2017 Queens MFA Alumni Weekend

Friday, October 20 - Sunday, October 22, 2017

Open to Queens MFA alumni and all enrolled students.

Register now >

In keeping with the program's commitment to the continued development of our students beyond graduation, the biennial Alumni Weekend offers graduates of the program an opportunity to return to campus to re-connect with their fellow writers and participate in small workshops and individual conferences with influential agents and editors. There is also a social/seminar only registration option.

Workshops Guidelines and Instructors

Workshops will include 30 minute minimum and 1 hour maximum per submission. All registrants will also receive a 30-minute individual conference with the instructor.

Prose submissions are 8-25 double-spaced pages. Poetry submissions are 8-10 pages. All submissions are due 10 days prior to the event.

WORKSHOPS WITH EDITORS

WORKSHOPS WITH AGENTS

  • Emily Forland, Brandt and Hochman
    • One-on-one only, with a 30-minute conference on Saturday and on Sunday. A cover letter is due with the submission, which participants will also receive feedback on.
  • Jamie Chambliss, Folio
  • Kent Wolf, The Friedrich Agency

MASTER POETRY WORKSHOP

  • Marcus Jackson (MFA faculty). Angles of Identity in Contemporary American Poetry.
  • Contemporary American poetry's core virtue may be the diversity and pliability of its speakers, authors, and subjects. During this workshop, we will read groups of poems written by multiple poets whose personal and on-the-page identities are rendered from different angles of cultural, racial, sexual, religious, and socioeconomic calibration. Upon reading and discussing work by such poets, we will then turn to our own drafts.

SCREENWRITING WORKSHOPS

  • Khris Baxter (MFA faculty), Boundary Stone Films
    • Writing for the Widest Audience: Screenplay and Teleplay for Beginners
    • One-on-One Master Screenwriting Consultation: From a Development Perspective

FICTION AND NONFICTION WORKSHOPS

  • Ashley Warlick (MFA faculty), Partner, M. Judson Books. Your Manuscript from a Bookseller's Perspective
  • Fred Leebron (needs no introduction). Why Prose Matters: A Line by Line Workshop on all Techniques and Strategies

Costs and Deadlines

Workshops will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

A 50% deposit is due at registration; payment in full due 9/15, and registration is non-refundable after 9/14.

Full Registration, with Workshops: $675

Social and Seminar Registration: $275

Hotel

We are working on a block of hotel rooms at two different price points ($109/night + tax and $89/night + tax). We'll post the reservation instructions as soon as they are available.

Provisional* Schedule

*Things may shift as we get closer, but the basic elements are here. A final formal schedule will go out a couple of weeks before the event.

Thursday, Oct 19

7:30 PM: Informal gathering for early arrivals

Fri, Oct 20

10:00 AM: Craft Seminar, TBA

1:00 PM: Craft Seminar, TBA

2:00 PM: Craft Seminar, TBA

3:00 PM: Publishing Panel

4:00 PM: Alumni Reading

5:00 PM: Opening Reception

Sat, Oct 21

10:00 AM: Q&A with Rob Spillman, Editor and co-founder, Tin House magazine.

11:00-12:00: Workshops

2:00 - 4:00: Workshops

4:00 - 5:00: Book Publishing Panel with Instructors

Evening: Social Event, TBA

Evening: Open Mic

Sun, Oct 22

10:00 - 12:00p: Conferences

12:00p: Departure

Register now >