Now taking registration for The Art of Reflection by Steven Harvey

Registration is open for a writing class at Writers Circle around the Table, Hayesville, NC with Dr. Steven Harvey, author, essayist, memoirist, and English professor retired from Young  Harris College.

Dr. Steven Harvey, nonfiction writer 
and memoirist
Fee: $45

The Art of Reflection

Using Personal Experience to Explore an Idea:  Vivian Gornick writes in The Situation and the Story that essayists and memoirists are interested in their own existence only as a means of “penetrating the situation at hand.”  They are “truth speakers” and their delight is not in self-aggrandizement but in the illumination of an idea.  We will study how nonfiction writers “penetrate the situation” to discover an idea worth living for and consider ways that we can do the same in our writing.

Students will bring in an object or a photograph of an object that means a great deal to them.  Preferably this is an object in which the meaning is not already obvious, so I would prefer that it not be a crucifix, for instance, or a wedding ring, but a different piece of jewelry—a watch for instance—or a favorite scarf , musical instrument, piece of furniture, or automobile.  Any object—or picture of such an object—will do.  We will explore the meaning of this object, learning various techniques from the writers we examine in class to amplify the idea.  The goal is to have the thematic core of an essay or a memoir—one that can be the heart of a longer work.

Students should bring the object or photo—a photo on a phone will do—as well as a laptop or pen and paper for writing.

Steve Harvey is a professor emeritus of English and creative writing at Young Harris College, a member of the nonfiction faculty in the Ashland University MFA program in creative writing, and a senior editor for River Teeth magazine. He is the creator of The Humble Essayist, a website designed to promote literary nonfiction. 

His most recent book is The Book of Knowledge and Wonder a memoir about coming to terms with the suicide of his mother when he was a child.

He is also the author of three books of personal essays. A Geometry of Lilies, Lost in Translation, and Bound for Shady Grove and edited an anthology of essays written by men on middle age called In a Dark Wood.   

He lives in the north Georgia mountains.  You can learn more about Steve and his work at his web site:  www.steven-harvey-author.com 

Send check for $45 made to Glenda Beall, 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904.  Be sure to give your name and email address.

Young Harris College Students and Heifer International

Young Harris College, right across the line from my home in North Carolina is a college I'd recommend for anyone who seeks higher education. They are now a four year school.

I receive newsletters and invitations to events there. I know people on staff and know the integrity of those people.
In a recent newsletter I read an article about ten students who went on an alternative spring break, not the kind that makes news on TV. These young people went to a farm in Arkansas and learned about something they had only heard about - real poverty. This program was part of Heifer International, a global nonprofit organization that strives to end poverty and hunger in a sustainable fashion.

Click on the link below and see what these students did and what they had to say about the experience. I am impressed with them and their school.

http://www.yhc.edu/pages/yhc.php?id=1943&utm_source=Mountain+Lines+April+2012&utm_campaign=Mountain+Lines+April+2012&utm_medium=email

Writing Memoir at Young Harris College for ICL

My class at Young Harris College, Young Harris, GA has filled but today I gave permission to add one more student. I hope you have registered if you planned to attend. (see information on registration on sidebar)

Each class will only be two hours long. Therefore, to let all students have time to participate, I like no more than ten - twelve in my classes. Also, a small class lends to better bonding of the students. That is important. To tell our true stories with complete honesty for the first time often requires that we trust our audience.

As our writing community grows in Clay County and Cherokee County in NC and Towns and Union Counties in Georgia, it pleases me to see my students reading at Open Mic and widening their horizons trying different genres - poetry, journalism, and more.