Please join us Friday, April 25, at 7:00 pm for a Literary Salon with author Jane Alison.
Author Jane Alison will discuss what happens when what you need to write is the truth—but you know that the truth will be painful, for you or for others. Alison will explore the risks you take when writing from personal experience and will share her own slow journey from fiction to memoir. Free and open to the public.
Jane Alison was born in Canberra, Australia, and studied classics at Princeton and Brown universities and creative writing at Columbia. Her first novel, The Love-Artist, was published in 2001 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and has been translated into seven languages. It was followed by The Marriage of the Sea (FSG, 2003), Natives and Exotics (Harcourt, 2005), and a memoir, The Sisters Antipodes (Harcourt, 2009). Her latest book is Change Me: Stories of Sexual Transformation from Ovid, from Oxford University Press. Alison currently lives in Charlottesville and teaches creative writing at the University of Virginia.
On Tuesday, May 6, for 24 hours
the Charlottesville-Albemarle area will be supporting their favorite causes through Give4Good. Each donation of $25 or more we receive through the Give4Good website will count toward matching funds and incentive bonuses that will increase the value of your gift. We'll be keeping you posted about certain times of day that we've targeted to try for specific participation bonuses. Either way, whatever time you make your donation, a percentage of every dollar will be matched.
The incentive bonuses will be based on numbers of unique donors (not multiple donations from the same individual). If you've been considering becoming a member, wait until May 6 and contribute $25 from you and $25 from a spouse, relative, or friend and then email us so we can combine the donations into one membership. Is your membership renewal due in May? Renew it on May 6!
At midnight on May 6, the "Donate" button below will take you directly to our page at Give4Good. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates.
Instructor: Mary-Sherman Willis
Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-Members
Saturday, April 26, 2014 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM
SPACE STILL AVAILABLE—REGISTER TODAY!
A poem sequence can be as short as a pair of linked poems, or as long as book. What makes a sequence different from a single poem or a collection? Learn what binds a sequence together and keeps it going. We’ll explore the craft elements of time and place, character and voice, language, form, plot, image, and metaphor in sequences by Seamus Heaney, Anne Carson, C.D. Wright, Martha Collins, and others.
Read more: Seminar: Stringing the Pearls: The Poetry Sequence
WriterHouse and C-VILLE Weekly invite you to submit a short work of creative nonfiction to Charlottesville’s annual writing contest. The final judge will be author Jane Alison. We are beginning a new tradition of rotating genres, with 2014 the first year for Creative Nonfiction (Fiction to return in 2016). One first prize winner will be awarded $500 and a one-year WriterHouse membership in each of the following categories: General, Local Flavor, and Youth. The winning pieces will be published in a July edition of C-VILLE Weekly and winners will be invited to read at a celebratory event.
Contest guidelines:
Instructor: Kathryn Erskine
Cost: $90 Members | $100 Non-Members
Saturday, May 10, 2014 | 9:00 AM-4:00 PM
Limited to 12 students.
Do you want to write for kids? We'll analyze the rules and formulae for writing picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and young adult novels. We'll talk about how to start—and complete—your manuscript, common problems in each art form, and what editors are looking for. Most importantly, we'll talk about the difference between a good manuscript and a great one: research, revision, resolve, and writing from the heart.
Instructor: Alison Penning
Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-Members
Sunday, May 11, 2014 | 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Limited to 12 students.
When you submit a story or essay to a journal, what happens to it? How many pages will editors read before making a decision, and how can you get them to keep reading? Learn where to send your work, how to write strong cover letters, how to interpret rejection letters, and more. Bring one story or essay you want to submit to journals.
Read more: Seminar: On Submission: Understanding Your First Readers
Please join us Thursday, May 22, at 7:00 pm for a Literary Salon with poet Cecilia Llompart.
What does it mean to be an outsider? Is it as black and white as "Us versus Them," or are we all outsiders in one way or another? And how do you speak for those that cannot speak for themselves? Cecilia Llompart will discuss her new book The Wingless and writing as a way of finding your place in the world. Free and open to the public.
Cecilia Llompart was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Florida. Her first collection, The Wingless, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in the spring of 2014. She is the recipient of two awards from the Academy of American Poets, and her poems have appeared in TriQuarterly, The Caribbean Writer, poets.org, and other journals. Most recently, she served as guest editor for Matter: A Journal of Political Poetry and Commentary, and she will be teaching high school students while serving as chair of creative writing for BLUR: The Blue Ridge Summer Institute for Young Artists in June 2014.
Creative Writing Camp for Kids
Session I: Monday-Friday, July 14-July 18, 2014 | 1:00 - 5:00pm
Session II: Monday-Friday, July 21-July 25, 2014 | 1:00 -5:00pm
->Download Printable Flyer
Grades 3-5: Story Camp
Session 1 Instructor: TBA
Session 2 Instructor: Robin Albertson-Wren, St. Anne's Belfield School
Put your story ideas on paper, or discover new ideas with the help of other writers.
Grades 6-8: Writing Circle
Session 1 Instructor: Erin James, Henley Middle School
Session 2 Instructor: Jen Wilson, Field School THIS GROUP IS NOW FULL
Spend the week playing with different plots and prompts, creating characters, and responding to fellow writers' work.
Grades 9-12 and 2013 High School Graduates: Writing Workshop
Session 1 Instructor: Charlotte S. Wood, Albemarle High School
Session 2 Instructor: Jordan Taylor, St. Anne's-Belfield
Create new work and polish existing pieces (poetry, fiction, movie scripts, etc.) with supportive feedback from the group.
Read more: Write On!: Grades 3-12 Creative Writing Summer Program
Thank You to our Sponsors for
Words and Wine 2013
The following businesses and individuals contributed prizes, food, or other in-kind or cash donations to help make the event a success:
Order WriterHouse gift certificates online for the holidays! Available in a variety of denominations to please any writer you know.
