 |
|
In This Issue:
Third Thursday, Book Awards Winners & Finalists, Upcoming Classes, & More
|
August Third Thursday:
The Art of Personal Essays
Thursday, August 15, 2019
7 p.m.
BookPeople (3rd floor)
603 North Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78703
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Perhaps the defining literary work of the past decade has been the personal essay. An explosion of online literary venues has created more possibilities than ever for individuals to write and publish their real-life stories. This panel of authors will explore the shape that personal essays can take, the perspectives and mechanics of successful essays, and suggestions for where to find models for your own.
|
Congratulations to our 2018 Book Award Winners, Finalists & Discovery Prize Winners!
Year after year, a new crop of important and worthy books by Texas writers is added to the literary landscape. 2018 was no exception and we couldn't be more honored to recognize the books and authors listed here as our 2018 Writers' League of Texas Book Award Winners, Finalists, and Discovery Prize Winners.
Fiction
Winner:
LITTLE by Edward Carey
Finalists:
DAUGHTER OF A DAUGHTER OF A QUEEN by Sarah Bird
THE WHICH WAY TREE by Elizabeth Crook
PRESIDIO by Randy Kennedy
SHE WOULD BE KING by
Wayétu Moore
EVERYONE KNOWS YOU GO HOME by Natalia Sylvester
Discovery Prize Winner:
DEATH TO THE BULLSHIT ARTISTS OF SOUTH TEXAS by Fernando A. Flores
Nonfiction
Winner:
THE RECKONINGS: ESSAYS by Lacy M. Johnson
Finalists:
FISHERMAN'S BLUES by Anna Badkhen
THE LINE BECOMES A RIVER: DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER by Francisco Cantú
AN UNLIKELY JOURNEY: WAKING UP FROM MY AMERICAN DREAM by Julián Castro
TICKER: THE QUEST TO CREATE AN ARTIFICIAL HEART by Mimi Swartz
Discovery Prize Winner:
BEYONCÉ IN FORMATION: REMIXING BLACK FEMINISM by Omise'eke Tinsley
Poetry
Winner:
REGISTERS OF ILLUMINATED VILLAGES: POEMS by Tarfia Faizullah
Finalists:
WITH THE DOGSTAR AS MY WITNESS by John Fry
SKY THE OAR by Stacy R. Nigliazzo
GIRLDOM by Megan Peak
ARSONIST by Joaquin Zihuatanejo
Discovery Prize Winner:
GIRL PAPER STONE by Laurie Filipelli
Middle Grade/Young Adult
Winner:
THE PARKER INHERITANCE by Varian Johnson
Finalists:
I'M NOT MISSING by Carrie Fountain
ALL THE STARS DENIED by Guadalupe García McCall
THE HOUSE IN POPLAR WOOD by K.E. Ormsbee
THE PROPHET CALLS by Melanie Sumrow
Discovery Prize Winner:
SECRETS OF THE CASA ROSADA by Alex Temblador
Picture Book
Winner:
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A VOICE LIKE THAT? THE STORY OF EXTRAORDINARY CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA JOHNSON by Chris Barton
Finalists:
PENGUIN & TINY SHRIMP DON'T DO BEDTIME! by Cate Berry
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S DUELING WORDS by Donna Janell Bowman
ALABAMA SPITFIRE: THE STORY OF HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Bethany Hegedus
LUCY AND THE STRING by Vanessa Roeder
Discovery Prize Winner:
THE BOOK THAT JAKE BORROWED by Susan Kralovansky
Congratulations to all!
We'll celebrate all of our honorees with a toast at our WLT booth at the Texas Book Festival in October.
|
ONLINE CLASS
Creating, Using, and Selling Your Copyright
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Learn the basics of protecting your copyright, using other authors' copyrighted material (fair use), and negotiating contracts to sell your copyrighted work to publishers and others.
If you've wondered
whether you have to place any sort of mark on your copyrighted material to indicate that it's copyrighted, take this class.
If you're using song lyrics in your writing, take this class. Or, if you have questions about publishing contracts, take this class.
Registration closes Wednesday, August 7, at 5 p.m. All registrants will have access to the class recording for one week.
|
IN-PERSON CLASS
Forget Discipline: How to Want Your Way Through Writing A Book
Saturday, August 24, 2019
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
St. Edwards University, Trustee Hall 303
3001 S. Congress Ave.
Austin, TX 78704
In this class, we absolutely will not talk about 'stealing time,' writing schedules, writing on a daily basis, creating a physical space for writing, word counts, or creating outlines. Every time the word 'discipline' is spoken, the group will loudly boo, bang pots and pans, or stomp their feet in emphatic opposition. What we will discuss here is inspiration and imagination. We'll investigate what it means to start or re-start a book project, connecting with the root of our desire to write, to create, to speak, to share. We'll interrogate the internal/external obstacles that keep us from the work we long to do. We'll question everything we've ever thought writing or writers have to be. This class will focus on sharpening our hunger to write-day after day, week after week, month after month.
If you're writing a novel, memoir, or short stories, take this class.
If you tend to lose steam after working on a project for a while, take this class.
Registration closes Thursday, August 22 at 5 p.m. CST.
|
News
Donna Dechen Birdwell
(Austin) launched her fourth novel,
Not Knowing
, at Malvern Books on July 20, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, an event significant to her story. In this new book, Donna steps away from the dystopian world of her Recall Chronicles, to tell the story of Meg Fitzellen, an archaeologist whose Mayan dig in Belize seems destined to force her to exhume events from her own past that she'd rather keep buried. Meanwhile, her husband (who writes about time travel) plots a most unwelcome birthday surprise.
George Arnold
(Garland) reports that Eakin Press has released his 11th book in the bilingual Cats of the CIA set.
Your Mama's Not in Yokohama
includes a 750 word vocabulary and pronunciation guide in Japanese.
Interested in having your news listed here? Current Writers' League members can submit their news to [email protected]. Announcements should adhere to the following guidelines: third-person, starting with your first and last name, followed by your city of residence, maximum 50 words. We may edit your announcement for style and clarity.
|
Open Office Hours
Sign up for a one-on-one meeting with a WLT staffer!
On the second Thursday of every month, the Writers' League is happy to open its doors for an opportunity to schedule a 30 minute meeting with a staff member in person or over the phone. Bring all of your burning questions on the craft and business of writing!
|
Writer Classifieds
Looking for a writing group or critique partner?
Look no further than our Writer Classifieds. Current Writers' League members can submit their name, contact information, and additional details to be included as a listing on a private page on our website.
|
Coming Up @ WLT
Classes, Free Programs, Deadlines, and Other Events Across the State
August 7
Online Class
Registration closes Wednesday, August 7, at 5 p.m.
All registrants will have access to the class recording for one week.
August 15
BookPeople, Austin, TX
August 24
St. Edward's University, Austin, TX
September 5
Location: Writers' League of Texas offices
September 11
Online Class
September 21
McCullough County Library, Brady, TX
September 28
Lakehills Area Library, Lakehills, TX
October 5
Mary Welhausen Library, Yoakum, TX
October 12
Bandera Public Library, Bandera, TX
|
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.
Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.
|
Writers' League of Texas classes and workshops are also funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts - Investing in a Creative Texas. For more information, go to
www.arts.texas.gov
.
|
This project is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities,
|
|
|
|
|
|
