Newberry Library Seminars Program

Your source of adult education in the humanities for the past 30 years.

Summer 2009 Seminars

Welcome to the Summer term of the Newberry Library Seminars Program! We are proud to offer a wide variety of informal, non-credit courses designed for adults with busy schedules and inquiring minds, all under the roof of one of the nation's most renowned humanities research libraries.

With more than forty courses, from music and arts to history and literature, we're sure there's a class for you. Catch up on your reading this summer with a course on Dickens, learn the history of medieval Europe, debate the philosophical problem of evil, or study baseball in American film and fiction. Or even write a play, paint watercolors, or refine your French-speaking skills. Pursue your creative and scholarly interests, and explore the humanities, in a Newberry Library seminar this summer.

Please click on the subject links below, or simply scroll down to view all the seminars offered this term.

Chicago Interest
Arts, Music, and Performance
Philosophy and Religion
History and Genealogy
Literature and Theater
Writing and Performance

Chicago Interest

Chicago Playwrights and Their Plays
Wednesdays, 6 - 7:30 pm
June 3 - July 22
8 sessions, $180
Register Online

Each week a different Chicago-based playwright will discuss one of their plays with the class. Ranging from established plays which have had a number of productions, to scripts still in the development process, this seminar will give participants an intimate glimpse into the creative process and a unique opportunity to engage in an in-depth dialogue with the playwright. Participants will include such playwrights as Beau O'Reilly, Margaret Lewis, Neil LaBute, and Director of New Play Development for Steppenwolf Theatre, Ed Sobel.

Todd Bauer holds an M.A. in liberal studies from Northwestern University, is a playwright and director, and is currently the visiting artist with Visible Theatre Company in New York.

A People's History of Chicago, 1880-1960
Tuesdays, 6 - 7:30 pm
June 9 - July 21
7 sessions, $170
To be placed on the waiting list for this course, please call (312) 255-3700 or (312) 255-3665.

This course will explore the social history of Chicago in the years between the Great Fire of 1871 and the modern Civil Rights Movement. Our core texts will be works of historical fiction, including selections from Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, and Richard Wright's Native Son. Using these as windows into the city's vibrant past, we will investigate the changing texture of everyday life amidst vast social, political, and economic change.

Heath Carter is a Ph.D. candidate in United States history at the University of Notre Dame.

# Upstate Downstate: Integrating Illinois and Chicago History
Wednesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 10 - August 5 (Note: class will meet bi-weekly)
5 sessions, $135
Register Online

This seminar surveys the historical tensions between-and mythology of-the Upstate Downstate divide in Illinois and Chicago history. The readings will assist in sorting out the genuine and imagined Upstate/Downstate issues over time, including politics, race, class, and the environment. Richard Jensen's classic Illinois: A History is covered first, along with William Cronon's Nature's Metropolis, Roger Biles' Illinois, and James Grossman's Land of Hope. Please read as much as you can of Jensen's Illinois: A History for the first meeting.

Tim Lacy is a visiting assistant university historian at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research and teaching interests include the history of education, cultural history, and intellectual history in the context of the Midwest, Illinois, and Chicago.

*Hands-On House History
Wednesdays, 2 - 4 pm
June 24 - July 8
3 sessions, $95
Register Online

Each session guides you to fascinating finds about Chicago homes - either your own or those of your ancestors. We start with online sources, see what's in hardcopy at the Newberry, and then meet at the Cook County Recorder of Deeds to look at property records. If you've always wanted to know more about former inhabitants or the construction date of a home, this course is for you.

Grace Dumelle is the author of Finding Your Chicago Ancestors, and is a principal of an historical research firm.

Cops & Robbers
Saturdays, 1 - 3 pm
July 25 - August 1
2 sessions, $75
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Does your family tree include Chicago police officers or black sheep? Learn local and online sources for tracking down historical records of both cops and criminals.

Grace Dumelle is the author of Finding Your Chicago Ancestors, and is a principal of an historical research firm.

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Registration Information
* indicates the class is offered on a weekday morning or afternoon
# indicates CPDU credit available for Illinois teachers seeking recertification

Arts, Music, and Performance

* The Art of Listening to Chamber Music: An Introduction
Tuesdays, 2 - 4 pm
June 2 - July 21
8 sessions, $180
Register Online

This seminar will expand the ears of chamber music devotées, and serve as a primer for an encounter of the most intimate kind with masterworks of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By listening to examples excerpted from a variety of instrumental combinations for small ensemble (trios, quartets, quintets, etc.), you will experience some of the richest repertoire in classical music by some of your favorite composers - Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, Debussy and Ravel.

Stephanie Ettelson has offered pre-concert lectures and classes in all areas of classical music over three decades. An orchestral and chamber music violinist, she is a former music critic and arts writer who holds a B.A. in history and English from the University of Michigan.

*# Desert Island Discs
Thursdays, 2 - 4 pm
June 4 - July 30 (class will not meet July 16)
8 sessions, $180
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The title refers to outstanding recordings and personal favorites that one would like to hear repeatedly more than any other songs; as the saying goes, those one would take to a desert island. The seminar meetings will consist of informal presentations of favorite recordings, most of them brought in by the instructor, but with contributions from class members as well. Content is limited to musical recordings, but any genre and period may be included. We will hear opera, operetta, classical instruments, pop songs, jazz and folk songs.

Guy A. Marco, Ph.D., University of Chicago, has taught in eleven universities, and written or edited more than 50 music reference books, including Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound in the United States (1993), Literature of American Music III (1996), and Opera: A Research and Information Guide (2000). He has taught Newberry seminars since 1996.

Wasteland or Wonderland: Classical Music in the Twentieth Century
Thursdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 4 - June 25
4 sessions, $115

Was the twentieth century a musical wasteland from which emerged a plethora of inspired ideas but only a trickle of pieces that can stand the test of time? Or was it a wonderland of new sounds and images that created rich musical resources from which later composers would draw? We will examine the many styles of music that are part of the twentieth century composer palettes, and we will follow their transformation throughout the century, examining atonality, serialism, neo-classicism, romanticism, chance, improvisation, theatre, electronics, and minimalism.

Stephen Kleiman is a composer and conductor who has researched the contributions of the twentieth-century to musical life.

Arcadia in England
Saturdays, 10 am - Noon
June 6 - July 25 (class will not meet June 13 or July 4)
6 sessions, $155

Almost heaven, Arcadia was the English landscape ideal in the eighteenth century. The Arcadian fields of the upper class were expressions of poetry, painting, and sometimes, politics. Many of them exist today as icons of English landscape. Texts by the creators and owners of theses places, as well as current day reflections provide the basis for our conversations, as we explore the sublime, the beautiful, and the picturesque philosophies behind them. Images will supplement and enrich our studies.

Barbara Geiger teaches landscape history and related topics at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Chicago Botanic Garden.

# East Meets West: Byzantine Art
Wednesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 10 - July 29
8 sessions, $180
To be placed on the waiting list for this course, please call (312) 255-3700 or (312) 255-3665.

The Byzantine Empire sat astride ancient routes between Asia and Europe. What does art of the Byzantine period (ca. 330-1453 A.D.) reveal about the values and assumptions of the societies and cultures that produced it? How can the same set of images simultaneously elicit mystical devotion and open hostility? The geographical focus of the course will encourage us to reflect upon conventional categories of "East" vs. "West." To appreciate the uniqueness of Byzantine art, we will use examples of western European art (e.g., Giotto, Cimabue, Klimt, Matisse) as valuable points of comparison.

Ryan Preston recently completed his Ph.D. in the study of religion at Harvard University. For the last six years, he has taught for study-abroad programs at Arcadia University, Lake Forest College, and St. Olaf College.

# Weekend Watercolor Intensive
Saturdays, 1 - 4 pm
July 11 - July 25
3 sessions, $120
Register Online

If you ever wanted to paint watercolors but felt they were difficult, now is your chance to find out otherwise. Watercolors can be fresh and spontaneous or complex and carefully developed. Learn watercolors anew or, if an experienced painter, brush up on drawing, composition, and color mixing while making meaningful personal still lifes. The exciting part is making meaningful paintings from your heirlooms, mementos from travel, or flowers from the garden. Supplies are inexpensive. You already have some materials at home.

Cynthia Kukla is a Professor of Art at Illinois State University and one of only two hundred members of the USA Watercolor Honor Society.

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Registration Information
* indicates the class is offered on a weekday morning or afternoon
# indicates CPDU credit available for Illinois teachers seeking recertification

Philosophy and Religion

Evil and Modernity
Tuesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 2 - August 4
10 sessions, $200
Register Online

The existence of evil threatens our ability to find sense and meaning in our lives. In the modern world, this problem, long a specter haunting traditional theological views, has become increasingly urgent. After a brief glance at the traditional problem of evil, this course examines the history of the modern problem of evil, focusing particularly on the discussions of it by Voltaire, Rousseau, Hegel, and Arendt. Please read the first two parts of Augustine's On Free Choice of the Will before the first class session.

Kevin Robbins is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.

John Henry Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua
Tuesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 2 - July 28 (class will not meet June 30)
8 sessions, $180
Register Online

Twenty years after his departure from Anglicanism and his entry into the Roman Catholic Church, Newman wrote his autobiography. The Apologia is both the literary monument of his religious conversion and an exploration of the psychological and spiritual sources of human growth and development. Perhaps Newman's most subtle and intriguing work, it offers his own intimate and personal history as a template for how, in the modern world, one enters into faith.

Robert Sprott holds M.A. degrees in anthropology and theology, and a Ph.D. in linguistics. A Franciscan priest, he is on the staff at St. Peter's Church in the Loop.

Are We Alone?: Life beyond Earth in Western Religion, Science, and Popular Culture from Aristotle to H.G. Wells
Tuesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 2 - July 28
9 sessions, $190

The question of whether we are alone in the universe has preoccupied humankind for millennia. Today, the existence of life beyond earth is often presumed to be true despite a lack of proof. This seminar, presented during the International Year of Astronomy 2009, explores the philosophical and scientific backgrounds of efforts to resolve this fundamental question.

Lee Minnerly is a writer and volunteer in the Webster Institute for the History of Astronomy at Adler Planetarium.

William James' Religious Philosophy: The Will to Believe and The Varieties of Religious Experience
Wednesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 24 - July 29
6 sessions, $155
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William James' The Will to Believe and The Varieties of Religious Experience are among the world's most influential writings in philosophy of religion. James' philosophical defense of religious belief, and his scholarly treatment of "supernatural" phenomena, place him among the great champions of the life of the spirit. This seminar will explore James' legacy as a religious philosopher, along with the continuing capacity of his ideas to clarify and enrich our perspectives upon religious and spiritual matters.

Eugene Newman holds M.A.s in philosophy and literature, and has led Newberry seminars on philosophical and literary topics since 2001.

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Registration Information
* indicates the class is offered on a weekday morning or afternoon
# indicates CPDU credit available for Illinois teachers seeking recertification

History and Genealogy

# Disraeli, Gladstone, and Victorian Politics
Saturdays, 10 am - Noon
June 6 - August 1 (class will not meet July 4)
8 sessions, $180
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Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone dominated British politics during the mid-Victorian era. Their personalities contrasted as sharply as their political opinions. This course will treat the development of the Liberal and Conservative parties from 1815 to 1900 with a particular focus on the rivalry between these two men. Topics will include the Reform Acts of 1832 and 1867, imperial rule over India, the Irish question, and the emergence of mass politics. Readings will include Disraeli's novel, Sybil.

Frank A. Biletz holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago, with a primary specialization in British and Irish history. Currently a Lecturer in History at Loyola University Chicago, he has taught seminars on British, Irish, German, and French history at the Newberry Library since 1994.

A People's History of Chicago, 1880-1960
See "Chicago Interest" section

# Upstate Downstate: Integrating Illinois and Chicago History
See "Chicago Interest" section

Hands-On House History
See "Chicago Interest" section

# Knights and Ladies in Medieval France
Thursdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 25 - July 30
6 sessions, $155
Register Online

France in the Middle Ages immediately brings to mind knights and ladies, with all the pageantry of jousting, chivalry, and courtly love. How close is the medieval France of popular culture, from the nineteenth-century Romantics to modern movies, to the real thing? We will explore the true lifestyles of the rich and aristocratic in twelfth- through fifteenth-century France, by reading medieval men and women's own words, and a fast-paced modern microhistory.

Karen Christianson holds a Ph.D. in medieval French history from the University of Iowa and teaches at DePaul University.

# The British Isles from the Bayeux Tapestry to Magna Carta
Tuesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 30 - August 11
7 sessions, $170
Register Online

In this seminar, we will examine the history of the British Isles from the Norman Conquest in October 1066 to the sealing of Magna Carta in June 1215. Participants in the course will examine and explore a series of important themes, such as conquest, dissent, and the rise of new religious orders, through a selection of texts-including an eleventh-century tapestry and the life of a female hermit-in translation.

Hugh Doherty is a lecturer and researcher at Jesus College, Oxford, and has published in the field.

Cops and Robbers
See "Chicago Interest" section

60 Minutes to Better Genealogy
Saturdays, 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
July 11 - July 18
8 one-hour sessions, $15 per session; $100 for both days; $50 for July 11 or July 18.
For Associates of the Newberry, students, and seniors, $12 per session; $90 for both days; $45 for July 11 or July 18.

Sometimes 60 minutes of instruction on a focused topic can help you push through a particular question or task in your research project. This seminar series is designed with genealogy researchers in mind. You can take all eight sessions, or simply choose those that most appeal to you.

Saturday, July 11
9:30 - 10:30 am A Tutorial of Family Tree Maker 2009
Register Online
11 am - Noon Researching to Find Wives and Daughters
Register Online
1 - 2 pm Interactive Review of Google Your Family Tree by Daniel M. Lynch
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2:30 - 3:30 pm Library Catalog Searching
Register Online

Saturday, July 18
9:30 - 10:30 am Commonly Unused Features of Family Tree Maker 2009
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11 am - Noon Using Family Possessions to Add Interest to Genealogical Projects
Register Online
1 - 2 pm The Riches of Courthouse Research
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2:30 - 3:30 pm New Genealogical Internet Sources
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Jack Simpson is Curator for Local and Family History at the Newberry Library. Marsha Peterson-Maass is a Member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and has taught numerous seminars at the Newberry.

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Registration Information
* indicates the class is offered on a weekday morning or afternoon
# indicates CPDU credit available for Illinois teachers seeking recertification

Literature and Theater

* Reading Paradise Lost
Tuesdays, 2 - 3:30 pm
June 2 - July 28 (class will not meet June 16 or June 23)
7 sessions, $170
Register Online

John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the most sublime literary achievements ever penned. While remaining true to the creation myths in Genesis, Milton offers an encyclopedic look at the war in heaven that led to Satan's downfall, details the creation of Earth and humankind, recounts the major myths of the Christian Old Testament, and creates a universe uniquely "Miltonic." We will explore, through lecture and discussion, this extraordinary epic poem.

An educator for twenty years, Tim Strzechowski holds an M.A. in English literature and leads seminars on Paradise Lost and the literature of Hell, along with his ongoing series on the novels of Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop
Tuesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 2 - August 4 (class will not meet June 16 or June 23)
8 sessions, $180
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His fame firmly established with his first two novels, Charles Dickens again produced two serialized works that showcased the social criticism, political satire, and melodrama that would become staples of the Dickensian style. Through lecture and discussion, we will focus on a close analytical reading of Dickens' third and fourth novels, Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop, placing both novels within their literary, cultural, and historical contexts. Please read chapters 1 through 14 of Nicholas Nickleby for the first session. (This is part of an ongoing seminar series on Dickens, to which newcomers are always cordially welcome.)

# Casey, Shoeless Joe, and the Naturals: Baseball in American Film and Fiction
Wednesdays, 6 - 7:30 pm
June 3 - July 15
7 sessions, $170
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As Jacques Barzun wrote, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball. . . " From the professional game's nineteenth-century roots, through the Black Sox Scandal, segregation and integration, to the women's league and the Steroids Era, baseball has grappled with fundamental questions of American identity. In this seminar we will read, view, and discuss some of the greatest poetry, fiction, film and comic books ever made about the National Pastime.

Bill Savage, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at Northwestern. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and has an essay on Nelson Algren and the 1959 World Series in the forthcoming Go Go to Glory: The 1959 White Sox. He has taught Newberry seminars since 1992.

*# Flowering Judas: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
Wednesdays, 2 - 4 pm
June 3 - June 24
4 sessions, $115
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"Flowering Judas," the title of one of Porter's most famous stories, introduces the theme of betrayal. It is both personal and historical, and spans great events of the 20th century, events in which Porter was a participant. While incorporating the hallmarks of modernism-fragmentation, dream and surreal imagery, irony, and historical alienation-Porter's writing is especially memorable for deep psychological insight into characters and for its concise and eloquent language. In this four-week seminar, we will read and discuss several of the most important of Porter's stories. Please read "Flowering Judas" and the "Jilting of Granny Weatherall" for the first meeting.

Joyce Goldenstern is an instructor at Loyola University Chicago.

The French Correction: A Relaxed Approach to Le Francais
Wednesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 3 - July 29
9 sessions, $190
Register Online

Would you like to try a laid-back and enjoyable way to start studying French or to improve your French pronunciation? This course, intended for students at any level of proficiency, uses an accepting classroom atmosphere and the vocabulary of fine food and wine to help you decode the French spelling system and pronounce French more easily and accurately.

Susan Pezzino, a confirmed Francophile and former United States Fulbright Scholar, holds an M.A. in applied linguistics and works as a professional language teacher and multimedia curriculum designer in Chicago.

Chicago Playwrights and Their Plays
See "Chicago Interest" section

How Language Works: Joan Didion Writes the American Century
Thursdays, 6 - 7:30 pm
June 4 - July 16
7 sessions, $170
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This seminar will explore the varied work of Joan Didion, whose nonfiction chronicles the past American century in singular style and with certain lasting influence. Starting with her work in the late 1960's, we will look through the lens of language as the shaping force of experience to consider Didion's shifting politics and searing cultural indictments, and also check in with some of her critics along the way.

Erica Lipper holds an M.A. in English literature from Georgetown University, and works as a teacher and writer in the Chicago area.

*# Post-World War II Culture and the Postmodern Novel
Thursdays, 2 - 4 pm
June 4 - July 23 (class will not meet June 11)
7 sessions, $170
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We will examine the erratic world of postmodern fiction as it appears in four novels from diverse countries. Illustrating both the vacillating postmodern politic and the freewheeling, unpredictable style that characterizes this body of literature, we will discuss the philosophy, politics, social mores, and stylistics that shape this unique body of literature. Novels will include: Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Gabriel García Márquez' Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Patrick Suskind's Perfume, and Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics.

Constance Markey holds a Ph.D. in Italian literature and is the author of Italo Calvino: A Journey Towards Postmodernism.

# Talking Back to Charles Dickens: Peter Carey's Jack Maggs and Dickens' Great Expectations
Thursdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 4 - July 9
6 sessions, $155

Come study Dickens's Great Expectations as experienced by Victorian readers and as the inspiration, 136 years later, for Australian novelist Peter Carey's Jack Maggs. We'll explore how Maggs functions as a complex reimagining of Dickens' biography and fictional world, and discover how each writer addresses issues of his time-including colonialism, criminality, and sexuality.

Jennifer Sampson holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Chicago and likes to eavesdrop on writers' conversations.

The Prose of Pushkin and Lermontov
Saturdays, 10 am - Noon
June 6 - July 25 (class will not meet July 4)
7 sessions, $170
To be placed on the waiting list for this course, please call (312) 255-3700 or (312) 255-3665.

The purpose of the seminar is to help participants understand and enjoy a variety of Pushkin's short masterpieces: "The Moor of Peter the Great," "Egyptian Nights," "The Tales of Belkin," "Dubrovsky," "The Captain's Daughter," "The Queen of Spades," and Lermontov's unique and enigmatic novel A Hero of Our Time, which had a tremendous impact on the subsequent development of Russian literature. We will focus on close textual analysis of Pushkin's and Lermontov's fiction, supplemented by biographical, historical, and critical information introduced by the leader at each meeting. Excerpts will be shown from The Blizzard, The Undertaker, and The Queen of Spades. Please read Pushkin's "The Moor of Peter the Great" and "Egyptian Nights" for the first session.

Julia Kriventsova Denne studied literature at St. Petersburg University, Russia, and currently leads several groups on Russian literature, including the Classical Novel Study for the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.

Literary Criticism and Theory: An Introduction
Tuesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 9 - July 28
8 sessions, $180
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What distinguishes effective readers from the merely receptive; compelling authors from the complacent, or radical texts from conservative? Through a series of stimulating reading workshops covering pivotal practitioners in literary criticism and theory, this seminar will empower you as a reader and inform you as a respondent. We will cover key periods in the history of literary criticism and theory, as well as discuss some of the more hotly debated issues and topics such as operation of language, interpretation, culture, and ideology within the text.

Antony Adolf holds an M.A. from the University of British Columbia and a post-graduate certificate from the Cornell University School of Criticism and Theory. He is an independent scholar, creative writer, consultant, and Morton College faculty member.

Proust on Weather
Saturday, 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
July 11
One session, $65
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"A change in the weather," the narrator of In Search of Lost Time observes, "is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves anew." This seminar explores Marcel Proust's insights regarding our experience of the seasons, including their effect on our experience of ourselves. Following the seminar, participants are invited to gather for a prix fixé lunch at Café Zinc (1131 N. State Street) in celebration of Proust's one hundred and thirty-eighth birthday. Seminar materials and a traditional French petit dejeuner are included in tuition; lunch is not.

Joel Rich teaches an ongoing series on Proust's writings at the Newberry and he created and maintains the website, www.proustian.com. This is his sixth annual Proust's Birthday Seminar.

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Registration Information
* indicates the class is offered on a weekday morning or afternoon
# indicates CPDU credit available for Illinois teachers seeking recertification

Writing and Performance

Writing Family Stories
Tuesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 2 - July 7
6 sessions, $155
Online registration for this course is closed and only a few spaces remain in the class. To register, please call (312) 255-3700.

This workshop is offered for those interested in writing family stories-the real-life accounts of the important people, places, and events in their family's life. These stories may be recorded as letters, diary entries, short remembrances, character sketches, even eulogies. In the workshop, we'll discuss the merits of each of these forms, and practice writing in them. Everyone will leave the workshop with a handful of good stories to pass along to family members.

Carol LaChapelle, M.A., is a writer and writing consultant who specializes in helping people write their personal stories, whether as family histories or for publication. She is the author of Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Stories, and can be found online at www.carollachapelle.com.

The Write Place: A Facilitated Children's Book Writers Group
Wednesdays, 5:45 - 7:45 pm
June 3 - July 8
6 sessions, $155
Online registration for this course is closed and only a few spaces remain in the class. To register, please call (312) 255-3700.

Writers will have the opportunity to share their stories in a supportive, focused, and enlightening environment. Facilitated discussions of participants' manuscripts will highlight the writing process, story components, elements of narrative, craft, revision and a story's marketability within today's children's book publishing world. Writers of all levels will be offered a variety of writing exercises, suggested readings, and current marketing information.

Esther Hershenhorn authors picture books and middle grade fiction, coaches children's book writers and serves on the Board of Directors of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

# See the World; Write the Story
Saturdays, 10am - Noon
June 6 - July 25 (class will not meet July 4 or July 11)
6 sessions, $155
Register Online

This workshop is ideal for travelers and writers. Whether you plan to publish your articles or simply improve the descriptive power of your letters and postcards; whether you travel to the other side of the globe or simply to another neighborhood in your city, this workshop will teach you the basic skills of successful travel writing.

Beatriz Badikian-Gartler has published numerous essays and articles on travel in anthologies, journals and others, including The New York Times Travel Section.

# Rewriting Childhood Stories: The Postmodern Fairy Tale
Saturdays, 10 am - Noon
June 6 - August 1 (class will not meet July 4)
8 sessions, $180

This writing-intensive course will focus on the techniques of rewriting fairy tales. We will pay particular attention to the methods of Angela Carter and Aimee Bender. By the end of class, participants should have a complete draft of a short story.

Heather Momyer holds an M.F.A. in fiction and a Ph.D. in literature. She teaches at Columbia College Chicago and reads fiction for the literary journal Hotel Amerika.

New Techniques for Keeping a Writer's Journal
Saturdays, 12:30 - 4:30 pm
June 13 - June 20
2 sessions, $115

Learn about new types of journal entries and observations that can inspire essays and works of fiction. Writing exercises will give participants an opportunity to practice techniques for extending and deepening their initial ideas and entries and maximizing their potential for finished narrative forms. Please bring a personal photograph to the workshop. It may depict a scene, a person, a group, or whatever engaged your attention.

Enid Powell has led numerous workshops in Chicago over the past twenty years and has published fiction, creative non-fiction, essays, and poetry, and is the author of To Tell You the Truth. She holds an M.A. in English with a creative writing specialty from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

That's Not the Way I Remember It: Storytelling For Adults
Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm
June 20
One session, $95
Register Online

Explore the art of storytelling using written, physical, and mental warm-up exercises grounded in a theatrical framework. Your stories will form a continuum in this re-emerging and highly respected medium. Discover how to tell an engaging story, put your own twist on a traditional tale, create the beginnings of a personal narrative, and actively involve your audience. We will work in small and large groups in an on-your-feet all-day fun and nurturing environment.

Judith Heineman is a professional storyteller, an Illinois Humanities Council "Road" Scholar, and an Illinois Arts Council Artstour Roster Artist. Co-chair of the 2003 National Storytelling Conference in Chicago, she can be found online at www.storytelling.org/Heineman.

Activate Your Writing Ambitions
Saturday, 1 - 4 pm
June 20
One session, $65
Register Online

Learning to be a writer is about owning the title writer, making space in your life for creativity, giving yourself permission to activate your creative energy, and harnessing your creative imagination. This one-day workshop, which uses writing exercises to help participants transition from dreaming to doing, will empower people who would like to write but don't know how to begin. This workshop includes inspiration and ideas appropriate for writers in all genres.

Lisa Rosenthal is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists and affiliated artist at American Theater Company. She was an editor at Chicago Review Press for more than 11 years, and is author of A Dog's Best Friend and editor of The Writing Group Book.

# Sonnet Saturdays: A Two-Day Workshop on Reading and Writing Sonnets
Saturdays, 1 - 4 pm
June 13 - June 20
2 sessions, $95

This workshop will take poets, poetry readers, and would-be poetry writers and readers inside one of the genre's most popular and enduring forms. We will trace the invention and evolution of the sonnet and explore its subtle themes and devices. We will read and discuss some of the best-known, as well as obscure, sonnets (many of which are more experimental than you might expect). Best of all, you will develop the tools to write a sonnet yourself (or write about one that you love) and then share your work with the class.

Brooke Bergan holds a Ph.D. in English with a specialty in poetry and has taught creative writing for twenty years. She has published three books of poetry, as well as fiction, translations, essays, and poetry (including sonnets).

Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Stories
Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm
August 8
One session, $95
Register Online

This workshop is designed for writers, journal writers, and family historians who want to record their life stories-those significant tales of childhood, transition, adventure, loss, and triumph. We will use creative writing exercises to retrieve and record the important people, places, and events in our lives. We will also discuss how, in telling our stories, we come to better understand the meaning they have for us. Open to writers at all levels, from those who want to keep a more interesting personal journal to people who would like to publish their work.

Food Writing 101 and Beyond
Saturdays, 12:30 - 4:30 pm
June 20 - June 27
2 sessions, $130 (includes $15 materials fee)
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Enter the fascinating world of food writing and learn how to explore the life of food, culture, and the human condition with lectures, sensory exercises, and the chance to create a Chicago restaurant review. This seminar is for anyone with an interest in food writing, from those who want to publish professional reviews to those who aim to write in a journal or blog. A $15 fee is included to cover the cost of small food samples we will use for in-class writing exercises to explore the language of taste, texture, sight, sound, and smell.

Ethel Hammer is a nationally published food writer who specializes in celebrity chef interviews, restaurant reviews, and social analysis of the food world. She is also a published cartoonist.

The (Almost) Instant Play Workshop
Saturdays, 12:30 - 4:30 pm
July 18 - July 25
2 sessions, $115
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In just two days, learn the fundamentals of dramatic writing, experience fun, hands-on writing and editing activities and theatre games, and write a complete short play, which will be performed by professional actors. A great introduction to theatre, a way to jumpstart your creativity, or just a fun way to spend a couple of days.

Margaret Lewis is the award-winning playwright of Burying the Bones and Fellow Travellers.

Six Secrets to Writing Short Stories
Saturdays, 12:30 - 4:30 pm
July 25 - August 1
2 sessions, $115
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This workshop includes specific writing exercises to create and structure a short story. Combining autobiographical and fictional elements, each participant will create a main character whose goal is to escape or change his or her current situation. Stymied by inner and/or outer conflicts, the character must make choices. These choices have consequences that ultimately erupt in a climax-leading to a surprising though inevitable conclusion. We will also examine the uses of dialogue, the five senses, and "point of view" to create the greatest emotional impact.

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* indicates the class is offered on a weekday morning or afternoon
# indicates CPDU credit available for Illinois teachers seeking recertification