The 14th West Virginia Writers’ Workshop, to be held in the Mountainlair on the downtown campus of West Virginia University July 15-18, will feature writers who have won the Pen/Faulkner Award, the Pen/Revson Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, the Iowa Short Fiction Award, the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, and other prestigious national and international prizes.

The writers will conduct workshops, present lectures, and give readings during the four-day event. Readings are free and open to the public.

At 8 p.m. on July 15, Peter Makuck, a nominee of the Pen/Faulkner Award for his collection of short stories Costly Habits, and Nancy Reisman, a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and the author of the novel The First Desire, will read.

On July 16, at 1:30 p.m., Mark Brazaitis, author of The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala, winner of the 1998 Iowa Short Fiction Award and the director of WVU’s Creative Writing Program, and Ren�e Nicholson, a graduate of WVU’s MFA program and a former professional ballet dancer who has been published in the Gettysburg Review, Chelsea and other literary magazines, will read.

At 8 p.m. on July 16, WVU Professor James Harms, author of five collections of poetry and the winner of the PEN/Revson Fellowship, and Ann Pancake, author of Strange as this Weather Has Been and recipient of the Weatherford, Bakeless and Whiting awards will read.

On July 17 at 1:30 p.m., there will be readings by special surprise guests.

The Workshop will conclude at 8 p.m. on July 17 with open mike readings by the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop participants.

The workshop draws writers from all over the country to Morgantown and WVU’s campus and features four days of writing classes and a full slate of poetry, fiction and nonfiction readings, as well as craft lectures, panel discussions and informal gatherings. The postmark deadline for regular workshop registration and for the special high school program is Friday (June 25).

In addition to the regular workshop, which is open to writers of all ages and experience, a special program will be offered for West Virginia high school students, who are encouraged to apply. The high school program will include writing-related activities specifically designed for high school students. Twelve students will be selected to receive full scholarships, which include tuition and lodging. Those students not selected for the scholarships may attend for a reduced fee of $180 to cover tuition. Three-day dormitory lodging totals $70.86 plus 6 sales and 6 percent occupancy tax.

High school students interested in applying to the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop high school program should e-mail a typed writing sample (three to five poems or up to 15 pages of prose) along with their name, address, home phone number, e-mail, and the grade and high school they attend to Marsha Bissett at Marsha.Bissett@mail.wvu.edu.

For more information contact Mark Brazaitis at 304-293-9707 or e-mail him at mark.brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

jh/06/22/10

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