Lecture: The Pleasures and Perils of a Freelancer’s Life “Don’t quit your day job.” You’ve probably heard, and perhaps heeded, that practical advice. But what if you decide to throw caution to the wind and become a full-time freelance writer? Margaret Lucke did just that – a move that has led her in some surprising

Poet Kathleen Lynch is known for her ability to find the extraordinary in the ordinary and has written moving poems on such topics as crabgrass and breakfast. She will discuss finding sources of inspiration, even in the mundane details of everyday life; using humor in poetry; and the process of writing a poem from the

What do writing and wishing have in common? Plenty, according to Noelle Oxenhandler, our February speaker and author of the memoir, The Wishing Year. Part memoir, part history, and part metaphysical journey, The Wishing Year is Oxenhandler’s chronicle of her year of putting it out there, a concept familiar to writers who experience their own

How long does it take to write an award-winning novel? One year? Ten? Alice Wilson-Fried spent seven years crafting her debut novel, Outside Child. Laurel Anne Hill wrote her award-winning Heroes Arise in seven months. Were these authors’ successful approaches to writing different, or the same? Laurel Ann Hill grew up in San Francisco, with

Lecture: Janis Cooke Newman This is terrain historical novelist Janis Cooke Newman knows well. Her novel, Mary, about Mary Todd Lincoln, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist and #3 on the Bay Area Best Seller List in 2006. Janis will explore the unique challenge writers of historical fiction face, and share her personal