Hudson Valley Writers Guild Newsletter, July 4, 2011
In This Issue
Guild Announcements: 2011 Non-fiction Writing Contest
Member Announcements: Sue Oringel
Area Announcements: Caffé Lena, Poets in the Park in Albany, Youth Fiction Writing Workshops in Clifton Park, Third Thursday Poetry at Social Justice Center, Storytelling Camp in Pyramid Lake, Festival of Writers in Rensselaerville, Fiction Writing Workshop in Glens Falls, April Ossmann Poetry Editing Workshop in Saratoga
Guild Announcements
2011 Non-fiction writing contest accepting submissions
The HVWG annual writing contest rotates genres each year, and our 2011 contest will be for Non-Fiction (humor, personal essay, and memoir). There is a $100 top prize in each of three categories. Submissions are being accepted through the end of August. The contest is open to residents of any part of New York State. The full guidelines are posted at our website – hvwg.org (under the “about” tab). Here is a direct link: hudsonvalleywritersguild.wordpress.com/about/contests/
Member Announcements
Sue Oringel is happy to announce that the volume of Latin American poetry, Messengers of Rain published in 2002, for which she was one of four translators, is now being reissued in a bilingual paperback edition as Mandaderos de la lluvia/Messengers of Rain, published by Groundwood Books. It will be available in Canada and the US in Fall 2011.
Area announcements
Caffé Lena hosts RA Press, July 6
Caffé Lena’s Poetry Open Mic is the first Wednesday of every month. This month, Caffè Lena presents RA Press out of Burlington, VT. Wednesday, July 6. 7 p.m. sign-up; 7:30 p.m. readings. Featured Poets: RA Press Poets (Charles Watts, Mary Anne Johnson, Chuck Gibson and Mary L. Randal). $3. Hosted by Carol Graser.
Four poets representing RA Press out of Burlington, VT, will be presenting work from the “Backpack Classics” series, a set of books aimed to enhance any hike in the Adirondacks. These writers, all widely published, are featured in the anthology Karma in the High Peaks, RA Press’s newest publication. Karma in the High Peaks won the Peoples Choice award as best publication of 2010 at the Adirondack Literary Awards.
Poets in the Park 2011: Readings scheduled for July 9, 16, 23 & 30
Poets in the Park is celebrating over 20 years of poetry in July at the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park, Albany. The series was started in 1989 by the late Tom Nattell and is now run by Albany poet and photographer Dan Wilcox. The 2011 readers are:
- July 9: Danielle D. Colin Charlestin & Daniel Nester
- July 16: Cara Benson & Gary Metras
- July 23: Alan Berecka & Rebecca Schumejda
- July 30: Alan Catlin & Marie-Elizabeth Mali
Each reading starts at 7 p.m. All readings are free and open to the public; donations accepted. The Robert Burns statue is located near where Henry Johnson Boulevard passes through Washington Park and crosses Hudson Ave. Please bring your own chairs or blankets to sit on. Rain site for each event is the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Avenue, Albany. For more information contact Dan Wilcox, at dwlcx@earthlink.net; 518-482-0262. The series is co-sponsored by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild; for more information about the Guild visit the website hvwg.org.
Fiction Writing Workshops for Grades 6-8 & 9-12, starting July 11
Do you find that your mind often floats away to another realm? After you read a book, do you wish that you could write something so moving and fantastic? Or maybe you look at the world in a unique way and you want to express yourself. If you feel the need to write then this class is for you. It’ll be fun and interactive, but this writing class is for serious writers of all levels. We will work on starting a novel or story or you can bring a current project. Limited to 10 writers. Please plan on attending ALL 4 SESSIONS! Presented by Janine Cammarata.
In the Piracci Board Room at the Clifton Park/Halfmoon Public Library (registration required; events.cphlibrary.org/eventcalendar.asp):
- For teens entering grades 6-8; 7/11, 7/13, 7/18, 7/20; 9:30-11:30 a.m.
- For teens entering 9-12 grades; 7/12, 7/14, 7/19, 7/21; 9:30 a.m.-Noon
Questions about workshops? Contact Janine at (518) 466-5558.
Avery Stempel to read at Social Justice Center July 21, 7:30 p.m.
Local poet Avery Stempel will read from his work at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Avenue, Albany, on Thursday, July 21, at 7:30 p.m. Avery is a voracious cogitator and loquacious elocutor learned in the art of philosophizing. He enjoys engaging in curious experiences brought to fruition by creative minds the world over.
A reading by a local or regional poet is held each Third Thursday at the Social Justice Center. The event includes an open mic for audience members to read. Sign-up starts at 7 p.m., with the reading beginning at 7:30. The host of the readings is Albany poet and photographer Dan Wilcox. Suggested donation is $3, which helps support this and other poetry programs of the Poetry Motel Foundation and the work of the Social Justice Center. For more information about this event, contact Dan Wilcox, (518) 482-0262; e-mail: dwlcx@earthlink.net.
Storytelling Camp in Pyramid Lake, July 22-24
Marni Gillard invites writers and storytellers – beginners and experienced – to Pyramid Lake Storytelling Camp Weekend. July 22-24 (Friday dinner-Sunday lunch). Experiential workshops on imagining scenes, characters, story structure – fiction or memoir. Register at pyramidlife.org. Located 1.5 hours N of Albany, 6 miles E of exit 28 of the Northway, I-87. $130 covers food, workshops, concert, free kayaks, canoes, life-jackets. Bring bedding for camp mattresses, toiletries, towels. Great fun for 10 – adult. Questions: Marni (518) 381-9474.
Festival of Writers 2011: A Sense of Place July 28-July 31
To kick off the Rensselaerville Library’s Festival of Writers 2011, two exciting writing workshops, with memoirist Nick Flynn and poet Howard Nelson, will be offered to the public on Friday, July 29. Please call the library at (518) 797-3949 or go to the library’s website – rensselaervillelibrary.org – to register and to check out the week-end’s literary riches, featuring readings and discussions with Jean Craighead George, Francine Prose and Mary Morris among many other award-winning writers. The fee is $50 for each writing workshop. Readings/discussions are $10 each or less if a week-end pass is purchased. Register early for the writing workshops because space is limited to 20.
ACW hosts full-day fiction writing workshop with Kathryn Kramer
The Adirondack Center for Writing presents writer Kathryn Kramer for a full day workshop on writing fiction, August 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at LARAC (Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council) in Glens Falls. It will be a full day of hands-on work-shopping, with specific emphasis on dialogue; point of view and voice; character development; and plot. The workshop will include discussion, readings, and writing exercises. Participants will be expected to create and share work at the event.
Registration is $75 for members of ACW and $85 for non-members, including the cost of lunch. To register or with questions, please contact the Adirondack Center for Writing at (518) 327-6278 or visit our web site, adirondackcenterforwriting.org. LARAC is located at 7 Lapham Place, Glens Falls.
Kathryn Kramer has published several novels, including her most recent, Sweet Water, which Publisher’s Weekly called an “ambitious and richly imagined tale of romantic intrigue.” She has written short fiction and non-fiction articles on subjects ranging from chanterelle mushrooms to Henry James. Kathryn in currently completing a memoir entitled, Missing History: The Covert Education of a Child of the Great Books.
The Saratoga Poetry & Song Focus Group Presents an April Ossmann Workshop
Thinking Like A Poetry Editor: How to be your own best critic (The Ossman Method Poetry Workshop. Learn how to think like a poetry editor! In this one-session poetry workshop we’ll turn the usual workshop model on its head and not only allow the poet being critiqued to speak, but to speak first and critique his or her own poem, listing its strengths and weaknesses before group discussion begins. This will offer a taste of what it means to be both poet and poetry editor, a position in which it becomes easier to objectively assess your own work, spot dull vs. energetic syntax, generic vs. original imagery and other strengths and weaknesses you may have overlooked. It also empowers the poet in the process and engenders an unusually congenial workshop atmosphere.
Saturday, September 24, 9 a.m.-Noon, Saratoga Arts Center. Fee: $75. Join April Ossmann for Brown Bag Lunch from noon-1 p.m. for Informal Q & A. Advance registration and payment required. Contact Barbara Garro at The Saratoga Poetry & Song Focus Group, (518) 587-9999, WriterBarbaraGarro@ElectricEnvisions.com or ElectricEnvisions.com
