{"id":74266,"date":"2018-09-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/annual-ocean-state-writing-conference-opens-oct-25\/"},"modified":"2018-09-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T00:00:00","slug":"annual-ocean-state-writing-conference-opens-oct-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2018\/09\/annual-ocean-state-writing-conference-opens-oct-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Ocean State Writing Conference opens Oct. 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 25, 2018 \u2013 In its 12th<\/sup> year, the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Ocean State Writing Conference is again bringing together aspiring writers of all ages and levels with accomplished poets, novelists, nonfiction writers, editors and publishers on the Kingston campus.<\/p>\n

\"Dawn<\/a>
Dawn Raffel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The three-day conference from Oct. 25-27 will feature nonfiction writer, memoirist and short-story writer Dawn Raffel, whose latest book, \u201cThe Strange Case of Dr. Couney,\u201d was released in July and selected a New & Noteworthy book by the New York Times Book Review. It has also garnered praise from NPR, The Chicago Tribune, The Times of London, The New York Post and Oprah.com. \u2013 and been optioned for a movie.<\/p>\n

Having spent much of the last four years \u201cin the trenches\u201d doing research for the book, Raffel is looking forward to teaching at the conference. Besides running a workshop on creative nonfiction, she will do a reading Oct. 25 at 3:30 p.m. in the Green Hall Great Room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the best things about these gatherings is they demystify the writing process,\u201d said Raffel, a longtime magazine editor who helped launch O, The Oprah Magazine. \u201cThe biggest key to success is to just keep working \u2013 there is much more elbow grease than magic, or perhaps the magic arises out of elbow grease. Conferences are also places where, in addition to connecting with teachers, you can begin lifelong friendships with other emerging writers.\u201d<\/p>\n

As in past years, the Ocean State Writing Conference will include daily workshops in poetry, fiction and nonfiction writing, allowing attendees more than eight hours of intensive instruction from acclaimed writers who also are experienced teachers. There will also be craft talks and panel discussions on aspects of writing,and a chance for attendees to present their work during a participants reading on the conference\u2019s final day.<\/p>\n

\"Dorianne<\/a>
Dorianne Laux<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFor me, every year there is just such a good feeling of fellowship and camaraderie,\u201d said Tina Egnoski, in her third year as conference director. \u201cIt\u2019s not in any way a competitive atmosphere, and the writers and featured speakers are very open, in the off hours, to sitting and talking with attendees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Raffel, two other award-winning writers, poet Dorianne Laux and novelist Martha Southgate, will give featured readings and lead workshops.<\/p>\n

Laux is the author of five collections of poetry, including \u201cThe Book of Men\u201d (2012), which was awarded The Paterson Prize. Her 2007 book, \u201cFacts 溏心vlog免费B站 the Moon,\u201d captured the Oregon Book Award and was short listed for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Laux\u2019s reading is Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. in the Green Hall Great Room.<\/p>\n

\"Martha<\/a>
Martha Southgate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Southgate has written four adult and young adult novels, including \u201cThe Taste of Salt,\u201d selected one of the best novels of 2011 by The San Francisco Chronicle and The Boston Globe. Her 2006 book, \u201cThird Girl from the Left,\u201d was named Best Novel of the Year by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Southgate will present the Robert Leuci Memorial Reading on Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. in the Agnes B. Doody Auditorium in Swan Hall.<\/p>\n

The readings by Raffel, Laux and Southgate are free and open to the public. All other events are limited to conference attendees.<\/p>\n

Raffel came across the idea for her book while going through her father\u2019s papers and finding a reference to Century of Progress World\u2019s Fair, staged in Chicago in 1933 and \u201934. It eventually led her to a picture of Martin Couney\u2019s exhibit of premature babies in incubators. Couney, a European \u00e9migr\u00e9 of mysterious origin, opened his first sideshow in Coney Island around 1903, attracting curious gawkers for $25 a pop. But his work, at a time when hospital care for preemies was nearly nonexistent, saved thousands of infants by the time he closed his last sideshow in 1943.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Strange Case of Dr. Couney,\u201d her first nonfiction book, was unlike anything she\u2019d written.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith fiction and to an extent with memoir, you can allow the composition itself to drive the narrative,\u201d said Raffel. \u201cWith narrative nonfiction, you apply the same principles of good sentence writing and composition, but the facts have to drive the story \u2013 and you can\u2019t add a delicious twist that has just popped into your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

And those facts come with research \u2013 which, in a Chicago Tribune story, Raffel compared to falling down a rabbit hole for four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were many days when I came away with nothing more than a headache from sitting in a dusty archive,\u201d she says. \u201cHappily, most rabbit holes do have a few rabbits, even if they\u2019re not the particular critter you\u2019re looking for \u2026 and some days I found interesting surrounding color or gained a stronger sense of the times Couney lived in. And the highs on the days when I finally found real clues were spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best response Raffel has received has been the reaction from Couney\u2019s former patients. \u201cI spoke with some of them while writing the book, and more found me after the publication. The oldest is 98.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the author readings, conference highlights include:<\/p>\n

On Oct. 25, Mira T. Lee, Dariel Suarez and Rhode Island author Maria Mutch discussing their experiences in the last year publishing their first books of fiction. Mutch, author of the 2014 memoir \u201cKnow the Night,\u201d had her collection of short stories, \u201cWhen We Were Birds,\u201d published this spring by Simon & Schuster. Lee\u2019s debut novel, \u201cEverything Here is Beautiful,\u201d has been chosen a top indie selection by the American Booksellers Association. And Suarez\u2019s \u201cA Kind of Solitude,\u201d winner of a 2017 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction, is forthcoming from Willow Springs Books.<\/p>\n

Acclaimed poets Lee Briccetti, executive director of the Poets House in New York, and Tina Cane, Rhode Island poet laureate, on blending the worlds advocacy and poetry during a panel discussion Oct. 26.<\/p>\n

Also that day, 溏心vlog免费B站 alumna Vikki Warner, of Providence, author of 2018\u2019s \u201cTenemental: Adventures of a Reluctant Landlady,\u201d talking about the craft of memoir writing.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 27, Trends in publishing, a popular panel discussion, featuring literary agent Tara Gelsomino, Jeffery Levine, founder of Tupelo Press, and Dan Pope, founder of Roundabout Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited about the publishing panel,\u201d Egnoski said, \u201cbecause we have two publishers of really strong independent presses in New England.\u201d<\/p>\n

For schedule and registration, visit Ocean State Writing Conference<\/a>. An early-registration discount is offered through Sept. 26. Discounts are also available for 溏心vlog免费B站 students, alumni and faculty.<\/p>\n

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KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 25, 2018 \u2013 In its 12th year, the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Ocean State Writing Conference is again bringing together aspiring writers of all ages and levels with accomplished poets, novelists, nonfiction writers, editors and publishers on the Kingston campus. The three-day conference from Oct. 25-27 will feature nonfiction writer, memoirist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}