In this news article: Important announcement! | Results of *apocathary’s Workshop on Magic Realism | ~EveningDownpour's Workshop: Nonfiction Poetry | On Accepting Critique | Want to make us a stamp? | First time you've heard of *Writers-Workshop? This section is for you.

Important Announcement

It is with my greatest pleasure to congratulate my *Writers-Workshop co-owner ^lovetodeviate on her new position as a Gallery Director for Literature. Not only is Aditi a fantastic person, a good friend and hard worker, but she cares about the literature community deeply, regardless of who people are, their ability as a writer or their background. On behalf of all the members of this group, we couldn’t be happier for her and know she will do well in this role. The best of luck to you Aditi!

Don’t worry folks, she is still going to be hanging around the workshop too

*apocathary's Workshop: Results

A word from *Writers-Workshop: This workshop proved to be a bit of challenge for our writers, or at least that's how we choose to interpret receiving just 8 entries for a workshop. In a way, we're a little happy about it, because it means we've reached another level. This cycle intends to be a little more difficult than the others. But please don't be daunted!

The writers who did send us work showed a lot of promise. Great work!

Thank you to *apocathary for being a wonderful workshop host, answering our participants' questions whenever necessary, critiquing all the pieces, and for introducing us all to something new and fantastic in literature.

You can read all the entries here.

Special Mention: All of our participants read and critiqued the other entries; we're very proud of this; but we'd like to welcome ~livingtoxic who is new to our workshop, but plunged right into the writing and critiquing/commenting. Welcome to our group!

*apocathary's Top Picks

(in reverse alphabetical order of writer's username)

Lovestory by ~oblivion00

Excerpt from critique: "... you've chosen a pretty suitable icon; Barbie is known all over the world and the notion of her speaking up is a slightly creepy one, even if a million girls all over the world have wished it at one time or another.

"I would have liked to have seen Barbie play more of an active part in putting him in the unstable state that lead to his death, being that she appears to be just a result of his madness, rather than a major cause. But in her capacity as a facilitator, she plays the part well, so no complaints there. [...] The word choice is consistent throughout, and I particularly enjoyed the last paragraph or so, where he is sinking under the throes of winter." Read the rest here.

The Borgory Nine by *fense

Excerpt from critique: "I think you've come pretty much the closest to the spirit of MR of those that entered.[...] I don't have too much to crit on the story itself, you've obviously got a pretty good grasp of the basics, and your idea has been developed enough to be valid. [...] Alright, thank you very much for the enjoyable read, you should be proud of producing this in the time constraints." Read the rest here.

The Hawk in Tweed by *batousaijin

Excerpt from critique: "To be honest, I don't think you've quite hit the nail on the head when it comes to producing a piece that could be considered magic realism. But hell if I care, because what you have produced is a fine example of how to use an introspective point of view to solidify a character in the reader's mind.

"I'm immediately reminded of Sufjan Stevens' song Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: The World's Columbian Exposition / Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream in which the singer is visited by Carl Sandburg and asked to consider whether he is 'writing from the heart'. You've used Ted Hughes in a similar manner, as an interrogator to the protagonist's actions and feelings." Read the rest here.

~EveningDownpour’s Workshop: Nonfiction Poetry

~EveningDownpour is a high school English teacher and part-time college writing professor in Pennsylvania; she has articles in several scholarly journals, two nationally-known print magazines, and a plethora of internet-based publications. When not working or workshopping, she spends her spare time grading papers, researching and preparing her dissertation, and hanging out with her husband and young son.

What is Nonfiction Poetry?

Nonfiction poetry accomplishes the goal of a nonfiction piece but does it through poetry instead of prose. So what, then, is the goal of nonfiction writing?

Nonfiction writing attempts to inform or instruct by conveying facts. Now, facts are a tricky thing. Ten people can watch the same fight, but each person will have their own unique interpretation of the event. Were you to ask what happened, it's likely you'll get ten different stories. Did each of those people lie to you? No, absolutely not. They told you the facts as they perceived them. So, in nonfiction writing, the facts may or may not be accurate depending on who, what, why, and how someone is presenting them. Even so, the person giving you the facts usually believes that these facts are accurate and truthful. There is rarely a conscious intention to "make something up".

Nonfiction poetry is also concerned with conveying facts. These can be facts like those you'd find in an encyclopedia (for example, one can write an informative children's poem about tigers), they can be emotional facts relevant to a real-life experience, they can be facts the deal with the retelling of a real-life experience, they can be facts that try to persuade, or they can be facts about anything thing else you can think of. They simply must be facts.

Does this mean your poem must be boring and read like the encyclopedia? Heavens, no! Does it mean your poem has to rhyme like all those cheesy children's books? Absolutely not (although it can). Does it mean your poem has to teach? Nope, not at all (but, again, it can). It simply means you're writing a poem with the intent to tell real facts about a real situation; you are informing your reader. You can use all your metaphors and similes and sensory images and hyperboles in nonfiction poetry; in fact, you should pay special attention to how you use poetic devices to convey your facts. Nothing changes except your intent.

And your intent--the author's purpose in writing nonfiction poetry--is to convey a fact (or facts) with the purpose to inform or instruct (or, in some cases, both).


What is the task?

Start with one situation, one event, one memory, one encyclopedia entry, one--anything that involves something directly out of your real life or the real world. Write down the most important facts you want to convey about that situation/event/memory/entry etc. (Make sure you keep this list handy and include it in your Artist's comments once you submit the piece to dA.) The subject is up to you. The facts are as you perceive them.

Now, write a poem that conveys those facts (or that fact). Write to inform or instruct your reader. (Yes, they are two different things.)

Please, no poems longer than 30 lines.

The Workshop

Taking your Fact List into account, ~EveningDownpour will review your poem and offer suggestions on common poetic conventions and devices, in addition to offering content revision strategies relevant to how well you achieved your purpose. Only select poems will receive an in-depth critique, but all poems will receive general advice and constructive criticism.

How to Submit

After submitting your entry as a new deviation or scrap, send us a note with a link to your poem. Include the subject line "NONFICTION POEM" in your note. The deadline is midnight February 27th, 2008. All times are set for GMT. ~EveningDownpour will respond to the entries on March 2nd, 2008.

A note from *Writers-Workshop: Please note that this is a poetry workshop, meaning that we will only submit poetry entries. Proofread your work before you send it in so that grammatical and spelling errors are minimal. Research as much as possible; if you're already read magic realist fiction, work that to your advantage. And most of all, have fun with it!

On Accepting Critique

Always thank the critic. This gratitude must be as sincere as possible, even if you did not like the critique given, because the critic has taken time to offer his/her opinion of the piece.
If you do not like the critique, it is not necessary to mention so. Simply thank the critic and move on. You can always ignore their suggestions, while not making a scene of it.
If you are unsure of what the critique means, feel free to ask the critic what s/he meant. Building rapport with your critic is one of the best ways to survive in a workshop and to learn. If you want examples, ask. Similarly, if you like the suggestions given, mention it. Critic's have feelings too.
In the unlikely case that a critic offers rude/sexist/racist/etc comments, feel free to contact *Writers-Workshop in a note and we will try to help you. A decision regarding the rudeness of the critique will be taken, and if we're not sure ourselves, we will consult with one of the GDs or anyone else high up on deviantART.

Want to make us a stamp?

We're looking for a stamp, folks! We might even have a prize for the one we like the best. Your support, in whatever form, will be appreciated.

We have one so far from *inspiredimperfection, which is fantastic and we’d love to see some more!



First time you've heard of *Writers-Workshop? This section is for you.

*Writers-Workshop is a literature community that focuses on the development of a writer. We intend to provide a non-competitive workshop environment on dA, as well as to push good, polished writing over winning prizes or "networking".

Workshops will be conducted every fortnight; prose, poetry and free-for-all sessions will be rotated. For more information, read our: FAQ section or note us with queries.

We have been working on a list of resources for our writers: Resources for Writers which we think is worth going through. We are open to suggestions as well.

Our Diary has a list of upcoming workshops. We are booked till April!

You can host a Workshop, too.

Look out for ^lovetodeviate's workshop on I, Me, Myself, coming up in a fortnight!

Staff