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Italian-American
Amanda Castleman spent eight years in Europe. She lived on
a traditional narrowboat, moored on the Oxford Canal in England.
She also endured two years swilling espresso in Italy, as a Visiting
Writer at the American Academy
in Rome, then ranged farther afield to Greece, Cyprus and Turkey.
Seattle, her native Amanda also
teaches for Writers.com and
the Richard Hugo House. Her
online classes usually overflow, thanks to her humor, detailed line
critiques, and blend of hack-reporter tricks with more literary,
narrative devices. She has a grudge match against word repetition
and the term "nestled." You have been warned.... "In my first workshop with Amanda I went through all the stages of writing and marketing an article on Magellanic penguins in southern Chile. To have my first article accepted by the first publication I approached – Christian Science Monitor – was like rocket fuel for me, and I have Amanda Castleman's expertise to thank." –
Anne Clippinger, PhD "I haven't taken Amanda Castleman's class – I already make a living as a travel writer – but because she's a friend, she just looked over a 6,000-word piece I was doing for National Geographic Traveler. Plain and simple, her comments and suggestions were the best I have ever seen from any editor, anywhere. Amanda's a genius." –
Ed Readicker-Henderson "Fab
experience, again! She is a dream teacher, just the right balance
between a knuckle-rapping tutor and a mom full of hugs. The course
fees are lots cheaper than a shrink!" – Linda Petrucelli Read
more reviews of Amanda here.
For a less biased view, visit travelwriters.com's
sticky thread. Marcus R.
Donner is a visual storyteller based in Seattle, Washington.
As director of photography, he coached staff and defined the look
of a daily newspaper for nine years. Other experience includes photojournalism,
teaching
Marcus has run workshops for an NPR affiliate, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Seattle International Film Festival's Screenwriters Salon, among others. Visual storytelling is his passion, but he is equally renowned for his ability to nutshell complex concepts and technology to a lay audience. His website
is www.marcusdonner.com;
check out his hummingbird blog at
marcuspix.wordpress.com. "I had no idea walking into Marcus Donner's workshop just how valuable it would be. I've been around journalism and photographers for years, but I came away from the workshop with a whole new grip on what really matters in photojournalism. I learned just about as much there as I did in a whole miserable semester in a photojournalism class back in college."
-
–
Robert McClure "In
simple, easy steps, Marcus Donner taught our class of professional
journalists how to snap crisp, colorful images to enhance our stories.
Some writers barely knew how to operate their digital cameras, but
by the time we left his class we felt like pros." –
Candace Dempsey –
Erin Hennessey "Your two-hour "basics of photography" workshop was just what I needed. For me, the workshop was interesting and straightforward – and, most important, useful." –
Randy Beam |
Past
and upcoming work
|
city
in the Pacific Northwest, is once again her home base.
workshops,
cinematography on independent films, and picture editing for print
and multimedia. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times,
HBO, Cinemax, The Christian Science Monitor, Microsoft, The
MacArthur Foundation, The Sundance Channel, Reuters and the Associated
Press.
Questions? See our FAQ.
All material on this site copyright Amanda Castleman and or Marcus R. Donner: www.travelwritingclass.com
Cemetery photo by Amanda Castleman. Her mug shot is by Lisa Payne. Self portrait by Marcus R.Donner.