Was one of your resolutions in 2011 to become a better storyteller? If so, here are a few conferences and workshops slated for the coming months that can probably teach you a thing or two. These sessions range from one-day conferences to week-long writing intensives, and none of them are free (they range from less than $100 to $1,100). But if you can pony up the pennies (or the big bills), you can hone your mad scribbling skillz with some of the best nonfiction writers working today.
Boston University Narrative Conference – April 29-30 at the Photonics Center in Boston. Speakers TBA. Last year's group included New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, Gay Talese and Adam Hochschild, among other notables.
The Muse and the Marketplace – April 30-May 1 at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. Grub Street, Inc., offers up New York Times contributor Pauline Chen, nonfiction writer Alexandra Johnson and "Hiroshima in the Morning" author Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, among many others. (Actor and short story writer James Franco will be there, too, so we're half expecting him to announce the start of his new career as a narrative journalist.)
Biographers International Organization Conference – May 21 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. For writers limning the lives of the famous and infamous, Robert Caro ("The Power Broker") and Stacy Schiff ("Cleopatra") headline the speakers at BIO’s one-day affair.
Great Storytelling Every Day – July 17-22 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom French leads this Poynter Institute week-long workshop on conceiving and framing deadline narratives for print and online. Some scholarships available.
Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference – July 22-24 in Grapevine, Texas (outside Dallas). The Mayborn 2011 roster includes poet and essayist Diane Ackerman, two-time Pulitzer winner Gene Weingarten, "The Good Soldiers" author David Finkel, and NPR commentator Frank Deford, among many others.
We’ll post information on other upcoming conferences and workshops as we get details on them. If there’s an event you think Storyboard readers should know about, please don't hesitate to e-mail us at contact_us@niemanstoryboard.org.
Boston University Narrative Conference – April 29-30 at the Photonics Center in Boston. Speakers TBA. Last year's group included New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, Gay Talese and Adam Hochschild, among other notables.
The Muse and the Marketplace – April 30-May 1 at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. Grub Street, Inc., offers up New York Times contributor Pauline Chen, nonfiction writer Alexandra Johnson and "Hiroshima in the Morning" author Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, among many others. (Actor and short story writer James Franco will be there, too, so we're half expecting him to announce the start of his new career as a narrative journalist.)Biographers International Organization Conference – May 21 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. For writers limning the lives of the famous and infamous, Robert Caro ("The Power Broker") and Stacy Schiff ("Cleopatra") headline the speakers at BIO’s one-day affair.
Great Storytelling Every Day – July 17-22 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom French leads this Poynter Institute week-long workshop on conceiving and framing deadline narratives for print and online. Some scholarships available.
Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference – July 22-24 in Grapevine, Texas (outside Dallas). The Mayborn 2011 roster includes poet and essayist Diane Ackerman, two-time Pulitzer winner Gene Weingarten, "The Good Soldiers" author David Finkel, and NPR commentator Frank Deford, among many others.
We’ll post information on other upcoming conferences and workshops as we get details on them. If there’s an event you think Storyboard readers should know about, please don't hesitate to e-mail us at contact_us@niemanstoryboard.org.
