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Tuesday, January 2, 2018
The Basement, 21 Center Street
(Down the drive, in back of building, next to the
Northampton Police Department)
Northampton, MA
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Doors open at 7 - with an Open Mike. If you'd like a chance to read, place your name in the hat up until 7:10. Ten names will be randomly selected. The reading starts at 7:15, and each reader will have five minutes.
Admission is free; participants are encouraged to buy a drink (alcohol and non-alcohol available) and tip well in support of the venue.
Please join us!
Further information: Beth Filson at wno@strawdogwriters.org
SAVE THE DATE
Featured Reader for February 6 - Ruth Lehrer
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Words at the Mic!
A new Challenge for people who attend
Writers Night Out
Each month, host and MC Jacqueline and Beth will select words or phrases from those we hear during the open mic. We’re listening for whatever strikes our fancy, and that we hope will get your Muse talking. We will announce the phrase at the end of the presentations.
Your challenge is to use those exact words, or phrase, in a poem, short story, or prose piece -- no more than 500 words -- and submit it by the 15th of the month. That gives you about two weeks.
To get us started, the phrase chosen for the first Words at the Mic Challenge is, "My brother's curse."
Make sure your name is on your submission. In the subject line of your email, put Words at the Mic Challenge!
The winner will be chosen by anonymous vote, and it be read at the next Writers Night Out and will appear in the SDWG month-end circular. Send to bethfilson@gmail.com This is open only to those who attend Writers Night Out.
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January 7, 2018
3:00–5:00 pm.
The Inn at Norton Hill,
(across from Elmer's)
10 Norton Hill Road, Ashfield, MA
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Bring Your Poetry! Bring Your Prose! Find Your Public! Uplift Our Souls!
Here's how it works: On the first Sunday of each month, a featured writer reads recent work and describes the journey to publication, followed by Q & A. Then the floor opens to other writers. If you want to read, put your name in the hat before 3:15. (Hint: you get five minutes.)
Featured Reader: Jane Yolen
 Jane is an author of children’s books, fantasy, and science fiction, including Owl Moon, The Devil’s Arithmetic, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? She is also a poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and a reviewer of children’s literature. She has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of America and the Aesop of the twentieth century.
In addition to Owl Moon, which was awarded the 1988 Caldecott Medal, Jane Yolen’s books and stories have won two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award among many others.
The featured reader will read for 15 minutes, followed by Q&A. Open mic starts at approximately 3:40.
Hosted by Jane Roy Brown
Co-sponsored by Straw Dog Writers Guild, The Inn at Norton Hill, and Elmer's Store.
A great article about Writers Read HERE
INTERESTED IN BEING A FEATURED READER?
please email Jane Roy Brown at brownjaneroy@gmail.com
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Writing as a Tool For Social Justice
Despite the first snowstorm of the season, fourteen writers gathered on Saturday, December 10 at the Northampton Center for the Arts to talk about using our writing as a tool for social justice. The conversation was lively and respectful, provocative and supportive. In two hours, we just scratched the surface of this big and critical issue, so further Social Justice Roundtable discussions are planned.
If you are interested in participating, let Laura Stone know at admin@strawdogwriters.org and watch for announcements in upcoming newsletters and on our website and Facebook page.
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You’ve written and rewritten, on your own and in a group, but how do you decide when your writing could benefit from the input of an editor? Where do you begin the process, and what should you expect when you put your manuscript in the hands of a stranger? You might be surprised at how positive the experience can be. Come for answers to all your questions about engaging an editor’s services and making the most of the editorial relationship.
Libby Maxey, of Conway, MA, is a senior editor at the online journal Literary Mama, where she has worked in the Literary Reflections Department since 2012. She also edits for Amherst College and as a freelancer (libbymaxey.com). Her clients include short story writers, academics, translators, novelists, memoirists, poets, essayists, journalists, and writers for whom English is a second language. Her own poems and reviews have appeared in Mezzo Cammin, Crannóg, Kestrel, Naugatuck River Review, The Mom Egg Review, Solstice and elsewhere. Locally, she has won both the Poet's Seat Poetry Contest and the Robert P. Collén Poetry Contest, and her work was selected for the Northampton Arts Council’s 2017 Visual Arts and Poetry Biennial. Her nonliterary activities include singing classical repertoire and mothering two sons.
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A benefit for our members
Applications will be accepted starting January 1, 2018
A Straw Dog Writing Residency includes 6 days, 5 nights, starting Sunday at 3:00 pm through Friday noon, in one of the lovely, unique places at Patchwork Farm Retreat in Westhampton MA.
Residencies are self-guided and residents provide their own meals, with access to cooking facilities. Cost of accommodation are covered by a grant from a generous Straw Dog member.
More information HERE
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We welcomed writers during our inaugural season with great success.
Two of our residential writers are featured in our BLOG
And, here’s what others have said:
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“I finished my retreat on Friday and I wanted you to know how much it meant to me. . . . I finally saw the arc of my story. My process had been blind up to this last week and it was a breakthrough couple of days. . . . These 5 nights were such a gift! . . . I am not using hyperbole when I say that this retreat is a highlight of my life. The work poured out of me and it was thrilling. . . . Please thank the anonymous member who gave the $$ for my stay.” Lisa Cain
“My stay at Patchwork was outstanding - relaxing, soothing, and invigorating. I didn't want to leave.
My first morning on the porch, while eating breakfast and reading poetry, a hummingbird came within a few feet of me and hovered for a minute or so as if to welcome me. I felt it was a good omen.
I felt the retreat was a success for me because Patchwork provided:
- clean, spacious rooms with cooling overhead fans and wide-open windows to let the cool fresh air in
- beautiful natural landscaping with hummingbirds (I saw my second hummingbird while eating an early dinner outside the laundry room on the old wooden chair)
- a quiet, restorative spiritual environment for the mind and soul with much privacy
- a small refrigerator stocked with breakfast foods, a microwave, and cooking facilities downstairs so I could make my own healthy meals and not leave the Retreat to eat
- a small porch where I could be "outside" and write without leaving my rooms
- a wonderfully amusing dog named Ninja who was so much fun to watch from the porch
- composting!
and I accomplished:
- reading so much poetry, some books from my college years also, and some newer ones
- drafts of new poems
- a greater resolve to finish my poetry manuscript to be submitted for publication
Thanks again for such a wonderful place to stay. And especially thank you for the first night I arrived when you and Jenny carried all my stuff upstairs! Next time I know I will not need to bring very many things except for my writing!” – Phyllis St. George
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Reflections on our
SDWG Writing Residencies
at Patchwork Farm Retreat
by two Straw Dog Members
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The Sound of Silence by Bernadette Duncan Harrison
 In my world, silence is not necessarily golden. I’ve spent much of my media career as a radio and television talk show producer and writer. For 26 years, I worked with the likes of stars such as Larry King, Lou Dobbs, Tom Snyder, Sally Jessy Raphael and Ricki Lake. That translates into thousands of hours of lively, sometimes intense, conversations. Today, my husband and I run an active radio business hosting and creating talk shows and podcasts for stations and networks around the country, as well as publishing an industry trade magazine. Whether we work from the fully equipped radio and production studio in our basement, a Skype-connection in our dining room, or a cell phone in the living room, it seems the whole house is “wired.”
So, as one of five fortunate Straw Dog members recently granted a writing residency at Patchwork Farm Retreat, I asked myself a serious question. Would I - could I - actually disengage from my non-stop, audio-packed life for immersion in a bubble of silence on a writers’ retreat? (I had never experienced this type of thing before.) Thanks to the generous donation from an anonymous member of the Guild – and the nurturing kindness of its organizers – the answer made itself known when I dove into the adventure this past October. Read more....
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A Letter from Ziji Beth Goren
Hi, Straw Dog Writers!
 I am feeling so deeply grateful for the opportunity gifted to me at the SD/Patchwork Farm writing retreat this past week. What an amazing experience I had during my 6 days--the ability and time to truly focus, make choices undisturbed by day-to-day activities, walk daily on land that recalls my history and service.
This special quiet time on a vast and penetrating expanse of long-spirited woodlands inspired an inner fire for completing a work-in-progress. It renewed my faith, allowed me to concentrate on a chosen manuscript that has been sitting for a looong time awaiting this opportunity. The clear block of designated time held a structure that assisted me to the finishing touches and the finish-line. And the residency as a whole offered me the unbridled privacy and freedom on the horse of writing, editing, getting it right! Read more...
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Midwinter Fire: Poems of Midlife
A reading and discussion by Gail Thomas, Leslea Newman, and Joy Ladin, as part of the library's reading series.
Where the Real and the Surreal Meet
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
7:00pm - 8:45pm
FORBES LIBRARY
Coolidge Museum
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WRITING RETREAT in Yelapa, Mexico
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 Join Patricia Lee Lewis at the newly refurbished Los Naranjos Retreat Center, January 20-27, for 8 days of Creative Writing, Hatha yoga, meditation, and vegetarian cooking. In Yelapa, Mexico, you arrive by boat to a peaceful old-world village with no cars and find a wide beach, bird-filled jungle mountains, and a sky painted with stars. MORE
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Writers and Artists Retreat in Ireland!
 June 30-July 28
County Galway/Kinvara
Share a beautiful 5 bedroom home in the west of Ireland. Double and single rooms available. One week minimum. Shared kitchen, walking distance to town, 30 minutes from Shannon Airport. Master class in Hybrid Writing will be offered. July 16-29 is the Galway Arts Festival, an extravaganza of art, music, writing, and theater. Galway City is 30 minutes away. $400 for a double room per week (double bed) and $350 for a single room (twin bed) for a week. Literary gathering once a week—otherwise you are free to write or do your art. There are ferries to the Aran Islands from Galway and the Burren, Flaggy Shore, and the Cliffs of Moher are nearby. The small harbor town of Kinvara has traditional music and good restaurants. Shopping is about 15 minutes away though there are grocery shops in town and a wonderful Farmer’s Market once a week.
For information, contact Lisa C. Taylor
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The Art and Business of Audiobooks
with Steven Jay Cohen
 When: Saturday, January 13 (1-3pm)
Where: Commons Co-working in Williamsburg MA
Cost: $20
Audiobook sales are booming, growing over 20% since 2016 (according to the Audio Publishers Association). Wondering how you can grow your audience, reaching listeners as well as readers? Steven Jay Cohen, Audiobook Producer at Spoken Realms, will walk you through the process from working with audio rights, to production, to publication, to distribution, to marketing, explaining all of the options now available. Open to writers and authors of all levels, traditionally published and independent authors with existing or soon-to-be-published books.
RSVP www.pioneervalleywriters.com
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WRITERS IN PROGRESS
Anatomy of a Giggle: Humor and Writing Funny, with Molly Burnham
 Most people believe that we are either funny or not funny, by design. I believe that like any other aspect of craft, humor can be learned, and it just takes awareness and practice. In this hands-on, half-day workshop, we will set aside our judgments and explore our funny bones. We’ll discuss various types of humor, learn key points to writing funny, and engage in exercises that encourage the playful, humorous side of our brains. Bring an open mind, a pad of paper, and your joyful self, and leave with a fresh approach to humor!
Saturday, January 20th 9:00 am – 12:30 pm ($75) Register Now
Molly B. Burnham, author of the Teddy Mars Series and 2016 recipient of the Sid Fleishman Humor Award, holds a Masters in Elementary Ed. and an MFA in Writing for Children. Find out more about her at www.mollybburnham.com
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Member News!
Gail Thomas's poem "Wisteria", chosen by Kaveh Akbar, won first place and $1,000 in the Naugatuck River Review's 9th Annual Narrative Poetry Contest. Her poem, along with those of the finalists and semi-finalists, will be published in the February issue.
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Ellen Evert Hopman’s newest herbal book is out. Tree Medicine Tree Magic contains a wealth of information on some of the most common trees in the North America, Europe and beyond. Each chapter is packed with botanical, historical, herbal, practical, spiritual, mythological, folk magic and even culinary information. A must-have guidebook for working with trees on a spiritual and/or herbal level. MORE
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Green Fire Writers
- Do you care passionately about our world?
- Do you want to use writing or other forms of creative expression to make a difference?
- If so, you should contribute to Fired Up!
Editors Jana Laiz and Jennifer Browdy seek writing in any genre, along with photography, short videos or podcasts that express positive, forward-thinking perspectives on where we are now as individuals and as a society and envision the better world we hope to create.
We accept submissions on a rolling basis and will publish a new online edition once a month.
Check out our submission guidelines HERE
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Consultation w/ Gail Thomas
Poet and teacher Gail Thomas is available for individual consultation on your poetry submissions, manuscripts and residency applications. With more than 40 years of publishing and teaching experience, Gail offers feedback that not only focuses on your writing goals, but also strengthens your craft. Contact her at gailthomaspoet@gmail.com or http://www.gailthomaspoet.com/
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Manuscript Review by D M Gordon
 Want your writing to be the best it can be? Aching to be published? Thinking of an MFA? Why not work with an individual editor first. I’m less expensive than a low-residency program, with more focused, extensive attention. I work with post-MFA grads towards publication, poetry, and prose, as well as writers first seeking to share their work. From query letters to self-publication, we can discuss your immediate goals and how to achieve them. A prize-winning poet and fiction writer, and an experienced, respectful editor in multiple genres, I’d love to talk with you.
Visit my website at www.dmgordoneditorial.com for more information, then write to me, Diana Gordon, at dmgordon@comcast.net. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Body-Mind Centering work with Beth Goren
 Gentle and effective hands-on sessions in the Body-Mind Centering work. Beth is a certified and registered teacher-practitioner with 40+ years of practice. She offers sliding scale rates for elders via her Hands-on Elders non-profit. Approach bones, muscles, nerves, glands, fluids, organs, voice/reading with integrity. Single session or series.
Learn more: www.bethgoren.com
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December 2018 Newsletter
