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Writing Childhood:
the mysteries and clarities of our early lives
Seminar with award-winning author & lecturer,
Ilana Blumberg
June 7 & 8, 2020
19:00-21:00 (via Zoom)
Photo by Andre Guerra on Unsplash
Childhood is a time of much wonder at many things that adults take for granted. At the same time, children can sometimes assume that what they know is simply the way the whole world is. How can we write balancing the perspective of a child with the knowledge of an adult? How can we recapture childhood perceptions? We will consider examples of successful renderings of childhood from both an immersed point of view and a more distant point of view, and practice writing our own.
Texts may include sections from The Zigzag Kid, David Grossman, Raymie Nightingale, by Kate DeCamilo, and "Human Relationships" by Natalia Ginzburg, The workshop takes place over two days. You will receive prompts at the end of the first day which you can work on before the second to make it feel like a retreat. Details:Minimum/Maximum No. Participants: 10/14
Cost: 400 NIS/115 USD Location: Online via Zoom Registration: Sign up below and we will be in touch about payment. Please note that your place is reserved only once payment is made. Cancellation policy: If you cancel within one week of the class and your place cannot be filled, you will forfeit the total cost of the seminar. If you cancel less than one week before the seminar and paid by credit card, then you will receive the amount paid minus the transaction fees. |
Ilana Blumberg is the author of Open Your Hand: Teaching as a Jew, Teaching as an American (Rutgers Press, 2018) and the Sami Rohr Prize-winning memoir, Houses of Study: A Jewish Woman Among Books. She directs the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University where she is a senior lecturer in English literature. She is widely published in Victorian studies and has won teaching awards from the University of Pennsylvania and Michigan State University.
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Previously taught by Ilana Blumberg: Writing Emotion (Dec 2019), Parts of the Whole: From Sentence to Paragraph to Story (Jul 2019), From Everyday to Dramatic Moment (Feb 2019) Blending Fiction with Memoir (Nov 2018) Intensity June 2018), Putting it All Together (2017), How We Came To Be Ourselves: Writing Autobiography (2016), and Writing Memoir: Place and Person (2016).
Testimonials:
'I greatly appreciated Ilana's analytical approach both to the published literary excepts on which the workshop primarily focused and to the extemporary exercises that the students were prompted to produce in class. Her critical workshop method owes to the best legacy of American literary scholarship. As a result, she was able to engage all participants in enthusiastic, educated discussions, and to inspire pieces of writing building directly on the critical aspects assimilated in class. She is also a wonderful moderator, adept at channelling the potential of spontaneous, untutored textual interpretations into informed literary debates. I came out of the experienced with renewed motivation for my own writing endeavors. I would definitely recommend Ilana's classes to anyone aiming at quality writing.' - Sonia
'I highly recommend taking Ilana's workshops. She gives a great balance between looking at well-written and published pieces while encouraging the participants to discover and generate their own ideas.' - Anna
'I have had a lot on my mind these past few months and it was cathartic for me get a new perspective through the contributions and insights delivered in this seminar. Ilana is a marvelous moderator and without exception I believed in my fellow attendees' stories while empathizing and sharing tears and laughter.' - Lynn
'The choice of readings was so extraordinary - I had never encountered these writings or anything similar before, and I try to read all kinds of literature from known and unknown authors from all over the world. Now I’ve added Sri Lankan and Jamaican. The way Ilana handled the group of people who had not met before was quite remarkable. Everyone felt that they were important and she was interested in every sharing that the group felt free and willing to do. There was such empathy and understanding from everyone because Ilana moderated the group in such in a quiet but purposeful manner. We learnt a lot from her but also from others, which I think is ideally the way a workshop should happen.' - Mona
'As always, Ilana Blumberg’s recent writer’s workshop was wonderfully engaging, profoundly deep, and most enjoyable. The outstanding selection of readings she provided before the session made an excellent backdrop for the points she raised and the writing exercises she offered during the session. I came away feeling enriched!' - Jeff
Testimonials:
'I greatly appreciated Ilana's analytical approach both to the published literary excepts on which the workshop primarily focused and to the extemporary exercises that the students were prompted to produce in class. Her critical workshop method owes to the best legacy of American literary scholarship. As a result, she was able to engage all participants in enthusiastic, educated discussions, and to inspire pieces of writing building directly on the critical aspects assimilated in class. She is also a wonderful moderator, adept at channelling the potential of spontaneous, untutored textual interpretations into informed literary debates. I came out of the experienced with renewed motivation for my own writing endeavors. I would definitely recommend Ilana's classes to anyone aiming at quality writing.' - Sonia
'I highly recommend taking Ilana's workshops. She gives a great balance between looking at well-written and published pieces while encouraging the participants to discover and generate their own ideas.' - Anna
'I have had a lot on my mind these past few months and it was cathartic for me get a new perspective through the contributions and insights delivered in this seminar. Ilana is a marvelous moderator and without exception I believed in my fellow attendees' stories while empathizing and sharing tears and laughter.' - Lynn
'The choice of readings was so extraordinary - I had never encountered these writings or anything similar before, and I try to read all kinds of literature from known and unknown authors from all over the world. Now I’ve added Sri Lankan and Jamaican. The way Ilana handled the group of people who had not met before was quite remarkable. Everyone felt that they were important and she was interested in every sharing that the group felt free and willing to do. There was such empathy and understanding from everyone because Ilana moderated the group in such in a quiet but purposeful manner. We learnt a lot from her but also from others, which I think is ideally the way a workshop should happen.' - Mona
'As always, Ilana Blumberg’s recent writer’s workshop was wonderfully engaging, profoundly deep, and most enjoyable. The outstanding selection of readings she provided before the session made an excellent backdrop for the points she raised and the writing exercises she offered during the session. I came away feeling enriched!' - Jeff
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Testimonials for Writing Emotion (Dec 2019)
'Ilana Blumberg’s recent workshop on writing emotion was remarkable. Full of profound insights, challenges, and for me, the reward of taking a big step forward in my writing. - Jeff Kimchi Ilana Blumberg is one of the best teachers I’ve had. She combines a love of writing with a sharp mind and a lot of empathy. I’m always struck by her special way of encouraging the writer without compromising the feedback which is so important in honing our craft. This workshop really lifted the curtain off the art of conveying emotion without being overly melodramatic. I found it very useful and came away with the beginnings of two stories to work on. Thank you so much! - Sigal Goldstein |
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