Hudson Valley Writers Guild Newsletter
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IN THIS ISSUE
Guild Announcements:
- HVWG sponsors free writers conference June 8
- HVWG non-fiction contest opens June 15
Member Announcements:
- Alan Catlin announces publication of “memoir with poetry,” Books of the Dead
- Hollis Seamon’s book of short stories receives recognitions
- Taylor Trade Publishing releases 2nd edition of Pauline Bartel’s The Complete GONE WITH THE WIND Trivia Book
Area Announcements:
- Misfit publishes 10th issue
- Elizabeth Gordon (elizag) announces publication of first poetry collection
- Caffè Lena to present poetry readings by Suzanne Parker and Shira Dentz June 4
- Author & artist talk with Richard Matturro & Mary Trevor Thomas June 8
- June 8 is the next Second Sunday at Two
- Submission Deadline June 10 for Regional Writers Showcase at The Rensselaerville Festival of Writers
- Pride reading & open mic June 12
- Rensselaerville Library hosts author Marni Graff & mystery workshop June 12
- Third Thursday to feature poet Matthew Klane June 19
- Publish & Promote Your Book conference June 21
- Evergreen Poets Workshop June 27
- “Writing for Success: Writers’ Seminar” June 28
- NYS Summer Writers Institute public readings at Skidmore start June 30
- Hollywood producer available for presentations & consultation
GUILD ANNOUNCEMENTS
HVWG sponsors free writers conference June 8
The Hudson Valley Writers Guild will sponsor a free conference for writers and poets on Sunday, June 8, at 2 p.m. at the East Greenbush Public Library, 10 Community Way, East Greenbush, NY.
The guest speaker will be Frankie Y. Bailey, faculty member in the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany (SUNY) and an award-winning author of nonfiction books on crime, as well as a series of mysteries featuring detective Lizzie Stuart, the most recent being Forty Acres and a Soggy Grave (The Overmountain Press, 2011). Bailey has launched a near-future police procedural series set in Albany, New York, with The Red Queen Dies (St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne). The second book in this series, featuring Detective Hannah McCabe, is due out in March 2015.
The conference will also include a panel, “Selling Your Words,” discussing marketing your work. On the panel will be poet and HVWG President Dan Wilcox, historical mystery writer M.E.Kemp, self-publishing expert Barbara Traynor and writer and Times Union book reviewer Elizabeth Floyd Mair.
The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, call the East Greenbush library at (518) 477-7476. For more information on the conference, email Marilyn Rothstein:mekemp@nycap.rr.com. For more information about the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, visit hvwg.org.
HVWG non-fiction contest opens June 15
The Hudson Valley Writers Guild is pleased to announce this year’s non-fiction contest. Submission categories will be memoir/personal essay and humor. There will be a $100 award in each category, and winners will be invited to read their winning submissions at a special program in the fall of 2014.
All contestants must be residents of New York State. The entry fee is: $10 for HVWG members and $15 for non-members. Checks made payable to HVWG must accompany submissions. If $30 membership fee is paid with submission, please enclose a separate check. HVWG Board of Directors and their families and/or current or past students and family of judges are ineligible.
Entries must be postmarked between June 15–August 15, 2014. Contact information must not appear anywhere on the submission. A cover letter must include: name, address, phone number, email, title, submission category, and word count (1200 word maximum).
All submissions must be typed, double-spaced, in 12pt Times New Roman or Cambria font. Send three hard copies by mail. No email submissions. Submissions must be previously unpublished. Please no pornography or erotica.
This year’s judges are Diane Cameron and Gene Damm (personal essay/memoir) and Anne Decker (humor). Diane Cameron is a writer, writing teacher and creativity coach. She is a syndicated newspaper columnist and blogger. Most recently, she’s written Out of the Woods: A Woman’s Guide to Long-Term Recovery and Looking for Signs: Essays and Columns. Humorist Anne Decker’s essays have appeared on public radio, in local newspapers and magazines. She has an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. Gene Damm is past president of the Friends of the Albany Public Library. He is the author of Guanyin and Other Poems, as well as A Chinese Folk Tale and Other Stories.
All entrants will be notified of winners by email unless an SASE is provided. Results will be posted on our website: http://hvwg.org.
Contact Jan Tramontano at jantramontano@gmail.com for more information. Mail submissions and entry fee to: HVWG CONTEST c/o Jan Tramontano, 14 Brookwood Avenue, Albany, NY 12203.
MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Alan Catlin announces publication of “memoir with poetry,” Books of the Dead
Alan Catlin would like to announce the publication of his memoir with poetry, Books of the Dead. The book, some 25 years in the making, is a deft blend of prose and poetry about the deaths of his parents: one in New York City, the other in Florida. The book is available by mail, post paid for $15, or in person, at readings in the area, for $13. For more information or to order, contact Alan at thecatlins@msn.com.
Hollis Seamon’s book of short stories receives recognitions
Hollis Seamon’s book of short stories, Corpoereality, published in January 2013 by Able Muse Press, has received a gold medal in the 2014 Independent Publishers Book Awards (aka IPPY Awards), short story category. The book is also a finalist in Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards.
In addition, Hollis will serve as the guest author for the New York State Summer Young Writers Institute at Skidmore College in July.
Taylor Trade Publishing releases 2nd edition of Pauline Bartel’s The Complete GONE WITH THE WIND Trivia Book
A second edition of The Complete GONE WITH THE WIND Trivia Book by Pauline Bartel was published by Taylor Trade Publishing, in honor of the film’s 75th anniversary. This major rewrite of the 1989 original continues the behind-the-scenes chronicle of GWTW – the book, the movie and the phenomenon that continues today. Visit https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781589798205 for further information.
AREA ANNOUNCEMENTS
Misfit publishes 10th issue
Misfit announces publication of its tenth issue. More of the same exciting poetry, reviews and a personal essay from the editor. Check it out at misfitmagazine.net. Misfit accepts submissions all year round, but “response time during summer will be slower as the editor gets a life” (in the editor’s own words).
Elizabeth Gordon (elizag) announces publication of first poetry collection
“Elizag” announces publication of her first poetry collection, Love Cohoes. Here’s an excerpt from the foreward:
My first summer here, biking on the rail trail, I drove over two big white words spray-painted across the pavement: Love Cohoes. God knows it needs it, I thought, peddling on past a bevy of smoking teenagers. A little girl asking if I would “live here for the rest of your life,” that graffiti flicking beneath my wheels, and my neighbors—their faces and stories, their fears and struggles—invited me into a current of healing, transcending love that is as wide and deep and powerful as Cohoes Falls itself, that most sacred place of the Iroquois nation, cataract the close equal in height, width and water flow to Niagara Falls’ American Falls.
I was thrilled when I moved in to find the falls so close. I hear the roar from my shared back yard. I can love Cohoes when I try to love Cohoes. Trying takes looking and seeing. Poems look, hard.Love Cohoes, published by Crandall, Dostie & Douglass Books, Inc., is $14. It is available locally at Market Block Books in Troy, from the author via email (walk33@gmail.com), at the author’s website (www.ekg3.com) and from Amazon.
Caffè Lena to present poetry readings by Suzanne Parker and Shira Dentz June 4
On Wednesday, June 4, Caffè Lena will present poetry readings by Suzanne Parker and Shira Dentz. An open reading will follow. Doors open for sign-ups at 7 p.m., and the readings will start at 7:30 p.m. The host for the event will be Carol Graser, and the cost is $5. Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs. (518) 583-0022. www.caffelena.org.
Shira Dentz is the author of two books, black seeds on a white dish (Shearsman, 2011) and door of thin skins (CavanKerry Press, 2013). Her third full-length manuscript was a National Poetry Series finalist this year. Her writing appears in many journals, including The American Poetry Review, The Iowa Review and New American Writing, and has featured online at The Academy of American Poets’ website (Poets.org), NPR,Poetry Daily and Verse Daily. Her awards include an Academy of American Poets’ Prize, the Poetry Society of America’s Lyric Poem Award and Cecil Hemley Memorial Award, Electronic Poetry Review’s Discovery Award and Painted Bride Quarterly’s Poetry Prize. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she holds a Ph.D. in creative writing and literature from the University of Utah. Shira is also reviews editor at Drunken Boat and lecturer in creative writing at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Suzanne Parker is a winner of the Kinereth Gensler Book Award; her collection of poetry, Viral, was published by Alice James Books in Sept. 2013. Poems from the book that were published in Hunger Mountainhave been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poetry has appeared in Drunken Boat, Hunger Mountain, Barrow Street, Cimarron Review, Rattapallax and numerous other journals. She is a winner of the Alice M. Sellars Award from the Academy of American Poets and was a Poetry Fellow at the Prague Summer Seminars. Her wesbite is suzanneparker.org.
Author & artist talk with Richard Matturro & Mary Trevor Thomas June 8
Richard’s sixth novel, Medea, based on the classic myth of the woman who kills her children, will be coming out in May from Livingston Press. It contains 24 original drawings by Mary Trevor Thomas. There will be an author and artist talk at Bethlehem Public Library on Sunday, June 8, at 2 p.m. Reception to follow. All are invited. For more information, visit www.richardmatturro.com.
