COWG June 2008 Newsletter

Central Oregon Writers Guild Meets May 22 for Eric Witchey Presentation

Eric Witchey, award winning author, will speak to Central Oregon Writers Guild on May 22 at 6:30 PM at the Redmond Library, 827 Deschutes Ave., Redmond, Oregon.

In his program “Mythic Power from Your Life,” Witchey will help writers learn how to use their own life experiences to create life-like characters and compelling fiction. Witchey has taught at two universities and is a sought-after speaker. He has published works of fiction in multiple genres, and how-to articles in magazines such as The Writer and Writer’s Digest.

A one-hour critique session will follow Witchey’s presentation. Central Oregon Writers Guild monthly meetings are open to the public. If you have any questions, please call 388-0836.

Central Oregon Writers Guild to Celebrate 6th Anniversary in June

COWG will celebrate its six-year anniversary with cake and ice cream at the June 26 meeting. Dwight Newton, Bend author who has been writing western novels for sixty years, will be our distinguished guest speaker for the celebration meeting.

Thank You, Anita

Anita Lanning, who has served as publicity chairperson for COWG since January 2008, has resigned from the position. We appreciate all the work and the many hours that Anita has given to COWG. Before serving as publicity chairperson, Anita served as program director.

Call For Submission for Fall Literary Harvest Readers—Official Guidelines to be posted on May 23

Get to your computer and do your best writing, or dust off some of your best previously written short stories, essay and poems—it’s almost time to submit your work for consideration for the 2008 Fall Literary Harvest.

Watch for the official Fall Literary Harvest Reader Contest guidelines on the blog on May 23, or pick up the guidelines and submission form at the May 22nd COWG meeting.

Oregon Book Awards Author Tour Visits Bend May 22nd
(This information copied “as is” and used with permission from Deschutes County Library)

Literary Arts brings the 2008 Oregon Book Awards Author Tour, featuring recent Oregon Book Awards honoree, to Bend on Thursday, May 22, 7pm, at Bend Public Library, Brooks Room (601 N.W. Wall Street)

Conversation, book sales and a signing follow each reading. The events are free and open to the public. Authors appearing will be:

• Kathleen Halme of Portland, finalist in poetry for her book, Drift and Pulse. Halme is also the author of Every Substance Clothed and Equipoise. Her honors include fellowships from the NEA and Literary Arts and an NEH fellowship in anthropology.

• Robert Hill of Portland, finalist in the novel for his first book, When All Is Said and Done. Hill has been an advertising copywriter, a grant writer and a teaching fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. When All is Said and Done is his first novel.

• Joel Preston Smith of Portland, finalist in creative nonfiction for his book, Night of a Thousand Stars and Other Portraits of Iraq. Smith works as a freelance writer and photographer in Portland. Night of a Thousand Stars and Other Portraits of Iraq documents the four months he spent living in Iraq before and after the U.S. invasion.

The Oregon Book Awards, a program of Literary Arts, are presented annually for the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature. The Oregon Book Awards Author Tour brings finalists to public libraries and independent bookstores around the state. Information: 503/227-2583

Oregon Humanities invites submissions for its Fall/Winter 2008 issue on the theme of Civility

Rules of conduct, etiquette, and civility, whether codified or implicitly understood, are the social contracts that frame human interactions. For the Fall 2008 issue of Oregon Humanities, we are looking for essays and articles that explore the theme of civility. Writers may wish to explore civility in literature, history, arts, and popular culture; the role of civility and propriety, or conversely discourtesy and impropriety, in public discourse; the changing rules of civility in a newly global, multicultural, and highly technological world; the pros and cons of regulating civility, decency, and propriety; the role of civility in the conduct of war; arguments for or against civility in environmental movements; or the notion of propriety in a variety of public spheres, such as courtrooms, talk radio shows, and Internet blogs.

We accept proposals and drafts of scholarly and journalistic features, which range between 2,500 and 4,000 words in length. We accept drafts only of personal essays, which should consider larger thematic questions and run no longer than 1,500 words. All contributors receive an honorarium.

If you are interested in contributing to this discussion, please submit a proposal or draft by June 16, 2008, to Kathleen Holt, Editor, Oregon Humanities magazine, Oregon Council for the Humanities, 812 SW Washington Street, Suite 225, Portland, Oregon, 97205, or kholt@oregonhum.org


Elizabeth Lyon Instructional Video at You Tube

Elizabeth Lyon YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7q15HAvp3I

Recommended Reading

Elizabeth Lyon’s recently released Manuscript Makeover: Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore.

COWG CONTACTS

Executive Director: Cindy Prescher
Membership & Finance Chairperson: Elsie Rochna
Membership & Finance Assistant Chairperson: Carol Brian
Interim Publicity Chairperson: Cindy Prescher
Program Chairperson: Paty Jager
CO Writers Report Editor: Cindy Prescher
Refreshment Chairperson: Lindy Jacobs
Photographer: Jo Ann Senior
Blog Chairperson: Tia Linschied