Friday, Oct. 71-4 pm 800 Colorado Janice GouldWorking with Memoir: Creative Forms of the Vignette

1-3:30 pm MCPL (public) Wendy Videlock *Totem Poems & the Subconscious Muse1-4 pm Whitman Bldg. Dave MasonEntering & Departing the Poem

7-9:30 pm 800 Colorado ReadingVisiting authors & book signings & open mike

10 pm-late Fruita Writers’ PartyParty at North 19 Straw Bale Observatory

Saturday, Oct. 89-12 am Whitman Bldg. Laura HendrieFiction: Digging for Diamonds, I

9-12 am CN Monument Dave Mason & CNM naturalist*The Land as Literal and Metaphor (public)

9:30-12:15 MCPL (public) Art Goodtimes*Cyber Age Journalism

1-3:45 pm Whitman Bldg. Laura HendrieFiction: Digging for Diamonds, II

1-3:45 pm 800 Colorado Janice GouldNarrative Impulse in Poetry

4-6 pm 800 Colorado Maria Melendez & Uche OgbujiBuilding an Audience: The Hows, Whens and Whys of Submissions and Online Promotion

6:30-9:30 Roper Ballroom Community Banquet Ute elder Clifford Duncan, CO Poet Laureate David Mason & Leslie Marmon Silko. Book signings, all authors.

Saturday Youth Workshops 10-noon CMU Classroom Luis LopezRhythm in Sports Poetry

1-3 pm CMU Classroom Will HobbesEverything I Know in Two Hours

Sunday, Oct. 910-noon 800 Colorado Free Community Breakfast* “The Language of This Land” Storytelling andreadings by guest writers and Ute, Basque, Hispanic, Greek, African-American, Anglo and other speakers on their origins in this area.

* Denotes events that are FREE &OPEN TO THE PUBLIC;seating is limited and registration is requested.

EVENT SCHEDULE

this land

the language of

Writers’ ConferenceOctober 7-9, 2011

Grand Junction, Colorado

Digging for Diamonds I and II – Laura HendrieThinking up a great story is one thing; writing it is another.Study how great ideas in literature come from personal experi-ence, and practice doing it. Acquire a specific set of techniquesfor growing the seed of a good idea into a vivid, living story. Everything I Know in Two Hours – Will HobbsUsing dramatic photographs, Hobbs will share what he’slearned about developing characters and plot. He’ll demon-strate how to “show not tell,” whether you’re writing a sceneor a sentence. Plenty of writing tips, with emphasis on revision. Entering and Departing the Poem – David Mason What do first lines teach us about cracking open a poem?What makes a riveting opening line? Why do the best closuresmake us catch our breaths? Students will examine others’poems, and enter and depart from poems of their own.The Land as Literal and as Metaphor – David MasonWith a CNM naturalist, study this region’s flora, fauna and ge-ology. We will then survey literal and metaphorical uses ofsuch material by other poets, and build new poems of our own.Wear good walking shoes; bring water and writing materials.Rhythms in Sports – Luis LopezPotential sports poets will examine and then discuss therhythms that flow through sports, such as baseball, football,basketball, skating, cheerleading and others, and then we willtry to imitate those rhythms. We will have fun! Memoir: Creative Forms of the Vignette – Janice GouldWe'll access memory by finding strategies to locate the self in thepast; revise to compress writing; work for clarity and vivid de-scription, and study vignettes and prose poems where poets andmemoirists use the turn (trope) to add power and complexity.Narrative Impulse in Poetry – Janice GouldStudents will explore narrative in poetry by investigating howpoets tell stories using character, structure and theme. We'llread -- and write -- prose poems and free verse, striving forlyric compression and the lyric impulse. Totem Poems and the Subconscious Muse– Wendy VidelockExplore the natural rhythms which move a poem from the sub-conscious into unexpected territories. Discover how instinct,intuition, and music are primary poetic impulses. All levels. Cyber Age Journalism – Art GoodtimesFreelancing, Fee-writing, Blog-editing & Advocacy Journalism:Explore journalism in an increasingly web-based environment,where paper has a significant (if diminishing) place, and thecyberworld offers new and exciting opportunities.Building an Audience – Maria Melendez & Uche OgbujiLearn how to engage with a variety of audiences and how tohelp your submission stand out. Rationale and tips for submit-ting work to literary magazines, writing query letters to agents,connecting with small presses and growing an online presence.

WORKSHOPS

Manuscript Consultations (Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry) $25Bring 3-5 pages of unpublished writing and arrange a 15-minute time duringthe conference to discuss your work with Pilgrimage editor/publisher MariaMelendez. Insight and encouragement guaranteed! Book this quickly. Seewww.westerncoloradowriters.org.

A benefit forWestern Colorado Writers’ Forumwww.westerncoloradowriters.org

P. P. Box 3261, Grand Junction, CO 81502970.256.4662

Western Colorado Writers’ Conference

the language of this landLeslie Marmon SIlko

David Mason

Legendary author Leslie Marmon Silko writes “in the language of the spirit,”according to the L.A. Times review of her newest book, The Turquoise Ledge.The memoir explores Silko’s Laguna Pueblo, Cherokee, Mexican and Euro-pean family history, and the natural and sacred world of the Sonoran desertaround her home near Tucson. Author of multiple novels, short stories,poems and essays, particularly Ceremony, a classic in American litera-ture, Silko has received many awards for her work, including theMacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship.

David Mason is the Poet Laureate of Colorado. His books include The Country IRemember, Arrivals and Ludlow: A Verse Novel. His second collection of essays, TwoMinds of a Western Poet, has recently appeared along with a memoir, News fromthe Village.

Janice Gould’s four books of verse areBeneath My Heart, Earthquake Weather, Al-phabet and, most recently, Doubters andDreamers (2011). She co-edited Speak toMe Words: Essays on Contemporary Ameri-can Indian Poetry. She is an AssistantProfessor in Women’s and Ethnic Studies

at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Will Hobbs is the author of eighteennovels for upper elementary, middleschool and young adult readers, as wellas two picture book stories. Seven of hisnovels (Bearstone, Downriver, The Big Wan-der, Beardance, and others) have beenchosen by the American Library Associa-tion as Best Books for Young Adults.

Wendy Videlock is a poet and artistliving on the Western Slope. Herpoems have appeared widely, mostnotably in Poetry, Quadrant,Unsplendid, Rattapallax, and Rattle. Herbook, Nevertheless, is available fromAble Muse Press.

Uche Ogbuji, born in Calabar,Nigeria, has lived in Egypt, England,and presently near Boulder with hiswife and four children. An engineerand entrepreneur with a passion forpoetry, and poems published insundry journals, he is poetry editorat the online journal The Nervous Breakdown.

Maria Melendez lives in Pueblo andedits Pilgrimage (www.pilgrimage-press.org). Her poetry collections(How Long She'll Last in This Worldand Flexible Bones) have been final-ists for the PEN Center USA LiteraryAward and the Colorado Book

Award. Her essays appear in Sojourns, online atNPR’s American Democracy Project, and elsewhere.

Laura Hendrie has authored anaward-winning book of stories, Stygo,set in Colorado, essays and nonfiction,and a novel based in New Mexico, Re-member Me, currently under movie op-tion in Hollywood. She teaches at

Pacific University’s MFA low-residency program inOregon, and lives and writes in Salida, Colorado.

Former editor of several Telluridenewspapers, Art Goodtimes has beenwriting a weekly opinion column, "UpBear Creek," since 1982. He was re-cently named Poet Laureate of WesternColorado, poetry editor of the MountainGazette, co-chair of the Colorado GreenParty, and San Miguel County Commissioner.

L. Luis Lopez, professor of mythology,Latin, and ancient Greek, is the authorof three books of poetry, Musings of aBarrio Sack Boy, A Painting of Sand, andEach Month I Sing (American BookAward 2008 and Colorado IndependentPublishers First Place for Poetry 2008).

Join guest writers in workshops, classes and readings

For schedule and tickets, call 970.256.4662 or visitwww.westerncoloradowriters.org

Cost: $285 conference, banquet & membership$235 conference and membership

$55 Saturday banquet only $25 CMU Youth Workshops with membership

– by check or credit card –

the language of this land

Ute Elder Clifford Duncan is a cul-tural consultant for the Ute IndianTribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reserva-tion in Ft. Duchesne, UT, and a formermember of the Tribal Council. An artistand storyteller in his own right, he iswidely known and respected through-out Ute Country, and beyond, for his knowledge andunderstanding of Ute history and spirituality.

Registration begins online or by phone August 15through Sept. 23; late fees apply afterwards.

Note: All paid conference workshops are limited to15 writers on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Please register as soon as possible.

To register, or to obtain more information about the conference, banquet, deposit, teen volunteering,

scholarships and lodging discounts for out-of-town visitors, please call 970.256.4662 or visit

www.westerncoloradowriters.org