The Great Smokies Writing Program, a consortium of the Western North Carolina writers’ community and UNC Asheville, will offer winter workshops in poetry and prose. The workshops are open to all interested writers.

Kathryn Stripling Byer will teach "Techniques and Revision: Poetry Workshop" from 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays beginning February 6 at the Asheville School. This workshop will be devoted to techniques and revision in poetry, with readings in American and British/Irish poetry. There will be a special emphasis placed on working through the process of composition with patience and attentiveness. Though the class will meet for five sessions, it will take place over a 10-week period to allow students time to work on their poems. This class, LANG 471, is worth one UNCA credit hour. Stripling Byer has published three books of poetry and won many awards, including the Lamont Prize from the Academy of American Poets, an NEA Fellowship and most recently the N.C. Award for Literature.

Tommy Hays will teach "A Creative Prose Workshop" from 6:30-9 p.m. Tuesdays beginning February 5 at the Asheville School. This 10-week class is for all levels of prose writers, who either have projects they are working on or who want to start something new in fiction or memoir. Participants will read and discuss each other’s work at length and the teacher will respond thoroughly to individual work. Students will also do some outside reading and in-class writing. This class, LANG 372, is worth two UNCA credit hours. Hays is the author of two novels, "Sam’s Crossing" and "In the Family Way," which was a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award. He is the executive director of the Great Smokies Writing Program.

Hays will also teach "Hanging in There: An Advanced Prose Writing Workshop" from 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays beginning January 23 at the Asheville School. This 15-week class is for experienced prose writers who find themselves in need of structure, criticism and support. Students will read and discuss each other’s work at length and the teacher will respond thoroughly to individual work. Participants will also do some outside reading and in-class writing. This class, LANG 473, is worth three UNCA credit hours.

Peggy B. Parris will teach "Writing the Historical Novel" from 6-8:30 p.m. Thursdays beginning February 7 at the Kenilworth Presbyterian Church. In this 10-week class, students will discover the process of writing historical fiction and tap into the many resources available about the past. This class, LANG 472, is worth two UNCA credit hours. Parris has taught fiction writing for some 20 years. Her first novel, "Waltzing in the Attic," was released in the U.S. and Europe. Her second, "His Arms are Full of Broken Things," was published in England and named a best book by the London Daily Mail.

Rebecca Upham will teach "On Becoming a Writer: A Class for Rising High School Seniors" from 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays beginning February 5 at the Kenilworth Presbyterian Church. This five-week class is for rising high school seniors who are interested in writing fiction and poetry, as well as discussing work by established writers and poets. Students will complete five poems or a 1,500 word story and then learn how to prepare a manuscript or portfolio for publication. This class, LANG 371, is worth one UNCA credit hour. Upham holds a master’s degree in creative writing from Hollins College and has taught writing at UNCA and the Asheville School. Though her focus in on short fiction, Upham enjoys writing poetry and recently completed a screenplay.

Cost is $20 for the visiting student application fee and $44.01 per credit hour.

For more information or to request an application, call UNCA Special Academic Programs at 828/250-3833.

Media Contacts:

• Tommy Hays, Great Smokies Writing Program Director, 828/254-1389
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526