IU WRITERS' CONFERENCE TAKING APPLICATIONS THROUGH MAY 15

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Applications for the 58th annual Indiana University Writers' Conference, scheduled from June 21-26 this year, are due by May 15.

The prestigious conference, hailed by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. as "the most respectable writers' conference that I know of," will bring 11 nationally known poets and novelists to IU's Bloomington campus. The conference has a distinguished history with such esteemed writers as Raymond Carver, William Stafford, Katherine Anne Porter and Vonnegut having served on its staff in the past.

This year the poetry workshops will be led by Ralph Burns, Gerald Costanzo and National Book Critics Award winner in poetry Amy Gerstle. The fiction workshops will be led by Carol Anshaw, Pinckney Benedict and William O'Rourke. A combined poetry and fiction workshop will be led by Lucia Perillo. Classes on issues in the craft of writing will be taught throughout the week by Catherine Bowman, John McCluskey Jr., Jay Meek and Sharon Solwitz.

Cost of attending the conference is $200, along with a $15 nonrefundable application fee. The price includes classes such as "The Weight of History in Short Fiction" and "A Poem's Geography: Navigating Through Landscape and Time," as well as all readings, panel discussions and social activities.

The week-long workshops are an additional $100 each, along with a $25 nonrefundable application fee. Workshop applicants should submit manuscripts for each workshop in which they are interested. The best submissions will be considered for scholarships, which have been made possible through the generous support of Bloomington-area businesses. The workshops may be taken for two hours of university graduate or undergraduate credit, at a cost of $170 for IU students and $320 for non-IU students.

All applications for workshops must be received by May 15. Non-workshop conferees who do not require housing may preregister until June 20. All fees for the conference must be received by June 12.

For applications and more detailed information, contact IU Writers' Conference, Ballantine Hall 464, Bloomington, IN 47405, 812-855-1877, pagodbey@indiana.edu

(Jeff Austin, Office of Communications and Marketing, 812-855-0084, jeaustin@indiana.edu)

(Jeff Austin, 812-855-0846 or 812-855-3911, jeaustin@indiana.edu)

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