Science, health, engineering, your uncle's (boring) tales of all the big fish he never caught, trips that didn't turn out the way you had hoped, memories that just don't seem very exciting or sufficiently engaging to include in your memoir ... Often, what at first seems to be a dull subject has a golden tale at its core. This workshop will explore ways to find the hidden story and to use literary devices, including details, dialogue, descriptions and suspense, to bring that story to life. This class is open to anyone keen to write lively and creative nonfiction--whether the subject is hard science, natural history, travel, in-depth journalism, or personal memoir.

Virginia Morell is a correspondent for Science and a regular contributor to National Geographic Magazine; she has also written for Smithsonian, the New York Times Magazine, Discover, Outside and other publications. Her articles are often about travels or expeditions with scientists exploring the natural world. She is also the author of Ancestral Passions: The Leakeys and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings (a New York Times "Notable Book of the Year") and Blue Nile (a San Francisco Chronicle "Best Travel Book"). She is currently at work on a book tentatively titled "How We Know Animals Think," for Crown.

Writers of creative nonfiction have to be particularly vigilant about how freely they interpret the events of a person's life, and how often their assumptions are based as much on their own personal issues as on the "facts." This workshop explores the ethical issues that emerge when writing about real characters' presumed psychological states. Using examples and in-class writing exercises, we'll address the pitfalls and challenges of "getting into the heads" of your characters.

Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter (My Favorite Year; Welcome Back, Kotter, etc.), Dennis Palumbo is now a licensed psychotherapist specializing in creative issues. He’s written for such publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Lancet, and has provided Commentary for NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He’s the author of Writing From the Inside Out (John Wiley), as well as a recent collection of mystery short stories, From Crime to Crime (Tallfellow Press).

Learn the secrets behind getting published (and getting paid for it) from award-winning freelance writer Rebecca Skloot. This workshop will teach you to write irresistible query letters, and how to sell them--from finding and contacting editors and agents, developing marketable ideas, and more, including many useful handouts and candid tips you won't hear elsewhere. Skloot's proposal-writing workshops are widely attended nationwide and have helped many participants break into national publications, including New York Times Magazine, Discover, Harper's, and Elle.

Rebecca Skloot is a freelance writer and contributing editor at Popular Science. She writes for The New York Times Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, Discover and others. Her first book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, is forthcoming from Crown. Skloot teaches creative writing in the MFA program at the University of Memphis, where she directs the River City Writers Series.