Develop Incredible Characters For Your Story

The original Taliesin was an ancient bard in Wales. Then Taliesin became house? In Wisconsin? In a place so beautiful of course tales are told here! And so, inside Taliesin, the house, we will make wild stories filled with wild characters that will echo from the walls and bowels and across the valley. 

We’ll spend time developing our casts of characters, figuring out their curses, their callings, their dark desires, and their destinies. Then we will send these characters on quests for simple objects (maybe tacos?) and then on epic quests across dangerous landscapes where their truest selves will be revealed.

Writing fiction is play. Writing fiction is a game. At the same time, writing fiction helps us find deep truths about the world around us. Let’s use the creative spirit of Taliesin to have a blast and build beautiful worlds.

We will spend a session or two writing biographies of characters and examining their psychological needs. Then we spend the next two or three sessions planning out and writing a story with those characters in action.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Geoff Herbach is the author of eight YA novels, a picture book, and a literary novel. He’s received the Cybils Award for best YA Fiction, the Minnesota Book Award, and the Burr/Worzalla Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement from the Wisconsin Library Association. His books have been selected by the Junior Library Guild, and listed among the year’s best by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, the International Literacy Association, Bank Street, and by many state library associations. They’ve also been selected as state-wide one-reads, as top audiobooks, and as a Global Read Aloud choice. In the past, he produced radio comedy shows and toured rock clubs telling weird stories. Presently, Geoff co-directs the Creative Writing Programs at Minnesota State University, Mankato and teaches in the low-residency Master of Fine Arts program at Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Geoff grew up in Platteville and often sets stories in Southwestern Wisconsin.

Location: Taliesin Hillside Drafting Studio, Spring Green, WI

Ages: 10-15

Price: $450 (includes materials and lunch)

Transportation

A shuttle service from the west side of Madison will be available for camp participants for all 2023 Taliesin in-person summer camps. For details and fees, contact Caroline Hamblen, Director of Programs chamblen@taliesinpreservation.org

Scholarships

Please contact Caroline Hamblen, Director of Programs, for potential scholarship opportunities.

Refund Policy

Taliesin is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and all ticket sales support our mission to preserve the cultural, built, and natural environments. Tickets are non-refundable even if plans change due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the unfortunate event that Taliesin Preservation cancels the event, guests will be notified in advance and offered a full refund to the original payment method or a credit valid through the following tour season.