June 15-20, 1996
Santa Fe, New Mexico
As science draws an ever more beautiful and complex picture of the universe, there is a persistent demand for science writers--people who can explain scientific ideas in clear and artistic prose. Drawing on such resources as Los alamos National Laboratories, the Santa Fe Institute, and the School of American Research, participants will work closely with nationally known science writers.
Conference participants will work on real assignments capitalizing on the wealth of research institutions and natural science resources in the Santa Fe region, interacting closely with nationally known science writers and editors. Instructors will work with each participant to research and outline the story, and to critique the final result. Participants new to science writing will get a feel for the profession, while those already working in the field will hone their skills.
Instructors will also give talks describing their experiences working with scientists to translate theories and discoveries into newspaper and magazine articles and into books aimed at a general audience. A special session will be devoted to doing online research.
By the end of the conference participants will have improved and expanded their ability to craft a science story, and know better how to work with some of the interesting and sometimes difficult characters who populate the world of science. They will also receive advice on how to write and sell a proposal for a science book.
Applicants must submit a one-page personal essay describing their background, why they want to attend the workshop, and what they hope to accomplish during their participation. For more information contact:
Southwest Literary Center
1-800-732-6881
Recursos de Santa Fe
email: Recursos@AOL.COM
826 Camino de Monte Rey
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Natalie Angier is a staff science reporter for The New York Times based in Washington, D.C. She won the Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting in 1991 for ten articles on science and medicine. She is the author of The Beauty and the Beastly (Houghton Mifflin, 1995), about fascinating but unpopular species, and Natural Obsessions (Houghton Mifflin, 1988), on the world of cancer research. She's currently at work on a book about female chemistry.
Sandra Blakeslee is a freelance science writer and science correspondent for The New York Times, and lives in Santa Fe. She is co-author, with Dr. Judith Wallerstein, of The Good Marriage: How and Why Love Lasts (Houghton Mifflin, 1995) and Second Chances: Men, Women and Children a Decade after Divorce (Tichnor and Fields, 1989). Her specialty is cognitive neuroscience.
Cory Dean is deputy Washington editor at The New York Times. She handles coverage of domestic policy and related issues, including health and welfare. Before that she was deputy science editor for The New York Times, and she has taught journalism at the University of Rhode Island, Columbia, and Vassar College. Her current book project is Against the Tide: The Battle for American Beaches.
Timothy Ferris is a professor emeritus of journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the best-selling science books, The Mind's Sky (Bantam, 1992) and Coming of Age in the Milky Way (Anchor Doubleday, 1988). He wrote and narrated the popular PBS series "Creation of the Universe" and is presently working on a 13-part PBS series on science and liberty. He specializes in astronomy, physics, and the history and philosophy of science.
George Johnson is a former editor of The New York Times "News of the Week in Review" who now lives in Santa Fe and writes under contract for the Times. His books include Machinery of the Mind (Times Books, 1996), Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith and the Search for Order (Knopf, 1995), and In the Palaces of Memory (Knopf, 1990). His specialties include physics, the limits of science, and the philosophy of science.
Rick Weiss is a health reporter for The Washington Post, and has been a staff writer for Health Magazine and Science News magazine. He specializes in medical topics.
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