Hone your craft with workshops at the 2011 Frye Festival!
Comedy, Poetry, Fiction and creative writing workshops are open to the public!
Comedy writers of all genres will be eager to grab a pen and some paper during the next Frye Festival. Internationally known comedic writer Randy Pearlstein will be in town to offer a Writing for Comedy Workshop on Saturday April 30 from 12:30 pm to 3:45 pm. The event is part of the workshop series offered by the Frye Festival, Atlantic Canada’s largest literary happening, which will take place from April 25 to May 1 in the Greater Moncton region. Other workshops on the schedule include poetry and fiction, as well as writing workshops for kids.
“No matter what kind of comedy writing you do: fiction, screenplays, stand-up or sketch, this is the workshop for you!” says Dawn Arnold, Chair of the Frye Festival. “Comedy is a booming industry these days and we are happy to announce the support of Enterprise Greater Moncton for this event.” The Writing for Comedy Workshop will take place at the Dieppe Arts and Culture Centre on April 30.
Tickets for the comedy, fiction and poetry workshops are on sale at www.tickets.moncton.ca. Children’s workshops are free and will take place during KidsFest on Saturday, April 30, starting at 10:30 am.
Writing for Comedy Workshop with Randy Pearlstein
Toronto native Randy Pearlstein will share numerous storytelling techniques that can be used with almost any form of comedy: screenplay, fiction, stand-up or theatre. Participants will write jokes and scenes together and see how they play when amended to fit your voice and current projects. This workshop is offered in English.
Pearlstein is a professor of film and television at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Currently, Randy lends his voice to Leonard on the animated series Ugly Americans (Comedy Network) and tours with his sketch group New Exc!tement (2010 Montreal Just For Laughs Festival). Other credits include Chappelle’s Show, Onion Sports Network, Michael and Michael Have Issues and co-writing the film Cabin Fever. Tickets for this event are $50 ($45 for PWAC members).
Fiction and Poetry Workshops
All poets (published and closet!) are invited to get creative with a poetry workshop with award-winning writer Tammy Armstrong. Her work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies in Canada, US, Europe, the UK and Algeria. She has published two novels and four poetry collections. Her newest poetry collection is The Scare in the Crow from Goose Lane Editions. She currently lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Tammy’s poetry workshop will be held on Thursday, April 28, from 10 am to 12 pm at the Moncton public Library. This workshop is offered in English.
On Friday, April 29, join author Hélène Dorion for a creative writing workshop in French at the Moncton Public Library. Born in Québec City, Dorion has published over 20 books of poetry, stories and essays. Her work has been widely translated and published in 15 countries, and garnered a number of honours and prestigious literary awards in Québec and abroad. The 90-minute workshop starts at 10:30 am. (This workshop will be in French.)
On Saturday April 30, join Mark Anthony Jarman for a fiction writing workshop from 10 am to 12 pm at the Riverview Public Library. Jarman is the author of 19 Knives, My White Planet, New Orleans Is Sinking, Dancing Nightly in the Tavern and the travel book Ireland’s Eye. His novel, Salvage King Ya!, is on Amazon.ca’s list of 50 Essential Canadian Books and is the number one book on Amazon’s list of best hockey fiction. Jarman teaches at the University of New Brunswick where he is fiction editor of The Fiddlehead.
For the kids
The Frye Festival always offers writing workshops for youngsters during KidsFest (Saturday, April 30, from 9:30 am to 12 pm). Children writer Helaine Becker will lead a workshop targeted to kids 10 to 12 years old in English, while storyteller Christine Adjahi will present a writing workshop for children aged 8 to 12 in French. Both workshops will be held at the Moncton Public Library. There is no need to register and both workshops are free!
Tickets
Tickets for all adult workshops are on sale at www.tickets.moncton.ca at the cost of $10 each, except for Randy Pearlstein’s Writing for Comedy Workshop, which is $50 ($45 for PWAC members).
For more information regarding the 12th edition of the Frye Festival and its program, visit www.frye.ca.
Thanks for this! I’ve definitely been missing the details about workshops in the past few years. Knowing who is conducting it and what genre it’s in just doesn’t interest me as much as knowing a little bit about the focus does.
I’m signing up to a few right now!