FULL 2017 PROGRM (PDF): StoryCatcher17FinalProgramEmail
Story Catcher Workshop
FESTIVAL–FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!!
(Saturday, June 17th–All Day) Click Here for Details: StoryCatcher17FestivalEmail
2017 Writing Retreat June 14-17 at Fort Robinson State Park and CSC Campus — Download the CURRENT PROGRAM: StoryCatcher17 Program
Visit THE MARI SANDOZ HERITAGE SOCIETY PAGE for details: marisandoz.org
Wednesday, June 14th — WRITER’S RETREAT DAY ONE
Fort Robinson State Park
MORNING SESSIONS
Buffalo Soldier Barracks Squad Room
9am to 9:30 am Check-In & Continental Breakfast
9:30 to 11:30 AM Creative Non-Fiction Craft Lecture
With Writer in Residence Ken Ilgunas
- “The art of not being boring.” Travel writer Ken Ilgunas will talk about tactics to make your writing captivating from start to finish. We’ll discuss how to write about nature without putting your readers to sleep; how to make your writing “sing” by cutting out French-derived words from your prose; and how to make your descriptions and metaphors come to life by immersing yourself in your book’s setting.
LUNCH ON YOUR OWN
The Fort Robinson Inn/Restaurant in the Main Lodge is open from 6:30 AM to 9pm daily, and starts serving lunch at 10:30 AM. A list of other dining options in nearby Crawford is included in your packet.
AFTERNOON SESSION
1:00 to 3:00: Writing Time
- This time has been set aside for participants to work on their individual writing projects or respond to the prompts from the morning session. Weather permitting: field trips will be available to one of our nature retreats for those interested in an inspirational setting.
3:00 to 5:00: The Story Catcher Workshop (Buffalo Soldier Barracks Squad Room)
- This time has been set aside for participants to share their work and get feedback from other writers and from our writers in residence.
EVENING PROGRAM
5:00 to 6:00: Move-in to Officer’s Quarters 19B “Bricks”
6:00 to 8:00 PM Reception and Reading (BBQ in the Brick’s courtyard)
- Special Reading by Ken Ilgunas
- Ken will read passages from his book “Trespassing across America.”
Thursday, June 15th — WRITER’S RETREAT DAY TWO
Fort Robinson State Park
MORNING SESSIONS
Main Lodge
Breakfast 8-9 AM
You may make use of the kitchen in our old building, or gather for breakfast at The Fort Robinson Inn/Restaurant in the Main Lodge before our morning session. (Pay your own way—full breakfasts are from $5 to $8).
9:30 to 11:30 AM Poetry Craft Lecture (“Bricks 19B Main Floor)
With Poet in Residence Mark Halliday
- Mark will lead participants through a craft lecture focused on the art of poetic technique. The craft lecture will conclude with a writing prompt to prepare participants for the afternoon session.
LUNCH
Meet at Officer’s Quarters 19B for lunch. (Complimentary Sandwich Bar)
AFTERNOON SESSION
1:00 to 3:00: Writing Time
- This time has been set aside for participants to work on their individual writing projects or respond to the prompts from the morning session. Weather permitting; field trips will be available to one of our nature retreats for those interested in an inspirational setting.
3:00 to 5:00: The Story Catcher Workshop (“Bricks 19B Main Floor)
This time has been set aside for participants to share their work and get feedback from other writers and from our writers in residence.
DINNER ON YOUR OWN
We encourage participants to gather for Dinner at the Fort Robinson Lodge Restaurant
(Pay your own way—full dinners are from $12 to $20; Sandwiches $5 to $8; soup and salad bar also available).
EVENING PROGRAM
Officer’s Quarters 19B
7:00 to 8:00 PM
Special Reading by Lisa Sandlin
Note: from 8 to 9pm there will be a rodeo in the arena just north of our Building, which is free and open to the public.
Friday, June 16th — WRITER’S RETREAT DAY THREE
Fort Robinson State Park
MORNING SESSIONS
Main Lodge Breakfast 8-9 AM
You may make use of the kitchen in our old building, or gather for breakfast at The Fort Robinson Inn/Restaurant in the Main Lodge before our morning session. (Pay your own way—full breakfasts are from $5 to $8).
9:30 to 11:30 AM Fiction Craft Lecture (“Bricks 19B Main Floor)
With Fiction Writer in Residence Lisa Sandlin
“Choreography on the Page.” Knowing in their own minds what’s happening, writers can often miss that the action is not as clear to their readers. There are also many times when choreography alone carries the plot and theme. We can be just as felled by a significant action on the page as when we see it large on a movie screen.
LUNCH
Meet at Officer’s Quarters 19B for lunch. (Complimentary Sandwich Bar)
AFTERNOON SESSION
1:00 to 3:00: Writing Time
- This time has been set aside for participants to work on their individual writing projects or respond to the prompts from the morning session. Weather permitting; field trips will be available to one of our nature retreats for those interested in an inspirational setting.
3:00 to 5:00: The Story Catcher Workshop (“Bricks 19B Main Floor)
- This time has been set aside for participants to share their work and get feedback from other writers and from our writers in residence.
EVENING On Your Own:
(Here are some options):
- Dinner at Fort Robinson Lodge Restaurant or in historic downtown Crawford (see dining options at end of this program).
- Chuckwagon Cookout 6 to 8 pm (Reservations that day at information booth, $12 each)
- High Plains Homestead/Drifter’s Cookshack (30 min. north of the Fort, near Toadstool State Park. Reservations required: com)
- Post Playhouse Theater at the Fort (featuring the Gershwin musical Crazy for You, opening night, 8pm http://postplayhouse.com
NOTE: All participants must be checked out of the Officer’s Quarters by 9am on Saturday.
(We recommend departing by 8:30 AM to insure travel time to the Festival Location at Sandoz Center on the Chadron State College Campus. Directions and Maps are at the end of program)
Saturday, June 17th – Story Catcher Festival
(Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center Atrium—Open to the Public)
MORNING SESSIONS
9 to 10 AM: Morning Check-In & Continental Breakfast
9:30 to 11:00: PANEL PRESENTATION with our Writers in Residence
- This panel discussion will feature our distinguished writers as they share successful strategies for publishing and answer questions from the audience
AFTERNOON SESSIONS
12:30 to 1:45: Dreaming the Self
Featuring the Mari Sandoz Emerging Poet Natalie Taylor
In this workshop, writers will plumb their own dreams to source deep and potent ideas. Then, we’ll honor the peculiar language of the unconscious by using those unexpected images and pairing unrelated concepts to create authentic magic. Writers will learn how to suspend logic in favor of discovering new linguistic landscapes infused with strange and surprising messages from the subconscious.
2:00-3:15: Writing with a Knife: The Art of Cutting Things Out
Featuring the Mari Sandoz Emerging Prose Writer Alec Osthoff
This workshop will focus on one of the final steps of revision: making your writing efficient by trimming off excess words, sentences, or even whole paragraphs. We will also examine how what is left unsaid in a piece of writing is just as important as what is expressed on the page. As this workshop is focused broadly on the craft of revision, it is open to the three primary genres—poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Participants will need to bring a piece that they are interested in revising along with the chosen implements for notetaking and freewriting.
3:30 to 4:45 OPEN MIC
Writers will have an opportunity to share their work from the retreat. Audience members may also sign up to read short pieces.
5:00 to 6:00: Reception
Light Refreshments Served
6:00 to 7:30 PM Special Reading With Mark Halliday
- Sometimes wry, sometimes heartbreaking, Mark Halliday’s poems remind us that the human experience is never easy. In his keynote reading, Halliday will read from his most recent collection, Thresherphobe, along with other works from his distinguished career.
