New York State Writers Institute Announces Spring 2012 Community Writing Workshops

ALBANY, NY (01/06/2012)(readMedia)-- The New York State Writers Institute will offer two writing workshops during the spring 2012 semester. Led by prize-winning author and Institute Fellow James Lasdun, one workshop will focus on the short story, and the other on writing about science and technology. The non-credit workshops are offered free of charge for members of the non-University community. Submission guidelines are available on the Institute's website at www.albany.edu/writers-inst or by calling the Institute at 518-442-5620.

"The Art of the Short Story" workshop is aimed at answering the question, What is the essential nature of the short story? Combining a close reading of classic short stories with an equally detailed attention to students' work, this workshop will examine the peculiar mysteries of narrative economy and structural inventiveness that distinguish this most artful of literary forms. Each student will be expected to contribute two to four stories over the course of the workshop. Authors whose work will be studied will include Anton Chekhov, Ernest Hemingway, and Flannery O'Connor, as well as writers who will be appearing in the Institute's Spring 2012 Visiting Writers Series.

The short story workshop is scheduled for eight Tuesday nights (February 21, 28, March 6, 20, April 10, 17, 24, May 1) from 6 to 9 p.m.

"Writing About Science and Technology" is a newly designed nonfiction workshop for people interested in writing on science and technology subjects for a non-specialist audience. Advances in science and technology have enormous impacts on our lives. The need to understand them is more urgent than ever and yet how can these often highly esoteric matters be made comprehensible to the general public? Discussion will focus on participants' own work, with attention paid to style, structure, angle of approach and other aspects of composition. Reading of contemporary and historical texts will explore the many ways in which other writers have conveyed the excitements and complexities of science to lay readers. Authors examined will include Oliver Sacks, Richard Dawkins, Dava Sobel, and Natalie Angier.

The science and technology workshop is scheduled for eight Monday nights (March 19, 26, April 9, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14) from 6 to 9 p.m.

James Lasdun is a fiction writer, poet, and screenwriter. Born and raised in England, he has received awards and critical praise for his work on both sides of the Atlantic. His most recent short story collection, It's Beginning to Hurt, published in 2009, was one of The Atlantic Monthly's top five books of 2009. Lasdun's first novel, The Horned Man (2002), was a New York Times Notable Book and an Economist Best Book of the Year.

For additional information contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

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