| October 18, 2016, VOLUME 23, ISSUE 2 |
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Three things of the utmost importance are happening this fall.
First, there is WordFest, a celebration of the literary arts to take place in downtown (or is that uptown?) Charlotte on October 15. See details below.
Next,there is the upcoming October 18 general meeting of the CWC. This is your opportunity to find, to join, or maybe even create a critique group. See details below.
And finally, there will be an election, wherein we will choose a president, a vice-president a third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, a Governor, Lieutenant Governor and various other people who will probably disappoint us. Since writers are the best and wisest people on Earth, be sure to get out and vote! |
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GENERAL MEETING
Tuesday, October 18, 2016, 7 p.m.
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28211
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| October is critique group month |
The central event of our October 18 meeting will be the introduction to, and formation of, critique groups.
If you are not currently in one, this is the chance to check them out. If you are already in a critique group, but are interested in branching out in new areas, this is the place to do it.
Everyone will have an opportunity to explore the various groups in existence, form new ones, ask questions, and learn about the benefits of joining a critique group. Our groups meet at different times of day, throughout the Charlotte metro area, and cover a range of genres. Come decide where you fit and get connected!
The meeting will take place on the second floor of the PUMC, room 214, at 7:00.
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Carolinas WordFest
On October 15, in uptown Charlotte, Carolinas WordFest will host 23 poets, storytellers, lyricists, playwrights, screenwriters, nonfiction and fiction authors, young adult writers and a gaggle of improv comedy wordsmiths. It's free, inclusive and interactive - and it's our festival. The Charlotte Writers' Club is the primary underwriter of the only festival to exclusively feature some of the Carolinas' best writers. From New York Times best-selling authors to those who literally wrote the books used in classrooms around the country, all our panelists, interactive performers and workshop leaders have called the Carolinas home. Check out the wealth of talent at https://carolinaswordfest.com/writers/.
Check the
schedule
, plot your course throughout First Ward and put on your running shoes to hit your top choices - if you can choose between events. Storytellers weaving tales as they have for millennia. YA writers explaining how they capture teens' imagination. Authors sharing their screen, poetry, fiction and nonfiction writing tips. Musicians and dramatists telling stories through song and theater. Latino writers chronicling the immigrant experience in prose, poetry and music. Whether you taste a little or sample your fill, you won't be a bystander. Our invited authors want you to participate. More than readings and recitations, WordFest will engage you. You will help shape a play, be part of a story, and learn writers' processes and tips to spark your creativity.
Designed to educate and entertain, Carolinas WordFest will inspire both today's wordsmiths and readers and those of the next generation. It's your festival. Enjoy it.
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INTRODUCING:
JAMES BOATNER
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Like many of us, Jim Boatner had a career before becoming a novelist: electrical engineering, aerospace, oceanography, nuclear research, you know, just the usual grind. He moved here in 1981, and retired a dozen years ago with an eye to pursuing golf, sailing and hiking, but surprised himself by developing a passion for writing. His literary idols are fellow Mississippians William Faulkner, John Grisham, and Eudora Welty. His first novel,
Unlawful Flight, was published in 2013, and his second,
Red Pawn, came out this year. He is currently working on a third, an epic historical piece set in the early to mid-1800s in England and the United States. This is high-octane action/adventure stuff.
He cites, as a source of inspiration, the subconscious. "During the course of writing," he says, "characters will say and do things that, to the writer, are inexplicable. It is uncanny." And as noted by Hemingway, an idea for a good story can be "something you overheard at work, or at a party, or it can be the personal wreck of your life."
His advice to aspiring writers? (1) Study the art of language. (2) Write! Essays, memoirs, letters to the newspaper, whatever, just write. (3) Never give up. Perseverance pays off. (4) Join a critique group. And there will be no better time for finding the right group than at our October 18 meeting. Jim has found active participation in CWC invaluable.
He now resides in Marvin with his beautiful wife, a grouchy old tomcat, and a lovable rescue dog.
For more info about his books or for scheduling speaking engagements, contact him on Facebook, or email at:
jcboatner@windstream.net
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CWC North kicks off its program year on Saturday October 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius. Voices of Memoir: Telling Stories from Life, features pieces written and read by Gilda Morino Syverson's memoir students. Following the free program, there will be a reception and a book table with local memoir authors available to sign their publications. CWC North and The Warehouse Performing Arts Center are co-sponsoring this event. Contact Connie Fisher at
fisherconn@gmail.com. or Gilda Syverson at
www.gildasyverson.com, with questions.
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Membership in the Charlotte Writers' Club entitles you to participate in workshops, critique groups, contests, and guest speaker programs. The cost is a modest $35 per year for singles, $
50 for couples, and $20 for students.
We welcome writers in all genres and forms to join our Charlotte-area literary community. Your membership in the Charlotte Writers' Club helps support writers, readers, and literacy at a critical time in our nation's and our city's history. Join here.
To Join or Renew click this
Membership Link and follow the instructions.
Charlotte Writers' Club
P.O. Box 220954
Charlotte, NC 28222
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Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Rd.
Click
here for a map of the location.
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| Visit the CWC Contest page for contest rules. -----------------------
Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Prize
Opens: August 16, 2016
Closes: October 18, 2016
Announce Winners: December 20, 2016
Short fiction of up to 500 words.
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CWC Nonfiction Contest (article/essay)
Opens: October 18, 2016
Closes: December 20, 2016
Announce Winners: February 21, 2017
Nonfiction from 750-2000 words.
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Poetry Contest
Opens: January 17, 2017
Closes: March 21, 2017
Announce Winners: May 16, 2017
Poetry of fewer than 50 lines; haiku excluded.
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A book signing for Susan Mills Wilson's latest novel, Hunt For Redemption,will take place at Brixx Pizza on Fairview Road on Saturday, October 29, from 7:00 till 9:00 P.M.
As an added incentive,
for each book sold, diners receive a coupon for buy one, get one free pizza.
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Motherhood, Lost and Found (
a memoir about horses, Alzheimers and infertility)
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will be released on Kindle on Sept. 22. The book was named a finalist by the Next Generation Book Awards.
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Patricia Hooper
will be reading from her new book of poetry,
SEPARATE FLIGHTS,
at Park Road Books on Sunday, October 24 at 2 p.m. Her poems have appeared in The Kenyon Review, Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, The Hudson Review, The Southern Review, The Yale Review and other magazines.
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NOTES ON WRITING
The writing generates the writing.
E.L. Doctorow
If you want to take a year off to write a book, you have to take that year, or the year will take you by the hair and pull you toward the grave.
Annie Dillard
A day in which I don't write leaves a taste of ashes.
Simone de Beauvoir
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Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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