Write Here! at The Arts Center

The Arts Center of the Capital Region and the Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild are joining forces to present Write Here!. Taking place on Saturday, March 10 from 9am – 5:15pm at The Arts Center, Write Here! is “a mini conference for and about writers and writing in and around the Capital Region of New York State”.

Registration and a Book Fair begins at 9am. Admission to the event is $15/$12 to members of the Arts Center or Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild with workshops & panel discussions throughout the day.

What does it mean to be a writer living, working and creating in the Capital Region of New York State, and how does this place inform your craft? The Arts Center partners with the Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild to explore options, share resources, and network within the diverse local writing community.

Download the brochure here: http://www.artscenteronline.org/www/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WriteHere_Form.pdf

The Arts Center of the Capital Region and Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild proudly present: Write Here! A mini conference for and about writers and writing
in and around the Capital Region of New York State

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012
At the Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River St. Troy, NY 12180

REGISTRATION/BOOK FAIR at 9AM
Table space available. Full table( 53” x 23”) – $50, Half table $25
To reserve a table, call 518.273.0552 x 233

SESSION ONE: 10:00 – 11:00AM

“WAR STORIES” Workshop
This workshop will include a presentation of two replicable projects that were developed as a way to articulate a response to war; an academic course ,created and developed by Claudia Hough and Dr. Elaine Handley at SUNY Empire State College, called War Stories: Reading and Writing About the Impact of War and a theater performance that was developed as a result and will be directed by Dr. Cynthia Bates. The creative process and lessons learned will be examined, particularly new understandings about giving voice to a subject as multi-dimensional and politically and emotionally powerful as war. The session will also feature a reading of a piece of the script and encourage questions and discussion by the participants. Claudia Hough, Dr. Cindy Bates and Dr. Elaine Handley, all of Empire State College

Submittors and Rejectors: Local Editors and Publishers Discuss Their Work
Many writers would like to submit their work and get published, but may want to ask some questions first. What places are right for my work? How do I send my work out? What are editors looking for, and what are they thinking when they read my submission? Local publishers and editors from the area talk about their work and what goes into putting together a literary journal or small press. A question-and-answer period will follow.
Moderator: Daniel Nester, Managing Editor, We Who Are About To Die Panelists: David Holub, editor and publisher, Kugelmass: A Journal of Literary Humor; Nancy White, president and editor, The Word Works; Rob Arnold, Managing Editor, Fence; Matthew Klane, editor and publisher, Flim Forum Press; Chloe Caldwell, “Love and Music” columnist, The Faster Times; Benjamin Harris, editor-in-chief, Thoughtsmith

SESSION TWO: PLENARY 11:15 – 12:30

Main Panel Discussion: The Writing Life
Our main panel discussion will address the aspects of cultivating the “writing life” prepublication. The panel, moderated by Amy Halloran, will feature Robyn Ringler, David Goldschmidt, Dan Wilcox and Elaine Handley. What are the structures, personal and social, that make a writer write? These writers will discuss the habits that help them get at the work of writing, including the not-so-simple matters of scheduling, focus and attention, online and live peer critique groups, classes, collaborations, and poetry readings.

LUNCH: 12:30 – 2PM

Pre-order box lunch from Nighthawk’s Kitchen or visit one of Troy’s eateries.

SESSION THREE: 2PM – 3PM

Poetry in the Classroom: Writing and Sharing Poetry with School-Age Children
This workshop will explore of methods for teaching poetry across the curriculum including:

• Using art to teach poetry
• Teaching poetry of self-expression
• Teaching young students how to read their work aloud
• What to do with the work after it is created: literary magazines for kids
• Collaborations between writing and other arts

Jill Crammond, Susan Riback, Ralph Fahrenstock from Bethlehem Children’s School

A local poet, Jill Crammond has been teaching art and creative writing in and around the Capital District for nearly twenty years. Her traveling art studio, Miss Jill’s Artist Studio, is making its current home inside the Bethlehem Children’s School. There she shares with children ages two – twelve the joys of painting, drawing and writing poetry.

Spoken Rhythm: Slam! Hip Hop and the Spoken Word
This panel looks at the differences and similarities between hip hop, slam poetry and performance/spoke word artists. Does hip hop play a major role in slam poetry? Where do we draw the line between Rhyme and quatrains? Do we consider hip hop poetry? What are the latest movements within these art forms? Panel Moderator Mojavi Founder/Director, Urban Guerrilla Theatre

SESSION FOUR: 3:15 – 4:15 PM

Social Networking for Writers: How to build community in social networks and digital media. Ideas and best practices including:

• uses: writing practice, networking, promotion, etc.
• groundwork
• commitment
• content
• “traditional” platforms: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
• fun & emerging: instagram, pinterest, etc.
• memes & special months
• real life elements

Carolee Sherwood, social media conversation manager

Poetry of Place
Three poets talk about how they use what is outside to enrich their experience of what they are and what is shared with others through their work. Alan Casline will start the presentation followed by Alan Catlin and then Bernadette Mayer. Question and discussion time will follow the three presentations. Alan Casline will present on developing a “coloring book” with emphasis on the “mythological present” using poetic examples from his work. Alan Catlin will explore the idea of how place influences art through a reading and brief discussion of poems from Only the Dead Know Albany and Death in the Afternoon on Becker Street. “Becker Street” Catlin writes “is the cross street thirteen houses down.” Bernadette Mayer will discuss her ideas on Poetry of Place and will share poems and photographs from her Helens of Troy book soon to appear from New Directions Press.

HAPPY HOUR: 4:15 – 5:15PM

Toast new friends and ideas!