Words that Sing II: Advanced Writing with Mary Nilsen Challenging pastor-writers to broaden and deepen their writing practiceJuly 29, 2014 By Event Details Date(s): Tuesday, Jun 10th, 2014-Monday, Jun 16th, 2014 Venue: Collegeville Institute Categories: Writing Workshop Tags: Mary Nilsen, pastors, writing Mary Nilsen will be challenging participants to learn new skills and practice them in daily exercises. Metaphor will be probed, braided, extended and treasured. Those assembled will encourage and challenge each other, pressing for greater individual excellence. The Collegeville Institute will cover travel expenses to and from the workshop, all workshop fees, and room and board. Those who join the workshop will be expected to reside at the Institute throughout the entire week. Participants will share apartment space, though each person will be assigned a private bedroom. The program is limited to 12 participants. Leading the workshop is Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen (M.A.W., The University of Iowa; M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School). Mary has taught creative writing courses since 1982, first at The University of Iowa and then in the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. She also teaches prose style and metaphor classes in Des Moines, where she lives and owns a small publishing company. Her complete publishing resume can be found on her website: www.zionpublishing.org. Mary’s teaching style worked very well for me. She was challenging, thoughtful, and skilled in working with the subject matter. She is an excellent teacher. I learned many valuable writing tools and techniques from Mary, and I appreciated her use of hands-on exercises to get her points across. –participant in “Words that Sing,” Summer 2013 Application Process: Application deadline has passed. We are no longer accepting applications for this workshop. Complete applications include three pieces: Application Form Current resume or c.v. Writing sample (1,000 words or less) After the workshop concludes, each participant is encouraged to submit an original 500-word essay on a topic of his/her choice, intended for a general audience. Participants’ essays may be used as blog entries on the Collegeville Institute’s website or featured in other Collegeville Institute publications. Workshop participants should submit their essays to the Collegeville Institute within three months after the conclusion of the writing workshop.