The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute - University of Arkansas System

The Oxford American Summit for Ambitious Writers

The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute and The Oxford American magazine partnered to host 77 writers from 23 states, Australia and Canada at the Summit for Ambitious Writers held June 21 – 26 atop Petit Jean Mountain. Christy Carpenter, newly named Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, praised the teamwork and final product of the burgeoning partnership, “I see this summit as a terrific model for future arts and culture programs for the Institute. Creative gatherings such as this retreat not only help to elevate the work and aspirations of those who participate in them, but also impact the thoughts and minds of the masses who encounter the fruits of their labors here in the future.”

The five-day, creatively intense workshops allowed authors to participate in group instruction, critique in an intimate classroom setting with legendary literati, and also engage in one-on-one counseling on their works in progress.  The Summit’s distinguished faculty included nationally acclaimed writers - Wells Tower, Kevin Brockmeier, Scot Huler, Tom Franklin, Jay Jennings and Cristina Henriquez – who led a number of workshop sessions that focused equally on short fiction and creative nonfiction. Publishing experts added additional innovative programming designed to hone the skills that increase a writer’s chance of being noticed by editors.

The Summit was a collaborative effort between the Rockefeller Institute and The Oxford American magazine, a critically acclaimed literary publication that circulates nationally and is based in Conway, Ark. This partnership with the Institute and the University of Arkansas System allowed it to hold its first hands-on instructional initiative.

The conference included an interview series that was open to the general public entitled “Interviews on the Mountain,” that debuted with The Oxford American Publisher Marc Smirnoff’s discussion with editor emeritus of The Atlantic Monthly William Whitworth. Whitworth began his career as a reporter for the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock before moving to the New York Herald Tribune. Hired by The New Yorker as a staff writer, Whitworth quickly rose as an editor and worked on many of the magazine’s most important nonfiction articles. In 1980, he became chief editor of The Atlantic Monthly, a position he held for twenty years. His self-deprecating sense of humor delighted the audience of 250 people, including his recollections of bad editing he encountered during his days as a writer. One editor’s tendency to sleep all day and awaken in the evening compelled to insert lines or passages he considered hip into Whitworth’s pieces caused the writer to have his byline removed on more than one occasion.

The second interview in the series featured travel writer Pico Iyer, widely considered to be the one of the most revered and respected travel writers today. Iyer is the author of seven nonfiction tomes, including “The Lady and the Monk” and “Video Night in Kathmandu.”  Iyer’s work has appeared in time, Conde Nast Traveler, Harper’s Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and on Salon.com. The author recommended aspiring writers take diligent notes during the research phase of their work, although he also credited the loss of seven years of penned musings in a tragic house fire with spurring his entry into the fiction genre.
David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, concluded the series on Friday. Remnick began his reporting career at the Washington Post in 1982. He became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1992 and has since written over a hundred pieces for the magazine. He was selected to be The New Yorker’s chief editor in 1998 and since then The New Yorker has won 30 National Magazine awards. He is the author of several books, including “Lenin’s Tomb,” for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. Remnick, who has appeared on late night talk shows such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, recounted to the packed house his magazine’s most recent controversy, a satirical cover illustration featuring President Barack and Michelle Obama. The resultant firestorm generated by the piece not only surprised him, but the inclusion of charges of racism left him dismayed. Organizers of the writers’ retreat, as well as participants, proclaimed it a successful investment in their professional development. For more information about the Summit for Ambitious Writers go to the website at summit.oxfordamerican.org.