Best American Essays Founder Robert Atwan to help launch program
Announcement
Boston, MA —
Emerson College announced today that it will host its first annual Boston Summer Writers’ Conference on the Emerson campus, located in Boston’s Theater District, from June 24 to 30, 2012. Open to interested writers nationwide, the conference will represent a unique literary experience for Boston and will be one of only a few summer writing conferences to occur in a major U.S. city. Applications for participation in the program are being accepted now.
The Boston Summer Writers’ Conference will include workshops for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and playwriting led by renowned writers David Lehman, Jill McCorkle, Phillip Lopate, and Adam Bock. Additionally, such celebrated authors as Ann Beattie, Robin Hemley, and Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Paul Harding will provide readings, and special craft panels will feature poets and writers from Emerson’s creative writing faculty. There will also be opportunities to meet editors, literary agents, and publishers.
Literary luminary Robert Atwan, the founder and series editor of Best American Essays, the prestigious annual collection of creative nonfiction, has been appointed a special assignment faculty member at Emerson College and will co-coordinate the week-long program with award-winning novelist and Emerson Writing, Literature and Publishing (WLP) professor Steve Yarbrough.
Emerson College has a history of cultivating and showcasing new writers in a variety of forums—from its award-winning literary publication Ploughshares, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, to its renowned MFA program in creative writing and innovative venture into the world of digital publishing.
Jerald Walker, interim chair of Emerson’s WLP Department, is leading the conference initiative and serving as its director. He envisions that the Boston Summer Writers’ Conference will become another one of Emerson’s crown jewels. “We’re looking forward to hosting writers of all levels from across the country, fostering a spirit of community among the participants, and building one of the nation’s top summer writing programs,” said Walker.
Class size will be restricted, so early application is encouraged. The application deadline is April 13, 2012. To learn more about the Boston Summer Writers’ Conference, call 617-824-8280.
About the College
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has 3,780 undergraduates and 670 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 90 student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic as well as its new Global Portals, with the first opening last fall in Paris. The College has an active network of 51,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit Emerson.edu.