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Brent Bill
Writing from the Heart: Soulful Creativity

Do you wish to write in a way that touches readers and yourself? Then, whether you are writing fiction or non fiction, you want to write from the heart. This workshop offers tips and techniques for connecting with your writer's heart and discovering themes and concerns that will bring your writing to life.

Brent Bill is the author and co author of many books including Mind the Light: Learning to See with Spiritual Eyes, Holy Places: Matching Sacred Space with Mission and Message, Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spiritual ity, and the soon to be released As Way Opens. A former writing instructor at Earlham School of Religion and director of the Ministry of Writing Colloquium, Brent has written more than 100 fiction and non fiction articles and is a writing instructor and coach.

Lil Copan
Author/Editor Meetings

For serious writers who wish to meet with an editor one on one to talk about a specific book idea, sign up for a 15-minute meeting. In order to prepare for these meetings, each writer should submit a full proposal—including overview/purpose/audience/title comparison/bio/marketing strategies/table of contents—and at least a 10 page sample text to Susan Yanos (Earlham School of Religion, yanossu@earlham.edu) one week prior to the colloquium. (To see an example of a full proposal, download Brent Bill's proposal for his book, Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality.)

Lil Copan is senior editor with Paraclete Press. Previously, she worked as literary series editor with Shaw Publishers, followed by a short time with the small literary/ arts press David R. Go dine. Among the writers she has worked with are Frederica Mathewes Green, Lauren F. Winner, Robert Benson, and Madeleine LEngle. She lives in Boston.

Maurice Manning
Writing and Religious Inquiry

How can writing be a means of religious and spiritual inquiry? In this workshop, we'll examine the range of questions poets have asked God and the breadth of emotion and spiritual hunger behind those questions. Participants will then use writing to pose questions of their own.

Maurice Manning's third book of poetry, Bucolics, was published by Harcourt in 2007. His second book, A Companion for Owls (2004), is written in the voice of Daniel Boone. His first book, Lawrence Booths Book of Visions was selected for the 2000 Yale Series of Younger Poets. His poems have been published in Shenandoah, The Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Poetry, and The New Yorker. He has held writing fellowships at The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and the Hawthornden International Retreat for Writers in Scotland. He teaches at Indiana University and in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

Howard Macy
Writing with Humor

Humor can strengthen many kinds of writing: it snags attention, makes ideas stick, and adds joy in reading. Participants in this workshop will explore where to use humor, how to think funny, and how to use the tools of humor well.

Howard Macy is an author, a college professor, and a Friends minister. Howard laughs a lot and sometimes people laugh with him. At George Fox University, he regularly offers a course on Humor and the Bible. His recent writings that use humor include Laughing Pilgrims: Humor and the Spiritual Journey, Stepping in the Light: Life in Joy and Power, and Red Nose Training Manual.

Katie Terrell
Bridging the Gap between Magazine and Book Publishing

Simultaneously working for a magazine and book publisher has allowed Katie Terrell to experience first hand the opportunities available for authors to promote their work in multiple outlets. Join her in this workshop and discover how to transform your magazine articles into books and how to promote your books through magazines.

Katie Terrell works as Marketing Associate for the Communications department of Friends United Meeting in Richmond, Indiana (who maintain Quaker Life magazine and Friends United Press). She was the 2006-07 recipient of the Mullen Writing Fellowship from Earlham School of Religion. She has received several awards at writing conferences for her fiction, non-fiction, children's stories, and poetry. Her non-fiction pieces have been published in religious magazines. Katie is currently working on a memoir.

Amy Lyles Wilson
The "You" in "Universal": the Power of Your Personal Story

When do personal experiences or beliefs inspire and inform others? If we can tell our stories in a way that transcends self, we discover our personal context in the whole of human experience and impart to that discovery universal appeal. Creative prompts, writing exercises, and supportive discussion will invite participants to craft stories that matter not only to themselves, but also to others.

Amy Lyles Wilson has worked in magazine and book publishing since receiving her master s degree in journalism in 1986. She served as the Patrick Henry Writing Fellow at ESR in 2003, and earned her masters in theological studies from Vanderbilt University Divinity School in 2007. Her current areas of interest are the grace of grief and uncovering the Divine in everyday life. Her essay The Guts to Keep Going was featured on NPR's This I Believe. Most recently, Wilson worked as an editor for Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life. She is an affiliate of Amherst Writers and Artists and makes her home in Nashville, Tennessee.