THE WRITERS’ ACADEMY AT THE KRAVIS CENTER: WHERE BLANK PAPER BECOMES ART
(West Palm Beach, FL.) – Calling all aspiring novelists! The Writers’ Academy at The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts has five courses available to attend for writers of all experience levels and genres to hone their skills. Conducted by Pulitzer Prize-nominated biographer, novelist, playwright and teacher, Julie Gilbert, The Writers’ Academy encourages, nurtures and develops creative writing skills in most genres of expression.
“The writers I work with at the Kravis Center are a funny, wise, intelligent and sophisticated bunch,” says Gilbert. “But what has separated them from the myriad of writers I have worked with is that they are daring. After a while, trusting that a solid amount of technique and the discipline of writing steadily would be their safety net, they have ventured up on the high wire.”
Students who have participated in The Writers’ Academy classes have found their own literary acclaim as a result of Gilbert’s teachings. Local author Mary Simses went on to write the novel The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Café, published by Little, Brown and Company. The Kravis Center has also published two books written by Writers’ Academy members: Driving Woodie: Tales From the Home Front During World War II by Martha McMullen and Verbal Snacks by Nancy Sims.
“The Writers Academy at the Kravis Center has allowed me to fulfill a life-long goal of becoming a writer in my retirement,” said Linda Kiess, a former Writers’ Academy student. “Julie not only provides tools so we can continue to improve, but also fosters a safe and welcoming space for us to try new things. Over the years, we’ve become a wonderfully supportive group with Julie’s leadership. I value the friendship and feedback I continue to receive from my fellow advanced writers.”
Gilbert was nominated for a National Book Critic’s Circle Award for Ferber: A Biography of Edna Ferber and Her Circle and a Pulitzer Prize nomination for Opposite Attraction: The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard. She has taught fiction writing and playwriting at New York University and Florida Atlantic University as well as running The Writers’ Academy at the Kravis Center.
“I took my first class with Julie about four years ago , just as a fluke, and I’ve been hooked ever since,” said Lou Marotta, a current Writers’ Academy student. “I had no idea I had all this pent-up emotion that was just waiting to come out, to be told. The Writers’ Academy at the Kravis Center has changed my life for the better. The classes there have helped me tell my story.”
Classes with Gilbert are offered for every stage of writer, from beginner to advanced, starting January 4, 2022, at the Eunice and Julian Cohen Pavilion. The classes include Kickstart Your Writing Ability to Advanced Technique with the opportunity for selected writers to showcase and present their writing in April 2022.
- Advanced Technique – January 4 through March 15, 2022; by invitation
- This course of six sessions of 2 hours each is by invitation only. It is for dedicated writers who have worked with Gilbert in establishing voice, technique, style, work habits, projects and durability. This is for the writer who has decided upon the ‘writing life.’
- Kickstart Your Writing Ability – January 6, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.; tickets $30
- An experience for the curious and adventurous, Kickstart is for those about to take the exciting leap into writing. Learn how to release the writer within and how to unlock your very own muse with Julie Gilbert.
- Writers’ Launch – January 10 through February 14, 2022; tickets $325
- Writers’ Launch is just that – a pad from which to raise written expression. Within every person there are unspoken thoughts and memories, there is buried treasure. This course is designed to alchemize this unexpressed bounty into a discipline of form, content, technique and style resulting in a story. The focus and goal of this is toward a fictional story.
- Evolving Technique – February 28 through April 4, 2022; tickets $325
- This is a course for all writers who are honing their craft, working toward a substantial project, starting a first draft or beginning a rewrite. There is diagnostic, ongoing study of the writer in relationship to self as well as to the critique of others.
- Showcase the Writing – April 1, 2022 at 7 p.m.; tickets $10
- Showcase the Writing is open to the public and will showcase talented new writers . Selected members of The Writers’ Academy will present all genres of work.
“We are grateful to have been awarded a very generous grant from the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation for the Kravis Center’s arts education program and to its Writers’ Academy, which helps the Center provide these programs to the community,” said Diane Bergner, Senior Director of Development at the Kravis Center.
The Kravis Center remains committed to the health and safety of our artists, staff, audience, volunteers and guests. Like many other performing arts centers throughout the country, we have implemented new health and safety protocols to ensure the comfort and enjoyment for everyone visiting the Center. To learn more about our current health and safety protocols visit kravis.org/healthsafety.
The Kravis Center is a not-for-profit performing arts center located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach, FL. The Center’s mission is to enhance the quality of life in Palm Beach County by presenting a diverse schedule of national and international artists and companies of the highest quality, by offering comprehensive arts education programs – serving nearly 3 million students since its inception; by providing a Palm Beach County home for local and regional arts organizations to showcase their work; and by providing an economic catalyst and community leadership in West Palm Beach, supporting efforts to increase travel and tourism to Palm Beach County. For more information about The Writers’ Academy and to register for the different courses, please visit www.kravis.org/performance-calendar/writersacademy.