UNCA's Great Smokies Writing Program Offers Fall Classes

The Great Smokies Writing Program, a consortium of the Western North Carolina writers’ community and UNC Asheville, will offer six fall courses in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and prose. The classes are open to all interested writers.

Tommy Hays will teach "Hanging in There: An Advanced Prose Writing Workshop" from 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays beginning September 3 at the Asheville School. This 15-week class is for experienced prose writers who need structure, criticism and support. Instructor’s permission is required for admittance. 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 executive director of the Great Smokies Writing Program and is the creative writing chair for the honors program at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.

Kathy Sheldon will teach "The Craft of Poetry" from 6-8:30 p.m. Thursdays beginning September 4. This 15-week class will meet at the Ashbury Memorial United Methodist Church. In this advanced workshop, poets will receive critiques of their poems in weekly class workshops and in individual conferences with the instructor. Students will read from a wide selection of poetry and discuss issues of craft. Instructor’s permission is required for admittance. A graduate of the Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop, Sheldon writes poetry, fiction and gardening books. She has taught at the University of Iowa, Warren Wilson College, and the Asheville Poetry Festival.

Sheldon will also teach "Finding Your Voice: A Beginning Poetry Workshop" from 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays beginning September 17 at the Asheville School. This 10-week class will give students an opportunity to share their love of poetry while strengthening their writing skills and finding their own poetic voices. Exercises will be assigned to generate new poems, and classroom workshops and individual conferences with the instructor will help students with craft and revision.

"The Long and the Short of It" A Fiction Workshop" will be taught by Peggy B. Parris from 6-8:30 p.m. Mondays beginning September 15 at the First Presbyterian Church. This 10-week workshop will focus on planning, writing and revising fiction work. It will include a review of the elements of fiction, creativity exercises and discussion and feedback on individual drafts. Parris has taught writing for more than 20 years and has published numerous short stories and two novels in this country and abroad. Recently retired from UNCA, she is just completing a novel about the English suffragettes.

Hays will also teach "Give Up and Write: An Advanced Creative Prose Workshop" from 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays beginning September 16 at the Asheville School. This 10-week class is for advanced prose writers who have ongoing projects or who want to start something new in fiction or memoir. Emphasis will be placed on reading and critiquing each other’s work. Instructor’s permission is required for admittance.

Sebastian Matthews will teach "True Stories: A Creative Nonfiction Workshop" from 6-8:30 p.m. Thursdays beginning on September 18 at the First Presbyterian Church. This 10-week class is designed for both beginning and experienced writers. Students will work with a variety of nonfiction forms, including personal essay and memoir. Matthews, a recent Bread Loaf scholar in nonficiton, teaches at Warren Wilson College and edits the literary journal "RIVENDELL." He recently completed a memoir, "In My Father’s Footsteps" and co-edited "Search Party: Collected Poems of Williams Matthews" with Stanley Plumly.

These classes qualify for audit or UNCA credit hours in literature and language. Ten-week classes are worth two credit hours and cost $140.48 for tuition and fees. Fifteen-week classes are worth three credit hours and cost $220.72. Rates apply to those meeting North Carolina residency requirements.

For more information or to request an application, call UNCA’s Special Academic Programs Office at 828/251-6558 or e-mail lpreston@unca.edu.

Media Contacts:

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