As a writer there can be nothing scarier or more filled with possibility than blank pieces of paper, except a manuscript page with a jumble of ideas that need to be transformed into a cohesive, seamless story. The workshop is aimed toward tackling these problems. I will conduct morning group sessions with exercises, free-writing, lectures and short readings directed at solving these problems. In the afternoons each student will meet with me separately in a one on one conference to discuss his or her submitted manuscript pages and address the specific tools of fiction writing needed to take the work to the next level. This workshop is open to writers of fiction and non-fiction.

It is my belief that every writer possesses his or her own creative DNA--the unique amalgam of experience, perception and voice, which no one can utilize but you. It is my goal to help you discover and refine your own personal paint box of tools, talents and concerns, preparing you to write stories that will engage both you as a writer, and your reader.

Includes: All instruction, all housing (double occupancy), all breakfasts and lunches, four dinners, pick up and drop off at transportation centers in Toulouse or Agen. Single occupancy requires a $200 supplement.

PRAISE FOR BRUCE BAUMAN

"I began writing my memoir in Bruce's UCLA class, and thanks to his guidance and inspiration, I am now
publishing my book with St Martin's Press. Bruce is the kind of teacher who sets you on the path to great,
insightful, inspired writing. I owe my new life as an author to him."
                                                                                             –Alison Singh Gee, The Peacock Cries for Rain

"Bruce is a brilliant teacher, insightful and encouraging.
He helps you recognize your talent and develop your writing to its fullest potential."
– Kathy Seal, co-author, Pressured Parents, Stressed-out Kids:
Dealing With Competition While Raising a Successful Child (Prometheus, 2008)
and Motivated Minds: Raising Children to Love Learning (Holt, 2001.)

Work-study Scholarship
There is one partial work-study scholarship available for this workshop. Click here for more information and application guidelines.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Bruce Bauman, a professor in the CalArts MFA writing program since 2002 has taught courses in the novel, short story, narrative and popular criticism. (Many of his students have gone on to publish successfully.) He is the author of the novel And The Word Was, which Booklist called "a magnificent debut, smart and intense, but accessible and riveting. This is simply a great novel." The novel was optioned for film by Volume One production company. Reviewers have compared his work to Robert Stone, Camus and Larry David. Bruce was a UNESCO/Aschberg laureate for literature in 2000 and received a fellowship to Sanskriti Center for the Arts in New Delhi, India. His work has appeared in Salon, BOMB, Bookforum, The LA Weekly and numerous literary magazines and anthologies. He is a senior editor of the award-winning Black Clock magazine. Bruce is working on his new novel, Broken Sleep. He recently won the City Los of Angeles of Grant in literature for 2008-'09.