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February 13, 2022,
Volume 29, issue 8 mid-month newsletter & meeting reminder
Our mission: to support local writers and promote their development through education, recognition, and community.
| CWC welcomes all genres and writers in all stages of the craft--from curious to accomplished-we have words, the love of story in common. Click on our logo for the benefits of membership and to add your voice to our community. | |
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Our Next Meeting is Tuesday Evening February 15th
In Person & via Zoom
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The Door Opens at 6:30 pm
at the Tyvola Senior Center,
2225 Tyvola Road, Charlotte
Come on in, there's a half-an-hour of social time to catch up with old friends and make some new ones before business begins at 7pm.
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Since COVID and its spawn remain part of the plot, we need your help to keep us all safe.
To attend, we ask that you provide proof that you are fully vaccinated against COVID and its variants and, while in the building, wear a face covering over your mouth and nose.
If you have not already done so, please copy or take a photo of your vaccination card and email it to membershipcwc@yahoo.com. You’ll have to do it only once and you'll be on our VIP List. As you arrive for the meetings, we will check you off the list. We will also accept showing vaccination cards at the door as a last-minute emergency—though not our preference because we don’t want to have to turn anyone away as we follow city & county mandates.
If you have questions, concerns, or thoughts please CONTACT US.
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The hybrid meeting is a grand experiment, we hope will meet members & guests where they are comfortable.
Members have received their link.
Be Our Guest
by emailing the Membership Guru for the Zoom link
and log on a little before 7 pm.
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The Guest Speaker is Betsy Thorpe | |
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Taking that Final Step Toward Publication
Beyond writing, it is vitally important that would-be authors understand the publishing industry, and the fine points agents and publishers expect to see before they commit to putting time and money into your book.
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Bring Your Questions:
Betsy is a veteran of the books business, and has seen it all from behind an editor's desk, and will talk to us about the different kinds of editors & what a developmental editor can do to move you along the path to publication.
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She lives in Charlotte, with two daughters and a giant rescue dog named Charlie.
She helped to found the Charlotte chapter of the Women’s National Book Association and fund-raises for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, hoping they will find a cure for the millions like her daughter who suffer from Type 1 Diabetes.
Visit the CWC Calendar of Events page for more on her presentation.
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To Be Revealed: The Winners of the 2022 Nonfiction Contest
Darrell Horwitz, co-contest chair, will recognize the top finishers and they will be with us to pick up their prize money and to share a portion of their piece with us.
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Last chance to Submit
Poems for our 2022 Poetry Contest
CWC members and poets living in the Carolinas you have little more than 72 hours to enter your poem of fewer than 50 lines but no haiku please.
The deadline to submit is:
Midnight on February 15, 2022.
David Radavich is this year's judge.
For eligibility & guidelines and to submit your best poem,
visit the CWC Poetry Contest Page
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The Elizabeth Simpson Smith Short Story Contest
CWC's most prestigious contest is open until March 15th for your best fiction short story,
1,500 to 4,000 words.
Learn more & Submit here.
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Club Information: Read, Write & Submit | |
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The Powers of Poetry Workshops for Students
February 16 & 17, 2022
4:00-5:30 pm both afternoons
Please pass the word!
Phillip Shabazz, teaching artist & poet, leads this after school, FREE creative writing workshop for upper elementary, middle and high school students. To learn more visit the CWC Student Engagement page
The session on Wednesday February 16, is for Grades 5-8; learn more and sign up for the Zoom link Here.
On Thursday, February 17, he will focus on Grades 9-12. Register Here.
There is no charge for these workshops but only those who have registered will receive the Zoom link.
We Need Your Help!
Visit the CWC Student Engagement Initiative page click on the Virtual Office Hours flyer to copy it and share it with at least one person--a student, a teacher or if you have children or grandchildren, friends who teach or friends who are involved with parent/teacher organization--Please Share!
Let's Get the Word Out about these monthly help sessions--free, online and an ongoing outreach to grades 5-12.
It feels so good to see students light up!
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Virtual Writing Salon & Social Time Returns on
Monday February 14.
Watch your inbox for the announcement with the Zoom link and sign up to give your muse some love this Valentine's Day.
Take 75 minutes to write and see where the prompts take you!
Tiffany Grantham provides the prompts and keep track of the writing time. Whether you are a regular or first timer please sign up to participate--this is a new year and we have set up a new Zoom link that takes you to the write in.
Check out the particulars at Calendar of Events page.
There will be time to share if you wish, no pressure, no angst, just writing fun! Hope to see you there!
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Larry Sorkin leads: A Century of Shared Passion Coming to Know the Not-Known in Dialogue With the Page.
2- sessions March 5 & 12 1:00 to 2:30 pm via Zoom. Learn more at the CWC North Events Page
FREE for CWC members. Seating is Limited. Register Here
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Each panelist will share the power of story in the lives of refugees and immigrants by referring to experiences and insights from their lives and their family’s lives. Questions and comments from the audience will follow.
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Immigration Panel:
Seeking Refuge
How Stories Can Save Us
CWC & CWC North are sponsoring this panel discussion on Thursday April 21st. 7:00-8:30 pm. St. Peter's Episcopal Church is our host.
Learn more at the CWC North Events Page
Register here.
You must register in advance to be admitted to this community conversation.
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Virginia Christenbury?
She was president in 1971 & 1972 during the 50th anniversary. When, according to Dede Wilson's history notes, there was $10 in the treasury. The club banquet speaker was LeGette Blythe, novelist, biographer, historian and former correspondent for Look, Time, Life & Fortune.
Her granddaughter, Lynda Christenbury Morse writes that Virginia was a prize-winning author and that she talked about going to CPCC.
Morse is trying to find her grandmother"s writings. "I only have memories of a book her students dedicated to her, Thursday's Child." If you can help email Lynda Morse.
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What's the Good Word?
Share your publishing news at MEMBERS' KUDOS
so we can celebrate too.
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We've Got
You Covered!
This month we CELEBRATE:
A debut YA novel, & A book of German Poems.
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Death Date by Ashe Taylor
(AKA Marny Mortimore)
Death Date is Marny's first novel, published under her pen name of
Ashe Taylor.
It is a YA story told in three sections. Set in a dystopian society, the overseers control the rate of population through microchips inserted in people's brains. Everyone gets assigned a death date, and when a young hacker steals the file that lists them all, each person must decide whether or not they want to find out when theirs is.
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Unter Der Sonne/Under the Sun by David Radavich
"UNTER DER SONNE / UNDER THE SUN is a dual-language lyric collection featuring David Radavich's German poems with English translations.
Radavich exhibits a kinship with German writers such as Friedrich Hölderlin, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Hilde Domin, whom he knew personally.
This collection represents a departure from his earlier work—into another language, another lyric sensibility, and a dual perspective that opens readers to a literary tradition beyond American shores.
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CWC supports CWC authors
Your cover could be here, submit yours to our newsletter editor Teresa Taylor or to Caroline Kenna by the 10th of each month and we'll include it.
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President the Call for Volunteers:
Serve the Club on the Leadership Team
We need you; your ideas, your time, talents and expertise to sustain and to grow our writing community. We are looking for the 2022-2023 leaders to work with VP of Membership Axel Dahlberg and Dave Collins, program planner extraordinaire who will be the president during that program year and (we hope) the next. If you are interested in becoming the secretary contact Caroline at President. This position is vacant and you could start in March with the third quarter board meeting.
See the job descriptions in our Policies and Procedures document and think about donating a year or more to help chart the trajectory of our club.
These advisory board positions are open for the 2022-2023 Program Year. The
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Webmaster: Debra S. Wallin, will step aside in June to focus on her own writing. In the last decade or more as a leader of this writing community, she has worn many hats and as our Tech Guru, Debra has brought us into the 21st century. She will train her successor or successors and Blair Peery will be on hand to assist. Contact her at Webmaster.
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Programs: David Collins is our current program planner extraordinare but when he becomes president, we need two volunteers to fill his shoes. Be a part of the team that brings favorite writers to meeting, Network with the newest authors & veterans of the craft. Help speakers create and/or hone their talks and introduce their presentations at our monthly meetings. Contact Dave questions at Programs
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Contests: Two people please, Help select judges for our contests and shepherd folks through contests--some knowledge of Submittable is preferable But we will train you. Have questions contact Darrell Horwitz, who has held this post for two years or Adrian Calabrese.
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Critique Groups Coordinator: position is currently open
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Social media/marketing/ publicity: Two people, write your job description this is a new position
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Co-workshop Coordinator: work with Anshu Gupta to plan, promote and execute our workshops. Contact her with questions, at Workshops
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Novel and a Recipe
Tender at the Bone:Growing Up at the Table
by Ruth Reichl
At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted memoir, Tender at the Bone, is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by a passion for food, unforgettable people, and the love of tales well told. Beginning with Reichl's mother, the notorious food-poisoner known as the Queen of Mold, Reichl introduces us to the fascinating characters who shaped her world and her tastes, from the gourmand Monsieur du Croix, who served Reichl her first soufflé , to those at her politically correct table in Berkeley who championed the organic food revolution in the 1970s. Spiced with Reichl's infectious humor and sprinkled with her favorite recipes, Tender at the Bone is a witty and compelling chronicle of a culinary sensualist's coming-of-age.
*Souffle is the food in this novel.
https://www.eggs.ca/recipes/basic-souffle
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Waterbean Poetry Night at the Mic
February 23, 2022
Mark Your Calendar for an evening of poetry in person in Huntersville. This month, Leslie welcomes featured readers: Alana Dagenhart & Al Maginnes then she'll open the mic. Mask up to listen & to share a poem of your own. Click the flyer for Facebook details.
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Check out these titles selected for
Click Main Street Books logo to learn more .
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A New Reading Challenge
What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson
Click the cover to register for the Zoom discussion on February 27th.
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fcacarts@fcacArts.org FCAC Writers’ “Spring Retreat” April 23, 2022
Rolling View State Park’s Community Building, located at 4201 Baptist Road, Durham, North Carolina (in Falls Lake State Recreational Area). Writers of all stages of writing experience are encouraged to attend.
David Halperin author of Journal of a UFO Investigator, will be the guest speaker.
Fees are $35 for members and $45 for non-members.
To register online, visit FCACArts. To register by phone or with questions, call FCAC at 919.497.6910 or email fcac.arts@fcacarts.org.
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I DREAMED IN A DREAM
Walt Whitman
I DREAM'D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the
attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;
I dream'd that was the new City of Friends;
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust
love—it led the rest;
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of
that city,
And in all their looks and words.
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Charlotte Lit:
Click on the image to see what else Kathie Collins and Paul Reali, CWC members and Co-founders of Charlotte Lit have planned for 2022.
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Charlotte Readers Podcast
Click on the image what's on tap for the rest of this month. CWC member Landis Wade, is the host and creator of Charlotte Readers Podcast.
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The Personal Story Project &
Six-Minute Story Podcast
Click the image to learn more about member Randell Jones, his personal stories anthologies, including Trouble, which was published in the fall of 2021, that includes a number of CWC voices.
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FYI
Spring Conference 2022
April 23, Greensboro (In-Person with Concurrent Online Sessions)
Master classes in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. A full day of instruction and camaraderie in-person or online. Other features include faculty readings, sessions on the craft and business of writing, an Open Mic for conference participants, and Slush Pile Live! Click the NCWN logo for more information.
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Tell a true story from your life in 2021…in 21 words or fewer.
A personal story which can be hilarious, heartbreaking, puzzling, uplifting, or just plain strange. Look for something intriguing, perhaps something with emotional or intellectual resonance.
Click the image for more information and to enter your unpublished story.
TSubmission is free. Deadline is February 28, 2022.
The memoir that is the most captivating wins a free class from
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The Next
Open Mic Night is February 25, 2022
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Let My Voice Be Heard-Old Teenage Poems
Would you listen to me
For I have something to say
Would you embrace my words
You know I just may
Change your life
So don't walk away
For once, listen to a bothered voice
-Stay
Don't be so arrogant
For what is there to doubt
Is the only way to make you listen
To wail and scream and shout
For once, understand a troubled mind
-Hear me out
The message that I am trying to spread
Is that we can all make a mense
For once, listen to my utpopia
-Let me make a diffrence
Yes, I am one of those who wants to change the world
-Come with me
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Open Mic Night at Mugs Coffee
Where members practice reading their work
Click the image to learn more and see who read at open mic the previous month. Open Mic is Every fourth Friday of the month
(Only Members can register to read - all others welcome to hear great stories!)
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Register here to Read
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MEMBERSHIP
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 individuals and $20 for students.
We welcome all 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.
To Join or Renew click this Membership Link and follow the instructions.
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