Please join us Friday, January 30, at 7:00 pm for a Literary Salon with author Charles Lewis.
Journalist Courteney Stuart will interview investigative journalist and bestselling author Charles Lewis about his latest book, 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America's Moral Integrity. He will discuss his nine-year odyssey attempting to chronicle the most "mortally consequential" untruths by the U.S. government and major corporations since World War II. In this ephemeral, 140-character world, where exactly is the line between journalism and history? Is there such a thing as real-time truth, or must we wait years or even decades to find out about the systemic abuses by the powers that be? Free and open to the public.
Sponsored by Gary and Elizabeth McCullough.
Read more: Separating Fact from Fiction, Truth from Truthiness: A Literary Salon with Charles Lewis
Friday Opening Reception,
February 6, 2015
5:30-7:30pm
A FREE evening of art and wine
WriterHouse is proud to present the works of Julia Lesnichy for the month of February. Lesnichy is a versatile painter working in different mediums – oil, pastel and oil pastel. Her works include plein air landscapes, still life and figurative, life drawings and portraits.
Julia Lesnichy was immensely influenced by works of French impressionists (Monet, Renoir and Sisley) and American impressionist painters (Hassam, Cassat, Robinson, Twachtman). Julia finds her inspiration in nature, its elusive beauty being an endless source of excitement for her.
The First Friday opening reception is FREE and open to the public. Refreshments are courtesy of DuCard Vineyards. The exhibit will remain on display through March 1, 2015.
Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville / Albemarle (LVCA), Piedmont Council for the Arts (PCA), and WriterHouse are pleased to partner on recognizing International Mother Language Day, February 21, 2015, 7:00pm-8:30pm at CitySpace, 100 5th street NE. This annual event, established by the United Nations in 2000, honors linguistic diversity and multilingualism. We'll celebrate by hosting a reading of admired poems from around the world.
We are seeking 15-20 readers to read one short poem under a page in length in their mother tongue, other than English, by an admired poet. To volunteer to read please complete this form by February 6, 2015. The partnering organizations will review submissions in order to ensure a diversity of languages are represented at the event. We will contact readers to let them know if they've been selected by February 11, 2015.
This event is free and open to the public.
Please join us Friday, February 13, at 7:00 pm for a Literary Salon with author Rufi Thorpe.
From Pride and Prejudice to Bridget Jones's Diary, the novel has had a tendency to focus on the romantic lives of women: how to find love, whom to marry, and what happens along the way. But what is the story of a woman's life without the marriage plot? What are women's lives really about? And how do we make meaning out of our relationships to our friends, to our children, and to ourselves? Novelist Rufi Thorpe will explore her own struggles as a writer to portray women as they are, and what happens when you write a novel that does not rely on marriage for its structural framework. Free and open to the public.
Read more: Breaking Free from the Marriage Plot: Writing Female Friendship
Instructor: Rufi Thorpe
Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-Members
Saturday, February 14, 2015
9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Limited to 12 students.
Want to learn how to write memorable characters? This seminar will cover all the basics of character design so you can build your own unique, compelling, alive-feeling characters that are strong enough to carry a novel or story. In-class readings will be taken from both great literary fiction and great genre fiction; you'll also get a chance to start working on (re)writing characters of your own. Narrative poets and screenwriters are welcome, too!
Instructor: Amie Whittemore
Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-Members
Sunday, February 22, 2015
1:00 PM-5:00 PM
Limited to 12 students.
What makes a piece of writing a prose poem and not poetic prose? In this seminar, we'll explore how prose poetry is informed by the qualities of both poetry and prose, and how those qualities intersect. We'll closely read and dissect prose poems by authors such as Carolyn Forché, Robert Hass, and James Wright, and we'll experiment with writing our own. Participants are encouraged to bring in a draft of a prose poem for discussion. This seminar is appropriate for poets of all levels, but curious fiction writers are welcome, too!
Please join us Sunday, April 19, at 2:00 pm for a Literary Salon with poet Lisa Russ Spaar.
To paraphrase the poet Anne Carson, our lives begin the moment desire (for food, love, shelter, sky, the divine) enters us, and how we manage that yearning—what we make of it, to what uses we put it—is largely the measure of who we are. In what unique ways do poems not only grow out of but create and sustain the experience of desire? "I know not which, Desire, or Grant -," wrote Emily Dickinson, "Be wholly beautiful -." Join us as poet Kyle Dargan interviews poet Lisa Russ Spaar about the ways in which poems can uniquely both desire and grant, reach for and fulfill human experiences of yearning. Free and open to the public.
Read more: Orexia: Desire and the Poem: A Literary Salon with Lisa Russ Spaar
Creative Writing Camp for Kids
Session I: Monday-Friday, July 13-July 17, 2015 | 1:00 - 5:00pm
Session II: Monday-Friday, July 20-July 24, 2015 | 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
Spend the week playing with different plots and prompts, creating characters, and responding to fellow writers' work.
Grades 9-12 and 2015 High School Graduates: Writing Workshop
Session 1 Instructor: Charlotte S. Wood, Albemarle High School
Session 2 Instructor: Jordan Taylor, St. Anne's-Belfield School
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 2015
It doesn't take a lot of words to create something powerful, nor does it take a large contribution to WriterHouse to help support our mission.
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:
If you're not a member of WriterHouse's fabulous community of writers, here's what you might be missing:
- Discounts on writing classes and workshops
- Advance notification of new writing classes
- Eligibility to apply for workspace and conference room rental
- Admission to public areas of house during open hours
- Admission to members-only events
- Link to your writing site from our website
- Your own blog hosted on the WriterHouse server
Members-only events include our Anniversary Members Party and an upcoming panel of literary journal editors. You can join the fun by joining WriterHouse today.
