In this workshop, participants (who are willing) will be generating writing using a combination of spoken and written word and will then reflect on how those words might be illustrated. Specifically, participants will look at how Gipe decides which lines will have the greatest impact when illustrated, that is, which lines will “gouge” the reader in the heart and/or gut, and then explore the possibilities of the technique for their own writing.

Robert Gipe won the 2015 Weatherford Award for outstanding Appalachian novel for his first novel Trampoline. His second novel, Weedeater,  was published in 2018. His third novel, Pop, ​was published in 2021. All three novels are published by Ohio University Press. In 2021, the trilogy won the Judy Gaines Young Book Award. From 1997 to 2018, Gipe directed the Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College Appalachian Program in Harlan. Gipe is founding producer of the Higher Ground community performance series, and has served as a script consultant for the Hulu series Dopesick and a producer on the feature film The Evening Hour. Gipe resides in Harlan County, Kentucky. He grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee.