"Mystery is not much in favor these days," writes Scott Russell Sanders in Staying Put . "The notion that there are limits to what we can do, what we can know, limits to our dominion, does not set well with kings and queens of the hill. Humility and reverence, we hear, are attitudes of cowards. Why worship a face we cannot measure on a meter? Why tell stories about a power we cannot photograph?"

As an essayist, novelist, and children's book author, this year's keynote speaker has made an eloquent case for the power of stories and the force of spirit. Scott Russell Sanders' many publications include novels (The Invisible Company , Bad Man Ballad, Terrarium, The Engineer of Beasts), collections of short stories (Wilderness Plots, Fetching the Dead), works of creative nonfiction (Writing from the Center, Staying Put, The Paradise of Bombs, Secrets of the Universe, In Limestone Country ), as well as books for children (The Floating House, Here Comes the Mystery Man , Warm as Wool, Aurora Means Dawn, Hear the Wind Blow). His essay, "The Force of Spirit," appeared in The Best American Essays 2000, the fourth time his work has appeared in this annual collection of outstanding nonfiction. Sanders' most recent books are Hunting for Hope, The Country of Language, and The Force of Spirit.

Making Essays, led by Scott Russell Sanders (afternoon only)

Scott will discuss his writing process, drawing on the materials used in composing several of his essays. He will also follow up on earlier remarks, suggesting how the writing of essays can serve as a way of discovering meaning and depth in experience. Participants are invited to bring questions that arise in their own work as writers.

Scott Russell Sanders is the author of eighteen books, including Staying Put, Hunting for Hope, and The Force of Spirit. For his work in nonfiction, he has won the Lannan Literary Award and the John Burroughs Essay Award. He is Distinguished Professor of English at Indiana University.

On Writing Fiction, led by Haven Kimmel

Drawing from her own experiences as a novelist, Haven will offer participants some considerations on the joys and the challenges of writing fiction.

Haven Kimmel's first book A Girl Named Zippy, is a comic memoir. She is also the author of two novels, The Solace of Leaving Early, and Something Rising (Light & Swift). She's a full-time writer, and lives in Durham, North Carolina.

"Silence Is All We Dread", led by Pat Schneider

"Silence is all we dread/There's ransom in a voice." -Emily Dickinson

The intention of this workshop is to encourage and empower the poetic voice. Pat writes, "I will offer two exercises, one for the creation of a poem in free verse, one for the creation of a poem in an established form. We will talk about poetry and the writing of it, with an emphasis on my belief that writing is a universal art form, belonging to everyone.

Author of eight books including four volumes of poems, Writing Alone & With Others and Wake Up Laughing: A Spiritual Autobiography, Her writing workshop method has helped a generation of writers of all kinds find and liberate their writing voices. Her work has been featured on NPR and on National Public Television.

Spirituality in Writing, led by Lil Copan

In this workshop we'll explore various approaches to spiritual writing (memoir, meditation/ reflection, journal-based writing, etc.), as well as look at ways that writers within those genres -Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Kelly, Kathleen Norris, Anne Lamott-might inform our own approaches to spiritual writing. With a view to setting up the groundwork for a book proposal, bring ideas and writing samples-if you have them.

Lil Copan is acquisitions editor with Paraclete Press. Previously, she worked as literary series editor with Shaw Publishers, followed by a short time with the small literary/arts press David R. Godine.

The Basics of Screenwriting, led by Nina Shelton

This workshop will cover the sources for screen projects, namely theme vs. arena vs. what-if premises. What makes a good story before Holly-wood? What makes a good story before God? In discussion, we'll consider these questions. We will also cover the basics of the three-act structure.

Nina Shelton is an Emmy-nominated television producer and a writer. She is currently Children's Programming Producer for WTIU-A PBS Station in Indiana. Previously, she spent several years at HBO as a producer/ writer where she earned her Emmy-Award Nomination.

With Imagination and Spirit: Writing as Public Ministry, led by Brent Bill

Do you believe, like Flannery O'Connor, that "writing is primarily a missionary activity" and that the main reason you write is "to speak, without apology, ... of Christ even when Christ is not recognized?"

If so, you'll want to attend this workshop that looks at what it means to write as ministry. We'll look at the reasons for using the miraculous power of language in telling good news-not the least of which is helping us uncover what we, as writers and people of faith, feel, think, and believe.

Brent Bill is the author of thirteen books (the latest being Imagination and Spirit: A Contemporary Quaker Reader), contributor to five others (including QuakerLite 2.5 and Keeping The Faith: Best Indiana Sermons), and more than 100 magazine articles. Brent is also a writing instructor and coach.

Daily Bread: Writing In and About Everyday Life, led by Mary Lacey

All the best books and teachers say, "Write what you know," and this is good advice, meant to free us to acknowledge our own expertise in theme, style, and voice. But writing what we know-the material of daily lived experience, memory, and the stories we have inherited-is also a way to discover what we don't yet know. This workshop will invite you to write what you know, in search of openings into other, deeper experience of knowledge.

Mary Lacey is associate professor of English at Earlham College, where she teaches modern literature, poetry, and creative writing. She received her BA from Earlham (1983) and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (1990).

Writing on the Threshold, led by Nan Phifer

We'll write about the moments when someone we love came into, or left, our lives. Such times often brim with spiritual dimension. Nan will guide participants in retrieving memories of births, deaths, and other kinds of union or parting; and she'll provide questions for reflection on our writings that may heighten our awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Nan Phifer is Associate Director of the Oregon Writing Project at the University of Oregon, and she teaches workshops in writing spiritual memoirs. Her most recent book is Memoirs of the Soul: Writing Your Spiritual Autobiography, a Writer's Digest Book.

The Ministry of Writing Colloquium

Previous keynote speakers for the Colloquium have been: