Hudson Valley Writers Guild Newsletter, November 1, 2011
In This Issue
Guild Announcements: HVWG Annual Membership Meeting, Schenectady Community of Writers Event
Member Announcements: Carolee Sherwood, Mary Kathryn Jablonski, M.E. Kemp, Melinda Morris Perrin, Jan Marin Tramontano, Barbara M. Traynor, Dan Wilcox
Area Announcements: Fiction Group Seeks Members, Poet Needed to Conduct a Workshop in Albany, Writers Institute Readings at UAlbany, New Reading Series in Saratoga Springs, Frequency North Series in Albany, Yes! Reading Series in Albany, Writers Open Mic in Slingerlands, New Reading Series in Hudson, NYFA is Taking Online Grant Applications.
Guild Announcements
Annual Membership Meeting, November 14, 7 p.m.
Please join fellow members of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild for our annual Membership Meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, at the William K. Sanford Town Library, 629 Albany Shaker Road, Loudonville. Refreshments and mingling, reports of the year’s activities and your chance to nominate yourself or your friends for the Guild Board. What the “Guild” does is what you do. The meeting is free and open to the general public. Hope to see you there!
Schenectady Community of Writers, November 20, 2-4 p.m.
The Schenectady Community of Writers is November 20 at the Schenectady Public Library from 2-4 p.m. Readers will be available before and after the program for signing and selling their books. Refreshments will be served. The program includes the following participants: Virginia Bach Folger, Sara Foss, Carol Graser, D. Alexander Holiday, M.E. Kemp, Bob Sharkey, Steven Swartz, Barbara Louise Ungar and David Weiss. Alan Catlin will serve as moderator.
Member Announcements
Carolee Sherwood will be the featured poet at Caffé Lena on November 2.
Visual artist and poet Mary Kathryn Jablonski will present two poetry readings in November and December. On November 16 she will read at 7 p.m. at the Old Forge Library, 220 Crosby Blvd., Old Forge. On December 10 she will read at 2 p.m. at the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival, which meets at the Colony Cafe, 22 Rock City Road. Both readings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.
Jablonski is the author of the chapbook To the Husband I Have Not Yet Met (APD Press, 2008), and her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals including the Beloit Poetry Journal, Salmagundi, Chronogram and Blueline, among others. She recently completed her first book-length collection of poems and two additional chapbook manuscripts. Her artwork has been widely exhibited throughout the Northeast, is held in private and public collections and can be viewed in group exhibitions in November and December at the Riverfront Studios in Schuylerville and at the Arts Center Gallery in Saratoga Springs.
November 6, Sunday, is the Chronicle Book Fair in Glens Falls, sponsored by the Chronicle newspaper. M. E. Kemp will have a table with her books, do a reading from her soon-to-be published 5th book and give a panel talk along with other regional authors. Kemp will also give a talk on “Writing the Historical Mystery” to the Women’s Club of Valley Falls on November 9.
Poet Melinda Morris Perrin will be reading from her latest volume, Winterberries: Poems of Hope, at the Open Door Book Store on Friday, December 16, as part of Schenectady’s Arts Night. Winterberries is published by Ice Cube Press, North Liberty, Iowa.
Jan Marin Tramontano‘s poetry chapbook, Paternal Nocturne, will be available for pre-order purchase through Finishing Line Press: finishinglinepress.com/newreleasesandforthcomingtitles. The number of copies pre-ordered determines the print run. The book will be available January 2012. Jan is doing a reading at the Book House on Saturday, November 5, at 3 p.m. and will read at the Women’s Building on November 11 (details forthcoming).
Barbara M. Traynor, author of Second Career Volunteer … would like to have you join her at any one of the dates and times of author book presentations listed below (details and directions on calendar at secondcareervolunteer.com):
New York —
- Thursday, November 3, at 6:30 p.m., Troy Public Library, Troy;
- Wednesday, November 9, Noon, “Lunch & Learn,” Bethlehem YMCA, Bethlehem;
- Tuesday, December 13, at 6:30 p.m., Saratoga Springs Public Library, Saratoga Springs.
Connecticut —
- Tuesday, November 1, at 6:30 p.m., Bethel Public Library, Bethel;
- Thursday, November 17, at 6:30 p.m., Southington Public Library, Southington;
- Tuesday, November 22, Noon – “Lunch & Learn,” Cyrenius H. Booth Library, Newtown;
- Thursday, December 15, at 7 p.m., DUAL author presentation with Prill Boyle and Barbara Traynor, Ridgefield Public Library, Ridgefield.
Upcoming 2012 events include readings in Charleston, SC; Augusta, GA; Chattanooga, TN; and Richmond, VA.
Poet and Peace Activist Dan Wilcox, currently president of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and a publisher of other poets will speak on December 3 after a luncheon in his honor. Main Auditorium, Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, Albany, 1:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Preceded by a luncheon buffet: University Club, 141 Washington Avenue, Noon, Good Food for $20. Checks payable to the Friends of Albany Public Library may be sent to the Friends, 161 Washington Avenue, Albany, 12210. Reservations by Tuesday, November 29. F or more information, please contact Gene Damm, gdamm@nycap.rr.com
Area announcements
Fiction Group Looking for New Members
The Hudson Valley Fiction Writers Group has openings for new members interested in critiquing and being critiqued by a group of mutually supportive writers. The group, which meets every other Wednesday at 8 p.m., was founded by former Guild officer, Joachim Frank, and has been active for more than 25 years. We welcome new, as well as experienced, writers. If you are interested, please contact Noelle at Noelle@nycap.rr.com.
Poet Needed to Run a Workshop for Second Graders
I’m looking for a local poet to run a poetry workshop for second graders at an Albany elementary school this spring. The second graders will visit both a local hospital and a local homeless shelter and will explore what needs exist at these settings that they can address through art and writing. The culminating piece of this large project is a poetry workshop in which the children will write about their experiences. A poetry book will be published with all the work included. I am also hoping we can do a reading!
So, I am looking for a poet who would be able to run a week long poetry workshop, exploring different genres of poetry with the children. I think the poet would come for about an hour a day for five days. New Scotland Elementary School is on New Scotland Avenue here in Albany.
Contact: Avi Bower, PhD, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Lally School of Education, The College of Saint Rose, 432 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203. bowera@strose.edu. (518) 454-2843.
Writers Institute Fall Reading Series
Among the upcoming events are art critic Ken Johnson reading at the University Art Museum, Fine Arts Building on the Uptown Campus of UAlbany on November 7 at 7 p.m.; science writer Dava Sobel reading in the Assembly Hall of the Campus Center of the Uptown Campus on November 10 at 8 p.m.; and non-fiction writer and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson reading at Page Hall, Downtown on November 15 at 8 p.m. For additional information, including about seminars conducted by these writers and about several more events during this stretch, visit the website at albany.edu/writers-inst.
New Reading Series in Saratoga, November 7, 7:30 p.m.
The Adirondack Center for Writing and Spring Street Gallery are presenting a fall reading series, starting on Monday, November 7. Novelist and critic James Howard Kunstler, a Saratoga Springs resident, will read at 7:30 p.m. This is the first reading in a month-long series that will also feature Linda Simon, Curt Stager and Daniel Swift. All readings are free and open to the public and will be held at 110 Spring Street.
This reading series is co-sponsored by Adirondack Center for Writing and the Spring Street Gallery. For more information, call (518) 587 6433.
Frequency North Reading, November 10, 7:30 p.m.
This edition of the series will feature the novelist Megan Abbott (The End of Everything) reading at the College of St. Rose in the Standish Rooms of the Events and Activities Center on 420 Western Avenue.
Yes! Reading, November 11, 8 p.m.
This edition of the series will feature poets Macgregor Card and Conchitina Cruz, as well as local video and audio performer Jason Cosco. At the Albany Social Justice Center, 33 Central Avenue.
Writers Open Mic Night, November 11, 6:30 p.m.
Sponsored by the red oak tree, Rootdrinker Institute and the Delmar Writers Group, a Writers Open Mic Night will be held at the Pine Hollow Arboretum Visitors Center, 16 Maple Avenue, Slingerlands, on Friday, November 11. Linda Sonia Miller will be featured. Other poets can read three short poems, or two long poems, or any combination thereof. Also two pages of prose will be acceptable. Light refreshments. Donations welcomed.
New Hudson River Loft Reading Series, November 12, 7 p.m.
The Musica Loft, 17 N. 4th Street, Hudson. Featured Readers: Daniel Nester, Sean H. Doyle, Chloe Caldwell, Stacy Pershall, Mira Ptacin, Danielle Winterton. Suggested donation of $5. There will be alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, books for sale and a wonderful night filled with prose, poems, essays and fiction.
NYFA’s online application is now open
Please go to nyfa.org/afp to apply and to review application guidelines. The following categories will be reviewed during the 2011 – 2012 cycle:
Painting
Painting applicants also have the option to apply for the Basil H. Alkazzi Award for Excellence in Painting, awarding two painters with an award of $20,000 each.
Fiction
Interdisciplinary Work
Folk/Traditional Arts
Video/Film
DEADLINES
December 15, 2011, at 11:59 p.m.
Painting
Fiction
December 16, 2011, at 11:59 p.m.
Interdisciplinary Work
Folk/Traditional Arts
Video/Film
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The Hudson Valley Writers Guild offers space in its newsletter for submission and program opportunities but does not endorse any programs or publications that are not offered through the Guild. Two notes from the newsletter editors:
* Within each section, announcements/events are arranged, when possible, by relevant dates.
* We are always curious to know if the formatting “works” (appears neat and tidy) in your email or if it causes issues (is difficult to read). Send feedback and suggestions regarding any formatting issues to hvwginfo@gmail.com.
* News items should go to Bob Sharkey at riverrun@nycap.rr.com. Please use Times New Roman size 12 font whenever possible.
Thank you!
–Carolee Sherwood, Newsletter Co-Editor
-Bob Sharkey, Newsletter Co-Editor
