Classes and Appearances

• March 3-31, 2010
  Food Writing for Food Lovers
  The Writing Salon
  Berkeley, CA
  5 Wednesdays, 7-9:30 p.m.
  $185 members/$215 non-members
  
  Learn the fundamentals of food writing, whether you've a food-obsessed person who's never written before, already have a food blog, or you're a writer who wants to try something new. You'll learn the exact steps to becoming a better writer, whether writing features for publication, posts for blogs, or developing technically-proficient recipes for a cookbook. Weekly writing exercises help you get words down on paper, with helpful and supportive feedback from the class and instructor. Students who have taken this class have launched websites, packaged books and written book proposals, started blogs, and written feature articles.
  
  

• April 22-25, 2010
  Coaching Sessions (SOLD OUT)
  International Association of Culinary Professionals Annual Conference
  Portland, Oregon
  $85-$745, depending on day pass or full pass
  
  If you're a member of IACP, I hope you'll make it to the conference.The sessions are particularly intriguing this year, and held in a food-loving city to boot. I'll be coaching during an Experts Are In session, and at a two evening Night Owl session on how food writers need to continually reinvent ourselves to stay in business.
  
  
  
• May 1-8, 2010
  Do You Have a Book Inside You?
  Rancho La Puerta
  Tecate, Mexico
  1-week (stay can be variable)
  $2715 to $4105 per week per person, in US dollars
  
  I feel like the luckiest person in the world with two classes this year at top Mexico resorts. Rancho La Puerta is one of the best spas in the world and a bargain compared to many. Join me on your exploration of writing a book as I lead four 1-hour workshops over the course of a week. Take a cooking class while you're there too, at an exquisite school nestled in the middle of a vast organic garden.
  
  
  
• May 22, 2010
  Food Writing Class
  Seattle, WA
  
  Stay turned for more details about this upcoming 1-day class for food writers and bloggers.
  
  
  
• August 12-15, 2010
  Travel, Food & Photography Conference
  Book Passage
  Corte Madera, CA
  $635 Four day-pass
  For the first time, Book Passageadds food writing to its annual travel conference. I'll be speaking on a panel with food blogger Amy Sherman of Cooking with Amy about food blogging trends.
  
  

• September 16-19, 2010 (Tentative)
  Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshop
  Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
  
  Details are coming about this exciting workshop, held during the grape crush in B.C's wine country.
  
  
  

Interviews

• Here's an interview on LitRave about how I got started as a food writer, and about trends in food writing.
  
  
• My Q&A with Paris-based food writer David Lebovitz on davidlebovitz.com
  
  
• A radio interview on food writing with talk show hosts Alana Morales and Paula Schmitt on Mom Writers Talk Radio.
  
  

What Students Say I cannot speak more highly of the class. I found your book and teaching style to be informative and engaging. I learned more than I could imagine from the other students. The format of your classes was perfect.Starting with a review of the writing assignments and then moving onto the new content was just right. You have had a profound impact on my awareness of food writing and appreciation of the skill set needed to succeed in this specialized writing arena.You are an outstanding teacher. I recommend your class to all interested in the world of food writing. -Sasha Mardikian, Berkeley, CA See this post on a food writing class I taught at Food Blogger Camp in Ixtapa, Mexico.   Thanks again for the wonderfully inspiring class. It is always a thrill to meet the author of a book that I open again and again. - Anna Mindess, Berkeley, CA "I took a class on food writing from Dianne and found her to be an inspiring and down-to-earth teacher. She made me believe that a career in food writing was more than a dream, that it could be a reality, as long as I broke it down into small steps. Her segment on writing a book proposal was especially enlightening to me. Despite having worked in journalism and public relations in the past, I would not have known how to "get it right" without her class. I know from after class discussions with other participants that it was especially helpful to them as well. Her class was a life-defining experience for me. I plan on taking future seminars from her and would not hesitate to recommend others interested in food writing do the same." -Faith Kramer, Oakland, CA, who started Blog Appetit shortly afterwards "As far the Smithsonian class is concerned, it was one of the best, if not the best class I've ever taken on creative writing. Your in-class exercises were inspirational and idea generating. I especially loved your analysis of metaphors and memory in food writing which made the whole process come alive with possibilities. I read your handouts which were perfect examples of original and diverse writing and made me look at writing in a new way. I was also very entertained by your guest speakers and found your questions to be exactly the kinds of things I would have liked to have asked myself. As I said, I'd take the class again tomorrow if I could. If you give it again, please reserve a place for me! I'm half way through your book and feel both prepared and inspired to write but daunted by the hard work it takes. Thanks again for teaching me something.” -Angela Schaffner, Washington, DC