Finding the Story in the Picture-Free Writers Workshop

“There is a part of everything which is unexplored, because we are accustomed to using our eyes only in association with the memory of what people before us have thought of the thing we are looking at. Even the smallest thing has something in it which is unknown…” Gustav Flaubert

Are you a writer, or a teacher or student – of poetry, songs, fiction or nonfiction – who wants to sharpen your ability to describe scenes and to tell stories? Kerry Grombacher, a songwriter and music educator based in New Orleans, offers a workshop, “Finding the Story in the Picture,” that will help you find inspiration for a broad range of creative writing and learn to be a better observer and a more expressive writer.

Kerry Grombacher is a noted songwriter who presents workshops on creativity and songwriting at music festivals, museums and schools. His work has been covered by recording artists including Chris Chandler, Gary Prescott, Trails & Rails, Ed Stabler, Lorrie Keating, Duke Davis, The Texas Trailhands, and Earl Gleason. Grombacher is a “first reader” for several published novelists, short story writers and authors of nonfiction, and the Texas Institute of Letters chose him as a judge for its 2008 literary awards. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, the national academic honor society, he did undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Texas in the interdisciplinary American Studies program where literature, art history, folklore, and ethnomusicology were his concentrations.

Students in the workshop will learn to use photos, paintings, the landscape itself, and stories from literature and history to hone their own descriptive and storytelling skills by asking (and answering) four questions: what do I see; what do I know; what do I feel; and what do I imagine? Grombacher stresses the use of strong descriptive language, literary and cultural allusions, and the power of story. Time will be spent in group discussions, writing exercises and focused writing sessions.

This is a free workshop brought to you by Prairie Sky Center for the Arts and Juniper Arts Council. Ages 12 and up are welcome and the workshop will be held upstairs in the Canyon City Community Hall. Registration is not necessary but helpful.