Christopher, Brian

Project:  Fiction
During the residency, students are encouraged to expand their vocabulary and word-choice skills, as well as their grasp of the rhythm of writing in regard to sentence variety and fluency. Brian will also focus on revision and the other six traits through a series of mini-lessons.  Students will work toward building a complete short story.  They will learn to engage the reader from the opening sentence and then write one good sentence at a time as the story unfolds.  Students will learn to paint clear pictures through the creative use of details, similes, metaphors, and personification.

Project:  Poetry
This workshop encompasses many of the same writing traits as the fiction workshop.  Students create poems from pools of specific words, emulate existing poems as well as explore exercises involving the expanded mastery of similes, metaphors, personification, and using nouns as adjectives.  Students will complete a minimum of  three poems.

Project: Songwriting
Teaming up with writer Sydney Thompson, students focus on songwriting techniques and approaches, as well as collaboration. Students write original pieces of music that are recorded, with each student receiving their own CD.  This residency is equivalent to two residencies.




Brian Christopher has taught creative writing for organizations such as COW, Saturday Academy, TAG, and Northwest Academy. He is the publisher and editor for Quiet Lion Press and has produced three collections of poetry. His work has appeared in publications such as Quarterly West, Lilliput Review and Portland Review.


Last Updated:  November 2005