If You’ve Got the Money, Honey, I’ve Got the Time

[Originally posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2005]

I don???t know why that old Willie Nelson lyric popped into my head?Ķ probably because I wish I had the funds to attend this workshop.

The fine folks at Tin House are putting on a great writer???s workshop from July 9th through the 16th. It looks like it???s too late to apply for one of the scholarships, but I can???t find any final application deadlines. It???s pretty pricy?Ķ if you applied today, $1050 plus $550 for food and lodging. There are other options that could drive your total up to almost three thousand.

BUT! Look at this faculty!

The list is pretty long, I???m only picking out my favorites:
???Denis Johnson: His story collection Jesus???s Son could easily be one of the most influential collections of recent memory.
???Dorothy Allison: Bestselling author of Bastard Out of Carolina, Cavedweller and others.
???Kevin Canty: One of the short stories in A Stranger in this World has my favorite opening of all of literature.
???Charles D???Ambrosio: Love The Point and Other Stories. Just love it.
???Chris Offutt: My fellow Kentuckian?Ķ I used to play soccer in his home county. Memoirs just don???t get better than the opening chapters of No Heroes. When he writes in the prologue that ???Here, you won???t get judged by your jeans and boots. . . . Never again will you worry that you???re using the wrong fork, saying the wrong thing, or expecting people to keep their word. . . . You are no longer from somewhere. Here is where you are. This is home??? every person who???s ever returned will know what he???s talking about.

There are so many other people at this workshop that I???m not going to bother listing them all. If you???ve got the cash, then think about signing up. Or better yet, give me the money so I can go.

Check out the workshop’s website here.