2008 Writers' Institute Instructors

Presenter descriptions are listed in alphabetical order.

Lauren E. Abramo joined Dystel & Goderich Literary Management after earning an M.A. in Irish Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway.  Now she represents her own clients as well as managing subsidiary rights for the agency.  She is always on the lookout for literary fiction with a focus on character and voice, as well as commercial fiction, especially women’s fiction and paranormal.  She’s also interested in a wide variety of nonfiction including pop culture, pop reference, politics, current affairs, cultural studies, science, media, history, and irreverent practical nonfiction.

Frank Bures has lived in Italy, Tanzania, New Zealand and Thailand. His writing has appeared in Wired, Outside, Tin House, Mother Jones, and other magazines. He is a contributing editor for the award-winning travel website, WorldHum.com, and his work was included in Best American Travel Writing 2004 and the new Travelers Tales anthology, What Color is Your Jockstrap? Funny Men and Women Write from the Road. He is the winner of a 2007 Lowell Thomas Award.

For stories in her collection Pray For Yourself (TiQuarterly Books), Anne Calcagno received the San Francisco Foundation Phelan Literary Award, an NEA Fellowship and two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships. Her fiction has appeared in The North American Review, TriQuarterly, Denver Quarterly, Epoch, Other Voices and a number of anthologies. Her story "What's Yours?" received an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award. Her novel Out of The Pit, about dog fighting in Chicago, is currently being marketed. She is at work on a second novel, Struck By Dina, about the Italian colonization of East Africa. She is also editor of Travelers Tales: Italy, which won Foreword’s Silver Medal for Best Travel Book of the Year. Her features and travel writing have appeared in the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, the Italian American Historical Society, New City, and the Chicago Sun-Times. She is on the faculty of the School in the Art Institute’s MFA in Writing program.

Marshall J. Cook teaches writing for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Continuing Studies. His 27 published books include the Monona Quinn Mystery Series (Murder over Easy, Murder at Midnight, Twin Killing) and the true crime book The Great Wisconsin Manhunt of 1961. Writer’s Digest recently published his guide, Give ’Em What They Want: The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents, written with Blythe Camenson. He edits Creativity Connection: the writer’s quarterly encouragement.

Patricia Crisafulli is an author, essayist, and speaker whose works have been featured by national and regional media. She is also the founder of www.FaithHopeandFiction.com, a fast-growing monthly e-literary magazine and community, featuring quality short stories, poems, essays, author interviews, and other original content. She is the author of the nonfiction book, Remembering Mother, Finding Myself: A Journey of Love and Self-Acceptance, published in 1999 by HCI Books Inc. (under the name Patricia Commins). Patricia has been profiled in Cosmopolitan Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and several regional newspapers. A former correspondent for Reuters America Inc., Patricia was a journalist for many years. Her previously published works include creative essays on Africa, Berlin and Switzerland published in The Christian Science Monitor. Her piece, “Bananas Ripe with Lessons,” based on her travels through the Ivory Coast, was featured on American Public Radio. In addition, she has written feature articles for the Leisure & Arts page of The Wall Street Journal. She is also the co-author and/or ghostwriter of a dozen books on business and finance published by John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Prentice-Hill, and others. She lives in suburban Chicago with her husband and son.

Robert Curry writes fiction, plays, and screenplays, including the script for “The Last Great Ride,” starring Ernest Borgnine and Eileen Brennan, and teaches writing and acting for the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies and Madison Area Technical College. He also edits fiction and drama on a professional freelance basis. Bob teaches fiction in UW-Madison’s June Write-by-the-Lake Workshop & Retreat. He has MFA degrees in fiction and acting and is currently working on a novel. Bob has worked as a professional actor for 25 years.

J.A. Konrath is the author of four books in the Lt. Jaqueline “Jack” Daniels thriller series. The latest, Fuzzy Navel, will be released by Hyperion and Brilliance Audio in June 2008. Joe is also the editor of the mystery anthology These Guns For Hire, for Bleak House Books. His short stories and articles have appeared in over fifty publications. He teaches fiction writing and marketing at the College of Dupage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and writes a popular blog called “A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.” Visit him at JAKonrath.com.

Dara Marks, Ph.D., is the author of a groundbreaking new book, Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc. She is also a leading international script consultant and seminar speaker. Her unique method of story analysis has earned her top ratings by Creative Screenwriting Magazine as the best consultant in the business. She has worked with most major Hollywood studios and many independent filmmakers and her consulting clients range from beginning and apprentice writers to top studio writers and executives. Her doctorate degree is in Mythological Studies – the study of the human story.

Angela Rydell teaches poetry workshops for the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies, including the annual Writers’ Institute conference. She has also taught creative writing workshops throughout Madison, in the adult education program at Edgewood College, as poet-in-residence in elementary schools, and in programs for senior citizens. Her work has been published in Alaska Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, Poets & Writers, and other journals. She holds an MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson College.

Victoria Skurnick started in publishing as a promotion and advertising assistant at Avon Books. She became assistant director of advertising and promotion at Pocket Books, then director of advertising and promotion at Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Her career as an editor began at Pocket Books, continued as senior editor at St. Martin's Press, and led to a twenty-year career at The Book-of-the-Month Club, where she was editor-in-chief.  In addition to her career on the publishing side of the fence, she has also co-authored seven novels under the name Cynthia Victor. In May of 2007, she joined The Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, where she has developed books including The Dangerous Book for Dogs, published October 9, 2007 by Ballantine, and Old City Hall, by Toronto attorney Robert Rotenberg, to be published by Sarah Crichton at Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2009. Other books she has sold include literary novels, mysteries, thrillers, narrative nonfiction and books on health and spirituality.

T.A. (Todd) Stone is an award-winning mystery writer and the author of Novelist’s Boot Camp—101 Ways to take your Fiction from Boring to Bestseller (Writers Digest Books, April 2006). Stone’s most recent mystery, No Place Like Home, debuted to four-star reviews. He is also the author of the Digital Literature Institute Best of Fiction Winner and INDIE Mystery Winner, Close to Home, and the NY Times Review of Books-acclaimed military techno-thriller, Kriegspiel. His second military thriller is The Best Defense. Stone is also a contributor to the best-selling Electronic Publishing, the Definitive Guide. The head writer for the interactive mystery website Crime Scene (www.crimescene.com), Stone is a member of the Author's Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, the National Writers' Union, the Crime Writers’ Guild, and is a graduate of his local Citizens Police Academy. He is a founding member of the board of the international mystery/dark fiction conference Love is Murder. Stone is a former assistant professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his MA in English from Northwestern University. He lives with his family in a suburb outside Chicago. For more information see www.storytellerroad.com.

Amy Tipton joined FinePrint Literary Management (formerly the Peter Rubie Literary Agency) in the summer of 2006. She graduated from Naropa University with a B.A. in writing and literature and received her MFA from New College of California in writing. She comes to the agency after working as a literary assistant and office manager at several literary agencies including JCA Literary Agency, Diana Finch Literary Agency, Gina Maccoby Literary Agency, and Liza Dawson Associates. Amy has also worked as a book scout for Aram Fox, Inc. dealing with foreign rights. In addition to her agenting experience, Amy also worked as a freelance editor to Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears Prada. Her work is published in the anthology, Controlled Burn, and pieces of her first and second novel can be found in a variety of literary journals. Amy is looking for literary fiction, women's fiction, nonfiction/memoir, and YA.

Laurel Yourke, of the UW-Madison Department of Liberal Studies and the Arts, is the author of Take Your Characters to Dinner: Creating the Illusion of Reality in Fiction and Waiting for Beethoven, a poetry collection. She has received the UW-Madison Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Council of Wisconsin Writers Award for Encouragement of Wisconsin Writers. Her ongoing intermediate and advanced critique groups began in 1995, and she has taught literature and creative writing at School of the Arts at Rhinelander, the Write-by-the-Lake Retreat in Madison, Distance Education courses, Elderhostel, and interactive television. Her poetry has appeared in various university presses and other periodicals including Wisconsin Academy Review and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She recently sold a short fiction piece to the popular “Cup of Comfort” series.

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File last updated: January 2008
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