EVENT RECAP
2014 Highlights
2014: A retreat is born!
The first ever Iceland Writers Retreat hosted over 60 delegates from around the world. Highlights included a reception hosted by the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson at Bessastaðir, a reception hosted by the Canadian Embassy, a day-long Golden Circle trip guided by a prominent Icelandic historian and featuring lectures and informal talks by contemporary Icelandic authors, and a pub night with music performed by Lay Low.
FEATURED AUTHORS
2014 Speakers
Andrew Evans
National Geographic Traveler digital nomad
Geraldine Brooks
Pulitzer Prize winner
Gerður Kristný
Icelandic Literature Award winner
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson
Historian, Writer
Iain Reid
Award winning author
James Scudamore
Man Booker Prize nominee
Joseph Boyden
Giller Prize winner
Ragna Sigurðardóttir
Author
Randy Boyagoda
Ryerson University professor
Sara Wheeler
Travel writer
Sjón
Nordic Council Literary Prize winner
Susan Orlean
New Yorker staff writer2014 Workshops
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“I remember the only time I ever saw my mother cry. I was eating apricot pie,” wrote Joe Brainard in his classic book “I Remember.” For Marcel Proust it was the madeleine cookie, for Tony So
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The use of direct speech is the yeast of non-fiction. Using handouts to illustrate what works (and what doesn’t), the workshop explores the best ways to use dialogue in travel writing and biograph
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What makes a travel book work? I want to use this session to explore the basic premise of any travel narrative book - it must be about something. It must have a pattern in its carpet. A linear descr
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In this workshop we will try to unleash the creative energy of yearning for home. Graham Greene said that 'a writer's childhood is the bank at which, later in life, he will cash his creative cheques
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Hemingway said ‘the first draft of anything is shit’, and it’s undeniable that the second draft is where we begin to comprehend what we’re writing (insofar as we ever will), and begin to sha
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How reading fiction and non-fiction can sharpen and shape your own voice.
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A different kind of memoir
How the undramatic is a story too.21:46 - 21:46
From journalist to novelist and what one craft does for, and to, the other.
Note: There is a very short assignment required as preparation for this workshop.
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Tempo, Tone, Color, Themes, Words, and All That Jazz
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How to balance work, writing, family, and everything else.
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Training Your Ear and Eye to Find Telling Details
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Capturing Authenticity and Making Your Narrator Come Alive With Voice. A Journey Through Point of View.
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Creating a Strong Sense of Place
Good writing transports the reader to another place—How does the author best accomplish this? How do we paint vivid scenes and create memorable physical21:46 - 21:46
Hemingway famously said to write about what you know, and for many writers,their family lives and family histories form a rich and complex body of knowledge. That said, writing about your family carr
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The Unexpected Adventure of Writing
Travel writing may be a genre, but what of the voyage of writing—where does your journey begin and where does it take you? How do journeys, both physi21:46 - 21:46
Hearing the Unheard in Historical Fiction
Note: There is a very short assignment required as preparation for this workshop.
21:46 - 21:46
Do you remember the third page of a great novel? No. You remember the first page, the opening sentences, the excitement of knowing you're about to begin a great journey into a newly-imagined world,