The spring lineup of non-credit classes for Johns Hopkins University's Odyssey program include a number of writing classes. See the detailed listings below.

Elements of Creative Writing

This course provides a solid foundation for better understanding and appreciating the craft of creative writing, specifically in the genres of poetry, short stories and the essay, particularly personal narrative. Through readings and guided writing exercises students will explore and learn to apply the techniques of master writers to their own writing. Special attention will be paid to creating a nurturing space where students can not only analyze and critique each other's writing, but where they can further develop their own craft, as well.

Ailish Hopper, MFA, teaches writing at Goucher College. Her first book, Bird in the Head, won the Center for Book Arts chapbook prize, and her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Many Mountains Moving, Ploughshares, and Poetry.

919.056.01 Homewood
$298.00 (10 Sessions)
Mondays, Mar. 1-May 10, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p. m. (No class Mar. 29)

Writing Review Workshop

This workshop is designed for credit and non-credit students who would like to refresh their writing skills. In the first session, participants learn how to assess their own writing and that of others for clarity and effectiveness. Exercises provide practice in composing logical, coherent, and detailed sentences and paragraphs. Subsequent sessions move on to planning, drafting and revising written assignments ranging from business letters and memos to reports and research papers.

Virginia Kirk, MA is a publication, business, and technical writing consultant. Kirk is also director of distance learning at Howard Community College.

919.152.01 Homewood
$180.00 (6 Sessions)
Wednesdays, Feb. 24-Mar. 31, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p. m.

Screenwriting II: Writing for Film, Movies and Television

This advanced workshop will allow students to take turns having their screenplays-in-progress read and discussed each week. Participants will workshop 5-10 pages at a time. Emphasis will be placed on proper screenplay format, creating dimensional, well-delineated characters and assembling compelling narrative structures for their stories. Three professional screenplays will be assigned and analyzed by the class. The purpose of this course is to provide a forum for writers to pitch and develop their screenplay ideas in a supportive and focused environment.

Marc Lapadula, MA, MFA, is a full time lecturer at Yale University where he runs the screenwriting program. He also teaches Playwriting and Screenwriting for Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. Marc produced the film Angel Passing, starring Hume Cronyn, which premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Former students have written the films The Break Up, The Hangover, Bride Wars, and 500 Days of Summer, as well as scripts for Scrubs, Family Guy, and Law & Order.

919.187.01 Homewood
$298.00 (8 Sessions)
Fridays, Feb. 19-Apr. 16, 2010, 7-9:30 p. m. (No class Mar. 19)

Writing from Personal Experience

Memories, observations, and analyses are the writer's raw materials. In this course, participants transform their personal experiences into memoirs, humorous social commentaries, and narrative story essays as they read and discuss published writing by established authors. Class sessions introduce techniques for developing and strengthening the writer's voice; selecting details that provide clarity, interest, and meaning; and creating effective essay/story structures. Such nonfiction techniques as setting, character, narrative tension, and resolution are also put to use. Participants share their writing in a creative, supportive environment.

Margaret Osburn, writer/editor and photographer, is the recipient of professional awards for both news and feature writing. She has published in national magazines and regional newspapers, including The Washington Post and The Chicago Tribune. She also is the writer/co-producer of a documentary film, Once There Was a City.

919.246.01 Homewood
$298.00 (10 Sessions)
Wednesdays, Mar. 3-May 12, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p. m. (No class Mar. 17)

Poetry Writing: Inspiration and Craft

This is a workshop for writers of poetry at all levels who want to develop their skill and explore directions for further growth and possibilities for publishing. Assignments include suggestions for writing and related readings of poetry, as well as essays about creativity and craft. Coursework highlights subjects and sources of inspiration, such as memory, dream, powerful emotion, works of art, and language itself. Participants bring drafts of poems to class each week for feedback. Discussion of technique, tradition, and expressiveness will emerge from close reading of each student's work.

Mary Azrael, MA is the author of three books of poems and an opera libretto, Lost Childhood. Her poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Harpers, Chelsea, Calyx and other publications. She is publisher and co-editor of Passager Books and Passager, a national literary journal featuring the work of older writers.

919.277.01 Homewood
$298.00 (10 Sessions)
Tuesdays, Mar. 2-May 11, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p. m. (No class Mar. 30)

Writing for the Web: A Primer for Getting Published

There are increasingly more opportunities to be published online as print magazines fold and Web-only presences pop up. Writing for the Web and submitting to online publications is not the same as for printed publications. Knowing the differences is important. Learn where publishing is going and how the online community will affect writing opportunities. This course is one-part writinghow to make your prose sing for an online audienceand one-part practicalhow to get published or self-publish. Whether you want to get published for fun or for profit, this workshop is for you.

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson is an award-winning freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, Metropolis, Architect, Baltimore magazine, Style, Chesapeake Life, Urbanite, and The Next American City.

919.286.01 Homewood
$180.00 (6 Sessions)
Tuesdays, Feb. 16-Mar. 30, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p. m. (No class March 2)
There is a textbook for this course: "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. See www.mbsdirect.netto purchase.

Writing and the Body

What is your body trying to tell you? Are you listening? More often than not, we ignore the wisdom of our bodies until something goes wrong and we are forced to slow down and pay closer attention. In this course, we will experiment with a variety of writing exercises to help us listen to and deepen our relationship with our own bodies, explore our individual experiences of health, illness, and healing, and write one short, autobiographical body story. Participants will come away with a better understanding of their own health/illness experience and the healing power of telling their story.

Nancy H. Evans, MA is a writing consultant who designs and facilitates topic-based writing groups using the therapeutic benefits of expressive writing. She has more than twenty-five years of experience as a writer, editor, and publishing professional and is a certified journal facilitator.

919.287.01 Homewood
$180.00 (6 Sessions)
Wednesdays, Apr. 14-May 19, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p. m.

Online Course: Survey of Children's Literature

Children's books can be silly or serious, timeless or contemporary, soothing or unsettling. Come join us ONLINE for an exploration into the world of children's books. Thoughtful readings of picture books, early readers, middle-grade, young adult, and graphic novels will provide the foundation for discussing literature for young people. Please note: this is a course about reading children's books, not writing them. By the end of the course, participants will be able to identify elements of effective storytelling-- plot, characterization, narrative description, conflict and themeand discuss how those elements manifest themselves in books for young readers.

Erin Hagar is working on her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is an active member and volunteer for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

919.267.01 Online
$180.00 (6 Sessions)
ONLINE, Mar. 22-May 3, 2010
(No class the week of Mar. 29th) Instructions will be sent upon registering.