Deadline for submitting an application is January 12, 2022.
Novelist Elizabeth Brundage is accepting submissions for The Craft of the Novel: An Online Workshop, co-sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany.
Elizabeth is the author of five novels, The Vanishing Point, All Things Cease to Appear, A Stranger Like You, Somebody Else’s Daughter, and The Doctor’s Wife.
All Things Cease to Appear was a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a Wall Street Journal best mystery of 2016 and was the basis for the Netflix film Things Heard and Seen starring Amanda Seyfried and James Norton.
She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop where she received a James Michener Award, and attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Witness, New Letters, Greensboro Review, and elsewhere.
She has taught at several colleges and universities, most recently at Skidmore College, where she was a visiting writer in residence, and lives with her family in Albany, New York.
About this workshop:
So you’ve got this novel stashed in your drawer, right? The one you’ve been trying to finish for months or years. But when you are totally honest with yourself, you have no idea what it is – what you are trying to write. You have several “chapters” that are really just separate documents, wayward characters waiting for direction. When people ask you what your novel is about, you gaze at them blankly, your mind racing to make connections. You know it’s about something. And there would be your first mistake. Because a novel isn’t about some thing, it’s about someone the thing happens to. It’s about who that person is, and why they ended up where they are, and what, if anything, they plan to do about it.
This class will consider the essential elements that contribute to a novel’s success: character/voice, conflict/resolution, time/place, setting, thematic aspects, with the goal of nurturing the inevitable completion of a rough first draft. In class writing prompts/assignments will be given to help you better understand some of the things we’ll be discussing.
The 5-week workshop, which will run every two weeks on Wednesdays, is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. beginning February 2nd. The class will take place virtually on Zoom. The five class dates will be: 2/2, 2/16, 3/2, 3/16, and 3/30.
The workshop will be limited to 10 writers. The cost to participate is $350. If you are selected to take part in the workshop – you will be emailed a link to complete your registration and submit your payment online by January 31, 2022.
To be considered, submit manuscripts to the Writers Institute according to the guidelines listed below.
Guidelines for Writing Workshop Application Submissions:
Submit a 3-5 page writing sample (pdf or word document; double-spaced) by email to jkowalski@albany.edu.
Include a brief statement (50–100 words) describing your interest in writing and what you hope to learn by participating in this workshop. To ensure a blind selection process, do not put your name on any of the pages of the writing sample you attach to the email.
Email notification of acceptance will be sent by Wednesday, January 26, 2022. Please do not call regarding the status of your manuscript. We regret that neither Ms. Brundage nor the Institute can comment on manuscripts by writers not selected.
Deadlines:
Submissions are due by Wednesday, January 12, 2022.
More about Elizabeth Brundage
Visit elizabethbrundage.com/ to learn more about the author and her work.
Here is a clip of Elizabeth from our 4th Annual Albany Book Festival, held at the University at Albany in September 2021. Pardon the grainy footage. The audio comes across just fine.
We also featured a video with Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl in conversation with Elizabeth on June 7, 2021.
