MARCH 20,  VOLUME 24, ISSUE 7
GENERAL MEETING: March 20, 2018, 7:00 p.m.
Providence United Methodist Church, room 104
2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, NC 28211

EDITORIAL
Have you ever come across a gem in someone else's writing, and thought, "Damn!  Why didn't I think of that?" Barbara Kingsolver wrote this description of a pet passing a doorway: "a white slice of cat, an anti-shadow." I'd have used that, even if I had to drag a cat, hissing and clawing, into the story. This is what Alexander Pope meant when he wrote:
 "True wit is nature to advantage dressed,       
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed." 
It sometimes seems that the writers that came before us have taken all the good lines, like hoarders of milk and bread when snow is forecast. This is nonsense. There are great lines out there, just waiting for you to use or steal, and nobody can be completely original anyway. I have it on good authority that The Iliad and The Odyssey were not written by Homer, but by some other guy with the same name.                                            DDC

PROGRAM FOR MARCH 20
PAULA MARTINAC
What issues and problems arise when you try to write about characters whose gender, sexual orientation, class, or race differs from your own? Sometimes a writer's best intentions - to people your fiction with characters who represent the broad spectrum of society - can trip you up. Observation and research go a long way
toward making your characters more authentic. In this talk, Paula Martinac will offer tips from her own experience for creating a diverse cast of characters in your short stories and novels.
 
She is the author of four novels, including  The Ada Decades  (2017) - set in Charlotte from 1947-2015 - and the Lambda Literary Award-winning  Out of Time, which was a finalist for the American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award. Her fifth novel,  Clio Rising,about a young woman who becomes the companion to a writer of the "Lost Generation," will be published by Bywater Books in fall 2018. Her short stories have most recently appeared in  Raleigh Review, Main Street Rag, and  Minerva Rising. She has also published three nonfiction books on LGBT themes; authored plays that were produced in Pittsburgh, New York, and D.C.; and written an award-winning full-length screenplay. She is a lecturer in the undergraduate creative writing program at UNC Charlotte and a writing coach with Charlotte Center for the Literary Arts. Paula will be reading at UNC Charlotte's Center City Literary Festival on April 14.  www.paulamartinac.com

FUTURE NEWS ALERTS
WORKSHOPS
David Radavich Poetry Workshop



David Radavich will lead a workshop called
"Poetry as Political Speech" on Wednesday, 
March 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Charlotte Lit, 1817 Central Avenue, Suite 302, in Charlotte, NC.  Participants will discuss what makes a poem political, look at socially engaged poetry past and present, and generate new work based on today's headlines.  For information about the class and to register please visit the Charlotte Lit page for the  Speaking Out Workshop.

Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, Inc.-"Charlotte Lit"-is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts center dedicated to elevating and celebrating the literary arts in our community.
We offer more than 50 craft classes each year, book discussions, themed readings, a curated literary events calendar, and much more.
Charlotte Lit's co-founders are writers Kathie Collins and Paul Reali, who also serve on the CWC's board of directors.  Learn more and sign up for  Charlotte Lit's weekly newsletter, just click the link.
    Learn more and sign up for Charlotte Lit's weekly newsletter on the Charlotte Lit website.

 Coming in April
BRYN CHANCELLOR WORKSHOP
 
OUR FEBRUARY SPEAKER WILL HOLD A SHORT STORY WORKSHOP ON APRIL 7TH, 10 a.m. to 12:30. Cost is $30 for CWC members and $40 for non-members. Room 104, Providence United Methodist Church. Please visit our Workshop page to register and pay.


Tracy K. Smith at CPCC
Tracy K. Smith, current U.S. Poet Laureate,  will read from and discuss her work twice: Wednesday, April 11, at 8pm (Pease Auditorium), and Thursday, April 12, at 11am (Dale F. Halton Theater). Both are free and open to the public, with general admission and no reservations. 

Meet-a-Member. 
Carlton Clayton

Presenting, in his own words, our newest member: 
"I've been writing bits and pieces for over thirty years in hopes of someday putting them all together. The only journal I kept was during my trip to Mt Kilimanjaro in April 1991.  I happened to be taking French lessons at the time and was very good with writing the language, so I wrote the entire journal in French.  I can't read a word of French now and don't have any idea what I have written.  
About two years ago I decided to write about an event that occurred during my childhood.  The more I wrote the more I discovered and the more I discovered the more I learned and the more I learned the more I wrote.  A memoir was being born.  I like writing the memoir because it's writing what I know, and rediscovering those little bits and pieces takes me back to being a little boy skipping stones on the Neuse River.  
I joined the Charlotte Writer's Group to be around experienced writers. That way I will be encouraged in my writing."
Welcome to the club, Carlton.
In This Issue
General Meeting Location
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Rd.

Click here for a map of the location.
Quick Links
  


  

Please "LIKE" our Facebook page to encourage discussion among fellow writers and keep up with the club offerings.
CONTESTS
The poetry contest is now open. It closes on March 20, with winners announced at our regular meeting on May 15.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
The Elizabeth Simpson Smith short story contest opens on March 20, and closes on May 15, with winners announced at our regular meeting on September 18.

For details, visit the contest page on our website.

INSPIRATION
 STATION
Poetry lies its way to the truth.
-John Ciardi

The poet doesn't invent. He listens.
-Jean Cocteau

A good short story would take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized now, and uneasy with the fit.
-David Sedaris

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.
-Stephen King

A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it is to be God.
-Sidney Sheldon

Exercise the writing muscles every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up. 
-Jane Yolen.

Documenting little details of your everyday life becomes a celebration of who you are.
-Carolyn V. Hamilton

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 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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