2012 Professional Writers Series - Randy Gragg, “Making Your Pitch”

Ernest Hemingway wrote standing up. Marcel Proust and James Joyce wrote while lying in their respective beds. Ben Franklin sat in the bathtub when he was writing. Some writers write solely on legal pads, some only use No. 2 pencils, many in the electronic age still swim across the page with their fountain pens. Do these idiosyncrasies really help forge a literary career? Come meet five articulate and distinguished Northwest writers from a variety of genres, who will share their views on the creative process. Discover what makes a memoir a memoir, what makes fiction fiction, and what gives meaning to the personal essay. Take part in weekly writing prompts and exercises. And perhaps, walk away from this special series with a new sense of purpose and direction, not to mention an expanded reading list that should spark your imaginative powers for days to come.

Randy Gragg is editor-in-chief of Portland Monthly, the city’s premiere arts and culture magazine. Prior, he was the architecture and urban design critic for The Oregonian where he also wrote on the culture wars, visual art, film and performance. He has written for wide range of national journals, among them, Metropolis, Architectural Record, Landscape Architecture, Harper's, and The New York Times Magazine. He is a recipient of fellowships from the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University and Harvard University’s Graduate Program in design. What makes a cultural magazine cohesive and what is the current market for freelance articles are among the topics of Gragg’s presentation.

Prospective English students: Join us for a reception featuring a panel discussion and Q&A before each event in the Writing Center, Library room 203 from 6:15 - 7 p.m.