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21 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre
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198 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre
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78 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre
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Wilkes University
84 West South Street, Wilkes-Barre
(570) 408-4000
2016
PENNSYLVANIA
WRITERS
CONFERENCE
AUGUST 5 & 6
Welcome to our second Pennsylvania Writers Conference!
In 2004, Wilkes University hosted our first writing conference, headlined
by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Norman Mailer. From that conference,
and under the guidance of Norman, we went on to establish one of the most
challenging graduate creative writing programs in the country, developing a
degree that’s solely focused on the craft and business of writing.
In the last decade, over 400 students have completed their master of arts
or master of fine arts degrees in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting,
playwriting or publishing. These students succeed because of their own
drive, and flourish because of the one-on-one mentoring from our faculty
— all working writers in the field. Their study, combined with invaluable
feedback from professional agents, editors, publishers and producers,
continues to generate some of the most successful writers of our day,
including the 2015 Man Booker Prize winner, Marlon James, M.A. ’06.
A hallmark of our program is building a literary community and giving back
to the region that supports our writing lives. So, with the launch of the
second conference hosted by Wilkes and the Graduate Creative Writing
program, we are dedicated to making this an annual event, even expanding
it into a week of classes, workshops, readings and community events.
We hope that you enjoy your day with us and please complete the surveys
provided. This is your event. Let us know what you would like to see in
future years.
Thank you for spending your time with this special community.
Visit www.wilkes.edu/pwc for more information.
Dr. Bonnie Culver,
Program Co-founder and Director
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Harold Cox Hall
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SOUTH MAIN STREET GATEWAY
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PARKING LOTS
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141 S. Main St.
Marts Center
S. River and Ross Sts.
Marts Center
Passan Hall
Henry Student Center
Temple Israel School
Passan Hall
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148 S. Main St.
UCOM Building
University Towers
100 block of W. River St.
Chase Hall (Admissions Visitors Only)
Library (Handicap Parking Only)
Weckesser Hall (Visitors Only)
Ralston Sports Complex
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FRIDAY, AUG. 5, 2016
6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
PWC Registration
Henry Student Center Ballroom
7:00 - 9:30 p.m.
Craft Class: Write What You Don’t Know: Finding Meaning in Creative Nonfiction
Sam Chiarelli
Breiseth 106
This craft class will explore how to discover our own literary journey, structure, character,
meaning and plot—among others—and how the reader draws conclusions from this journey.
Open Mic/Poetry Slam
Hosted by Laura Moran
Henry Student Center Ballroom
Panel: The World of Between: Writing for Middle Grade Readers in the 21st Century
Lenore Hart, Todd McClimans and Dania Ramos
Breiseth 107
This panel will explore the history, current requirements, and what it’s like to publish middle
reader fiction today.
SATURDAY, AUG. 6, 2016
Craft Class: Imaginative Playwriting and Theatre
Jan Quackenbush
Breiseth 213
What is playwriting in the modern age? Test your skill by inventing your imaginative situation
for a play, choosing your characters, and writing a short scene. Share your scene with the
group to receive feedback and advice.
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
PWC Registration
Henry Student Center Ballroom
8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Bookfair
Dorothy Dickson Darte Center
Books written by featured PWC speakers and presenters will be available for sale throughout
the conference. Cash, check, or credit card accepted.
9:00 - 9:45 a.m.
Plenary Session: Reviews that Mattered
Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air Book Critic
Dorothy Dickson Darte Center
A brief survey of reviews that were crucial to the fate of important books, past and present,
and why. The presentation will also consider how the power of reviews has changed and,
yet, why they still matter. Finally, there will be a “review” of the art of reviewing. Followed by
Questions and Answers.
10:00 - 10:45 a.m.
Workshop: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict in the YA Novel
Nisha Sharma
Breiseth 211
This workshop outlines the five basic rules of YA, how to research for a YA novel as an adult
writer, and goals, motivation and conflict for the YA-centric audience.
Craft Class: Finding Your Funny: Comedy Writing
Nichole Kanney
Breiseth 108
This craft class will explore the elements of comedy, the importance of character, and how to
incorporate comic relief into your work, regardless of genre or style.
Craft Class: Crafting a Poem
Rashidah Ismaili Abubakr
Breiseth 209
This craft class will help you to think, plan and organize ideas into a poem. Each participant
should bring a poem for critique. Everyone will draft one poem during the workshop.
11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
Craft Class: Creating a Chain Reaction: Casualty as a Requirement of Theme, Structure,
Plot, and Style
Vito Gulla, Tyler Grimm and Jeff Minton
Breiseth 106
This presentation will explore the dependence of theme, plot, structure, and style on one
another, and how they create a sense of momentum within the work.
Panel: Publishing Pathways
Phil Brady, Lenore Hart, Kaylie Jones, J. Michael Lennon, Robert Mooney and Bill Schneider
Breiseth 107
Breaking in... and what is the publishing and production world like today? Panel of editors
and publishers discuss the publication and production environment and answer questions
from the audience.
Workshop: Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly: Using Speculation in Creative Nonfiction
Vicki Mayk
Breiseth 211
This workshop will explore the use of speculation and other techniques to address the
missing or unknown information when writing creative nonfiction.
Workshop: You’ve Still Got a Lot to Learn…Bios and Blogs and Blurbs, Oh My
Ginger Marcinkowski
Breiseth 213
This workshop will cover the expectations publishers have for accepted manuscripts, including
marketing plans and ready-to-go documents. Participants will leave with marketing ideas and
a valuable checklist of documents for the newly published or soon-to-be published author.
Workshop: How Not to Die of Starvation While Trying to Make It as a Screenwriter
Ross Klavan
Breiseth 108
You need to eat, right? Learn what to do to survive while writing or shopping your work from
a screenwriter who wears many hats.
Workshop: Preparing Your Manuscript for Publishing Professionals
Veronica Windholz
Breiseth 209
How do you fine-tune and prepare your manuscript for submission? What do editors and
agents look for? A longtime hands-on editor will guide you through the process and protocols.
Noon - 1:45 p.m.
Lunch on your own
Please see the list of restaurant suggestions on the last page of the program. These
establishments have partnered with Wilkes University in support of the Pennsylvania
Writers Conference. Wear your conference registration lanyard to receive special offers and
discounts.
Workshop: Broken Pieces, Made Whole
Laurie Jean Cannady
Breiseth 211
This workshop will assist participants as they work to identify their broken pieces, while
examining the ways in which these pieces might lead to artistic passions. Participants will
leave this workshop with a clear focus on how their broken pieces can be made whole, in life
and on the page.
Workshop: Quick Fix
D. Ferrara
Breiseth 108
Have a scene that just isn’t working? Dialogue that sounds stilted or dull? Bring your
problem-child scene (2-4 pages) to hear it read aloud in front of others who have worked
their way out of the same predicament. Friendly critiques can help get your piece moving in
the right direction.
Craft Class: Line and Sentence: Using Poetic Principles to Write Prose
Phil Brady
Breiseth 209
Writing is not a joyful activity. For this craft class, we will ignore the dolorous history of
chirography with all its diagrams, tics, fetishes, and dogmas. Bring your first ten sentences.
Panel: Breaching the Fortress: Publishing with the Big Five
Morowa Yejidé and Taylor Polites
Breiseth 106
Publishing a book with a big five publisher can be like breaching a fortress. Hear two
graduates of the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program talk about their path
to publishing with the big five and their best advice for clearing the hurdles and beyond.
Craft Class: Structuring and Planning Your Novel: The Bones Beneath the Skin
David Poyer
Breseith 107
This craft class will provide an overview of how novels are actually built. Learn how a
bestselling author of over 40 books does it, step by step, from initial idea to final outline.
2:00 - 2:45 p.m.
Plenary Session: Wilkes Graduate Creative Writing Program Faculty Forum
Christine Gelineau, Ross Klavan, J. Michael Lennon, Taylor Polites and Jan Quackenbush
Dorothy Dickson Darte Center
What does the M.F.A. entail? Five Wilkes faculty members explain their foundation courses;
including requirements, time demanded, outcomes, writing exercises, expectations, and the
final creative manuscript.
3:00 - 3:45 p.m.
Craft Class: Writing for the YA Audience
Krista Harner and Jennifer Freed
Breiseth 213
This craft class will explore the types of literature young adults are reading, and why it
appeals to them. Attendees will also delve into the particular subjects that interest, fascinate
and preoccupy the young adult mind.
4:00 - 4:45 p.m.
Panel: Beyond Putting Words on the Page: Hosting a Reading Series and Teaching in
Community Spaces
Dawn Leas, Brian Fanelli, Pat Florio and Christine Gelineau
Breiseth 106
The participants on this panel will discuss their experience with hosting reading series and
teaching in community spaces. They offer practical advice on what works, what doesn’t and
how to get started.
Craft Class: Understanding POV: Distance and Perspective
Kaylie Jones
Breiseth 211
If you’re writing a novel or memoir in the first person, understanding the flexible role of the first
person POV is crucial to building a solid narrative. This craft class will study successful first
person narrators and examine what makes a narrator reliable or unreliable in this discussion.
Pitch Session: Screenwriting
Bonnie Culver, Ross Klavan and Ken Vose
Breiseth 213
Pitch your film, novel or memoir ideas to three experienced pitch artists. Use the “pitch” they
assist you in finding as an opening for your query letter or talk with an agent, editor. Learn
how to sell your work.
Panel: Ladies on Laughter (LOL): Exploring Women of Comedy Writing
Nina Long and Nichole Kanney
Breiseth 209
This panel will explore how female writers can continue the comedic trends and offer advice
on how to add witty traits to female characters.
Panel: Pennsylvania Fiction: What it is and What it Does
David Poyer, Cheryl Bazzoui, Chris Campion, Heather Harlen and Barbara Taylor
Breiseth 107
Five published writers from Pennsylvania, who also write about PA, will discuss what makes
fiction from the Commonwealth special, and what challenges they experienced writing
about and publishing regionally-based fiction.
Multi-media Poetry Performance
Craig Czury
Breiseth 108
Experience the Marcellus Shale and anthracite coalscapes through a multi-media
performance by a hitchhiking poet.
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Dinner (hosted by Wilkes University - included in registration fee)
Henry Student Center Ballroom
7:00 - 8 p.m.
Keynote Address
Jay Parini
Dorothy Dickson Darte Center
Awards from the writing competition will follow the keynote address.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Jay Parini
Keynote Speaker
Jay Parini is an accomplished writer in several genres and is
known for novels, poetry, and biography. His biographies include
Robert Frost: A Life, which won the Chicago Tribune Heartland
Prize for best nonfiction in 2000; One Matchless Time: A Life of
William Faulkner, which was a New York Times bestseller, and
Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal. His 1990 novel The Last
Station, about the final days of Leo Tolstoy, was adapted into an
Academy Award-nominated film. Benjamin’s Crossing, a New
York Times Notable Book of the year in 1997, is a historical novel about Jewish critic and
philosopher Walter Benjamin’s escape from Nazi occupied France. His poetry has appeared
in a wide variety of magazines, including The Atlantic, The New Yorker and Poetry. As a
journalist, Parini is a regular contributor to CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian and GQ.
He is a 1993 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. With roots in northeast Pennsylvania —
he was born in Pittston, Pa., and grew up in Scranton — Parini now teaches at Middlebury
College, where he is the D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing.
Maureen Corrigan
Plenary Session Speaker
Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air, is a criticin-residence and lecturer at Georgetown University. She is an
associate editor of and contributor to Mystery and Suspense
Writers (Scribner) and winner of the 1999 Edgar Award for
Criticism, presented by the Mystery Writers of America. She
also served as a juror for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. She
is the author of So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came To
Be and Why It Endures, and a literary memoir, Leave Me Alone,
I’m Reading! She is also a reviewer and columnist for The Washington Post’s Book World.
In addition to serving on the advisory panel of The American Heritage Dictionary, she has
chaired the Mystery and Suspense judges’ panel of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
PRESENTERS
Rashidah Ismaili Abubakr is a poet, playwright, and a writer of fiction and nonfiction.
Her work is widely anthologized. She is the author of five collections of poems. Her play,
Ricekeepers, has been published and performed nationally and internationally. Most recently
she has officiated at several memorials for Sathima Bea Benjamin, a South African Jazz
singer and former exile, Jayne Cortez, and Amiri Baraka.
Cheryl Bazzoui received a Master’s in Creative Writing from Wilkes University in 2014.
She is the author of two novels: Runaway Grandma (2007) and Mother Love (2012). She’s
also a contributor to the anthology, Women Writing on Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching
and Publishing (2012) and Women Writing After Retirement (2014). Cheryl reviews books
for WPSU, her local NPR radio station and StoryCircle.org. Her work has been published
in magazines, writing journals and newspapers. She is an RN, with degrees in nursing and
psychology. Cheryl has another completed novel as well as an anthology. She is currently
editing her husband’s unique memoir, in addition to working on her next novel. Cheryl enjoys
reading and spending time with her husband, five adult children, ten grandchildren, four
great grandchildren and their dog. For more info, visit her at www.annmccauley.com.
Phil Brady’s most recent book is To Banquet with the Ethiopians: A Memoir of Life Before
the Alphabet (Broadstone Books). By Heart: Reflections of a Rust Belt Bard (University
of Tennessee Press) won a Foreword Magazine Gold Medal, and Fathom, a collection of
poems appeared from WordTech Press. Brady earned his B.A. from Bucknell University,
M.A.s from the University of Delaware and San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D.
from Binghamton University.
Chris Campion is an adjunct professor of humanities at Lackawanna College. He holds
an M.A. in Creative Writing (concentration in Fiction) from Wilkes University. His novel,
The Jiu-Jitsu Bum, was published by Northampton House Press in 2013. His short fiction
has appeared in East Meets West: American Writers Review, Hippocampus Magazine, and
Fiction365.com. He owns too many Jiu-Jitsu gis.
Laurie Jean Cannady has published an array of articles and essays on poverty in America,
community and domestic violence, and women’s issues. She has also spoken against
sexual assault in the military at West Point. Her memoir, Crave: Sojourn of a Hungry
Soul was named one of the best nonfiction books by black authors in 2015 by The Root
online magazine. A Kirkus review describes Crave: Sojourn of a Hungry Soul as a "bold,
honest, and courageous memoir." Most recently, Foreword Reviews announced Crave
has been selected as a finalist in the Indiefab Book of the Year 2015 competition in the
autobiography/memoir category. Cannady currently resides in Central Pennsylvania with
her husband, Chico Cannady, and their three children. She teaches English at Lock Haven
University of Pennsylvania.
Sam Chiarelli is a creative nonfiction writer completing his book length manuscript about
humanity’s fascination with dinosaurs. Chiarelli teaches creative nonfiction workshops at
Wilkes University, where he recently completed his M.F.A in creative writing. He is also the
Vice Marketing Chair for HippoCamp 2016: A Conference For Creative Nonfiction Writers.
Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air, is a critic-in-residence and lecturer at
Georgetown University. She is an associate editor of and contributor to Mystery and Suspense
Writers (Scribner) and winner of the 1999 Edgar Award for Criticism, presented by the Mystery
Writers of America. She also served as a juror for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in fiction.
Bonnie Culver is the Director of the Wilkes University Low Residency Master of Arts and
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Her plays have been produced by community
theatres, regional, university, and equity companies from N.Y. to L.A. Her play Sniper won
the New Jersey Perry Award for an original play. Sniper’s N.Y.C. Off-Broadway production
was listed as “pick of the Week” by the STAR-Ledger, TIMEOUT Magazine, and NYtheatre.
com, and was included in the Burdick National Play reading series at Florida Studio Theatres
that “showcases the best in contemporary theatre.” Two of her screenplays were finalists in
the Sundance Film Development program; two scripts were optioned, one by Marlee Matlin.
She is a member of the Dramatists Guild. In 2015, she was reelected Chair of the Board of
Trustees of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) to serve a second term.
Currently, she is at work on a one-woman show Norris and a new screenplay.
Craig Czury (M.F.A creative writing Wilkes University) is the author of over 20 books of
poetry, several of which have been translated into a variety of languages. Czury has been a
featured poet at literary festivals around the world. Recent awards include: Poet Laureate
of Berks County, Pa. (2010-2012), Recipient of the F. Lammot Belin Arts Scholarship (2012),
and Poet Laureate of the 2011 Ditët e Naimit International Albanian Poetry Festival in
Macedonia. Czury has been creating poetry, performances in schools, community centers,
homeless shelters, prisons and mental hospitals for over thirty years. A native of the Back
Mountain area of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he spent his younger years hitchhiking North
America. Czury lectures at Albright University in Reading, Pa. He lives, works, and plays
bocce and blues harp at The Springville Schoolhouse Art Studios in the heart of “fracking”
in his home region, Pennsylvania’s rural northeast.
Brian Fanelli is the author of the chapbook Front Man (Big Table Publishing) and the fulllength collections All That Remains (Unbound Content) and Waiting for the Dead to Speak
(NYQ Books, Fall 2016). His poetry, essays, and book reviews have been published by The
Los Angeles Times, World Literature Today, The Paterson Literary Review, Blue Collar Review,
Main Street Rag, Kentucky Review, and elsewhere. A professor of English at Lackawanna
College, Brian has an M.F.A. from Wilkes University and a Ph.D. from Binghamton University.
D. Ferrara has been an active writer and ghostwriter for more years than she cares to admit.
Articles, essays and short stories are her continuing obsession. Her work has appeared in
several publications, including The Main Street Anthology…Crossing Lines, East Meets West
American Writers Review: 2014 Holiday Edition, The Broadkill Review, MacGuffin press and
many more.
Patricia Florio was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and is the author of My Two Mothers, a Memoir
and Cucina Amelia Family Stories and Recipes. She is the co-founder of the Jersey Shore
Writers in Ocean Grove, N.J. and coordinates quarterly poets and writers events at the Jersey
Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove, N.J. Her short stories can be read on Amazon.com and
her travel articles and photography on stripedpot.com. She’s an M.F.A. graduate from Wilkes
University. She is the mother of four children and grandma to four grandchildren. She lives
with her husband, Ralph of forty-four years at their beach home in the historic town of
Ocean Grove, just fifty steps from the ocean.
Jennifer Freed earned a B.S. in education from Penn State University and an M.F.A. in
creative writing from Wilkes University. She teaches English at a local high school. She
is the author of The Last Encampment, a young adult, historical fiction novel. She has
also published two personal essays: “A Child’s Memory” in Common Ground magazine
and “Changing Course” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Runners. Jennifer lives in Central
Pennsylvania with her sons.
Christine Gelineau is a poet and essayist and the author of Appetite for The Divine
and Remorseless Loyalty, which was awarded the Richard Snyder Memorial Prize, and
subsequently nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Award.
Tyler Grimm writes fiction, screenplays, and non-fiction. He earned his M.A. and M.F.A.
in creative writing from Wilkes University, where he was the 2012 recipient of the Norris
Church Mailer Award. Since 2012 Tyler has been an instructor at Elizabethtown College,
teaching writing and language, the psychology of creative writing, and writing and analyzing
the short story, while also mentoring senior honors students who are writing novels or
novellas for their undergraduate theses. The Elizabethtown College Student Senate has
nominated him for the 2016 Engaging Educator Award, and previously the Richard Crocker
Award for Outstanding Service to Students. His work has appeared in PANK, VOX, and The
Burg, and he has written for Celebrate Gettysburg Magazine. Tyler is currently working on
his novel, Moonlit City, designing a new course on Postmodern Fiction, and searching for
homes for some of his short fiction. He lives in suburban Harrisburg, Pa.
Vito Gulla holds a B.A. in English from West Chester University and a M.A. and M.F.A. from
Wilkes University in creative writing. He writes for and appears on the Ugly Club Podcast.
He has served on panels at AWP, EAPSU, and the Lincoln University Humanities Conference,
and his fiction has previously appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Los Angeles, Pithead
Chapel, Subtopian, Mulberry Fork Review, and The Big Click. He also teaches English at
Delaware County Community College and Lincoln University.
Heather Harlen grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania on a steady diet of Three
Investigators, Choose Your Own Adventure and Little House on the Prairie books. Her own
adventures, including studying in Spain and living in Moscow, Russia as a Peace Corps
volunteer, are endless sources of inspiration. She earned her B.A. in English and her
secondary teaching certification from Muhlenberg College and an M.A. in creative writing
from Wilkes University. She is proud to be a National Writing Project Fellow and coauthored her first book, A Teacher, Carol , with three colleagues from the Penn State Lehigh
Valley Writing Project. Her first novel, Hope You Guess My Name: A Thriller was published
by Northampton House Press in 2013. The sequel, Shame, Shame, I Know Your Name is
forthcoming. Heather and her husband live near Allentown, Pa. where she teaches high
school English. Find out more at www.heatherharlen.com.
Krista Harner received her M.A. and M.F.A. in creative writing from Wilkes University. She
has taught middle school literature for the past 12 years and is currently working on a YA
novel set in the rural hills of Pennsylvania. She resides with her husband and son outside of
Harrisburg, Pa.
Lenore Hart is the author of seven novels including Waterwoman (Barnes & Noble Discover
Book), Ordinary Springs, Becky, The Raven’s Bride, and Black River; and in Europe, Weirwood
(Svart Frikt) and Black River (Sort Elv). Her short stories, memoirs, essays, articles, poetry,
lyrics, and reviews have won awards internationally.
Kaylie Jones is a novelist and memoirist. Her memoir, Lies My Mother Never Told Me, was
published in 2009 by Harper Collins. Her third novel, A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries,
was adapted as a Merchant Ivory Film in 1998. She has recently launched an imprint with
Akashic Books, Kaylie Jones Books. Her novel, The Anger Meridian, was published by
Akashic Books in June, 2015.
Nichole Kanney received her M.F.A. from Wilkes in June of 2015, and is actively engaged
in writing, parenting, and student loan repayment. Her short script “Fridge Mates” won
the Family/Animated Category at the 2016 Nashville Film Festival, and her manuscript in
progress gained her acceptance into The Writer’s Hotel Conference. You can find her writing
and laughing in her own little world, comprised of the three important C’s: coffee, cats, and
characters.
Ross Klavan’s work spans film, television, radio, print, live performance and visual art.
His darkly comic novel Schmuck was published by Greenpoint Press in 2014. His original
screenplay for the film Tigerland was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and the
film was released by New Regency starring Colin Farrell. He recently finished an adaption
of John Bowers’ The Colony and has written scripts for Miramax, Intermedia, Walden Media,
Paramount and TNT TV among others.
Dawn Leas’s work has appeared in Literary Mama, Southern Women’s Review, San Pedro
River Review, Connecticut River Review, The Pedestal Magazine and elsewhere. Her fulllength collection, Take Something When You Go, was published in April 2016 by Winter
Goose Publishing. Her chapbook, I Know When to Keep Quiet, was published by Finishing
Line Press (2010). A collection of her poems can be found in Everyday Escape Poems, an
anthology released by SwanDive Publishing (2014). Her work won an honorable mention in
the 2005 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize and has been nominated for a Pushcart
Prize. She received a B.A. in communications with a minor in English from the University of
Scranton, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Wilkes University. She is the assistant to
the president at Wilkes University and a contributing editor at Poets’ Quarterly and TheThe
Poetry.
J. Michael Lennon is vice president emeritus for academic affairs, professor emeritus of
English and co-founder of the graduate creative writing program at Wilkes University. His
biography of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer. Norman Mailer: A Double
Life, was released Oct. 15 by Simon & Schuster and is described by The Washington Post as
“a great wallop of a book.”
Nina Long has been a teacher for the past nine years. She holds an M.A. and M.F.A in
creative writing, both from Wilkes University. She is currently working on her first novel as
well as a collection of essays about motherhood. Nina lives outside Hershey, Pa. with her
husband, Joe and son, Ethan.
Ginger Marcinkowski was born as one of eight siblings in northern Maine along the
Canadian border and is a dual-citizen of the United States and Canada. Her debut novel,
Run, River Currents, was published in August, 2012, and was a 2012 semi-finalist in the
ACFW Genesis Awards and a 2013 Kindle Book Award Finalist. Her second novel, The
Button Legacy: Emily’s Inheritance, was published in 2014.
Vicki Mayk is a memoirist, nonfiction writer and magazine editor whose work has appeared
in print and online publications including Ms. Magazine, HippocampusMagazine, The New
York Times, the Manifest-Station, Literary Mama, and East Meets West Writers Journal. She
has enjoyed a 40-year career in journalism and public relations and has edited university
magazines, most recently for Wilkes University. She created and teaches a memoir
workshop for the bereavement program at St. Luke’s Hospice in Bethlehem, Pa. She also
teaches nonfiction workshops and a freshman seminar about the power of story at Wilkes,
where she earned her M.F.A. in the graduate creative writing program.
Todd McClimans’s middle grade time travel/historical series, American Epochs, comprises
three novels, Time Traitor (2014), Time Underground (2015), and Time to Heal (2017),
published by Northampton House Press and Overdue Books. Todd lives in Pennsylvania with
his wife and three children. A self-styled history buff and fantasy nerd, Todd first became
interested in writing about American history when teaching his fifth graders the riveting
stories of patriots and their struggle for independence during the Revolutionary War. He
aims to bring history to life for young readers by writing stories with a careful mixture of
historical fact and fantastical story-telling with characters to which children can relate.
Jeff Minton is a teacher and writer living in the Harrisburg, Pa. area. He adjuncts as a writing
instructor/trench warfarer at Elizabethtown College, Harrisburg Area Community College,
and Central Penn College. He once said, “I love being an English professor because it gives
me license to be pretentious.” He’s still not sure if he was joking or not. He presented his
work on composing narratives using musical orchestration techniques at AWP’s 2014
conference in Seattle. His fiction recently was a finalist for Glimmer Train’s Short Story
Award. He raises three or four children, depending on if he is counting himself. He holds an
M.F.A. in creative writing from Wilkes University.
Robert Mooney’s most recent publication is a novel, Father of the Man (Pantheon, 2002).
He has published numerous short stories, including “Halloween” in the Paterson Literary
Review, which was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Mooney earned a B.A. from Boston
College and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Binghamton University. He has served as editor of New
Myths Press and the acclaimed literary journal New Myths/MSS, which was founded by
John Gardner. Mooney is Professor of English and creative writing at Washington College,
where he directed the O’Neill Literary House. He also serves on the low-residency M.F.A.
faculty at Wilkes University.
In 1992, Laura Moran became Providence’s first Grand Slam Champion and in 1996 Seattle’s
Grand Slam Champion. She has represented both Seattle and Providence on various
national teams from 1996-1998. Her work has appeared in such publications as Defined
Providence, Revival: Spoken Word from Lollapalooza 1994, Children Remember Their Fathers,
Chokecherries: SOMOS Series Anthology 2002, Quix Quarterly, River Reporter’s Literary
Gazette 2002-4. Laura has several chapbooks and three CD’s of her work: Original Skin
(2002), Live Bait (Great Divide Records, 2005,) and Live: Improper Joy (2008.) In 2004, she
received a New York Foundation of the Arts grant for Emerging Writers at the Center for the
Book Arts in New York City.
Jay Parini is an accomplished writer in several genres and is known for his novels, poetry,
and biography. His biographies include Robert Frost: A Life, which won the Chicago Tribune
Heartland Prize for best nonfiction in 2000; One Matchless Time: A Life of William Faulkner,
which was a New York Times bestseller; and Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal. His 1990
novel The Last Station, about the final days of Leo Tolstoy, was adapted into an Academy
Award nominated film. Benjamin’s Crossing, a New York Times Notable Book of the year in
1997, is a historical novel about Jewish critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin’s escape from
Nazi occupied France. His poetry has appeared in a wide variety of magazines, including
The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and Poetry. As a journalist, Parini is a regular contributor to
CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian and GQ. He is a 1993 recipient of a Guggenheim
Fellowship. With roots in northeast Pennsylvania — he was born in Pittston, Pa., and grew
up in Scranton — Parini now teaches at Middlebury College, where he is the D.E. Axinn
Professor of English and Creative Writing.
Taylor M. Polites’ first novel, The Rebel Wife, was published by Simon & Schuster in
February 2012. It was featured as a top ten pick in the February, 2012 issue of O Magazine,
the Oprah magazine, and was an Okra Pick from the Southern Independent Booksellers
Association.
David Poyer is a novelist and creative nonfiction writer. Some of his nearly forty books
include: The Dead of Winter, Winter in the Heart, As the Wolf Loves Winter, and Thunder on
the Mountain. He has also published oral history and travel nonfiction, and is collaborating
on a memoir. His work has been translated into Japanese, Dutch, and Italian, and rights have
been sold for films, audiobooks, ebooks, etc.
Jan Quackenbush has had plays produced in the USA and in Europe. His published plays
include: Calcium and Other Plays, Still Fires, Opfer (Victims, published in Austria), Im Kreis
Drausssen (Inside Out, published in Austria) and Inside Out And Other Plays, London.
Additionally, he has published poetry and fiction, including Stone Eggs, and Simeon In
Memoriam.
Dania Ramos is an author and playwright. Her middle grade novel Who’s Ju (Overdue
Books/Northampton House Press) won the 2015 International Latino Book Award for Best
Young Adult eBook and was runner-up for the Mariposa Award for Best First Book. Her
stage writing credits include: Mi Casa Tu Casa (Luna Stage, Dreamcatcher Rep) and Hielo
(Finalist, 2013 MetLife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition at Repertorio
Español, Women Playwrights Program at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey). She was a
New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Playwriting Fellowship recipient.
She holds an M.A. in creative writing from Wilkes University and a B.F.A in Theatre from
Montclair State University. She’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and
Illustrators and the Dramatists Guild of America.
Bill Schneider is the Managing Editor of Etruscan Press and Associate Director of the Wilkes
Graduate Creative Writing Program. His previous experience includes a three-decade long
career in the music industry accompanied by extensive travel throughout four continents. Bill
received his Bachelor of Science in Journalism Magna Cum Laude from Suffolk University. He
also received his M.A. and M.F.A. in creative writing from Wilkes University.
Award-winning author Nisha Sharma was raised in the countryside of Northeast
Pennsylvania. When she ran out of romances to read at her local library, she started writing
sequels to her favorites and she’s been writing ever since. Her young adult romance My SoCalled Bollywood Life comes out in 2017 with Crown Books for Young Readers.
Barbara J. Taylor lives in Scranton, Pa., home of the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in
the country. She has an M.F.A. in creative writing from Wilkes University and teaches English
in the Pocono Mountain School District. All Waiting Is Long is the sequel to her debut novel,
Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night, named a “Best Book of Summer 2014” by Publishers Weekly.
Ken Vose has written for film, television, and stage. The film of his play, Papa: the Man,
the Myth, the Legend, co-authored with Jordan Rhodes, and based on the life of Ernest
Hemingway, was selected Best Historical Drama Feature at the 2010 New York Independent
Film Festival.
Veronica Windholz, an editor, book doctor, and writer, has edited top-selling fiction and
nonfiction for more than thirty years, working with Norman Mailer; E. L. Doctorow; Salman
Rushdie; David Halberstam; Jeffrey Toobin; Ron Rosenbaum; Peter Sís; Sherry Turkle; Mark
Halperin and John Heilemann; Keith Gessen; Reif Larsen; and Curtis Sittenfeld, among
others. She’s held positions at Viking/Penguin; Random House; McGraw-Hill; and the
Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency. She’s taught in the publishing program at NYU’s School of
Continuing and Professional Studies and at the Norman Mailer Writers’ Colony. On her new
website, veronicawindholz.com, she offers editorial guidance to authors. You can also find
her on Twitter (@readsclosely) and on Google+. Clips from her master class on self-editing
(“When Is a Writer’s Work Done?”) can be found on her YouTube channel.
Morowa Yejidé’s novel Time of the Locust was a 2012 finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize,
longlisted for the 2015 PEN/Bingham award, and a 2015 NAACP Image Award Nominee
for Outstanding Literary Work. Her short stories appeared in the Adirondack Review, the
Istanbul Review, and others. Her short story “Tokyo Chocolate” was nominated for a Pushcart
Prize, anthologized by Britain’s best of the Willesden Herald, and praised by the Japan Times.
She is currently a PEN/Faulkner Writers in Schools author. She lives in the D.C. area with
her husband and three sons.
PENNSYLVANIA WRITERS CONFERENCE
WILKES UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM
The master of arts (M.A.) degree requires 30 credits and can be completed in as little as 18
months. It is offered online with limited campus visits.
Once you’ve earned the M.A. from Wilkes, you’re eligible to complete your M.F.A. The M.F.A.
is the recognized terminal degree in the creative writing field. It will help prepare you to teach,
working in the publishing field or simply excel in your writing career. The degree requires 18
additional credits and can be completed in as little as one additional year of study.
@WilkesUWriting
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CMYK / .eps
Wilkes University
MA MFA Low-Residency
Creative Writing Program
@wilkesuwriting
7 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre
(570) 208-4700
Hours: Friday
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
El Zocalo Mexican Restaurant
21 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre
(570) 970-3444
Hours: Friday
11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday 12:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Frank’s Pizzeria & Italian Ristorante 198 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre
(570) 822-2168
Hours: Friday
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
78 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre
(570) 371-3890
Hours: Friday
11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday 11:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
*Conference attendees receive a 10% discount at Lett’s Eat Indian
Restaurant with lanyard
Mimmo’s Pizza
The mission of the Graduate Creative Writing Program is to educate our students in the craft,
life, and business practices of seven areas of study — fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting,
creative nonfiction, publishing and making documentary films — through a commitment to
excellent mentorships, publishing opportunities, and industry-specific internships. Our vision
is to offer a nationally recognized and widely reputed graduate creative writing program where
students and faculty find the writing support, community, and market opportunities to become
lifelong, productive, professional writers in all fields.
CMYK / .eps
Barnes & Noble Book Store Café (Starbucks)
Letts Eat Indian Restaurant
The annual conference is designed to engage, educate and empower the literary community.
The two-day conference includes an open mic and poetry slam, craft classes, writing
workshops, and literary panels hosted by editors, film producers, literary agents, publishers,
and writers.
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RESTAURANTS
wilkesuwriting
46 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre
(570)-824-7101
Hours: Friday
7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
*Conference attendees receive a 20% discount at Mimmo’s Pizza
with lanyard
Rodano’s Pizza & Restaurant
53 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre
(570) 829-6444
Hours: Friday
11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 10:0 p.m.
Starbucks at Gambini’s (on Wilkes campus)
University Center on Main, 169 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre
(570)-408-6023
Hours: Friday
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.