Karen Karbo to Speak about The Writer's Passion

Award-winning Portland writer Karen Karbo

will show writers how they can find and develop topics they are passionate about, and develop a powerful, authentic writing voice around those passions. She will also have tips to create a satisfying writing life and successful career without trying to ‘game the market.’

Ms. Karbo is the author of the “Kick Ass Women” series of books featuring such luminaries as Julia Child, Coco Chanel, Georgia O’Keefe, and Audrey Hepburn. Her memoir, “Stuff of Life,” won the Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction and other awards. She has written 14 books – both fiction and nonfiction. Her short stories, essays, articles and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, O, Esquire, Outside, The New York Times, Salon.com, and other publications. Karen was also one of 24 authors recently chosen by Amtrak to participate in their inaugural Amtrak Residency program, and was previously a recipient of an NEA Arts Fellowship in Fiction.

Karen Karbo to Speak at Willamette Writers November 4, 2014 at 7 p.m.

The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., Portland OR

About Willamette Writers: Willamette Writers is the largest writers’ organization in Oregon and one of the largest in the United States. Founded in Portland in 1965, it has grown to over 1,500 members with branches in Southern Oregon (Medford/Central Point), Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Newport. Portland meetings are held from 7 to 8 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th (at Clay) in downtown Portland. Socializing begins at 6:30. The meeting is free to members, $5 for guests of members and students, and $10 for non-members. More detailed information is available at www.willamettewriters.com or by emailing wilwrite@willamettewriters.com or calling 503-305-6729 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. M-F.

Craft and Confidence: An Author's Master Class with William Kenower

Craft and Confidence:

An Author's Master Class with

William Kenower

Saturday, November 8, 2014 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 pm

The Willamette Writer's House in West Linn

This master class for intermediate writers focuses on the unique challenge of being an author. If all we did was write in our journals and diaries, we would not need writing classes and conferences and magazines. It is the experience of asking other people to read our work and to possibly pay us for it that causes most of our confusion and anxiety. Using the themes and perspectives explored in Write Within Yourself, we will take an intensive look at how to keep our attention where it needs to be to sustain our very private writing work while simultaneously pursuing the very public career of author.

A copy of William Kenower's book Write Within Yourself is included in the master class registration for the first ten people to register. Coffee, tea, and a light snack will be provided. This class is offered exclusively to Willamette Writers members for $75.

Part One: Craft

Craft is not merely a list of rules and mechanical techniques writers should memorize and practice. True craft is an understanding of why rules and techniques seem to work and when and how those rules and techniques can be broken and abandoned. For the first half of the workshop, we will take a closer look at such basics as showing and telling, contrast, description, and narrative tension, peeling back the tired holiness around these techniques so that they can once again serve our unique vision.

Part Two: Confidence

Mastery of craft is never as complicated as the psychological and emotional mastery needed to sustain our work. Once we learn craft, we rarely forget it, but a writer can forget where his or her confidence resides at any time. In this guided roundtable discussion, we will talk candidly about the real barriers to writing success – questions of voice, intelligence, time, money, and talent. Every writer is born with everything they need to tell any story they wish, and by the end of the second half of this workshop, participants will have a better understanding of how to get out of their own way and let their natural genius flow.

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You can register for the William Kenower class by mailing a check to Willamette Writers' Cynthia Whitcomb House, calling 503-305-6729 and registering over the phone, or by paying with a credit card at http://www.willamettewriters.com/1/Willamette_Writers_Workhop_William_Kenower.php.