Katya Cengel
Katya Cengel has written for New York Times Magazine and Washington Post among other publications and teaches journalism at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is the author of “Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life” (Nebraska, 2012), “Exiled: From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to California and Back” (Nebraska, 2018) and “From Chernobyl with Love: Reporting from the Ruins of the Soviet Union” (Nebraska, 2019). Cengel has been awarded grants from the International Reporting Project, International Women’s Media Foundation, and International Center for Journalists.
Learn more @ www.katyacengel.com
Virtual Workshop Schedule — Register here
Friday, September 25, 2020–3:30 to 4:30 pm
Nonfiction, The Art of Crafting True Stories
— Part 1: Scenes
Just because nonfiction is true, doesn’t mean it isn’t crafted. The best non-fiction books have characters you fall for and scenes that take you to another place the same way fiction does. They can be on the lighter side — covering life in baseball’s minor leagues — or heavy, looking at refugees and deportation policy. They just have to be true and captivating. This talk will introduce you to the techniques you need to create scenes that will turn your true tale into a page-turner. (You can take both courses in this series or just one)
Friday, September 25, 2020–4:45 to 5:45 pm
Nonfiction, The Art Of Crafting True Stories
— Part 2: Characters
One of the main components of crafting strong narrative non-fiction is developing characters. Yes, even though they are real people I call them characters, because in good narrative non-fiction that is how you should think of them. In this talk you will learn how to find and develop the characters that will make your nonfiction narrative read like a novel. We will cover everything from choosing a character who becomes a star (and then a fallen star), Jose Altuve, to learning how to include the complexities of a character — a murderer who also happens to be a good father. (You can take both courses in this series or just one)
The virtual bookstore will have the following for sale:
