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The Newberry Library: Rebecca Makkai and Meg Wolitzer —Novelists on the Craft of Writing

Award-winning authors Rebecca Makkai and Meg Wolitzer will reflect on their work and growth as authors.

This program will be held in-person at the Newberry and livestreamed on Zoom. The online version of this event will be live captioned. Please register here.

This installment of “Conversations at the Newberry” features award-winning novelists Rebecca Makkai and Meg Wolitzer.

In this event, Chicago author Rebecca Makkai (I Have Some Questions for You, The Great Believers) will interview New York-based and New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer (The Female Persuasion, The Interestings) about a life in books, her growth as an author, her film adaptations—including 2017’s The Wife—and her new role as host of Public Radio’s popular Selected Shorts podcast.

This program also marks the launch of a new series curated by Rebecca Makkai and StoryStudio, which will pair major visiting authors in conversation with local discussion partners. Unlike bookstore or festival events promoting an author’s latest book, these evenings will highlight the author’s whole career, with a focus on the craft of writing. Perfect for readers and writers alike, each event will celebrate one author’s work—a glimpse behind the creative curtain, a chance to ask questions, and an opportunity to mingle with other literary folk. You’ll also be able to purchase books and have them signed.

 

The event, generously sponsored by Sue and Melvin Gray and presented in collaboration with StoryStudio Chicago, is free to the public.

Makkai’s latest book, I Have Some Questions for You, along with her 2018 novel The Great Believers, are available for purchase at the Newberry Bookshop.

Wolitzer’s novels, The Female Persuasion (2018) and The Interestings (2013) are available for purchase at the Newberry bookshop.

SPEAKERS

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award,?The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower. She is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University and Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. Join her at SubMakk (it’s a Substack!)

Meg Wolitzer is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Interestings, The Uncoupling, The Ten-Year Nap, The Female Persuasion, The Position, The Wife, and Sleepwalking. She is also the author of the young adult novel Belzhar.

on April 13 2023· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Electric Lit Presents: The Craft of Covid in Fiction

The dynamic, unpredictable nature of the pandemic has forced novelists to become pundits, predicting what the world will look like when their novels are published.

They also face unique craft challenges: how do masks affect dialogue, character descriptions, and scene? How do social distancing and quarantine warp relationship dynamics?

Rebecca Makkai chose to move the events of I Have Some Questions for You to 2018, but still had to negotiate Covid protocol for courtroom scenes set in 2022. The protagonist of Weike Wang’s Joan Is Okay is an emergency room doctor in New York City; when Covid hit, Wang revised the novel to feature overwhelmed hospitals. A deadly flu ravages the globe in Phase Six by Jim Shepard, and the lessons of the Covid pandemic are in the distant past.

These three novelists will discuss the drafting and revision process of their novels and explain how they tackled the ever-changing question of how Covid should factor into their work.  Moderated by Halimah Marcus.

This year’s Masquerade of the Red Death is celebrating excellence in pandemic fiction with special guests and book giveaways at our party in Brooklyn on Friday, October 21, as well as related virtual salons. This salon is free for Masquerade ticket-holders*, $10 for the general public, and $5 for EL members.

*Masquerade ticket holders will receive an email with a discount code to register for free.

on October 6 2022· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Exile In Bookville Presents: Authors on Tap: Steve Almond and Rebecca Makkai

Authors on Tap: Steve Almond and Rebecca Makkai

Friday May 27 2022 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Join us IN PERSON or virtually on Friday, May 27th at 7:00pm central to help celebrate Steve Almond‘s new novel, All the Secrets of the World.  Steve will be in conversation with Exile MVP Rebecca Makkai!
Steve Almond is the author of a dozen books, including “Candyfreak” and “Against Football,” which were both on the New York Times’ Bestseller list for about four seconds.  He’s the recipient of an NEA grant for 2022 and teaches at Harvard and Wesleyan. His work has been published in the Best American Short Stories, the Best American Mysteries, and the New York Times Magazine. Fancy fancy. After 30 years of writing terrible novels, he finally wrote one that doesn’t suck. All the Secrets of the World will be out in May.

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great BelieversThe Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for WartimeThe Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

You can purchase their books through the respective links and Steve and Rebecca are happy to sign or personalize copies! If you can’t make it to the event, signed copies will be available and we ship nationally!

Please note the following COVID protocols for those attending IN PERSON:

  • Attendees must present a physical copy or a photo of their COVID-19 vaccine card along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID); or
  • Provide a time-stamped printout, photo, or email of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of the event or a negative Rapid Antigen Test taken within 36 hours of the event, along with a valid photo ID (state, government, or school ID).
  • All persons must wear a mask for the duration of their time in the Fine Arts Building, regardless of vaccination status in accordance with our current COVID policies

Please email us at books@exileinbookville.com or phone us at (312)-753-3154 if you have any questions or concerns. 

*There is no need to register if you are attending in person!

on May 27 2022· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch: The Origins of the Original with Visiting Writer Rebecca Makkai

When we sit down to write, the first words, scenes, characters, conflicts, and settings we come up with are often the least original ones of which we’re capable. Digging past the obvious, the stock (and even the products of the collective unconscious), we might finally arrive at stories that are strikingly new and memorable. In this class we’ll cover some key elements of originality — specificity, idiosyncrasy, complexity, repetition, and change — and talk about accessing them both in drafting and revision.

For writing to succeed, it must be both well-executed and original. While originality might seem intuitive, or even a product of the writer’s personality, it’s in fact a skill that can be sharpened. That’s what we’ll be doing.

Online Workshop Via Zoom

Saturday, April 30th, 2022 | 2:00pm – 4:00pm CT

$68 for members

$75 for non members

on April 30 2022· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friends of the Bronxville Public Library Presents: Lan Samantha Changin conversation with Rebecca Makkai (Zoom)

Lan Samantha Chang, author of The Family Chao,
in conversation with
Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers

The Friends of the Bronxville Public Library (FOBPL) is pleased to host award-winning author Lan Samantha Chang, who will discuss her new novel, The Family Chao.  FOBPL is equally thrilled to host acclaimed author Rebecca Makkai to moderate this event.

For the recent MyHometownBronxville article, click here


Thursday, April 21, 2022
7:00-8:00 p.m. via Zoom

This event is free, but registration is required.

To register, please click here.

Registration closes on April 21, 12:00 p.m.
(Zoom link will be provided through Eventbrite Registration on April 21.)

THE FAMILY CHAO is an electrifying and devastating portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with trauma, grief, race, love, and longing. Brimming with comedy, suspense, and heartbreak, Lan Samantha Chang’s masterpiece is one of the most ambitious novels about America in recent years.

Lan Samantha Chang is the award-winning author of a collection of short fiction, Hunger, and novels The Family Chao, Inheritance and All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost.  A recent Berlin Prize Fellow, she also has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.  Chang is the first Asian American and the first female director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Iowa City.  For more on Lan Samantha Chang and The Family Chao, click here.

Moderator Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believerswas a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors.  Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.  For more on Rebecca Makkai, click here.

Signed copies of The Family Chao are available for sale now at Womrath Bookshop. 

The FOBPL appreciates your donations.  Thank you! 

on April 21 2022· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Society For The Study Of Midwestern Literature Celebrates Mark Twain Award Winners Marilynne Robinson and Rebecca Makkai

Marilynne Robinson and Rebecca Makkai, winners of the 2020 and 2021 Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Contributions to Midwestern Literature, in conversation with Phil Christman, author of Midwest Futures. (Free for current SSML members; open to non-members for a $5 registration fee.)

SSML Members Register HERE

Non-Members Register HERE

on June 14 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: This Will Be Character-Building

Join Rebecca Makkai for an intimate workshop designed to help you write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft: backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution. This event has four sessions.

E. M. Forster wrote that “incident springs out of character, and having occurred it alters that character.” How do we create characters who will both cause interesting things to happen and be changed by their world? How do we get a whole lifetime across without an awkward backstory dump? What differences should we consider when crafting characters for novels versus short stories? How can a memoirist get real-life characters onto the page?

This workshop is designed to help participants write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. Participants will work on their projects outside of the workshop sessions.

In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft. (In our four sessions, we’ll focus on backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution.) There will be discussion of what we’re writing and what we’re reading, but sessions will primarily focus on Rebecca’s craft lessons. Because you won’t be workshopping each other, this class will be a friendly and challenging learning environment for writers at all levels of education and experience.

?After the fourth session, participants will submit their projects (no more than 12 pages) to Rebecca, and she will provide feedback to each person in the form of a marked-up manuscript and a brief feedback letter.

Details
Mondays: April 5 – April 26, 2021
5pm PT / 8pm ET – 90 min
Limited to 15 participants
$500.00 for all four sessions

Code of Conduct

We look forward to building an inclusive, supportive community of writers during our workshop and will not tolerate racist, sexist, or homophobic views. By signing up for this workshop, you’re agreeing to uphold these norms. Though we don’t expect this to happen, if someone violates these norms, they will be removed from the workshop without a refund.

Written feedback from Rebecca is contingent on the writing sample you submit being coherent. You don’t need to be an experienced (or published!) writer by any means, nor do you need to have perfect command of all aspects of English grammar, but your writing should be comprehensible.

on April 26 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: This Will Be Character-Building

Join Rebecca Makkai for an intimate workshop designed to help you write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft: backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution. This event has four sessions.

E. M. Forster wrote that “incident springs out of character, and having occurred it alters that character.” How do we create characters who will both cause interesting things to happen and be changed by their world? How do we get a whole lifetime across without an awkward backstory dump? What differences should we consider when crafting characters for novels versus short stories? How can a memoirist get real-life characters onto the page?

This workshop is designed to help participants write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. Participants will work on their projects outside of the workshop sessions.

In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft. (In our four sessions, we’ll focus on backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution.) There will be discussion of what we’re writing and what we’re reading, but sessions will primarily focus on Rebecca’s craft lessons. Because you won’t be workshopping each other, this class will be a friendly and challenging learning environment for writers at all levels of education and experience.

?After the fourth session, participants will submit their projects (no more than 12 pages) to Rebecca, and she will provide feedback to each person in the form of a marked-up manuscript and a brief feedback letter.

Details
Mondays: April 5 – April 26, 2021
5pm PT / 8pm ET – 90 min
Limited to 15 participants
$500.00 for all four sessions

Code of Conduct

We look forward to building an inclusive, supportive community of writers during our workshop and will not tolerate racist, sexist, or homophobic views. By signing up for this workshop, you’re agreeing to uphold these norms. Though we don’t expect this to happen, if someone violates these norms, they will be removed from the workshop without a refund.

Written feedback from Rebecca is contingent on the writing sample you submit being coherent. You don’t need to be an experienced (or published!) writer by any means, nor do you need to have perfect command of all aspects of English grammar, but your writing should be comprehensible.

on April 19 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: This Will Be Character Building

Join Rebecca Makkai for an intimate workshop designed to help you write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft: backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution. This event has four sessions.

E. M. Forster wrote that “incident springs out of character, and having occurred it alters that character.” How do we create characters who will both cause interesting things to happen and be changed by their world? How do we get a whole lifetime across without an awkward backstory dump? What differences should we consider when crafting characters for novels versus short stories? How can a memoirist get real-life characters onto the page?

This workshop is designed to help participants write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. Participants will work on their projects outside of the workshop sessions.

In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft. (In our four sessions, we’ll focus on backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution.) There will be discussion of what we’re writing and what we’re reading, but sessions will primarily focus on Rebecca’s craft lessons. Because you won’t be workshopping each other, this class will be a friendly and challenging learning environment for writers at all levels of education and experience.

?After the fourth session, participants will submit their projects (no more than 12 pages) to Rebecca, and she will provide feedback to each person in the form of a marked-up manuscript and a brief feedback letter.

Details
Mondays: April 5 – April 26, 2021
5pm PT / 8pm ET – 90 min
Limited to 15 participants
$500.00 for all four sessions

Code of Conduct

We look forward to building an inclusive, supportive community of writers during our workshop and will not tolerate racist, sexist, or homophobic views. By signing up for this workshop, you’re agreeing to uphold these norms. Though we don’t expect this to happen, if someone violates these norms, they will be removed from the workshop without a refund.

Written feedback from Rebecca is contingent on the writing sample you submit being coherent. You don’t need to be an experienced (or published!) writer by any means, nor do you need to have perfect command of all aspects of English grammar, but your writing should be comprehensible.

on April 12 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: This Will Be Character-Building

Join Rebecca Makkai for an intimate workshop designed to help you write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft: backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution. This event has four sessions.

E. M. Forster wrote that “incident springs out of character, and having occurred it alters that character.” How do we create characters who will both cause interesting things to happen and be changed by their world? How do we get a whole lifetime across without an awkward backstory dump? What differences should we consider when crafting characters for novels versus short stories? How can a memoirist get real-life characters onto the page?

This workshop is designed to help participants write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel or memoir — or to continue work on one in progress. Participants will work on their projects outside of the workshop sessions.

In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft. (In our four sessions, we’ll focus on backstory, motivation, dialogue, and character evolution.) There will be discussion of what we’re writing and what we’re reading, but sessions will primarily focus on Rebecca’s craft lessons. Because you won’t be workshopping each other, this class will be a friendly and challenging learning environment for writers at all levels of education and experience.

?After the fourth session, participants will submit their projects (no more than 12 pages) to Rebecca, and she will provide feedback to each person in the form of a marked-up manuscript and a brief feedback letter.

Details
Mondays: April 5 – April 26, 2021
5pm PT / 8pm ET – 90 min
Limited to 15 participants
$500.00 for all four sessions

Code of Conduct

We look forward to building an inclusive, supportive community of writers during our workshop and will not tolerate racist, sexist, or homophobic views. By signing up for this workshop, you’re agreeing to uphold these norms. Though we don’t expect this to happen, if someone violates these norms, they will be removed from the workshop without a refund.

Written feedback from Rebecca is contingent on the writing sample you submit being coherent. You don’t need to be an experienced (or published!) writer by any means, nor do you need to have perfect command of all aspects of English grammar, but your writing should be comprehensible.

on April 5 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

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