Category: Yale Writers Workshop
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YWW: The End
We milled around a small table. Suitcase, backpacks, bulky handbags on the floor around us. I was leaving and trying to hug everyone in my group. I left feeling dazed, not quite sure what I was feeling. The suitcase rattled behind me, its wheels doing overtime as I walked on the cobbled walkways of Stiles…
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YWW: Session II – Day Three
As much as I sound like a broken record, today has been an intense and long day. We did workshop the last set of essays in the morning and had a fascinating discussion on the publishing world after. There were two craft talks. One by Allegra Goodman (who is super good at what she does)…
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YWW: Session II – Day 2
Today has been the longest of the past ten days. I am back in my room exhausted from all the writing, reading, engaging, critiquing and socializing. My group gave feedback on a piece on motherhood I had written. The stack of papers on my desk is overwhelming. I feel like even if I took a…
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YWW: Session II – Day 1
After what I call a break that was not really a break, I started the day by reading four essays, critiquing two and managing to be at lunch to meet with my new group. I turned to the woman on my left and introduced myself only to find she was Hallie Ephron, a mystery writer…
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YWW: Break
Late last evening, I sat with a new friend at the dining hall sipping tea and nibbling on tea cake as she ate her dinner. She mentioned she was planning to see New York City and shamelessly I asked if I could tag along. She agreed and before she could change her mind, we made…
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YWW: Day Six – End of Session One
We met a little late today. The air was decidedly relaxed. Perhaps it was the idea that most of them would be bound for their homes later in the day or that being closeted with a set of people under intense scrutiny for over six days was a bit much. Either way, everybody smiled a…
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YWW: Day Five
We sat in a circle around the table, a good twenty-five of us. We took turns reading from our work. A few were dramatic, some understated, a good number poignant. I finished reading knowing I aced it. The afternoon we listened to editors from literary magazines offer up tips. We sat as agents shared dos…
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YWW: Day Four
Sometimes you spend a couple of days with people and you find the pictures of them you had in your imagination are turned on its head. I went into the workshop with a patchwork of images I had gleaned from their writing. Angsty, Goofy, Raw, Masterful, these were some of the terms that I used…
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YWW: Day Three
Today was a light day with just the workshop in the morning and then a longish break until faculty readings in the evening. I got to meet with my mentor one on one and we went over my submission. I am still undecided as to how it went but there were so many other things…
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YWW: Day Two
I woke up without an alarm for the second day running just birdsong and a quietude that is precious because I know it is limited. When I first mulled staying in a dorm, I worried about the common showers. Today, I had it down pat. First one in, a quick shower reminiscent of my childhood…
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YWW: Day One
I had trouble falling asleep in a room that creaked and groaned like it was possessed. I woke up to birdsong. A half hour later I was showered and out on the streets looking for coffee at the ungodly hour of 6:30 AM. The grocery store nearby had weak coffee and lukewarm bagels and I…
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YWW Day Zero: Getting Settled In
I left home bright and early and caught the morning train from home to Philadelphia and from there the connection to New Haven. Going by train was a throwback to the countless journeys in India between Coimbatore and Chennai and later Chennai and Bangalore. The sense of timelessness knowing you are on your own with…
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On The Brink
The suitcase lies open on top of our breakfast table. I take things out and put some back in. It is pretty heavy. Saathi reminds me that I could make do with far lesser clothes. I waver and decide to lug all of it with me. I have checklists in varying stages of completion. My…
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YWW Journal: Prep Work
My heart skips a beat each time I see a red marker indicating emails in my account dedicated to writing-related stuff. With approximately 10 days to go before my workshop starts, I have been hearing from the instructors and part of my cohort. We each have been asked to submit a piece of work we…