This Week at Write On: Jan. 15, 2021

Get an unusual look inside poetry publishing Jan. 28, 7 pm, through a reading by award-winning poet Mark Wunderlich. His new collection, God of Nothingness, is being released this month by Graywolf Press, whose poetry editors, Chantz Erolin and Jeff Shotts, will join him. They’ll discuss what goes into editing a poetry collection and how Wunderlich’s work evolved from a submitted manuscript to a finished book. 

This is his fourth collection with Graywolf. Wunderlich has received the Rilke Prize for The Earth Avails and the Lambda Literary Award for The Anchorage. Born and raised in rural Wisconsin, Wunderlich now lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. 

The event is free, but registration is required.

Interested in writing fiction for young adults? We have some great opportunities coming up just for you! 

Young-adult author Michelle McNamara will lead an online workshop Jan. 23, 10:30 am – 12 pm, that illuminates how characters drive plot, with examples from well-known youth literature. She’ll help participants develop their own characters and provide writing prompts to create a character-driven scene. The workshop is appropriate for high school students and adults.

Next month, Write On’s Craft of Writing Series will focus on young-adult literature through a Feb. 4 introductory conversation with award-winning authors Swati Avasthi and Kim Johnson. On Feb. 11, Johnson will discuss how research can enhance every aspect of writing, and on Feb. 18, Avasthi will talk about ways to achieve authentic emotion on the page. Johnson’s debut novel, This Is My America, was released last year. Avasthi’s award-winning novels include Split and Chasing Shadows, which is told through a combination of prose and graphics.

Concluding their residencies at Write On this week are Wisconsin poets Cathryn Cofell, Bruce Dethlefsen and Christina Kubasta. They’ll present a film next month about the intersection of poetry with other art forms. Details are available at writeondoorcounty.org.