Ringling College of Art and Design’s Creative Writing program partners with The Hermitage to support Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources in launching Off the Page: A Literary Celebration.
The events commence on November 1, with a novel writing workshop at Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Library. The NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) workshop, led by Ringling College Creative Writing Coordinator Ryan G. Van Cleave, Ph.D., will kick off a series of talks, workshops, and events at locations throughout the county, including a talk at Ringling College’s Alfred R. Goldstein Library on November 14, Tell it Like It Is with Roy Peter Clark, America’s writing coach. Programming for the festival is scheduled until November 18.
Van Cleave, who oversees the College’s Creative Writing major, was instrumental in helping to facilitate programming for the event. He will also join the panel, So You Want to Write Kid Lit?, alongside Creative Writing faculty member and author of many children’s books Sylvia Whitman, and children’s author Dianne Ochiltree. Van Cleave recently co-authored Stronger Than She Thinks, a children’s book, with Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan.
Poet and Ringling Creative Writing adjunct faculty Laura Shoemaker will lead a workshop on creative poetry as a form of activism also at the Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Library on November 4 at 3:30 pm. Creative Writing faculty Rick Dakan will give a talk titled Writing with AI at the Selby Library on Thursday, November 9 at 7 pm. Dakan is the author of Cthulhu Cult: A Novel of Obsession, Geek Mafia, and co-author of Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror For Dummies, with Van Cleave.
Ringling College of Art and Design will give a Teen Writing Workshop on How to Terrify: An Introduction to Horror Writing at North Port Library on Monday November 6 at 4 pm. On Monday, November 13 at 4 pm, they will also host the Teen Writing Workshop on Writing Time-Travel: How to Figure Out When You Are, Save the Planet, and Escape the Time Loop, at North Port Library. Half of Ringling’s Creative Writing majors are helping to team-teach these teen writing workshops—and being paid for their time.
Ringling Illustration faculty Oliver Dominguez ’08, Illustration, and John Herzog will join the panel discussion Off the Page: Illustrator Panel with John Herzog, Jenin Mohammed, Katherine Blackmore, and Oliver Dominguez at Selby Library on Saturday, November 18 at 2 pm.
All events are in-person, open to the public, and free to attend. See more great literary programs from the series on their webpage. The talks cover a range of topics and literary genres, from Neil Gaiman, author of Good Omens and Coraline, to graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier, who authored Smile, Ghosts, and Guts, to Kenny Coogan, author of Florida’s Carnivorous Plants.
Click here for Must Read Books by Participating Authors
