June 29-July 3, 2013
A unique novel workshop will take place over an intense three and half days, under the guidance of Geeta Kothari, Man Martin, and Nancy Zafris. With 20 hours of workshop time, the group will be able to meet as a whole as well as in smaller units that will rotate through the trio of instructors. Unlike in most novel workshops that are limited to considering a single chapter, 100 pages will be workshopped. Using an original method developed by the instructors, workshop participants will be able to pull out structure and isolate plot, character, theme, and movement. This provides a new way to brainstorm toward revision. Introduced last year as a trial, the workshop met with great success. Meredith Doench, one of last year’s participants, contracted her revised detective novel to an agent. Nancy Zafris used the system with Virginia Pye who, after many years of rejection quickly sold a completely revamped literary novel, River of Dust, to Unbridled Press (spring 2013). Whether writing literary or genre fiction, the best participant for this workshop is someone who is serious and committed. Applicants should send the first 100 pages of the novel for consideration. The participant will be responsible for reading two other participants’ works.
The application deadline is March 15. Acceptance notifications will be sent in early April.
Workshop Leaders
Geeta Kothari is the fiction editor of The Kenyon Review. Born and raised in New York City, she now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a two-time recipient of the fellowship in literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the editor of ‘Did My Mama Like to Dance?’ and Other Stories about Mothers and Daughters. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in various journals and anthologies, including The Kenyon Review, the Massachusetts Review, Fourth Genre, and Best American Essays. She teaches at the University of Pittsburgh.
Man Martin lives, teaches, and writes in Atlanta, Georgia. The Georgia Writers Association named him Georgia Author of the Year in 2008 for his debut novel, Days of the Endless Corvette, and again in 2012 for his second novel, Paradise Dogs. His short stories, essays, and poetry have appeared in The Kenyon Review, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Pleiades, and elsewhere.
After nine years as the fiction editor of The Kenyon Review, Nancy Zafris became the editor of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction book series. Her new book is The Home Jar, a collection of short stories. Others include The People I Know, which won the Flannery O’Connor award, The Metal Shredders, which was a New York Times notable book of the year, and Lucky Strike. She has won several artist’s grants, including two NEA fellowships. As a Fulbright Fellow, she taught at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. She has also taught at University of Pittsburgh, Centre College, Antioch LA, The Ohio State University, and University of West Virginia.
Accommodations
Kenyon College apartments will serve as our accommodations. Each apartment is air-conditioned, and has four private bedrooms with locking doors, a bathroom, and shared living space with kitchen. If you need to be on a ground floor due to health issues, please let us know. We will make every effort to meet your needs. Several laundry facilities are available on campus.
If you prefer a hotel or bed and breakfast, please let us know. You will be responsible for booking your own housing and will receive a discount of $150 on your workshop fee. Here are some local housing options on campus:
- The Kenyon Inn, 100 W. Wiggin Street, Gambier, (740) 427-2202
- The Gambier House, 107 E. Wiggin Street, Gambier, (740) 427-2668,
Mount Vernon, a ten-minute drive from campus, also has hotel and B & B options.
The Community
Since John Crowe Ransom first edited The Kenyon Review in 1939, Kenyon College has been a national center for the literary arts, attracting celebrated writers and encouraging the work of younger poets, essayists, fictions writers, and playwrights. Robert Lowell, Randall Jarrell, Peter Taylor, E.L. Doctorow, and William Gass, among others, all studied or taught at Kenyon.
The campus of Kenyon College, with its striking Gothic architecture, shady lawns, and gravel pathways, reflects its status as the oldest private college in Ohio. Writers Workshop participants enjoy the historic charm of the Village of Gambier while living in campus housing with ample space to work and access to the latest computer technology. Kenyon recreational facilities will also be open to participants. Within the village, you’ll find a bookstore, small grocery store, hair salon, women’s clothing retailer, post office, and several restaurants. Please note that living on the Kenyon campus entails a good deal of walking. If walking or using the stairs poses problems, please call the program office.
Kenyon College is located in Knox County, a rural county of rolling farmland, deciduous forests, and small cities in central Ohio. Some details:
Mount Vernon
Just four miles from campus, Mount Vernon offers plentiful shopping—antiques, crafts, local art, and more, a range of local attractions (including a children’s garden and historical museum), a variety of lodging and dining options, and an excellent public library.
Dining
Breakfast and dinner are provided, while lunch is on your own. There are several options for lunch in Gambier: Wiggin Street Coffee Shop offers soups, sandwiches, coffee, and tea; the Kenyon Inn and the Village Inn serve sit-down luncheons, while the Gambier deli and neighborhood grocery provide a wide variety of choices. Mount Vernon and the surrounding area offer more options.
Outdoor Recreation
Kenyon is nestled in the rolling hills of the Kokosing River Valley, which offers opportunities for hiking, canoeing, and exploring nature. The College supports the Brown Family Environmental Center, and students frequent the Kokosing Gap Trail, a beautiful, paved 14-mile trail built on a former Pennsylvania Railroad bed, which is considered one of the largest volunteer-maintained bicycling trails in the nation.
Tuition & Cancellation
The cost of The Kenyon Review Novel Workshop is $2,995, which includes tuition, a room, and breakfast and dinner. If you are accepted you will be asked to complete an enrollment form and return it within two weeks of your acceptance with a nonrefundable deposit of $750. The balance of your tuition is due on May 15, 2013.
If you cancel your enrollment before May 15, you will forfeit your $750 deposit. If you cancel after May 15, we keep the $750 deposit and a $250 cancellation fee, but return the remaining balance paid. There will be no refund of tuition after arrival date, June 29, and no refund in the event of early departure.
