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WordSmitten
Corkboard
 Visit
our Gift Guide - whimsical gifts
for writers and other exotic folk.
Really, who needs another tie.
particles
& bits of cork::
writing workshops & festivals
::
:: the Philadelphia
Book Festival
:: Connie May Fowler's Below Sea Level Writing Workshop
:: search for sea nymphs and poetry in Key West
:: enjoy great writing events this year
:: storytelling as a verbal art form
Write
about transitions while staring at Winter. Finish your synopsis
while trimming trees. Race a Ferrari at Monaco. Whatever you do,
keep writing. Winter air, fresh snow. This is weather that tends
to jumpstart your mind.
If you have information about book fairs, writing conferences,
workshops, and mid-summer night events, send* the information
to Word Smitten. If it is timely, and of interest to our general
membership, we always consider publishing it.
Below
Sea Level Full Immersion Writing Workshop
June
1-8, 2008
A
Spectacular Week of Writing, Revision, and Fun
Conference
Faculty and Speakers Include:
-
Dorothy
Allison is the bestselling author of Bastard out of
Carolina, Cavedweller, and a memoir, Two
or Three Things I Know for Sure. She is the author
of Trash, a collection of short stories; The
Women Who Hate Me, a collection of poetry; and Skin:
Talking about Sex, Class, and Literature, a collection
of essays. She Who, a novel, is forthcoming from
Penguin in the winter of 2009.
-
Joy
Harris, New York literary agent who encourages and guides
the careers of outstanding writers including Sena Jeter
Naslund (Ahab's Wife), Hope McIntyre (How
to Seduce a Ghost) and Connie May Fowler (Before
Women Had Wings, The Problem with Murmur Lee,
Sugar Cage, and When Katie Wakes).
-
Kate
Sullivan, founder of WSQJ (WordSmitten Literary
Journal), and executive editor of wordsmitten.com.
Kate hosts WordSmitten's "About the Books" appearing
on NPR (WFSU-FM), WTIS-AM, WRBH-FM, and WOCA-AM, with
exclusive interviews with authors, editors, and publishing
executives. Upcoming interviews in 2008 include Tom Brokaw,
journalist, broadcast anchor, and author of The Greatest
Generation, who discusses his newest book.
-
Laura
van den Berg, editor of Emerson College's remarkable new
publication, Redivider, a journal of new
literature and art. Laura van den Berg also serves
as assistant editor of the well-established and venerable
Ploughshares.
Held
at the Beautiful Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida
Special Rates Apply for Conference Participants
Spend
a week in the nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine,
Florida, immersed in the writing life
with wwo of America’s most highly acclaimed, award-winning
authors. Admission to this St. Augustine Conference is
based on the quality of each writer’s manuscript
submitted with their application.
Applications accepted beginning
Fall 2007 for this event to be held June
1-8, 2008.
Upcoming
in April 2008
The Second Annual Book
Festival
Philadelphia
Book Festival
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In
April of 2008, thousands of book lovers will converge on Philadelphia’s
Benjamin Franklin Parkway to take part in the first annual Philadelphia
Book Festival.
The free, two-day event is open to the public and will take
place in and around the Central Library, located at 1901 Vine
Street.
Visitors will have the opportunity to attend lectures and book
signings by celebrated authors, as well as attend a variety
of free programs.
One of WordSmitten's staff writers will be attending
this event so stop by to say hello and let us know what you
are working on in the writing world.
For details,
visit the conference site. Philadelphia
Book Festival authors and events.
February
, 2008
The
WordSmitten Writers Workshop Series
Write
and Publish
If
you missed our November workshop featuring Roy Peter Clark,
vice president of journalism's notable Poynter Institute, and
author of the bestselling book "Writing Tools" will
teach a master class in writing, be sure to attend our next
workshop in February 2008. We'll have master classes in the
art of memoir. Details soon.
For
more details on WordSmitten's Writing Workshop Series click
Writing
Workshops.
Robert
Frost Poetry Festival
April
2008
Florida Keys
Spring.
You're planning a trip, so escape to Key West to enjoy the poetry
and palm trees while you visit the Robert Frost Poetry Festival,
held on the grounds of the cottage where Robert Frost found
colleagues and a winter retreat.
From
Wednesday, April 11, to Sunday, April 16, fans of Pulitzer Prize-winning
poet Robert Frost celebrate his legacy with five days of workshops
and events.
The Festival offers poetry and haiku workshops and readings,
an art and film event, a poetry slam, a sunset poetry sail,
and an announcement of the winners of the Robert Frost Poetry
Festival international haiku and poetry contests.
Presentations feature critically acclaimed author, poet and
Frost scholar Dr. Michael Wyndham Thomas, "Modern Haiku"
editor Charles Trumbull, author and poet Rosalind Brackenbury,
award-winning writer and modern dancer Cricket Desmarais, nationally
renowned actor Richard Grusin and internationally recognized
haiku poet Barry George.
The festival is headquartered at the Key West Heritage House
Museum & Robert Frost Cottage, 410 Caroline St., with select
events at other locations in Key West's historic Old Town.
Frost, who served as U.S. poet laureate in 1958-59, first visited
Key West in 1934 and wrote one of his best-known poems, "The
Gift Outright," on the island. He subsequently paid winter
visits to Key West from 1945 to 1960 as the guest of local hostess
and preservationist Jessie Porter, staying in the small cottage
now named for him.
Now a National Literary Landmark, Porter's home and the cottage
grounds are open for tours as part of the Key West Heritage
House Museum.
Festival events begin with a night of poetry, cigars and wine
on Wednesday, April 11, in the Robert Frost Garden at the Heritage
House Museum. Cost for "Smokin' Poetry," hosted by
Sunset Cigar Co., is $10 per person and starts at 5 P.M. and
continuing until 8 P.M. to kick off the celebration.
On Thursday, registration for the festival is scheduled from
10 A.M. to 4 P.M. at the Heritage House Museum.
Thursday
evening, poetry fans are invited to discover poetry on canvas,
stage and screen during "Robert Frost Goes to the Movies,"
slated for 7 P.M. at Key West's Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton St.
A champagne and chocolate reception includes an art opening
showcasing the marriage of art and poetry, poetry readings by
the festival's guest poets and a screening of the feature film
"Dead Poet's Society." Cost for the evening is $25
per person.
On Friday and Saturday, after continental breakfast each morning
in the Heritage House museum grounds, festival registrants explore
poetry through workshops at Heritage House and nearby venues
in Key West's Old Town.
Discover poetic variations under the guidance of Thomas, haiku
with Trumbull and with George, "Poems to Shape the World"
with Brackenbury, spontaneous writing exercises with Desmarais
and a session on how to read poetry to an audience with Grusin.
A workshop for teen poets, led by Desmarais, is to be held in
the garden at Heritage House. This workshop is open to all teens
interested in poetry. Cost is $10 per person.
At 8 P.M. Friday evening, a poetry slam is scheduled at Sippin'
Coffee House, 424 Eaton St. Three rounds are planned, so each
prospective participant should prepare three poems of not longer
than three minutes apiece. Entrants are to be judged on their
poems' content and the strength of the poetry performance, and
a $100 prize awaits the winner.
Poets must register to compete prior to 8 P.M. The entrance
cost is yet to be determined. For information, call (305) 293-0555.
On Saturday evening, poets can take to the high seas for a 6:30
P.M. "Sunset Poetry Under Sail" cruise with Fury Water
Adventures. Appetizers and libations, a renowned Key West sunset
on the water and poetry are in store for participants.
Cost is $49 per person, and the vessel departs from the Westin
Marina, behind the Westin Key West Resort at 245 Front St.
A night of pirate poetry and sea
chanteys is to follow at the pirate-themed Rum Barrel,
528 Front St., starting at 9 P.M.
Sunday's events are to begin at 10 A.M., when workshop participants
offer a reading of new poems written over the weekend in the
garden at the Heritage House Museum.
At 2 P.M., a "Celebration of Poetry" ceremony, also
in the Heritage House garden, is to begin with readings by the
festival's guest poets.
Subsequently, talented young poets are to receive the festival's
Poetry in the Schools prizes. Awards are to be presented to
students from elementary, middle and high schools.
The announcement of the Robert Frost Poetry Festival poetry
contest winner and haiku contest winner is to follow.
Cost for the Robert Frost Poetry Festival and its workshops
is $175 per person ($150 before Feb. 28). Poetry lovers also
can sign up for individual workshops at a cost of $50 per person
per session.
For more information and registration, visit www.heritagehousemuseum.org
or call (305) 296-3573.
For lodging information in Key West, contact the Key West Chamber
of Commerce at 1-800-LAST-KEY (800-527-8539), or visit the Keys
Web site at www.fla-keys.com for more details.
For
details on more
writing workshops:
Writers
Conference Report
*email
your news release for WordSmitten's Corkboard to: j. j. marino.
send your information at least four weeks prior to your event
to: press wordsmitten.com
We write with the
porch light on, expecting at any moment
that either truth or irony will appear on the doorstep.
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