Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work!, which gave readers the keys to unlock their creativity and how to share it. His latest release, Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad, completes the trilogy and gives the reader life-changing, illustrated advice and encouragement on how to stay creative, focused, and true to yourself in the face of personal burnout or external distractions. For this craft talk, Austin Kleon will share key insights from Keep Going. Q&A and book signing to follow.

Ekphrasis, a Greek word meaning "description", usually applies to a marriage of visual art and poetry. What happens when music is used as a prompt to inspire writing? This course will challenge writers to compose poetry or fiction inspired by music. This ekphrastic approach will serve as a catalyst for creatives to stretch the boundaries of their craft. It will motivate participants to write relevant poems and stories that address social, cultural, and political topics, as well as introspective works, inspired by live and pre-recorded instrumental music.

Learn techniques that keep readers hooked from the first page to the last. Best-selling author D.M. Pulley shares her thoughts on the elements of a good mystery, building suspense, and how to up the stakes in any story. Brainstorming sessions and guided writing prompts will help participants explore the nature of suspense and how to better engage their audience.

Delve into professional interviewing techniques you can use to mine pertinent information and colorful stories from subjects that are vital to shaping compelling, content-rich nonfiction articles, essays, and books. This workshop will cover how to effectively engage subjects, avoid barriers, record interviews, as well as build trust and manage long-term relationships with interview subjects. Based on Johnston’s decade-plus of reporting on and writing about veterans with PTSD and survivors of sexual violence, the session will also zero in on how to employ compassionate, trauma-informed approaches to interviewing individuals who have suffered serious trauma.

Have haters? Feeling agitated lately? Come express those frustrations through the ancient art of “diss” by participating in a humorous cathartic experience. Workshop will cover antiodes and the compelling usage of symbolism, personification and satire.