novel excerpts, essays, and memoir pieces (and anything in between). Instructor will provide critiques and offer guidance. Though this class is designed for writers who are preparing work for submission, anyone who needs a sharp third eye to help improve their work and writers who want to experiment with different genres will benefit from this class. To apply for this class, please send 3 samples of your work to info@springfed.org Max 8 students.  Zilka Joseph has been nominated twice for a Pushcart prize. Her chapbooks Lands I Live In and What Dread were both nominated for awards, and her work has appeared in journals such as The Kenyon Review Online and Review Americana. She won a Hopwood award, a Zell Fellowship and an Elsie Choy Lee Scholarship from the University of Michigan. More info at: http://www.zilkajoseph.com/ REGISTER HERE

An Intensive Poetry Workshop with Zilka Joseph: Interfaith Center, 704 Airport Blvd., Ann Arbor 48108, Wednesdays, February 12, 19, 26, March 5, 12 & 19, 6:30pm - 8:30pm. Class begins with a craft discussion. Participants receive prompts, write new work (prose poetry, short memoir pieces acceptable),and receive detailed critiques. We will challenge you to focus on the poem as art and revise with a critical eye. To apply for this advanced class, please send 3 samples of your work to info@springfed.org  Maximum - 8 students. Zilka Joseph has been nominated twice for a Pushcart prize. Her chapbooks Lands I Live In and What Dread were both nominated for awards, and her work has appeared in journals such as The Kenyon Review Online and Review Americana. She won a Hopwood award, a Zell Fellowship and an Elsie Choy Lee Scholarship from the University of Michigan. More info at: http://www.zilkajoseph.com/ REGISTER HERE

Poetry and Prose with Carolyn Walker: Big Boy, 6440 Dixie Highway, Independence Township, Friday mornings, February 7, 14, 21, (skip Feb 28), March 7, 14 & 21, 10am - noon. Carolyn Walker has been awarded the 2013 Kresge Arts Fellowship in Literary Arts.  She has an MFA from Vermont College of  Fine Arts. Her memoir, Every Least Sparrow, is being circulated for publication by her agent.  She has been published in The Southern Review, Crazyhorse, The Writer's Chronicle, among others. One of Walker's essays has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.  Walker won 1st place in Springfed Arts 2010 fiction contest. REGISTER HERE

Prose

Young Adult Fiction with J. Gabriel Gates: Mahany/Meininger Community Center, Room #7, 3500 Marais, Royal Oak, 48073, Wednesdays, February 5, 12, 19, 26, March 5 & 12, 7 pm - 9 pm. Writers of all levels are welcome to attend and explore the myriad genres and styles in the exploding area of YA / teen fiction.  Workshop your existing YA manuscript or work-in-progress, or gain the tools and insight necessary to make your first foray into this field of writing a success.  A Michigan native and Hollywood screenwriter, J. Gabriel Gates has had five novels published by HCI Books (publishers of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series) including teen horror novel The Sleepwalkers and teen urban fantasy / paranormal romance series The Tracks. (Dark Territory, Ghost Crown, and Shadow Train.)  His most recent title is the acclaimed dystopian sci-fi thriller Blood Zero Sky.  www.jgabrielgates.com  REGISTER HERE

Learn How to Write Fiction by Reading It with Kelly Fordon: Grosse Pointe Park Library, 15175 East Jefferson, Grosse Pointe Park, 48230, Tuesdays, February 4, 11, (skip Feb 18), Feb 25, March 4, 11 & 18, 6:45 pm - 8:45 p.m.   The best way to learn to write is to read good books. Every week we will read a contemporary short story or novel excerpt provided by the instructor, who will choose fiction from all genres (literary, science fiction, young adult), from well-known writers like George Saunders, Alice Munro and Raymond Carver to lesser known emerging writers.   If you are a writer, or simply interested in writing, this class will help you hone your craft through reading, writing from prompts and critical review.  Each person will be allowed to turn in up to 10 pages of their own stories or novels-in-progress for review as well. All levels welcome.  Kelly Fordon’s work has appeared in The Kenyon Review (KRO), The Montreal Review, The Florida Review, Rattle and various other journals.  In 2011, she contributed to Ghost Writers: Us Haunting Them, a Michigan Notable Book. Her latest poetry chapbook, Tell Me When It Starts to Hurt was published by Kattywompus Press in April, 2013.  She received her MFA in fiction writing from Queens University.  REGISTER HERE

STORY: Imbuing the Primordial Muck of Narrative with the Elegant Architecture of Story with Maureen Dunphy: Maureen Dunphy’s studio (Registrants are privy to location), Wednesdays, January 8, 15, 22, and 29, 7pm. Special January 4-class session for $75.
Prerequisite: Springfed Arts prose workshop “Getting There from Here”
Whether you’re writing a short story or a novel, a memoir or personal essay, a newspaper column or a blog, what attracts readers to your writing is your ability to deliver the elements of story (or not).  You may have read that “recent breakthroughs in neuroscience reveal that [the human] brain is hardwired to respond to story.”  But what turns a narrative, a mere account of events, into a successfully gripping story?  What makes your readers forget they’re reading and instead feel they are experiencing the story firsthand?  Join a limited workshop group interested in practicing the “7C’s” of story shaping.  Transform your “stories at work” to stories that work.  REGISTER HERE

Prose with Maureen Dunphy - Getting There from Here: Mahany/Meininger Community Center, Room #2, 3500 Marais, Royal Oak, 48073, Wednesdays, February 5, 12, 19, 26, March 5 & 12, 7pm - 9pm. Begin—or return to—that writing project of your dreams.  Learn how to set writing goals that work for you and then discover the techniques that can help you achieve them.  Share works in progress with a supportive group while you practice using the paths employed by successful writers to continue writing, achieve your objectives, and move toward completing your project, regardless of your genre. Dunphy earned her MFA in fiction writing from Goddard College. She has been published in Peninsula:  Essays and Memoirs from Michigan (Michigan State University Press, 2000) and in Between the Lines:  Writing What You Couldn’t Say (Plain View Press, 2000).  She has taught creative writing courses at Oakland University, Oakland Community College-Orchard Ridge and the University of Windsor.  Owner of Dunphy Consulting Services, LLC, she is interested in helping you write your way into your future and offers coaching services for writers, writing workshops and retreats, assistance with book proposals and manuscripts, and editing and proofreading services.
REGISTER HERE

Memoir

Beginning Memoir with Hilary Harper: Mahany/Meininger Community Center, Room #2, 3500 Marais, Royal Oak, 48073, Thursdays, February 6, 13, 20, 27, March 6 & 13, 7 - 9 p.m. Do you have a story to tell, but don't know where to begin or how to continue?  This memoir writing class will help you transform your remembered experiences into polished, engaging prose.  The class will include lecture, discussion, and constructive feedback on your work.  Hilary Harper earned her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and previously served as the curator of writing programs at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids.     REGISTER HERE

Memoir with Nancy Owen Nelson: Nelson Studio, Dearborn, Tuesday nights, February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 4 & 11, 7-9 pm. Nancy Owen Nelson has published poetry in the, What Wildness is this? (University of Texas Press, March 2007) as well as in the South Dakota Review and Graffiti Rag and creative nonfiction pieces in Mom’s Writing Literary Journal Lalitamba journal  and Roll:  a Collection of Personal Narratives.  She has published articles in several academic journals and anthologies and was co-editor of The Selected Letters of Frederick Manfred: 1932-1954 and editor of Private Voices, Public Lives: Women Speak on the Literary Life, and The Lizard Speaks: Essays on the Writings of Frederick Manfred . She earned her B.A. in French and English at Birmingham-Southern College and her M.A. and PhD in English at Auburn University.  She taught composition and literature at Auburn University, Augustana College, Albion College, and Henry Ford Community College. For three years she served as Assistant Director of the Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing at Yavapai College, Prescott, AZ.  In addition to looking for a publisher for her memoir, Divine Aphasia, she is researching and writing a memoir about three generations of women—her grandmother, mother, and herself.  Registrants privy to location.  Contact Nelson at nelnan@aol.com or 928-308-3785.  REGISTER HERE

Each class is $110/Springfed members or $160/nonmembers (additional $50 makes you a member for 1 year). Financial aid available. Register before workshops begin. Writing classes are limited to the first 12 people who enroll.

Registration online here or with form below.

Please fill out the form below and send to:

John D. Lamb, Director-Springfed Arts,

PO Box 304, Royal Oak, MI 48068-0304.

Title of Workshop_________________________________ Fee________

If you are a new or renewing member add membership donation.

Total enclosed_______________________________________________

Name_____________________________________________________

Address___________________________________________________

City_____________________________ State _________Zip_________

Phone & e/mail_____________________________________________