Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine editor Jason A. Smith discusses the ways in which writers can harness the power of storytelling to create compelling articles, essays, blogs, profiles, even e-mails. Smith will explore how to craft gripping ledes and incorporate dramatic elements that captivate readers. He will also provide insight on how to translate complex subjects for, and explain abstract ideas to, general audiences.

Jason A. Smith is the associate director of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters and editor of its quarterly magazine of Wisconsin thought and culture, Wisconsin People & Ideas. Before joining the Wisconsin Academy in 2008, Jason was the managing editor of The Common Review, the quarterly magazine of the Great Books Foundation in Chicago. Jason has over seventeen years of experience in book and magazine publishing, and has advised on a number of publications by the Great Books Foundation, the Project on Civic Reflection at Valparaiso University, and the American Library Association.

With generous support by the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.