Tommy Hays will teach an advanced prose workshop

Local writers will have the opportunity to hone their skills with the Great Smokies Writing Program's fall workshop series of eight courses in poetry and prose. The classes, held at varying locations in Asheville, are open to writers of varying levels. Students will earn UNC Asheville credit hours in Literature and Language.

Noted prose and poetry author Sebastian Matthews will lead "Stepping Through the Threshold: Generative Writing Exercises for Creative Writers" at the Randolph Learning Center, 90 Montford Rd., from 6-8:30 p.m. for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning September 17. This is a two-credit-hour course. In this process-oriented, generative workshop, students will combine a series of lectures with corresponding exercises designed to generate fresh work and hone writing techniques. It is open to writers of all genres and levels.

Award-winning memoirist Jeff Smith will teach "Telling Our Stories: A Course in Memoir Writing" at the Randolph Learning Center from 6-8:30 p.m. for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning September 17. In this two-credit-hour class, students will work at writing individual life stories toward a theme or angle. The course is open to beginning and advanced writers.

Noted poet Gary Lilley will teach "Merging the Imagined Experience with the Lived Experience: A Poetry Workshop" at the YMI Cultural Center, 39 S. Market St., from 6-8:30 p.m. for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning September 18. This two-credit-hour workshop will explore the use of images, details, syntax and diction in making poems come alive. The class is appropriate for beginning to experienced poets.

Veteran journalist Dale Neal will teach "Writing to Win Over Editors and Readers: A Nonfiction Workshop" at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, 281 Edgewood Rd., from 6:30-9 p.m. for 10 consecutive Thursdays beginning September 18. It is a two-credit-hour class. The course will be a nuts-and-bolts approach to writing everything from press releases to profiles, travel pieces to magazine features. Students will learn how to grab an editor's attention with a pitch and snag a reader with a good lead. Tips on interviewing, research, editing and writing for the Internet will also be included.

In addition, four classes for advanced writers will be offered.

Noted prose author Elizabeth Lutyens will teach "The Prose Master Class" at the Asheville School, located off Patton Ave., from 6-8:30 p.m. for 15 consecutive Tuesdays beginning August 26. This new three-credit-hour course is designed for Great Smokies Writing Program students who have studied with Lutyens for several semesters and are looking for a more intensive writing and critiquing experience. The workshop is limited to experienced writers who are working on essays, stories, a novel or a memoir. Admission to the class is by invitation only.

Great Smokies Writing Program Director Tommy Hays will lead "Keeping Ourselves Company: An Advanced Creative Prose Workshop" at the Asheville School from 6-8:30 p.m. for 15 consecutive Wednesdays beginning August 27. This is a three-credit-hour class. The course is for advanced prose writers, who are working on projects or who want to start something new in either fiction or memoir. Prospective students must receive the instructor's permission to enroll by contacting Hays at hays@main.nc.us.

Asheville Wordfest Director Laura Hope-Gill will teach "Salt and Ice: An Advanced Poetry Workshop." This two-credit-hour course will meet at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, 281 Edgewood Rd., from 6-8:30 p.m. for 10 consecutive Tuesdays beginning September 16. In this advanced class, students will engage poetic techniques and write craft annotations in which they isolate technical elements and explore how these create meaning in their works. Prospective students must receive the instructor's permission to enroll by contacting Hope-Gill at laurahopegill@aol.com.

Vicki Lane, author of the Elizabeth Goodweather mystery series, will lead "The First Forty: An Advanced Fiction Workshop." The two-credit-hour class will be held at the Randolph Learning Center from 6-8:30 p.m. for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning September 17. This course is aimed at writers with a novel in progress, almost finished or completed but in need of final polishing. Students will submit the first 40 pages of their work for class discussion and critique, as well as close editing by the instructor.

UNC Asheville tuition and fees are $172.12 for two-credit-hour courses and $258.18 for three-credit-hour courses for applicants who meet North Carolina residency requirements. In addition, there is a one-time visiting student application fee of $20. Class size is limited; early registration is suggested.

For more information or to register, call UNC Asheville's Extension and Distance Education Office at 828/232-5122 or email fox@unca.edu.