Writing at the Mark Twain House

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

THE RESURRECTION OF THE WRITING AT THE MARK TWAIN HOUSE BLOG!

Admittedly, it's been a while since this blog, created with the best intentions a while back, has been updated. But Writing at the Mark Twain House, the program that has brought classes for budding memoirists and novelists back to Nook Farm over the past two years, has been thriving. Instead of blogging about about it, we've Actually Been Doing It.

The program has grown to a point that it underwent an expansion last year (two classes in the fall). It will be expanding again this year, with a Writers' Weekend and other events adding to the ever-popular March-April workshop led by Lary Bloom and Suzanne Levine, A Class in Memoir.

The Writers' Weekend runs April 20-21 and will be keynoted by the legendary editor of Harper's magazine, Lewis Lapham, an essayist whose work has been compared to Twain's -- he has provided incisive commentary on the passing scene for many decades and fostered the work of many of America's best-read writers.

Leading up to the weekend will be three important literary events: an appearance by longtime columnist and author Denis Horgan, celebrating the stories that are in us all, innovative ways of publishing, and his own new short story collection (Wednesday, February 8, 5:00 p.m.); an afternoon-long writing workshop with novelist Susan Schoenberger on "Getting Started" and "The Big Idea" (Saturday, March 3, at 1:00 p.m.); and of course, the acclaimed memoir class taught by longtime editors, authors and teachers Bloom and Levine (starts March 7, registration deadline February 15).

Watch this space for updates and details, cal lme at 860-247-0998, Ext, 243, or email steve.courtney@marktwainhouse.org.

-- Steve Courtneyt

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Write Where Mark Twain Wrote

Early in 2010, The Mark Twain House & Museum, following the lead of a 1955 mission statement calling for a literary center at the museum, launched a series of writing courses and programs called Writing at the Mark Twain House.

Noted authors, teachers and editors Lary Bloom and Suzanne Levine suggested and pioneered the effort, with a community-based course, A Class in Memoir. Over eight weeks, the participants worked, reworked, and honed their stories, sometimes aided and abetted by prominent writer guests.

The writing produced was outstanding, true and vital. A fall class with Susan Campbell followed, and in 2011 Bloom and Levine reprised the memoir class. In the fall Campbell returned -- and fiction was added to the roster with a class taught by novelist Mary-Ann Tirone Smith.

In Spring 2012 the Bloom-Levine memoir class returned -- along with events featuring writers Denis Horgan (Ninety-Eight Point Six) and Susan Schoenberger (A Watershed Year). And the museum held its first-ever Writers' Weekend April 20-21, featuring keynoter Lewis Lapham and playwrights A. R. Gurney, Alfred Uhry and Donald Margulies.

Keep your eye on this blog and the Mark Twain House & Museum website (http://www.marktwainhouse.org/) for announcements and details of Writing at the Mark Twain House's offerings.