Workshops

Kerry Madden's writing has been described as beautiful, lyrical, flawless and rich. She's been writing for two decades and sharing her craft with students for over ten years.

Kerry's simple, fun way of teaching has taken her from China to Britain. In just one hour, Kerry Madden helps young people understand why they should tell their own stories, how they'll benefit from writing and how to do it. From drawing hearts to artist haikus to writing about secret places, Kerry's writing exercises draw out stories just waiting to be told.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Kerry's skills have been honed everywhere from the wealthiest private schools to juvenile hall. Her award-winning work with Teen Moms resulted in a series of theatrical productions written by young mothers. She is currently tutoring two groups of foster kids in Los Angeles as well as teaching Introduction to Fiction Writing at the UCLA Writers Program.

You can hire her for between one and four sessions a day. Each session goes for one hour and includes entertaining and informative teaching methods followed by student participation and question and answer sessions. It costs $300 for one session. $600 for two sessions, $800 for three sessions, or $1,000 for four.

For further information, please contact Nancy at Winding Oak, Kerry's booking agency.

Library Visits: Writing workshops for children as part of the Visiting Author Series. Kerry will lead a series of short writing exercises on plot, character, and setting in order to generate stories. We'll discuss where stories come from and how we have to find the stories hiding in our hearts. Young writers will also have the chance to read from their stories. She will do a reading from Gentle's Holler. Time: 60 min.

School Visits: Writing workshops for all ages from elementary school to high school. Kerry leads young writers in sense memory exercises to help them craft stories of the world around them. She also offers playwriting and poetry prompts to inspire the beginnings of plays and poems. We'll talk about the importance of setting and how Eudora Welty describes setting as "one of the lesser angels watching over the racing hand of fiction." Young writers will have a chance to read or perform their work if they so choose.

A Q&A Session on the writing life and a short reading of Gentle's Holler conclude the workshop. Time: 60 to 120 mins.