Mark Twain returns to UMKC

Mark Twain is coming back to Kansas City this June. The Mark Twain creative writing workshop, that is.

The workshop is named after Samuel Clemen's pen name as a tribute to the Missouri writer, according to Robert Stewart, editor of New Letters magazine and one of the teachers at the Mark Twain.

"He represents the kind of skeptical realistic tough minded view of the world that we aspire to," Stewart said.

The workshop is in its 29th year according to newletters.org. This year, Stewart and Michael Pritchett, an assistant professor of English and professional writer, will teach the workshop.

"I focus on poetry and literary non-fiction. The fiction writer is Michael Pritchett," Stewart said

The workshop runs three hours a day, five days a week. The day starts at 9:30 a.m. with an hour-long presentation. Sometimes Stewart or Pritchett speak. However, there are also many guest speakers who will present during this time.

"All the different kinds of writers participate in all the different kinds of presentations about writing," Stewart said. "… It expands their sense of the possibilities of their own type of writing."

This year some of the guest speakers will be Laura Moriarity, Greg Michaleson and Jack Fuller. Fuller will hold a publishing symposium during the workshop where he'll speak about how to get published.

There are also some creative writing teachers from UMKC speaking. Michelle Boisseau, Christie Hodgen, Hadara Bar-Nadav and Mitch Brian will speak, along with other professors.

"That's another thing that's exciting about the Mark Twain is that all these different guest speakers come in. Every day is different from the day before," Stewart said. "There's no monotony at the Mark Twain."

After the morning presentation, poetry and non-fiction students go with Stewart and fiction students go with Pritchett. Students workshop their material the rest of the morning.

"To me it's a time to really break loose from the traditional classroom structure," Stewart said. "… We have a lot of fun during those three weeks. There's a tremendous amount of camaraderie that's built up."

Anyone who is interested in writing and who is of college age or older can take the workshop. "We have women and men in there who are well into their 70s, some of them on ventilator machines. We've had freshman," Stewart said. "It doesn't have to be people who are creative writing majors. We've had people you'd recognize as local television personalities come because they were interested in writing."

The Mark Twain workshop runs from June 7-27 everyday from 9:30 to 12:30. The workshop will have instruction on writing poetry, fiction and non-fiction. As well as, keeping a journal, writing for TV and movies, teaching creative writing and submitting and placing your work, according to newletters.org.

Writers can take the course for non-credit through continuing education or for three hours of an English undergraduate or graduate course. Course numbers can be found on newletters.org. To get more information about the course or to sign up, call the English department at 816-235-1305. UMKC students can also sign up through pathway.

jburche@unews.com