Nora Krug received a Parsons school fund award to attend the Yale Writer’s Conference – a 10-day intensive program that included writing instruction, daily group discussions, one-on-one critiques with the workshop leaders, readings and masterclasses by well-known writers such Tom Perrotta and Susan Orlean, as well as panels with literary magazines, publishers and literary agents, and opportunities to meet one-on-one with them.

Krug was at a crucial point in her writing when she entered one of the non-fiction workshops, led by distinguished writer, Eileen Pollack: she had just finished a first draft on the bulk of her book, a visual memoir on World War II and her German family history, but was unhappy with a some of its structure. The workshop helped her improve weighing the historic with the personal narrative, and taught her how to establish herself more strongly as a character who would consistently guide the reader through the narrative. In the masterclass with Susan Orlean, Krug was able to ask specific questions on non-ficiton writing and Orlean’s research process.

Overall, the conference helped her to shape her narrative and book proposal, and, through conversations with peers and presentations by well-known writers, inspired her thoughts about writing. It also provided valuable contacts to the industry. With the help of her literary agent, Alex Jacobs of Elyse Cheney Literary, Nora ended up selling her as yet untitled book to nine publishers – Scribner in the U.S. (estimated pub date 2017), Penguin Press in the U.K., and additional publishers in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Holland, Sweden and Brazil.