Workshops for Children's Writers and Illustrators
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  Workshop Description  
 

Date: June 16–23, 2007
Arrive Saturday, June 16, at 3 PM
Depart Saturday, June 23, after brunch

Designed for:

  • serious, committed, emerging writers with a complete—or nearly complete—draft of a middle-grade or young-adult novel,

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  • MFA graduates,

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  • published writers at work on a new project,

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  • writers who have been working alone and are in need of feedback and guidance, and

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  • unpublished writers who are close to submitting work to agents or publishers.
  

 
 

We are proud to announce a new workshop specifically designed for writers of middle grade and young adult novels. The Whole Novel Workshop offers the one-on-one attention found in degree programs, but without additional academic requirements, lengthy time commitments, or prohibitive financial investments. Our aim is to focus on a specific work in progress, moving a novel to the next level in preparation for submission to agents or publishers.

A NEW APPROACH

Focused attention in an intimate setting makes this mentorship program one that guarantees significant progress.

Our novel mentorship program includes
• focused one-on-one response to your entire novel in progress from an accomplished author and teacher,
• group critiques,
• seminars on technique and craft, and
• ample time to write and revise in a private, rustic cabin.

The Whole Novel Workshop offers writers the rare opportunity to have the entire draft of a novel read and critiqued prior to the workshop, followed by a week of intense, one-on-one mentoring.

The Highlights Foundation Whole Novel Workshop Difference
AN INTIMATE PROGRAM
Each Whole Novel Workshop is limited to eight students. Each faculty member will work with only four students, providing undivided attention and several one-on-one sessions, and a reading of your complete manuscript prior to the workshop.

A PLACE TO WRITE
Each attendee has a rustic but comfortable cabin, complete with its own bathroom, coffee maker, and refrigerator. You will have your own quiet place in which to write and revise.

TIME TO FOCUS
During your workshop, you’ll be able to focus—maybe for the first time—on nothing but your novel. You won’t hear a TV in the background or have kids demanding attention. You won’t have to stop to do laundry or cook or clean. You won’t be distracted by a constantly ringing phone.

A GOURMET CHEF
Our Founders Workshops have become noted for the pampering that occurs, most notably at mealtime. The intimate family-style meals are a time for recharging and socializing. Long ago we agreed we weren’t a place of hot dogs and canned beans on paper plates. The food is superb, we account for individual needs, and the overall pampering allows you to devote your full attention to your important task.

A BEAUTIFUL SETTING
Tucked in the northern Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania, the mid-19th century farmhouse, home of the Founders of Highlights for Children, has played host to numerous creative spirits. The comfortable living room serves as a group meeting room.

Applications will be accepted March 1–April 13, 2007.
You will be notified of acceptance status by April 23, 2007.

 

 
  Workshop Leaders


Jane Resh Thomas

Jane Resh Thomas
Jane Resh Thomas is the author of fifteen published and contracted books, including picture books, short fiction, middle-grade fiction, and biography. The Comeback Dog, Saying Good-Bye to Grandma, Courage at Indian Deep, and Lights on the River have won, among other honors, a Parent's Choice Award, Notable Books and Best of the Best listing by the ALA, and an award from the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs. Her most recent books are The Counterfeit Princess and Blind Mountain, an adventure story. After eight and a half years as a faculty member of the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program, she has now joined the faculty of Hamline University’s new MFA program.


Phyllis Root		 Phyllis Root
Phyllis has published thirty books, starting with Moon Tiger in 1985. In 1997 Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble, an original tale about a female trickster, won the Minnesota Picture Book text award. What Baby Wants was cited as a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year in 1998. Big Momma Makes the World won the 2003 Boston Globe Horn Book Award for picture books. She currently teaches in the MFA Writing for Children program of Vermont College, Union Institute and University.
  Teaching Assistant


Sarah Sullivan

Sarah Sullivan
Sarah's first two picture books, Root Beer and Banana and Dear Baby: Letters from Your Big Brother (an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award winner), were published by Candlewick in 2005. Her third book, Passing the Music Down, is forthcoming from Candlewick. Her poetry has been published in Cricket magazine. A former lawyer, she is the recipient of an Artist Fellowship Grant Award from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. In 2005 she received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College and was the recipient of the Harcourt Post-Graduate Scholarship.