Miami, Aug. 14, 2017 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) renowned Miami Book Fair (MBF) announces new Creative Writing Courses! Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your writing, network and receive feedback from published authors with extensive teaching experience. Unless otherwise noted, all courses will take place at MDC’s Wolfson Campus. Sign up now! Seating is limited. Events part of Book Fair’s year-round programming.
The Creative Writing Courses are:
Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction Workshop with Sora Edwards-Thro
Saturday, Aug. 26 – Sunday, Aug. 27
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
A ReadCaribbean event, which is free and open to the public
Learn the special craft and genre concerns of science fiction/speculative fiction and the direction(s) the field is headed in this two-day workshop with Sora Edwards-Thro. A special emphasis is on the Caribbean, but the workshop is open to all writers, and accessible to French-Creole speakers. This workshop will focus on the poetics of the unreal, the conventions and tropes of the Black Fantastic, the Grotesque, the Afro-Surreal, the Gothic, the speculative, so-called “Third World,” indigenous writing, and science fiction as responsive narratives against colonization and imperialism.
Instructor:
Sora Edwards-Thro is interested in how art can help build communities, reflect on our pasts and presents, and propose alternative futures. They divide their time between Haiti, where they work with schools to use tech for literacy and creativity, and Virginia, where they are studying linguistics and education at William & Mary. They have authored six novels and three zines; they are proudest of Half-Being, a collection of poems about mystical creatures intermixed with personal memoir prose.
ReadCaribbean is a series of readings, discussions, writing workshops and more highlighting the vibrant and diverse literary culture of the Caribbean. It is a Miami Book Fair program created with the support of the Green Family Foundation.
Character Development with Fabienne Josaphat
Tuesdays, Sept. 19 – Oct. 24
7 – 9 p.m.
Fee: $100
A good novel or short story calls for authentic, dynamic characters, and you, writer, must learn to think outside the box. In this course, you will practice the creation of such characters. Through a set of writing exercises, readings, discussions and workshops, you will work on crafting unsympathetic characters, anti-hero types, and three-dimensional characters, all while learning to avoid stereotypes and clichés.
Instructors:
Fabienne Josaphat was born in Haiti and graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. She writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, as well as screenplays. Her first novel, Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow, was released with Unnamed Press in February 2016. She lives in Miami.
Writing Bootcamp: Formats, Genres and Storytelling Devices with Anjanette Delgado
Saturday, Sept. 23- Sunday, Sept. 24
12 – 5 p.m.
Fee: $75
In an advanced spin-off to her acclaimed course, “Finish Your Novel the TV Way,” Anjanette Delgado has put together a boot camp course about the unsung heroes of getting our work finished: formats, genres, and storytelling devices. It is advanced in nature and students should have writing experience, and an idea of the book or piece they want to shape in order to get the most out of this course.
Instructor:
Anjanette Delgado is an award-winning novelist, speaker, and journalist who is fascinated by heartbreak, the different ways in which it occurs, and the consequences it brings. Her first novel, The Heartbreak Pill (Atria Books, 2008) told the story of a modern-day Latina enmeshed in a battle between her brain and her heart. Her latest, The Clairvoyant of Calle Ocho, is set in vibrant Little Havana, and follows Mariela Esteves, a woman whose choice to renounce her true calling results in two failed marriages, a brush with murder, and a lot of heartbreak. Clairvoyant was an Indiefab finalist for Best Multicultural Book of the Year 2014. Both novels have been optioned for film and television. Anjanette has an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University.
To register for courses and for more information, please call 305-237-3940, or visit www.miamibookfair.com.
Miami Book Fair media contacts: Lisa Palley, 305-642-3132 lpalley@bellsouth.net or Deyanira Navarrette, 305-495-7168, deyanavarrette@gmail.com