“Ryan is committed to the writing life… The evidence of his hard work is found in his precise, musical sentences.” --Frank Conroy
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"[Ryan Blacketter] has a marvelous eye for the emotional textures of the most commonplace experience, the kind that familiarity makes almost subliminal." --Marilynne Robinson
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"[Ryan Blacketter] has a marvelous eye for the emotional textures of the most commonplace experience, the kind that familiarity makes almost subliminal." --Marilynne Robinson
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“Ryan’s writing is excellent. He writes about real people in real circumstances, often facing tough moral decisions. There is a depth of feeling and understanding in his work that one seldom sees in the work of young writers. Ryan is willing to reach beyond himself and his own experience, treating his characters with compassion and respect.” --Chris Offutt
Student Quotes
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"Without the Blacketter treatment I never would have gotten into the Iowa Writers' Workshop." --Jordan Glubka (Eugene, Oregon)
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"If you want someone to tell you how good your writing is, have your mom read your work. If you want to learn how to make your writing better, I can't recommend Ryan Blacketter enough. Ryan has a keen ear for language and an excellent feel for a work's narrative flow. He will challenge you to become a better, more conscious writer." --Brian Peters (Princeton, New Jersey)
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"I go to Ryan when I want a tough critique that will get to the heart of what a story is, what it does, and what it can--and must--do." --Adam Farley (Portland, Oregon, & former editor of MARY)
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"Ryan is one of the best, most effective, and enjoyable teachers I've ever had - THE best in my writing/literary experience. He has a way of teaching that is at once challenging, supportive, patient, humorous, refreshingly honest and straightforward, and extraordinarily concentrated and condensed. His teaching hits you with a one-two; it's packed with information that expands and stretches you in new directions and is absolutely fun as hell." --Kimberly Warren (Eugene, Oregon)
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"I have taken many writing courses and Ryan's is the best, hands down. His intensity, passion and dedication to his craft are tremendously inspiring. Work with him and you will never view the art of literary fiction the same way. Survive his workshop and you will have gained many of the tools you need to thrive as a writer. The rest is up to you." --Lawrence Birch (Eugene, Oregon)
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“Ryan has a working knowledge of the craft of writing that is far superior to that of anyone I have had as an instructor. His ability to find examples of good writing in student stories and to pinpoint what needs work is most helpful.” --Susan Whipple (Boise)
