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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

WV Writers Contest Headed for the Finish Line (NO PROCRASTINATION ALLOWED!!)

That's right folks, it's time to get those short stories, poems, essays, and novels tuned up and mailed to our contest administrator. You only have until the 15th of March, so don't 'po'crastinate'. And remember, this thing has far better odds than the lottery. The more you enter, the more chance you have to bring home the bacon (or prime rib as the case may be).
What is really cool is going to the conference and sitting there sweating it out until they call the winning entry. Kinda like the Oscar ceremony without all of the glitz, glam, and cheezy comedy. The contest is the engine that drives the train that gets the conference and the great guests and presenters. So, go ahead and get that little diddy that you wrote when the cable went out last October and format it to our specs and send it in and if the cable went down three times last fall . . .well, send all three. Enough said.

WV Writers, inc. will give away over $6,000.00 in prize money!

To enter go to our website and follow the instructions closely. I'll list those web addresses below.

Now, I need a favor.... a big favor. If you are a student, if you know a student, or teacher, or parent of a talented up and coming writer, please forward this message to everyone, regardless of age, location, or affiliation. We have requested help from many schools, media, and government agencies and they have been wonderful but it only takes one person to break this chain. Fortunately, we have our members and friends to help this contest reach more students every year. The more entries we have from students, the more we will be able to do for them.

Thank you so much, and GOOD LUCK!


For adult and young writers entry forms here are doc. and pdf. format:
http://www.wvwriters.org/2007-contest-entry-form.doc

http://www.wvwriters.org/2007-contest-entry-form.pdf

For student entry forms, here are doc. and pdf. format:
http://www.wvwriters.org/2007-contest-entry-form-student.doc

http://www.wvwriters.org/2007-contest-entry-form-student.pdf

(This news release courtesy of Terry McNemar)

Cultural Center to offer “Poetry” workshop on March 17

(Thanks to Gordon Simmons for this news release)

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will continue its Discover Arts and Crafts workshop series with “Poetry,” on Saturday, March 17, from 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. Doug Van Gundy of Elkins will lead the workshop. There is a $25 fee per person. Participation is limited to 25 students aged 15 to adult, and reservations are required.

The workshop is open to writers of all levels, and will focus on accessing creativity, working through writer’s block, and listening for the music of language. The workshop is tailored to writers of poetry; however, the skills and techniques presented are useful to creative writers of all disciplines. The morning session will concentrate on getting through the first draft, and the afternoon session will deal with editing, revision and form.

Van Gundy holds a master of fine arts degree from Goddard College and has been leading poetry workshops for more than 10 years. He is an adjunct professor of English at Fairmont State University and Davis & Elkins College. His poems have appeared in numerous regional magazines and several anthologies, including Wild Sweet Notes: 50 Years of West Virginia Poetry. Van Gundy’s first book of poems, A Life Above Water, will be published this spring by Red Hen Press.

For more information about the poetry workshop or to make a reservation, contact Bethany Cline, cultural program specialist for the Division, at (304) 558-0220, ext. 171.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the state capitol complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

West Virginia Storytelling Festival

(This news courtesy of Wonderful West Virginia Magazine)

The second annual West Virginia Storytelling Festival will be held April 20-21 at John Marshall High School in Glen Dale.

Headlining the event will be renowned storytellers Ed Stivender, Rich Knoblish, Bil Lepp, and Carmen Agra Deedy.

The festival will spotlight the talents of students from Marshall County schools and include a liar's competition for adults.

For more information about the festival, call 304-845-2773.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Black History Month Poetry/Storytelling Open Mic night

Black History Month Poetry/Storytelling Open Mic night to feature the Affrilachian Poets on Feb. 15

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will continue its Poetry/Storytelling Open Mic Night series on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6:30 p.m., in the Norman L. Fagan West Virginia State Theater at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. The series features guest poets/storytellers at each session, with Peter Kosky of South Charleston as host. To celebrate Black History Month, the February program will feature three members of the Affrilachian Poets, Crystal Good, Ricardo Nazario-Colon and Bianca Spriggs.

New and established writers are invited to come and share their poetry and stories at the open mic sessions. Kosky, a history teacher at South Charleston High School and a talented singer/songwriter, will introduce all participants. The open mic session is limited to one hour; the guest artists will begin their shows shortly after the last poem/story has been read, whether or not the hour is over.

Affrilachian, a term coined by Frank X. Walker in his poem “Affrilachia,” is used to describe people of color living in the Appalachian region. The Affrilachian Poets is an ensemble of like-minded writers who came together for mutual support and encouragement. Members of the group strive to give glimpses of life in the American Black South and Appalachian region by drawing on traditions like the Black Arts Movement, the Harlem Renaissance, and the experience of the African Diaspora.

Good of Charleston is a poet and arts educator. She is a recipient of the West Virginia Governor’s Innovative Artist Award from Museum in the Community. Recently, her article on West Virginia hip hop was published in “PLUCK! The Journal for African American Culture.” Good regularly produces poetry events and reads for Healing through Creativity, an organization dedicated to using the arts to heal survivors of abuse.

Nazario-Colon, of Georgetown, Ky., is the director of the University of Kentucky’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Center. He received his M.S.T. degree in secondary education from Pace University in New York City and his bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and Spanish from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. He has worked as a faculty member for the New York City Public School System and as an administrator for the City University of New York System. Nazario-Colon has been published in several magazines, newspapers and journals including the “Thinker Review: Eclipsing A Nappy New Millennium: Aphros and Arts across Kentucky.”

Spriggs is an English instructor at Bowling Green Technical College in Bowling Green, Ky. She received her bachelor’s degree in history from Transylvania University and a master’s degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She currently is pursuing a second master’s degree in folklore at Western Kentucky University. In addition to being an Affrilachian Poet, she is a Cave Canem Fellow, a national community of emerging and established poets and writers who create, publish, perform, teach, study and support each other’s work.

Good, Nazario-Colon, and Spriggs will read individually and as a collective. For more information about the Poetry/Storytelling Open Mic Night series, call (304) 558-0162.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the state capitol complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Davis & Elkins College 9th Annual Writers' Week

(This news courtesy Bill King by way of Terry McNemar)

COMING TO DAVIS & ELKINS COLLEGE

March 15, 2007
NINTH ANNUAL WRITERS’ WEEK AT D&E

D&E College will host award-winning & national best-selling novelist, Silas House (Clay’s Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves & The Coal Tattoo.) Reading & book-signing: 6pm, Community Room, Booth Library, Davis & Elkins College, Elkins. Free, public invited. For more information, contact Bill King by phone – (304) 637-1235 or bking@davisandelkins.edu

March 22 & 23
NINTH ANNUAL WRITERS’ WEEK AT D&E

Will host labor poet, Mark Nowak.

Thurs 7pm: Nowak, leads a panel discussion called “Writing the Public Life,” followed by Q&A. Community Room, Booth Library. Fri 8pm: D&E theatre students perform the public premiere of “Sago,” Nowak’s moving documentary poem about the mine disaster. Boiler House Theater, Davis & Elkins College, Elkins. Free, public invited. For more information, contact Dr. Peter Okun by phone: (304) 637-1286 or okunp@davisandelkins.edu

For more information on House, go to www.silashouse.com.

MSU presents Appalachian Visions

(This news courtesy Rhonda White)

Mountain State University's Beckley Campus is about to kick off its Appalachian Visions series of lectures, discussions and performances beginning March 1.

Events will include...

New Gospel Singaleers, Thursday, March 1, 7pm - Warm your spirit with inspiring traditional and contemporary gospel from this acclaimed Raleigh County group.
The choir from First Baptist Church of White Sulphur Springs will also perform.

Irene Moser, Tuesday, March 20, 7pm - The founder and guiding spirit of Appalachian Visions, Professor Emerita Irene Moser, returns to share her unique perspective on our region’s culture and heritage.

Kirk Judd, Thursday, March 29, 7pm - Experience performance poetry performance by a well-known West Virginia writer.

Catherine Pancake, Tuesday, April 3, 7pm - Award-winning filmmaker Catherine Pancake joins us for a screening of her latest work, Black Diamonds: Mountaintop

Removal and the Fight for Coalfield Justice, with discussion following.

B. J. Gudmundsson, Tuesday, April 17, 7pm - The 2005 West Virginia Filmmaker of the Year will screen and discuss two of her short documentary films.

Annual Folk Festival and Bluegrass Concert, Saturday, April 21, 4pm - Our annual celebration brings together the best of music, crafts, food, and more! Local favorites, ‘The Lillys’ take the stage at 7pm

All events are held at the John W. Eye Conference Center on MSU’s Beckley campus and are free and open to the public.

Contact: e-mail us at appyvisions@mountainstate.edu or call 304.929.1455.

To find out all the details of the events to take place, please see this .pdf flyer.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Meredith Sue Willis's Jump Start Your Novel Workshop

Writer Meredith Sue Willis is running another online writing class during March and April. The online class, called Jump-Start Your Novel (or Other Book!), will take place in three sessions, the dates of which are March 20, 27, and April 3, 2007.

For more information, go to http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/JumpStartYourNovelOnline2007.html .

You can also find free writing exercises at her site at http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/writingexercises.html as well as a free newsletter for readers and writers at http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/booksforreaders.html

Friday, February 09, 2007

Legends of the Mountain State Anthology seeks submissions

(This information courtesy Ginger Caudill, via the Ralan website.)

Ghostly Tales from the State of West Virginia
Michael Knost, Editor

  • E-subs & Info

  • Publisher's Web Site (no GLs)

  • Submission Guidelines

  • Publisher: Woodland Press

  • Editor: Michael Knost

  • Format: Trade Paperback

  • Payment: one cent per word (up to 2000 words and upon publication) plus one copy. Reprints will receive half a cent per word

  • Story length: 1000 to 2000 words

  • No multiple or simultaneous subs

  • Deadline: March 31, 2007

  • E-mail submissions only. We will accept .doc or .rtf attachments only. Do not copy and paste story into the body of your e-mail—use this for your cover page information. Send submissions or inquiries to the above e-mail address. Turnaround time should be 30 to 60 days. If you have not received a response after 60 days, send an inquiry…but only AFTER 60 days have passed since original submission.

  • Publication date: October 2007


  • Stories MUST create or expand a legend/ghost tale from the state of West Virginia.

    We want stories about West Virginia legends/ghosts. You do not need to be a West Virginian to write the story, but you do need to keep the story (and legend/ghost) true to the State. All stories should include real towns and counties from the Mountain State. Do not tell us the biography of a legend/ghost, tell us a story with the legend or ghost at the plot’s center. Visit http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/westvirginia.htm for a few known legends/ghosts in West Virginia.

    We are looking for tales with a solid plot and good character development. Stories should grab the reader’s attention quickly and hold it until the end. We want powerful and emotional tales—creepy, chilling, disturbing, and moody. However, we DO NOT want stories containing explicit language or content.

    The most common reasons for rejection will be lack of originality, slow pacing, poor writing, and failure to follow the guidelines. Please visit http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html for the only manuscript format we accept.

    We purchase non-exclusive Electronic Rights, First English Anthology Rights, and First World Anthology Rights, for publication in the English language anywhere in the world, and in clothbound, paperback, World Wide Web, reprint, Audio, and eBook editions of the publication. For previously published Work, we purchase non-exclusive Electronic Rights, non-exclusive English Anthology Rights, and non-exclusive World Anthology Rights, for publication in the English language anywhere in the world, and in clothbound, paperback, World Wide Web, reprint, Audio, and eBook editions of the publication.

    Wednesday, February 07, 2007

    The 2007 Derringer Awards Call for Submissions and Guidelines

    The annual Derringer Awards, for excellence in Short Mystery Fiction, was created in 1997. The name "Derringer," after the palm-sized handgun, was chosen as a metaphor for a short Mystery or Crime story.

    Submissions will be accepted only from SMFS members and from Editors and Publishers who publish Mystery and Crime Fiction. To be considered, submissions must be Mystery or Crime stories and must have been published during the year 2006. The publication must have been one with an editor and an established procedure for submission, acceptance and rejection. The publication may be a print magazine, an electronic magazine (Ezine) or an anthology of Mystery and/or Crime stories in book form. The publication does not have to pay cash.

    The author does not have to be a member of SMFS to be considered. The publication does not have to be one published in the USA. It must, however, have been published in the English language. Works previously published in any language other than English are eligible based on the date of their first publication in English.

    The period covered by the publication will be the determining factor as to when it was published. In 2007 stories printed in the calendar year 2006 will be accepted. The official date of the publication is the date stated in or on the publication itself. In the case of magazines or e-zines which cover more than one month and overlap years, the later year shall be the determining factor. (Example: December 2006/January 2007 issues would be submitted in 2008 for 2007.)

    Submissions will be accepted in the following categories:

    Flash Story Up to 500 words
    Short-short Story 501 to 2000 words
    Mid-length Short Story 2001 to 6000 words
    Longer Short Story 6001 to 15,000 words


    WHO MAY SUBMIT

    Each member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society may submit up to two stories. The stories may be two of their own, two by other writers, or one of each.

    In order not to slight Editors who are also writers, an Editor or Publisher who is a member of SMFS may submit two of their own stories in addition to the appropriate number by other writers that appeared in their publication.

    Editors and Publishers may submit a number of submissions based on the total number of stories they published during the year. (Please see Derringer Awards site for breakdown on this.)


    TIMELINE

    Submissions will be accepted from Noon, 2 February 2007, to Midnight 16 March 2007. The complete timeline is as follows:

    Submissions solicited Noon, February 2 to Midnight, March 16, 2007
    Finalists will be posted March 15 to March 31
    Awards announced April 1
    SMFS Membership voting April 1- April 30
    Awards announced May 15

    All submissions must include:

    Name of the nominating SMFS member and/or Editor/Publisher
    Author’s name (may be the same as the nominator)
    Publication name
    Date of publication
    Word count.
    Nominations should be attached or pasted into an e-mail with the subject line “DERRINGER NOMINATION: Title of Story” and sent to: The Awards Co-ordinator.


    (Please see Derringer Awards site for breakdown of judging guidelines.)

    Monday, February 05, 2007

    Judge Bios

    We've now posted the bios of our existing contest judges. You can read them for yourself at the link below.

    http://www.wvwriters.org/contest07/judge-bios.html

    Friday, February 02, 2007

    T. Paige Dalporto appearance in Ashland, KY

    Friend of WV Writers, T. Paige Dalporto, will be making an appearance February 9 at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY.

    From the PAC site: Paramount Joe's Rising Star Cafe' "where friends meet, mingle, and mix it up with music!" This week, T. Paige Dalporto (original folk music including songs about Jesco White and WV coal miners) will be playing from 7-8 and Jason Scott (original country) will play from 8-9. Sponsored by The Independent, Ohio University Southern Campus and Profitt Chiropractic.

    The Paramount Arts Center is located at 1300 Winchester Ave, Ashland, KY (606-324-3175).

    Appalachian Journal seeks submissions

    Appalachian Journal, published by Mountain Messenger Media in Greenbrier County, is accepting submissions for publication.

    We are interested in news stories and creative writing (fiction or non-fiction) which pertain to Appalachian culture.

    Stories significant to Greenbrier County most appreciated.

    Please call Sarah Elkins at (304) 647-5724 ext. 113 to learn more.