Writing the Unthinkable w/Lynda Barry! profile picture

Writing the Unthinkable w/Lynda Barry!

writingtheunthinkable

About Me

My name is BETTY BONG, secretary for WRITING the UNTHINKABLE, taught by LYNDA BARRY! Cartoonist, novelist, and playwright LYNDA BARRY is the creator behind the syndicated strip Ernie Pook's Comeek featuring the incomparable Marlys and Freddy, as well as the books One Hundred Demons, The! Greatest! of! Marlys!, Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel, Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies!, and more. Born in Wisconsin in 1956, she studied at Evergreen State College, where she became good friends with Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Her work has been widely praised, and her book The Good Times are Killing Me--also adapted as an off-Broadway musical--won the Washington State Governor's Award. Barry currently offers her workshop, WRITING the UNTHINKABLE, all over the place! For more information, and/or to schedule a workshop in your town, write to class secretary (that's me!) Betty Bong, at [email protected]

My Interests

Do you wish you could WRITE? Do you wish you had a better MEMORY? Do you want to make STORIES but are too confused about how to even start? DO YOU WANT A SEAT in the two-day writing class taught by Lynda Barry?THIS IS AN INTENSIVE WRITING CLASS! It is not a social situation at all! In fact, you can be completely anonymous in this class! You don't have to be cool! Your clothes can be square! You don't have to read aloud or talk to anyone if you don't want to! You don't even have to make eye contact! And YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A WRITER to be a part of it! THIS CLASS WORKS ESPECIALLY WELL FOR 'NON-WRITERS' like bartenders, janitors, office workers, hairdressers, musicians, and ANYONE who has given up on "being a writer" but still wonders what it might be like to write. OPEN to ALL people!Lynda teaches a specific way of working that she learned from her teacher, Marilyn Frasca, in the late 1970's and has used ever since. She says it will work for anyone who has any kind of curiosity about writing or remembering -- especially people who have always wanted to write, but have no idea how to even begin. BE ADVISED! IT IS GOING TO BE TWO DAYS of INTENSE CONCENTRATION and HARD WORK! It is not jive! It is FOR REAL! (It is also pretty fun too, but not necessarily in a social way!)Can you dig that? If so, we can dig YOU! All you need is about 100 sheets of notebook paper, a three-ring binder (no other kind of paper set-up will work for this class) and a couple of your favorite pens. All students must figure out their own transportation and lodging. We will tell you where the classroom is located and all other details when we confirm your enrollment!Like we said, to enroll, simply contact our secretary BETTY BONG at [email protected] -- no middle man or even middle woman! We try to keep our overhead LOW so that more folks can afford to attend our class! Yeah!

I'd like to meet:

Y'ALL! Many more classes ALL OVER the U.S. and CANADA in 2008/2009 -- stay tuned!

Music:

Lynda is currently digging hard on The Mountain Goats -- while Betty Bong is dancing to Cab Calloway in her underpants and dying to hear the new one from The Hold Steady... "Lynda Barry and Sherman Alexie save my life constantly..." that's NEKO CASE giving props to LYNDA (and bad-ass Sherman Alexie) in POETRY magazine!

Movies:

Off the Charts, SMILE the Story of Brian Wilson, Bad News Bears, Lipstick & Dynamite The First Ladies of Wrestling, Awake My Soul, Bubble, God of Cookery, Shaolin Soccer, Protagonist, The Big Lebowski, Ed Wood

Books:

smell good!!!