Morgantown Writers Group Celebrates its 15th Anniversary

The Morgantown Writers Group celebrate its 15th Anniversary in 2008 by hosting a West Virginia Literary Arts program featuring Novelist Meredith Sue Willis; Crime Thriller Novelist, Robert Walker; Port Laureate Irene McKinney; and Graphic Novelist Robert Tinnell. Morgantown Writers Workshops are scheduled for a full day on Saturday, June 21, at the Monongalia Arts Center, Morgantown,WV.

West Virginia Writers members receive a 20% discount on this "mini-conference" that follows the Annual WV State Writers Conference at Cedar Lakes, where 150 or more writers will go this weekend (go to - http://www.wvwriters.org/. We all are really looking forward to the WVW State Writers conference. For the week after, we expect up to 40 writers to attend this first Summer Literary Arts event. Coinciding with the Arts on the River Festival, June 21-22, writers can expect lots of music - jazz, bluegrass, rock music, and more - and wine tasting and art exhibits - a full get-away weekend, more at - http://www.artsontheriver.org/

The Morgantown program features:

- A café style table talk with guest West Virginia authors at 9:30 a.m.: WV Poet Laureate Irene McKinney, Novelist Meredith Sue Willis, Police Thriller Novelist Robert Walker, and Graphic Novelist Robert Tinnell. George Lies is moderator.

Highlights:
- Four workshops in fiction, crime thriller, graphic novels, and poetry, at 10:30 a.m.
- Advance critique workshops in poetry and prose plus a short story workshop, at 1:30 p.m.
- Informal lunches at local restaurants will bring together attendees and guest writers and a reception concludes the day.

Registration is $25 for the full day of literary events; half-day is $15.00. West Virginia Writers Members' rate is only $20.00. High students may attend for only $5. Prose manuscript critiques done by Robert Walker are $15 "optional" for work sent in by June 18. There is no charge for poetry critiques. Fill-in the registration form below. Then send the form via email to: Registrar
Patricia.Patteson@mail.wvu.edu

To submit manuscripts (3,000 to 5,000 words) for critique, send a Word file attachment in an email to Coordinator George.Lies@mail.wvu.edu Registration covers morning refreshments and a reception. Payments: Make checks payable to *Morgantown Writers*. Mail to: MWG Workshops, 1129 Richwood Ave. Morgantown, WV 26505 (Attn: Patricia Patteson).

Guest writers and workshop topics are:

Poetry: Irene McKinney, WV Poet Laureate since 1994, is the author of five books of poetry: The Girl with a Stone in Her Lap (North Atlantic, 1976); The Wasps at the Blue Hexagons (Small Plot Press, 1984); Quick Fire and Slow Fire (North Atlantic, 1988); Six O*Clock Mine Report (Pittsburgh Press, 1989), and Vivid Companion (WVU Press/Vandalia, 2005). More at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_McKinney

Genre Police Thrillers: Robert W. Walker has 40 novels in genre fiction, including historical and detective crime thrillers. Recent books are City for Ransom, Shadows in the White City, and City of the Absent. His work is on forensic detection, and new PSI Blue and Deja Blue, one set in Charleston. More at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Walker

Novel Writing: Meredith Sue Willis is the well known WV author of A Space Apart (1979); Higher Ground (1981); and Only Great Changes (1985), all from Scribner's. Other books are Oradell at Sea (WVU Press, 2003); a collection, Dwight's House & Other Stories (Hamilton Stone, 2004); a sf novel for young adults, The City Built of Starships; and Billie of Fish House Lane, a children*s novel, Montemayor Press. For more, go to - http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/

Graphic Novels: Robert Tinnell is a motion picture screenwriter, director, and producer. He's author of comic books and graphic novels, notably with a horror slant, such as The Black Forest, *The Wicked West*, The Living and The Dead. His graphic novel Feast of the Seven Fishes will soon be a movie filmed in WV. For more, go to - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tinnell

Authors will host a book signing at the MAC while Robert Walker will be at a Books-A-Million book signing, Friday afternoon. A reception at 4:30 p.m. closes the events. The Morgantown Writers Group is supported by registration proceeds as well as the Cyndi Jones Impact Grant.

The low-cost Morgantown workshops are made possible by a Cyndi Jones Impact Grant from Arts Monongahela - http://www.artsmon.org/index.php, Steptoe and Johnson law firm - http://www.steptoe.com/, and the West Virginia Department of Culture and History - http://www.wvculture.org/ Monongalia Arts Center is at - http://monarts.bizland.com/