How serious are you about your writing? Do you have a novel or short story in progress, and would you like feedback from an experienced writer and creative writing tutor? At the Windmills this year we will be getting down to business – with Jack Hodgins, who has helped many a budding author make the step from "aspiring" to "published" writer.

This is what some of his students have said about him:
"I credit him for being the hardest instructor I ever had. He didn't let me get away with anything and I really thank him for that." Gail Anderson-Dargatz, former student and best-selling author of the novels The Cure for Death by Lightning, and A Recipe for Bees.

"What stands out is his ability to ask the right questions. He probably made a bigger contribution to my life than any other writer." Bill Chalmers, former student and author of the novel No More Worthy.

"The characteristic thing about Jack is that he is fundamentally enthusiastic. He has an endless fascination with people doing things well and he celebrates that at every opportunity." Jay Connolly, former student and author of the novel Dancewater Blues.

"He was the most organized, thoughtful, hardworking prof I have had. His comments and the thought he put into our stories is very much appreciated." A recent student at the University of Victoria.

An award-winning novelist and short story writer based on Vancouver Island, Jack Hodgins is uniquely qualified to preach what he practices. He has been giving creative writing lessons for almost forty years, at high schools and universities and to writers' summer schools. In recent years his creative writing courses at the University of Victoria have become discreetly famous. His fiction-writing guide, A Passion for Narrative, has become a popular classic, widely used in writing classes and informal writing groups across Canada and in Australia.
"Jack Hodgins, author of a guide for writing fiction entitled A Passion for Narrative, and many novels ... has arguably influenced more students of literature, and of life, than any other instructor at the University of Victoria's Creative Writing Department, where his reputation not only precedes him, it defines him." Joy Gugeler, in Pier magazine.

(read more about Jack Hodgins below)

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THE COURSE:

The Prose fiction Workshop at the Windmills:

The emphasis in this workshop will be on writing narrative fiction, primarily in novels and short stories, though creative writers working in non-fiction will also be welcome.
Mornings will be devoted to a group workshop which, apart from addressing some of the general issues facing prose fiction writers, will give particular attention to the problems detected by Jack in the samples of writing sent in ahead of time, as well as to any questions that arise during the workshop.
Throughout the week, during the afternoons, all participants will have a chance for intensive, one-on-one sessions with Jack Hodgins to discuss their work. (And, if past workshops are anything to go by, there will also be engrossing discussions between group members that go on late into the night…)
Writers who would like to be considered for the workshop are invited to send the following work, as soon as possible (latest, July 1st, 2005) :

1. A precis or short description (a page or less) of the narrative you intend to work on during the week at The Windmills,

2. A sample of your writing, preferably from the narrative you intend to work on (10 to 20 pages). Novelists may wish to submit, as their sample, the opening pages and a passage from later in the novel.

3. A page or less indicating the aspects of writing that have been giving you the most trouble and/or which you wish to hear discussed.
Since space at the workshop is limited (maximum twelve participants), we suggest you send in your work as early as possible, by email.

Please send to: mss@thewritingmill.org
If you have further questions, write to: mss@thewritingmill.org

Cost:
The cost for the seven day workshop, which includes full board and lodging and ground transport in Majorca, is 900 euros, excluding flights.
Deposit, payable on registration : 300 E.

DEADLINES: Deadline for submitting completed applications, manuscripts, etc (see "Submissions" above) is MAY 15th.

Late entries only considered if there is still room. We take a maximum of nine participants, so apply early!

Early registrants are offered a 50 euro discount. If you and your work are accepted into the workshop by May 1st, you pay only 850 euros.

The workshop fee covers all expenses during the workshop week – full board and lodging, on-island transport, course fees. Bring your laptop if you have one; one computer is available for those who come without, plus printers and a photocopier. You will not need a car during the workshop. We can arrange accommodation locally for the days before or after the course, if you would like to spend more time on the island. We recommend you take out a travel/medical insurance policy to cover your stay on Majorca.

More about Jack Hodgins:

His fiction has won the Governor General's Award, the Gibson's First Novel Award, the Eaton's B.C. Book Award, the Commonwealth Literature Prize (regional), the Canada-Australia Prize, the Drummer General's Award, and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.

Titles include: Spit Delaney's Island (stories),The Invention of the World (novel), The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne (novel), The Barclay Family Theatre (stories), Left Behind in Squabble Bay (children's novel), The Honorary Patron (novel), Innocent Cities (novel), Over Forty in Broken Hill (travel), A Passion for Narrative (a guide to writing fiction), The Macken Charm, (novel), Broken Ground (novel), and Distance (novel). In the fall of 2004 he will publish a book of short stories titled Damage Done by the Storm.

His stories have been televised or adapted for radio and the stage, and he has been translated into Dutch, Hungarian, Japanese, German, Russian, Italian, Polish, and Norwegian. Several of his books are taught in European universities, and his work has been the subject of a number of critical studies by scholars in Canada and Europe, as well as a book by David Jeffrey, Jack Hodgins and His Work. The National Film Board of Canada made a film about him, Jack Hodgins' Island, and in 1996, Oolichan Press published a collection of essays on his work, titled On Coasts of Eternity, edited by J. R. (Tim) Struthers.

In June of 1995, the University of B.C. granted him an honorary D.Litt for – according to the UBC Chronicle – bringing "renown to the university and the province as one of Canada's finest fiction writers and as an innovative stylist and distinguished academic." In the spring of 1998 he was given an honorary D.Litt by Malaspina University-College, and in 2004 received an honorary D.Litt from the University of Victoria.

In 1996 he was one of ten Canadian writers invited by the French Minister of Culture to be honoured at Les Belles Etrangeres festival in Paris. He has taught fiction writing workshops in Europe and was guest lecturer/conferencee at the academic conference on 'Literatures of the Islands' at the University of Strasbourg, France, and a keynote speaker at the annual conference of Australian teachers of writing. Currently, he is working on a new novel, a collection of stories, and a screenplay based upon Spit Delaney's Island.