Local writers will have the opportunity to hone their skills with the Great Smokies Writing Program’s upcoming workshop series. A consortium of the Western North Carolina writers’ community and UNC Asheville, the program will offer eight workshops in poetry and prose. Classes, which will meet from 6-8:30 p.m., are open to all interested writers.

Great Smokies Writing Program Director and award winning writer Tommy Hays will teach "Keeping Ourselves Company: An Advanced Creative Prose Workshop." The class will meet for 15 consecutive Tuesdays beginning January 29 at the Asheville School, 360 Asheville School Rd. This class is for advanced prose writers who have projects underway or who want to begin new fiction or memoir pieces. Emphasis will be placed on reading and critiquing student work, with lengthy response from Hays. The instructor's permission is required for admittance; interested students can email Hays at hays@main.nc.us.

Freelance feature writer and copy editor Elizabeth Lutyens will lead "Hanging in There: An Advanced Prose Writing Workshop" for 15 consecutive Wednesdays beginning January 30 at the Asheville School. This class will offer structure and critique in a workshop setting. Emphasis will be placed on reading and critiquing student work, with extensive feedback from Lutyens. Permission from the instructor is required; interested students may contact Lutyens at elutyens@msn.com.

"Wordplay: A Poetry Workshop" will be offered for 10 consecutive Monday evenings beginning February 11 at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, 181 Edgewood Rd. Instructor Pat Riviere-Seel, a noted poet and associate editor of The Asheville Poetry Review, will focus on strategies and techniques for turning wordplay into poems. Appropriate for poets of all levels, the class will include discussion of classic and contemporary poems to discover new ways of approaching and revising student work.

Vicki Lane, author of the Elizabeth Goodweather mystery series from Bantam Dell, will teach "It Doesn't Have to be a Mystery: A Prose Workshop" for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning February 13 at the Randolph Learning Center, 90 Montford Ave. This class, for beginning or in-process writers, will combine instruction on the basics of setting, plot, characterization and dialogue. Information about seeking an agent, submitting a manuscript and building a career will also be offered.

Noted author and editor Sebastian Matthews will lead "True Stories: A Creative Nonfiction Workshop" for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning February 13 at the Randolph Learning Center. Designed for both beginning and experienced writers, this class will examine a variety of nonfiction forms, including the personal essay and memoir. Emphasis will be placed on reading and critiquing student work.

Christine Hale, author of novels, short fiction and creative nonfiction, will teach "Befriending the Blank Page: A Generative Workshop for Creative Prose" at the Randolph Learning Center for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning February 13. In this workshop, open to beginning and experienced prose writers, students will focus on generating pages in new writing or works-in-process. Emphasis will be placed on composing in and out of class, with these new works read and critiqued each week.

Respected playwright Steven Samuels will lead "The Higher Speech: Dialogue for Stage, Screen and Fiction" at the Randolph Learning Center for 10 consecutive Wednesdays beginning February 13. Students will explore and apply monologue and dialogue techniques to their writing to advance action and character differentiation.

"Merging the Imagined Experience with the Lived Experience: A Poetry Workshop" will be offered for 10 consecutive week beginning February 14 at the YMI Cultural Center, 39 South Market St. Taught by noted poet Gary Lilley, this class is open to beginning and experienced poets who wish to explore the use of tactile images, concrete details, syntax and diction in their work.

The 15-week classes qualify for three UNC Asheville credit hours in literature and language. Tuition and fees for these classes are $253.02 for North Carolina residents. The 10-week classes qualify for two UNC Asheville credit hours in literature and language. Tuition and fees for the 10-week classes are $156.68 for in-state students. A $20 non-refundable application fee for new students will also be charged. 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, e-mail fox@unca.edu, or click on www.unca.edu/gswp.