Students interact with a presenter at the 2015 Mississippi River Creative Writing Workshop. Photo by Anna Kurth for St. Cloud State
Award-winning humorist Julie Schumacher is one of five writers presenting at St. Cloud State’s signature writing workshop.
Related links
Register for the two-credit Mississippi River Creative Writing Workshop (ENG 445-545) 10 a.m.-4 p.m. June 20-23 in the 51 Building.
In addition to the presentations, students will participate in writing exercises and interact informally with the writers.
The workshop focuses on fiction writing, non-fiction writing and poetry. No writing experience or prerequisites are required.
Community members can register as non-degree seeking students. The class can be repeated for credit.
Meet the presenters:
Julie Schumacher
Schumacher earned the 2015 Thurber Prize for American Humor, named for humorist James Thurber (1894-1961), whose short stories, books and cartoons were critically acclaimed and popularly praised.
Thurber Prize-winning writer Julie Schumacher. Photo courtesy of Francisco Photography
A professor of English at the University of Minnesota, Schumacher is the author of five novels for young adult readers, a collection of short stories and two novels for adult readers. Thanks to her novel “Dear Committee Members” (2014), Schumacher is the first woman to win the Thurber Prize.
Her first novel, “The Body Is Water,” was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award.
Her short stories and essays have been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Ms., The Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and in The Best American Short Stories and The O.Henry Awards annual anthologies. Visit Schumacher’s website.
Philip Bryant
A professor of English at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, Bryant has published three volumes of poetry, including “Stompin’ at the Grand Terrace: A Jazz Memoir in Verse” (2009).
Bryant teaches creative writing and literature, with a particular interest in poetry and literature focused on these themes: American cultures, jazz and blues, African-American cultures, Native American cultures, Asian-American cultures and Hispanic-American cultures.
Joel Hoekstra
A Minneapolis-based freelance nonfiction writer-editor, Hoekstra is the editorial director of Refresh Content, a consultancy which helps clients plan, produce, and publish content across multiple platforms. He is the former editor-in-chief of “Minnesota Monthly,” the magazine of Minnesota Public Radio, and associate editor of Twin Cities Business Monthly. Visit his Linkedin site.
Rachael Hanel
A former newspaper reporter and copy editor, Hanel teaches mass media at Minnesota State University Mankato. She is the author of more than 20 nonfiction books for children. Her 2013 memoir, “We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter,“ is published by the University of Minnesota Press. Visit Hanel’s website.
Rachael Hanel, author and mass media instructor. Photo courtesy of John Cross, Mankato Free Press
Jennifer Willoughby
A Minneapolis poet, Willoughby is best known for “Beautiful Zero,” her award-winning collection of poems. The 2015 collection earned her a Milkweed Editions publishing contract and Milkweed’s regionally acclaimed Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry, which carries a $10,000 prize.
Shannon Olson
A professor of English, Olson is a 12-year veteran of St. Cloud State and the university’s director of creative writing. Olson’s books include the best-selling “Welcome to My Planet: Where English Is Sometimes Spoken” (2001) and “Children of God Go Bowling” (2004).
She is managing the workshop. For more information, contact Olson at [email protected].
