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Crossing GenresA creative writing retreat at Maaleh Hachamisha Wednesday to Friday, October 28-30, 2009: "Crossing Genres" with Evan Fallenberg (novel-writing); Jenny Feldman (poetry); Madelyn Kent (playwriting); Sherri Mandell (creative nonfiction). Most writers gravitate to a certain genre and spend their writing lives there. But whether you have found 'your' genre or not, there is always a lot to learn by studying (and writing in) different genres. For example, poets can teach us the value of each and every word, and the rhythm of a text; playwrights show us how to write effective dialogue. The "Crossing Genres" retreat will enable you to work with experts in each of several fields – poetry, playwriting, creative nonfiction, fiction – both for experimentation purposes and for honing your craft. After being introduced to each expert and his or her work you will engage in a workshop designed to familiarize you with this genre and to help you find ways to learn from it for whichever genre(s) you choose as your own. The retreat begins on Wednesday morning at the lovely Maaleh Hachamisha Hotel, near Abu Ghosh. Retreat participants are invited to enjoy full room and board for two nights, including the hotel’s indoor heated swimming pool (1/2 Olympic), sauna (wet and dry), and jacuzzi. (Use of the health club is an additional NIS 30 per day.) The final session will conclude on Friday at noon, before lunch. The retreat is designed for people presently involved in writing, but newcomers with suitable motivation are welcome and encouraged to participate. Please scroll to the bottom of this announcement for recommendations by participants who attended previous retreats. The cost of the retreat is as follows: For 1 person in a double room: NIS 1770 For 1 person in a single room: NIS 2280 Prices include two nights’ hotel accommodations, six kosher meals with vegetarian options, all workshops and materials. Information about kashruth certification is available upon request. Space for the retreat is limited, so please register immediately by sending the attached registration form via email and three checks to the address on the form. You will receive notification by email when your form and checks have arrived. Please do NOT send by registered mail. If you have questions about the retreat or the workshop leaders*, please feel free to make contact via evanfallenberg@gmail.com. We look forward to greeting you in October at Maaleh Hachamisha. Evan Fallenberg is not responsible for any damages incurred during the retreat. Registration Form Crossing Genres Maaleh Hachamisha Hotel, Wednesday - Friday, October 28-30, 2009 Name: Male/Female Address: E-mail: Home telephone: Mobile phone: Room preference (check one): _ Single: NIS 2280 (760 x 3 checks) _ Double: NIS 1770 (590 x 3 checks) _ I wish to room with: ___________________________ _ Please assign me a roommate. _ I wish to room with a significant other (name: ____________________) who will NOT be participating in the retreat. Fee for non-participating guests is 450 NIS /night (full board). Receipts will be issued at the retreat. After filling in this form I will 1) send it via email to Evan at evanfallenberg@gmail.com to reserve a place at the retreat AND 2) send a printed copy of the form along with three checks for a total of NIS _______ to: Evan Fallenberg Checks should be written in three equal amounts, payable to Evan Fallenberg, and dated August 26, September 26, October 26. Overseas participants may pay in US dollars or in euros. Late cancellation fee: 300 shekels *About the workshop leaders: Evan Fallenberg (www.evanfallenberg.com) is a graduate of Georgetown University and the M.F.A. program in creative writing at Vermont College, and was a 2002 MacDowell Colony fellow. His first novel, Light Fell (Soho Press, 2008), won the American Library Association's Barbara Gittings Stonewall Book Award for Literature and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, and was shortlisted for the National Jewish Book Award in fiction and the Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction. Fallenberg's recent translations include Ron Leshem's Beaufort, Batya Gur's Murder in Jerusalem, Alon Hilu's Death of a Monk and The House of Dajani, and Meir Shalev's A Pigeon and a Boy, winner of the 2007 National Jewish Book Award for fiction and a finalist for the PEN Translation Prize. He is an instructor in the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University and heads The Studio for Writers (and Readers) of English in the garden of his home. Evan Fallenberg will be leading the fiction workshops. Jennie Feldman, a Jerusalem-based poet, teacher and translator of poetry, was born in South Africa, grew up in London and graduated from Oxford University summa cum laude in French Language and Literature. Her first collection of poems, The Lost Notebook (Anvil Press, 2005), was shortlisted for the 2006 Glen Dimplex Poetry Award (Dublin). Anvil Press also published Treading Lightly (2005), a volume of her translations of the eminent French poet Jacques Réda, and Into the Deep Street: Seven Modern French Poets 1938-2008 (2009), a bilingual anthology which she co-edited and translated with Stephen Romer. She also translates contemporary Hebrew poets and has published a number of reviews and essays on poetry and translation. A Hawthornden Fellow and former award-winning producer and presenter of radio documentaries, she is an instructor of poetry in the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University. Jennie Feldman will be leading the poetry workshops. Madelyn Kent is a writer and theater director. Her plays have been presented at several theaters in New York and Europe, including New York Theater Workshop, The Joseph Papp Public Theater, and Soho Rep, where she is a founding member of their Obie-winning Writer/Director Lab. Her plays "Enoshima Island" and "Sachiko" are included in New Downtown Now (edited by Young Jean Lee and Mac Wellman; University of Minnesota Press). She holds an M.F.A. from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she taught playwriting and screenwriting. She is the founder and coordinator of Creative Writing Semester in Israel, a study abroad program at Bar-Ilan University which will begin in the spring of 2010. Madelyn Kent will be leading the playwriting workshops. Sherri Mandell is the author of Writers of the Holocaust (Facts on File, 2000) and has written for numerous magazines and journals, including The Washington Post, Denver Post, The Jerusalem Post, and Hadassah Magazine. She moved to Israel with her family in 1996, and is now director of The Koby Mandell Foundation Women's Healing Retreat for Bereaved Mothers and Widows. Mandell's most recent book, The Blessing of a Broken Heart (Toby Press, 2003), won the 2004 National Jewish Book Award in the Contemporary Jewish Life category. The book has also been adapted into a stage play that premiered at the San Diego Repertory Theater. Sherri was born in New York and graduated with a B.S. from Cornell University and from Colorado State, where she received her M.A. in creative writing. She taught writing at the University of Maryland and at Penn State. She was also honored with a 2002 Woman to Watch Award from Jewish Women International. Sherri Mandell will be leading the creative nonfiction workshops. SELECTED TESTIMONIALS from previous retreats conducted with Judy Labensohn: The best part of the retreat was the spirited instruction. Thank you for introducing me to a new circle of talented, thoughtful
people. Wow! What a three day literary adventure you and Judy threw for 32
grateful wannabe writers. I loved every minute. As an educator, I think
I can guess the hours and hours you put into forming the seminar. It was
all outstanding, interesting - at times I thought my brain would burst
from so much information. Not to mention the hours asleep when I got
home. We are so lucky that we have the two of you to guide us. What a resounding success. I can't describe the sense of satisfaction and excited fulfillment with which I headed back home. You arranged the whole thing marvelously, taking care of each detail – though to the outsider it might just appear that everything flowed "effortlessly". I know how much effort goes into that "effortlessness". And what a delicious mix of people. Talent and desire and earnestness and respect were just some of the qualities I enjoyed. So many stories, such rich life experiences, such a variety, and all lovers of the word. All striving to articulate something deeply personal, seeking to hone their skills. Thank you, thank you, more than I can say. How lucky to have found
you… Many, many thanks to both you and Judy for the hard work and planning
which went into the retreat. I am sure you were really delighted to get
all the positive feed-backs. It was indeed illuminating, thought
provoking, as well as encouraging and stimulating. Met so many
interesting gals and made some new connections. I am still floating! Can't seem to nor do I want to, come down to earth. I spent a wonderful Shabbat in the magnificent Holy City recounting my experiences of the last couple of days, to all who wanted to listen (and probably to several who didn't!). It was just great. You have given so many people so many things, including inspiration, confidence, ideas, knowledge, and a great deal of friendship and support. What a lot of mitzvot, all in three days! You'd better start planning the next one. Thank you once again for the wonderful writing retreat last week. As
usual, everything flowed beautifully. I returned home feeling again how
important writing is to me and the need to set aside time to do so. I
really appreciate all your efforts that go into planning, organizing and
teaching. I continue to learn so much from you both. I also gained so
much from the opportunity to be with other writers on the retreat. I was reading a short story in The New Yorker yesterday. Found myself
asking all kinds of questions - what is the point? Who is the main
character? What is redundant? Seems I learnt something. It was great,
both humbling and stimulating. Looking forward to next time!!! I have lots of wonderful friends but most of them have mystified
looks on their faces when I tell them about going away on a writing
retreat. They just don’t get it. So it’s good being with people who
understand, and don’t ask, so what do you DO there? As a long-time
congress organizer, I was pleased, but not really surprised, to see that
you made every person at the retreat feel wanted and special. We all
relished the obvious interest you both took in our work as well as in
our wellbeing. You were so calm and self-assured that you passed that
feeling on to your participants; this helped us to write those
twelve-minute exercises and even the pesky forty five-minute one. There
was no burden of stress which might have held us back - instead, we were
able to focus on the task and do the job we'd come to do. If you're anything like me, you're still on the high on which I left
Ein Gedi. It was a wonderful experience, enlightening on the practical
aspects of the craft of writing, but also hugely successful on a social
level. I felt strongly that the smaller number of participants
contributed a lot to the intimacy and cohesiveness of the group, which
in turn encouraged some people to feel safe and secure and to venture
where maybe they would not have dared to go otherwise. Thank you so much
for all the effort you clearly put in to make the retreats so successful
and something that I - along with many others, I'm sure - look forward
to being a part of for a long time to come. I've just finished going over all the "stuff" from the Retreat. I had
to list all the exercises in the order we did them, just to sort out the
jumble in my head. It was such a fantastically enriching experience and
has given me so much food for thought, and so many starting points for
essays, memoirs, creative fiction, etc., that it's going to take a very
long time to absorb it all and produce something tangible. I could
probably spend a week, writing from morning till night and still not get
to the end of the list of things I could write if I had the time! } Clearly you put a lot of thought, time and effort into the
organization. You did everything possible to make people feel
comfortable. And you are a great team. The sub-plot of the retreat was,
for me, respect. The respect you showed each other, the respect you both
showed for the efforts people made, respect for the schedule that you
set, and finally, respect for the written word. Thanks to the retreat, I started working on an essay I want to read
out at a memorial service for my father, about a very early childhood
memory involving him. I am trying to incorporate tips and techniques you
and Judy imparted. Very optimistically I am setting this writing goal
for myself. Thank you for your guidance and encouragement.
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