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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Zoe Ferraris Q&A

Zoe Ferraris will be answering questions from readers for a couple of days on writer Laura Treacy Bentley's blog.

Zoe is a former first-place winner in WV Writers' Competition, an MU and Columbia grad, and she won a Fellowship Award for Literature from the WV Commission on the Arts. Zoe was a member of the writing group, The Rogues, for a number of years, and her first novel, FINDING NOUF, received national and international acclaim. It won the 2008 LA Times Book Award for First Fiction! Her follow-up novel, CITY OF VEILS, will be released this August from Little, Brown.

Find the q&a HERE.

Friday, February 26, 2010

State Finals for Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest March 6

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the West Virginia Commission on the Arts will host the West Virginia State Finals of the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest at 2 pm, on Saturday, March 6th. The program will take place in the Norman L Fagan West Virginia State Theater of the Culture Center, State Capital Complex in Charleston. The state final competition round is free and the public is encouraged to come support the student contestants.

The Division will welcome back Chris Sarandon, of The Princess Bride, and The Nightmare Before Christmas fame, as emcee for the event. In addition, Nikki Giovianni, the writer, poet, educator and activist will make a presentation as a guest speaker.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Limestone A Journal of Literature and Art seeking submissions

(This news courtesy of Rhonda White)

Limestone A Journal of Literature and Art, based out of the University of Kentucky, is requesting original and unpublished poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and visual art.

Limestone publishes original and imaginative writing from established and emerging writers and artists from across the nation. Over the last quarter century, we have printed short stories, essays, formal poetry, free verse, photography, and other fine art. We are looking for quality work unrestricted by form. Limestone has showcased work by Eavan Boland, Guy Davenport, Alice Derry, Carol Frith, Seamus Heaney, and Virgil Suarez, in addition to featuring Kentucky writers Wendell Berry, Rebecca Howell, Ed McClanahan, Davis McCombs, Richard Taylor, Frank X. Walker II, and Jeff Worley.

Submission Information:

Poetry
Submissions should be limited to five poems or fewer, typed and single-spaced. We will not consider electronic submissions, but will require an electronic version of the work upon acceptance for publication. Simultaneous submissions are accepted with notification.

Fiction
Submissions should be limited to no more than twenty typed, double-spaced pages. We will not consider electronic submissions, but will require an electronic version of the work upon acceptance for publication. Simultaneous submissions are accepted with notification.

Art
Submissions should be 5x7 or smaller on CD or sent via email. Please do not send originals. Simultaneous submissions are accepted with notification.

Submissions must reach us by March 12th, 2010.

HOLLER Winter 2010 issue reception announced

In celebration of the Winter 2010 issue of Holler, a reception and poetry reading will be held on Thursday, March 18, at 7:00 P.M., in the State Room of the Jerry L. Beasley Student Center at Concord University, Athens, WV.

Driving directions and a campus map are available on the university's website (http://www.concord.edu) under the "Parents and Visitors" menu. (The Stateroom is on the second floor of the Student Center.)

Please RSVP to Thomas McKenna (mckennat@concord.edu) as soon as possible and let us know how many guests you intend to bring. If you cannot attend, but would still like a copy of the journal, then please contact us.

The journal is free.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Prairie Margins Seeking Submissions from undergrads

(This news courtesy of Rhonda White)

Prairie Margins, a national undergraduate journal based at Bowling Green State University, has extended its deadline for submissions to March 1.

Prairie Margins welcomes submissions from any current undergraduate student. Submissions from non-students will not be considered.

Instructors of English and creative writing are encouraged to inform their students about Prairie Margins, or to seek more information at the magazine's website. Visit THEIR SITE and click the "Prairie Margins" link at left.

The address for submissions is prairie@bgsu.edu, Department of English, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green OH 43403.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Mississippi Coast Writers Conference seeking speakers

(This news courtesy of George Lies of WV Writers and Morgantown Writers Group)

The Mississippi Coast Writers Conference is seeking speakers for their November 2010 in Biloxi Mississippi.

If you've led workshops at conferences before, or are a successful writer, editor or agent, they might be in need of your talent. For all the information, please see the .pdf document below.

MCWC Call for Speakers.

Monday, February 22, 2010

WVW Podcast: Contestcast 2

Episode 25 (a.k.a. CONTESTCAST 2) of the WV Writers Podcast is now online. We're a wee bit past the mid-way point for the 2010 WV Writers Annual Writing Contest, so we thought it would be prudent to check in with our adult contest coordinator, Steve Goff, to find out how things are going. Steve answers more of your frequently asked questions, discuss the list of contest judges and reveal some of the categories in which your odds are better for winning this year.

Download it from our podcast page http://www.wvwriters.org/2010/02/episode-25-contestcast-2.html

Or subscribe with iTunes.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Local Writers Associations By State

We're always looking for new members of West Virginia Writers, Inc., and even take out of state members. However, an alternative for folks living in other states would be to join a writers guild or association in their own state. A site called Local Writers Associations by State makes this easier by drawing attention to such organizations, categorizing them (as you'd expect from the title) by state.

Check it out at the following LINK to find one in your state. (And remember, you can always join WVW in addition to other fine writing organizations.)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Writing Raw February Edition

(This news courtesy of Weeb, from WritingRaw.com)

The February 15 issue of WritingRaw.com is NOW online: Writing Raw is a FREE literary ezine dedicated to new and emerging writers. Our goal at Writing Raw is simple - to serve the literary community with the opportunity to have their work online and out in the world. In this world of disappearing literary magazines, Writing Raw is providing the blank pages for writers to fill.

We also support other sites that help writers: www.WritingRaw.com believes in reaching out to other sites, writing groups, forums, and organizations. Contact us on how you can place a FREE banner, announcement or link on our site!

Or, use the Writing Raw Book Store to promote your novel or poetry collection: If you have a novel or collection that you would like to place in our store, we would be more than happy to do so – for FREE. Just send us a copy of the cover of the book, a brief synopsis, and a link as to where the material can be purchased.

Also, be sure to check out the NEW announcements on WritingRaw.com’s Home page from writer’s group and organizations worldwide. Discover meeting places, organizations offering fellowships, contests, and a variety of other useful websites all dedicated to writers of every level.


NEW Monthly column by Ditch: 5 Suggested Books to Read for the Month

NEW Fiction and Nonfiction Book Reviews and the 2010 Winners of Allbooks Review Editor's Choice


And our shout out to Peter Straub and his new book, A Dark Matter!


NEW Material in the following categories:

Assorted:
Create a Corporate Myth by Dr. G.C. Rapaille
How to Enjoy a Recession by Dr. G.C. Rapaille
Introduction of Metaphysical/Metaphor Poetry by Annette Brigitte Agathine
Merger and Acquisitions by Dr. G.C. Rapaille
What Am I? by Heather Rose
The Best Worst Day of My Life by Ditch

Fiction:
A Side of Eggs by Collin Breaux
Blind Date by Raphael Henaut
Cage-free and Blind by C. Angelo Caci
Comet by David Gardner
Exchanging Shadows by Brian Biunno
Five Letters, Two E-mails, and Two Conversations by Ken Sieben
Lips of Life by Christopher Gaston
Marley Robinson's Mails by Barnali Saha
Mississippi Myth by Arlene Eisenbise
Preservation by Ken Sieben
To the Victor Lie… by C. Angelo Caci
Want by Tarah L. Wolff
When the Wind Blows by Pam Farley

Bi-Monthly Serials:
One Woman, Three Kings: 4 by Steven E. Liebowitz, Ed.D.
Cycle of the Full Moon: Part 3 & Conclusion by Raphael Henaut
The Dream Group: 8 by Steven E. Liebowitz, Ed.D.
Toy Soldiers: 6 by Peter Neville

Poetry:
Abandoned by Mike Berger
After The Girl Walks By by David Manglass
Battleground by John Grey
Buzz Cut Bush Ballad by Teri Louise Kelly
Cosmic Orgasm by Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar
Ingratitude by Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar
JOHNNY 24 by Teri Louise Kelly
Mamacita Cries Apocalypse by KJ Hays
Metaphysical Poetry: A Collection by Annette Brigitte Agathine
Mute Dave by John Grey
PDA by KJ Hays
Peace by Shaleen Kumar Singh
Samantha and Her Youthful Lover by John Grey
Senior Lecturer and Convenor by Jorge Salavert Pinedo
The Garden by C. Angelo Caci
To Susan, Down on the Farm by John Grey
Unscheduled Stop & Chat by KJ Hays
Where the Pretty Things Go by Teri Louise Kelly
World Peace by Shaleen Kumar Singh


7-Question Interviews with the following best-selling and award-winning authors:

Tom Bale
Ken Bruen
Karen Campbell
Lori Foster
Clifford Henderson
Patrick Lee
Randy Susan Meyers
Elizabeth Noble
David Oppegaard
Brad Parks
KJ Parker
Nicole Seitz
Adriana Trigiani
Katharine Weber
Lauren Willig

Profiled Section:

Profiled 7 Question Literary Agent Interview: Cherry Weiner, Cherry Weiner Literary Agency
Featured Poets: Michael Lee Johnson: 6 Poems; and
Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar: A Collection of 22 Poems
Featured Author: Dr. G.C. Rapaille, Archetype Discoveries Worldwide
Online Novellas: The 'Best Man' and The Gypsy Eagles, both by Konrad Deire



Exclusively, on Writing Raw: really BAD Shakespeare, a bi-monthly penny dreadful… really BAD Shakespeare is a new adventure in storytelling. Based on the concept of the penny dreadfuls from the nineteenth century, really BAD Shakespeare is a black comedy based on the "end of days" in the fictional town of Potter's Field, Illinois. Published bi-monthly and containing less than 1,500 words per episode, this experiment in creative writing will allow writers to expand their storytelling skills while pushing the plot further.

Episode 9: What Fools These Mortals Be!

Due to the holiday, the NEW Episode of really BAD Shakespeare will appear on February 17

www.WritingRaw.com

Join WritingRaw.com on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/writingraw
Join WritingRaw.com on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/weeb.heinrich?ref=profile

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Glimmer Train Deadline Approaches

Glimmer Train's February Short Story Award for New Writers closes February 28. They're looking for original, unpublished stories by writers whose fiction has not been presented in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. Maximum word count: 12,000. (Any shorter lengths are welcome.) First-place wins $1,200 and publication in Issue 79 of Glimmer Train Stories. Second- and third-place winners win $500/$300 (or, if chosen for publication, $700).
See guidelines.

Winners and finalists of the November Short Story Award for New Writers have been notified, and the Top-25 list is posted! Our thanks to all of you for letting us read your stories!

1st place: "The Work of Hunters Is Another Thing" by D M Gordon
2nd place: "From the Needle of Gwen" by Amanda Korman
3rd place: "General, After the Tornado" by Tara Stillions

Feel free to forward this bulletin to your writer friends. As you know, the bulletin is free and meant to inform and to promote writers. People can sign up for bulletins themselves here. Missed a bulletin? They're all archived here.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Mark Defoe featured at Monongalia Arts Center

(This news courtesy George Lies with Morgantown Writers Group)

Mark Defoe, Award Winning Author to be featured at MAC

Award winning author Mark DeFoe will be featured with Morgantown Poets at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at Monongalia Arts Center (MAC).

The event is free and open to the public. The MAC is at 107 High Street, downtown Morgantown (beside Hotel Morgan).

DeFoe’s ninth chapbook, “Ten Scenes with Mocking Bird,” won the 2009 Tennessee Chapbook Award sponsored by Poems and Plays, a journal published through the Department of English at Middle Tennessee State University.

His work has been widely published and anthologized, appearing in Poetry, Yale Review, Kenyon Review, Sewanee Review, Paris Review, New Letters, Michigan Quarterly Review, Mississippi Review, North American Review, Poetry Ireland Review and many others.

DeFoe was winner of the 2005 Chautauqua Writers’ Center Literary Journal’s national poetry competition. In 1998 and 2003, he was awarded individual artist grants from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

The author lives with his wife, Jeanne, a pianist, in Buckhannon, where he is a professor emeritus of English at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Morgantown Poets urges caution in winter driving season. Featured authors are scheduled on a weather-permitting basis. Don’t drive to any event if road conditions are hazardous. Safety first!

Public parking is available near the MAC in the parking garage at the corner of Pleasant and Chestnut streets and at the city lot behind 142 High Street (enter off Spruce). The MAC is accessible to individuals with special mobility requirements; schedule ahead at least seven days prior to the event by calling 304-292-3325, or write to info@monartscenter.com.

Morgantown Poets is an informal not-for-profit, all-volunteer community group that meets 7-9 p.m. the third Thursday each month at the MAC, providing literary enthusiasts in north-central West Virginia the opportunity to express themselves, share their work, network and to connect up-and-coming writers with more established authors. New writers are welcome. Join on Facebook by entering “Morgantown Poets” in the search. Or join the mailing list at morgantownpoets@yahoo.com or the listserve, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/motownpoetry.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Judges Announced for West Virginia Writing Competition.

West Virginia Writers, Inc. (WVW) has announced its' roster of judges for the 2010 Annual Writing Competition. This year the contest will be offering a total of $6,000 in cash prizes, in 12 writing categories. Once again, to judge the entries, WVW has enlisted the expertise of distinguished authors from around the country.

All judges asked to serve reside outside of West Virginia, but many have strong Appalachian ties. According to WVW President Terry McNemar, “By using judges from outside the state we assure the integrity of the evaluations, and by securing new judges each year, we broaden the range of expertise available to our organization, our members, and our contestants. This should also encourage entrants to re-enter pieces that didn't win in previous years, as new judges will be on board for all categories in 2010.”

Contest Administrator Steve Goff adds, “This year we have judges from Oregon, North Carolina, Montana, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. All of our judges are well respected and successful in their fields. We also go to great lengths to assure we have people who are well versed in the categories we've asked them to judge.” (For a full of roster of contest categories and judges, see below.)

Since its' inception in 1982 the WVW Writing Competition has awarded over $110,000 in prize money, and it is the largest writing contest in the state of West Virginia. Three cash prizes, ranging from $250, and at least three Honorable Mentions will be handed out in 12 different categories.

Entries will be accepted in the following categories: Short Story; Scripts; Non-Fiction; Children's Books; Humor; Appalachian Writing; Long and Short Poetry; and Book Length Prose. This year there will also be a category for Inspirational writing. There are also two categories for new writers, Emerging Writers Poetry and Prose.

The WVW Writing Competition is open to all WV state residents. Writers who live outside the state must become members of WVW to enter.

The contest is now open and the first deadline for entries is March 15, 2010. After that date, there is a late fee of $2 per entry, with the final deadline being March 31, 2010.

For more information about the contest concerning entry fees, contest rules, entry forms, category descriptions and the New Mountain Voices 2010 Student Writing Contest visit our Annual Writing Competition page.

The full roster of judges and the categories they will be judging are as follows:

Inspiration: Debra Landwehr Engle is the author of The Art of Living and Grace From the Garden: Changing the World One Garden At a Time. The latter was favorably reviewed in O magazine. Based in Iowa, Ms. Engle is one of the leading Inspirational writers in America today.

Scripts: Jill Patrick is an Atlanta, GA based playwright and poet. Her play The Prisoner has run as part of the Working Title Playwrights group in that city. She is a member of the Atlanta Writers Group.

Nonfiction: Linda Scott Derosier is the author of Creeker and Songs of Life and Grace. The latter has been awarded the Thomas D. Clark Award for Literary Excellence (Nov. 2003); and was nominated for the Kentucky Literary Award 2004. She currently teaches at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT.

Children's Books: Jennifer Allison is the creator of the “Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator” mystery series for young readers. Her titles include, Gilda Joyce and the Ladies of the Lake. She is based in Kensington, MD.

Humor: Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant is an award winning humor columnist; motivational speaker and stand-up comedienne. In 2003 she won the Erma Bombeck Award for Humor Writing. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Family Circle, and Good Housekeeping. She is based in Eugene, OR.

Appalachian Writing: Gretchen Moran Laskas is the author of The Miner's Daughter and The Midwife's Tale. The latter received a starred review from the Library Journal and won awards for Best Appalachian Novel and Outstanding Contribution to Appalachia. Originally from Philippi, WV, she now resides Fairfax, VA.

Book Length Prose: Brad Barkley is the author of Money, Love which was named one of the best books of 2000 by the Washington Post and the Library Journal. He was also named one of the “Breakthrough Writers You Need To Know” by Book Magazine. His other titles include Circle View, a short story collection, and the novel Alison's Automotive Repair Manual. He is currently an Associate Professor of English at Frostburg State University in Maryland.

Long Poetry: Rick Campbell is a Pushcart Prize winner and was awarded an NEA Fellowship in Poetry. His collections of poetry include Dixmont; Setting The World In Order; and The Traveler's Companion. He teaches English at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL.

Short Poetry: Michael Wurster's poetry collections include The Cruelty of the Desert and The Snake Charmer's Daughter. He is a founding member of the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange and teaches at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

Short Story: Tim Poland is the author of the novel The Safety of Deeper Water and a collection of short fiction, Escapee. A Pushcart Prize nominee, he is currently a professor of English at Radford University in Virginia.

Emerging Writers: Poetry: Ed Davis has published the poetry chapbooks Healing Arts; Whispering Leaves; and Haskell. A native of West Virginia, he also authored the novels I Was So Much Older Then and The Measure of Everything. He has taught writing and literature at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio since 1978, where he founded the literary magazine Flights.

Emerging Writers: Prose: Donna Gayle Akers has published short stories and poetry in Appalachian Heritage and Branches. Her work has also appeared in the collections The Zinnia Tales and Self-Rising Flowers. She grew up in Abingdon, VA and is currently based in Deep Gap, NC.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Reminder about this weekend's Writers Toolkit 2010

UPDATED: 2/11/10

The WV Division of Culture and History in collaboration with the WV Library Commission is presenting their annual Writers Toolkit event on February 13, 2010. The event will take place at the Cultural Center in Charleston. The event is free and open to the public.

Below are the workshop descriptions, schedule and bios of participating authors.

PLEASE NOTE: According to the Charleston Gazette, State Poet Laureate Irene McKinney will not be able to attend the annual Writers' Toolkit as originally scheduled due to weather concerns, but the program will still continue with the authors below and poet and essayist Doug Van Gundy will step in to take the workshop spaces left by McKinney.


Workshop Descriptions: Writer’s Toolkit 2010

Registration 9am

Morning Session – 10am – 12 noon
Afternoon Session 1pm – 3pm

Frank X Walker
Morning: Demystifying the Poetic Process"
Walker will lead beginning and immediate writers through the creative process from original concept to published poems. Participants will practice and conquer new editing & revision techniques, try on persona poems, and generate new work in a community of writers.


Anthony Viola’s Fiction Workshops:

Morning: Creating Three-Dimensional Characters through Unreliable Narrators.
An unreliable first-person narrator is one that masters the art of exaggeration, skews the facts of a story so that they cater to his or her needs. They can become truly gifted storytellers because they are truly human and unconsciously embrace and clearly display (to the reader) the idea that they are bound by their limited point of view. One way to create an unreliable first-person narrator is to carefully place contradictory elements, details, etc. within the narrative, which may or may not be expressed overtly, however will always remain on the surface for the reader to interpret as contradictory. By including specific elements and details, writers indirectly create three-dimensional characters in their narrators even if these narrators aren’t unreliable narrators.
In this session, participants will study, explore, and attempt to create an unreliable narrator. An exercise sheet and sample will be provided. Participants will be encouraged to share their work with others.



Anthony Viola’s Fiction Workshops:

Afternoon: Embracing Brevity by Writing a Story in 120 Words
Character, conflict, rising action, and climax are traits often associated with the short story genre. However, one complexity is that stories must be short; therefore a writer must achieve the most in the least amount of space. Brevity is the one unquestionable characteristic of the short story genre and many writers often have difficulty writing a complete story in such a compact space. By focusing on brevity, writers indirectly base their stories on single events and limit timeframes, settings, and characters, avoiding unnecessary clutter and underdevelopment. In this session, participants study, explore, and attempt to craft a complete story in 120 words. An exercise sheet and sample will be provided. Participants will be encouraged to share their work with others.


Rob Whetsell’s Historical Writing Workshops

Morning: This session will explore historical writing styles and techniques used to interpret history and make it more meaningful to the public. Presentation will focus on interpretive writing techniques, developing research skills, types of historical resources available to writers and how they can be applied. Mr. Whetsell will share his experiences as a historical writer and interpreter and his approaches to writing for a variety of formats and audiences.

Afternoon: The class will conduct an on-site visit to the WV State Archives to learn basic techniques of historical research and use of archival resources. Plans also include a short tour of West Virginia State Museum to analyze and discuss the effectiveness of interpretive writing and illustrate the different techniques and formats used to engage the public.

Kaite Hillenbrand’s Poetry Workshop

Afternoon: Whether you have an idea for a poem in mind or not, this workshop will help you figure out how to express your thoughts and feelings in a unique way. In my workshop, we will read a few poems, paying attention to imagery, figurative language, and other elements of craft. Each workshop member will make a list of images that have caught their attention recently and, with the help of a "sensory call," each person will freewrite on one of those images, keeping in mind the five senses. We will then compose a poem or two based on that image, using a line-by-line guide that I will provide. I will give you some time to revise before you read it to the rest of the workshop! In honor of Valentine's Day, we may also savor some Hershey's Kisses and write with love in mind.



Author Bios: Writer’s Toolkit 2010

Frank X Walker Walker is the award-winning writer and founder of the Affrlachian Poets, the author of four collections of poetry including the soon to be published I Dedicate This Ride: A Portrait of Isaac Murphy and the editor of PLUCK! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture. He teaches in the Department of English at the University of Kentucky.

Additional bio information and photos if necessary are available under the press kit link at www.frankxwalker.com

Dr. Anthony Viola is an Assistant Professor of English at Marshall University where he teaches creative writing, literature, and composition. He received a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from Ohio University in 2003, was a postdoctoral fellow in Creative Writing at Ohio University, and was a postdoctoral scholar in Creative Writing at the University of Kentucky while serving as the Associate Director of the Writing Program. He has been published in Pleiades, Gulf Coast, and Calliope, has had a short story nominated for a Pushcart Prize and another short story listed in “100 Other Distinguished Stories,” Best American Short Stories 2007. In addition to completing a collection of interrelated short stories, he has completed a full-length novel and two screenplays.


Rob Whetsell has 20 years of professional experience in interpreting West Virginia history. A former US Forest Service historian and archeologist, he currently works as an architectural historian for a large cultural resource contracting firm. Mr. Whetsell has a B.A. in History/Political Science from Davis & Elkins and dual M.A.s (in History and Public History) from WVU.

Mr. Whetsell is the author of the book Elkins, West Virginia: The Metropolis Revisited (1994) and has also completed three documentary films: A Good Place to Work: Myles Lumber Company (2008); The ‘CC Boys: A West Virginia Legacy (2006); and The Cliff-Scaling Soldiers of West Virginia (2003). Rob is also a 2006 recipient of the West Virginia History Hero Award and has received several other awards for his cultural resource work and interpretive skills, including the US Forest Service’s Eastern Region, Century of Service Award.

Kaite Hillenbrand is Assistant Editor in Chief of Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, and she teaches English at Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, PA. She lives in Morgantown and is a native of Charleston, WV. She earned her MFA in Poetry from the University of California, Riverside, and she earned her MA in Literature from WVU. She feels rooted in West Virginia’s landscape, and her lyric narrative poetry reflects that. Her poetry was most recently published in Kestrel, and a recent interview with her appears online at The Bees Knees.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Workshop at Chautauqua Scholarship Program

This information may be of interest to our members who write children's books.

Established in 1985, the Highlights Foundation is a nonprofit organization which helps authors and illustrators who write and illustrate for children of all ages. They have genre specific workshops and working retreats year round. There is also a scholarship program available for their flagship workshop, the Writers Workshop at Chautauqua, and the deadline is quickly approaching. Applications must be postmarked no later than February 12, 2010.

Please visit www.HighlightsFoundation.org or e-mail jo.lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org for more information.

Poetry Reading at Fairmont State

POETRY READING FEATURING JENNIFER K. SWEENEY & CHAD SWEENEY*

FRIDAY, FEB. 12 @ 6:30 p.m.
BROOKS GALLERY, WALLMAN HALL
FAIRMONT STATE UNIVERSITY
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
FABULOUS REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED!

Jennifer K. Sweeney’s second poetry collection, How to Live on Bread and Music, received the 2009 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets as well as the Perugia Press Prize. Her first book, Salt Memory, won the 2006 Main Street Rag Poetry Award. Nominated six times for a Pushcart Prize, her poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Southern Review, Hunger Mountain, Crab Orchard, Spoon River and Passages North where she won the 2009 Elinor Benedict Poetry Prize. She was awarded a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission and a residency from Hedgebrook. Sweeney holds an MFA from Vermont College and serves as assistant editor for DMQ Review.

Chad Sweeney is the author of three books of poetry, Parable of Hide and Seek (Alice James, 2010), Arranging the Blaze (Anhinga, 2009), and An Architecture (BlazeVox, 2007). He edited the anthology Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds: The Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose (City Lights, 2009) and is coeditor of Parthenon West Review. His poems have appeared widely including in Best American Poetry and Verse Daily. He holds an MFA from San Francisco State University and is a PhD candidate in literature/poetry at Western Michigan University, where he teaches poetry and serves as assistant editor of New Issues Press.

SPONSORED BY KESTREL: A JOURNAL OF LITERATURE & ART
THE DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
& THE CENTER FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE AT FSU

For more information, contact Donna J. Long at 367-4180 or dlong@fairmontstate.edu

*YES, THEY’RE MARRIED!

Monday, February 08, 2010

Another WVW loss

(This news courtesy of Renita Sue Lloyd.)

Joyce "Joy" Lackey, a resident of Richwood, author of Ghosts on Buffalo Creek, and a long time member of West Virginia Writers, passed away in her home on February 6. Her funeral arrangements are as follows...

Viewing and Visitation: Wednesday 6 to7 p.m.
Location: Waters Funeral Home, Summersville, WV
Funeral Day and Time: Thursday 11 a.m.
Funeral Services: Waters Chapel (in the funeral home)
Burial will be at the Montgomery Gardens in London, WV near Montgomery at 2 p.m. Thursday

A family loss from one of our members.

(This news courtesy WVW's own Susanna Holstein)

Friends, sharing this because some have wanted to know. Jonathan was the second of my five sons.

Jonathan Scott Ford, 39, of Leesburg, VA passed away on February 2, 2010 from injuries received in an auto accident in Grundy County, Iowa.

He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Jennifer Effland Ford, daughters Jordan Ford-Smith, her husband Ethan Smith and granddaughter Cadyn Smith of Ripley, WV; Kathleen, Cassidy and Allison Ford at home, brothers George L. Ford and wife Cassandra of Maysville, WV, 1st Sgt Derek R. Ford of Ripley, WV, Aaron Ford and wife Jaime of Fairmont, WV and Larry T. “Tommy” Holstein of Morgantown, WV; parents Susanna Holstein and Larry Holstein of Sandyville, WV and George L. Ford Sr. and wife Bonnie of Front Royal, VA, as well as numerous family and other relatives. He was a member of The Worship Center Assembly of God in Leesburg, VA.

Jonathan was Vice President of Administrative Operations at Connelly and Associates, Inc. of Frederick, MD, working with his uncle, Walter “Tom” Connelly and cousins Sam, Emily and Eamon Connelly. He received his MBA from Shenandoah University and was active in many sports and community activities. He was a disabled veteran of the US Army with 10 years of active duty service including four years with the White House Communications Agency. He was an avid golfer, kayaker, runner, and never met a challenge he would not meet with enthusiasm, energy and creativity. He was devoted to his family, a strong supporter of his daughters’ interests and always available to lend a hand to friends, family, and neighbors. He will be greatly missed by the many people whose lives he has touched.

Visitation is scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 6:00pm at Loudoun Funeral Chapels of Leesburg, VA. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 11:00 am at The Worship Center, Leesburg. Interment will be at Union Cemetery, Leesburg.

The Jonathan Ford Memorial Fund has been established by Connelly and Associates. Donations may be made to: Jonathan Ford Memorial Fund, c/o Connelly and Associates, 260 Interstate Court, Frederick, MD 21704, or online at www.connellydrilling.com. Call 1-800-864-6895 for more information.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Huntington Writers Showcase

Arts Resources for the Tri-State is hosting its first Writers Showcase, highlighting the region's writers. This will be a performance based event held quarterly. Their vision for this project is to foster the growth of writers in the field of performing arts and provide venues for the performance of their original works.

The Herald Dispatch newspaper has an article with details on how writers can submit their work. Find the article HERE.