Webhost note: I got this notice in the email, and thought someone might want to have a look at it.
About Odyssey
Since its inception in 1996, Odyssey has become one of the most respected workshops in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing community. Odyssey is for developing writers whose work is approaching publication quality and for published writers who want to improve their work. The six-week workshop combines an intensive learning and writing experience with in-depth feedback on student manuscripts. Top authors, editors, and agents have served as guest lecturers, including George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, Jane Yolen, Terry Brooks, Robert J. Sawyer, Ben Bova, Nancy Kress, Elizabeth Hand, Jeff VanderMeer, Donald Maass, Sheila Williams, Shawna McCarthy, Carrie Vaughn, and Dan Simmons. Fifty-three percent of Odyssey graduates go on to professional publication.
The program is held every summer on Saint Anselm College's beautiful campus in Manchester, NH. Saint Anselm is one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country, dedicated to excellence in education, and its campus provides a peaceful setting and state-of-the-art facilities for Odyssey students. College credit is available upon request.
Jeanne Cavelos, Odyssey's director, founder, and primary instructor, is a best-selling author and a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, where she won the World Fantasy Award for her work. Being a writer/editor makes Cavelos uniquely suited to provide students with constructive and professional critiques of their work. "I give the same unflinchingly honest, concrete, detailed feedback that I provided as a senior editor," Cavelos said. Her typewritten critiques average over 1,000 words, and her handwritten line edits on manuscripts are extensive. In addition, she guides students through the six weeks, gaining in-depth knowledge of their work, providing detailed assessments of their strengths and weaknesses in private meetings, and helping them target their weaknesses one by one.
Odyssey class time is split between workshopping sessions and lectures. An advanced, comprehensive curriculum covers the elements of fiction writing in depth. Students learn the tools and techniques necessary to strengthen their writing.
The workshop runs from June 7 to July 16, 2010. Class meets for four hours in the morning, five days a week. Students spend about eight hours more per day writing and critiquing each other's work. Prospective students, aged eighteen and up, apply from all over the world. The early admission application deadline is JANUARY 30, and the regular admission deadline is APRIL 8. Tuition is $1900, and housing is $775 for a double room and $1550 for a single.
Meet Our 2010 Writer-in-Residence
Odyssey's 2010 writer-in-residence, Laura Anne Gilman, is a former Executive Editor at NAL/Penguin USA and the author of several fantasy series. The sixth book in her urban fantasy Retrievers Series, Blood from Stone, came out in May 2009. The second book of the The Vineart War trilogy, Weight of Stone, will be available in October of 2010. Ms. Gilman has also written a young adult trilogy, Grail Quest; paranormal romance novels under the name of Anne Leonard; and media tie-in novels. She has co-edited a number of anthologies and published over thirty works of short fiction, ranging in genre from mainstream, to science fiction, to horror.
Other Guest Lecturers
Odyssey is pleased to welcome its 2010 guest lecturers: Bram Stoker Award-winner Michael A. Arnzen; World Fantasy Award-winner Elizabeth Hand; Gregory Frost, bestselling author and Swarthmore College Fiction Writing Workshop Director; Alexander Jablokov, author of six science fiction novels; and David G. Hartwell, Senior Editor at Tor/Forge Books, winner of several Hugo awards, a World Fantasy award, and editor of four Nebula-winning novels.
Odyssey Graduates
If you're reading science fiction, fantasy, and horror, you're reading the work of Odyssey graduates. If you've read recent issues of some of the top fiction magazines in the field--Realms of Fantasy, Asimov's, Analog, Weird Tales, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Apex Magazine, and Space & Time--you've read stories by Odyssey graduates Eric James Stone, David Barr Kirtley, Erin Hoffman, Clayton Kroh, Larry Hodges, Scott H. Andrews, Matthew S. Rotundo, Carrie Vaughn, Carl Frederick, and World Fantasy Award-winner Theodora Goss.
If you've been to the bookstore lately, you've seen books by Odyssey graduates, including New York Times bestseller Kitty Raises Hell by Carrie Vaughn, published by Grand Central; Superpowers by David J. Schwartz, published by Random House; Dragonseed by James Maxey, published by Solaris Books; Foxfire by Barbara Campbell, published by DAW; Brass Dragon Codex by R. D. Henham, published by Mirrorstone Books; Written in Blood by Luisa Prieto, published by Allure Books; Kings and Assassins by Lane Robins, published by Del Rey; Evil Ways: A Morris and Chastain Investigation by Justin Gustainis, published by Solaris Books; and Sins & Shadows by Lyn Benedict, published by Ace.
Comments from the Class of 2009
"I would recommend Odyssey to anyone who wants to write science fiction, fantasy, or horror professionally. Your writing will make quantum leaps in quality during a challenging six weeks. Jeanne is a fantastic instructor and her experience as a writer and also as an industry professional come through in every class and critique. The guest lecturers and writer-in-residence add a fresh dimension and perspectives not only on how to write science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also what it takes and what it means to be a professional writer." --Travis Heermann, author of Heart of the Ronin
"I've never worked with an instructor who was so dedicated to my personal learning. Odyssey is an extraordinary experience because Jeanne puts so much of her love of writers, the craft, and the genres into it." --Peter Simonson
Other Odyssey Resources and Services
The Odyssey Web site, www.odysseyworkshop.org, offers many resources for writers, including a critique service, free podcasts, writing and publishing tips, and a weekly writing LiveJournal, as well as more information about how to apply. Also available on the site is information about the Odyssey's new online classes.
Those interested in applying to the workshop should visit the Web site, phone (603) 673-6234, or e-mail jcavelos@sff.net.
