WRITE NOW NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2008
SUMMARY OF EVENTS
- Jewish Community Center Book Fair - Nov. 2 to 17
- Poetry Forum at Larry’s - begins Nov. 3
- Reading & Talk: Diana Abu-Jaber - Nov. 5
- Reading and Q&A with Thomas Lynch - Nov. 6
- The Kenyon Review - Nov. 6 to 8
- IWWG Reading - Nov. 9
- Reading: Stewart O’Nan - Nov. 10
- OSU Student/Faculty Reading Series - Nov. 13
- Reading: Poet Patrick Rosal - Nov. 13
- Character, Conflict and Chaos with Michael Wilson - Nov. 15
- IWWG Meeting - Nov. 15
- Writers’ Bloc Holiday Potluck & Open Mic - Nov. 20
- Reading: Louis Bayard - Nov. 20
EVENTS
1. JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER BOOK FAIR
November 2 through 17
Jewish Community Center
1125 College Avenue - Bexley
What do authors Judith Viorst, Allan Rich, Nathan Englander, Ann Kirschner, Robin Judd, Arthur Blecher, Alana Newhouse, and Carolivia Herron have in common with a family PJ party, a klezmer music celebration or a wine tasting? The JCC’s annual Jewish Bookfair – of course!
Visit http://www.columbusjcc.org/arts.asp for more information or contact Melanie Butter at (614) 231-2731 or mbutter@columbusjcc.org.
2. POETRY FORUM at LARRY’S
Each Monday of the month at 7PM
Larry’s
2040 N. High St (OSU campus area)
Join the folks at Larry’s for 2 sets of readings about 20-25 minutes each. All readings followed by a brief open mike.
- November 3 - T.M.Gottl
- November 10 - Rikki Santer
- November 17 - Glenn Shelden
- November 24 - Robert McDonough
- December 1 - Kim Brazwell
Funded by the Ohio Arts Council: A state agency that supports public programs in the arts.
3. READING & TALK with DIANA ABU-JABER
Wednesday, November 5 - 7:30PM
Drake Union Thurber Theatre
“The “language” of Diana Abu-Jaber’s memoir, The Language of Baklava, takes many forms: American life, Jordanian culture, memory, recipes—and even a chapter on HTML. Mostly, it’s Abu-Jaber’s journey between the two diverse cultures of her life—living in New York and growing up with her Jordanian father, Bud (aka Ghassen Saleh). Along the way, she introduces a cast of eccentric characters, unique locales (shish kabob cookouts at Lake Ontario, goat stew feasts in the desert), and recipes that range from American college student (Grilled Velveeta Sandwiches) to Middle Eastern treats (Mad Genius Knaffea).
Abu-Jaber is also the author of Crescent, which was awarded the 2004 PEN Center USA Award for Literary Fiction, and Arabian Jazz, which won the 1994 Oregon Book Award and was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award. She teaches at Portland State University and divides her time between Portland and Miami.
Tickets may be obtained by the general public at 120 Enarson Hall during business hours. Book signing to follow.
4. READING and Q&A with THOMAS LYNCH
Thursday, November 6 - Q&A 4 to 5PM; Reading at 7PM
311 Denney Hall - OSU Campus
Thomas Lynch is an essayist, poet and funeral director of Lynch & Sons funeral home in Milford, Michigan. His most recent book, released this past June 2005, is Booking Passage: We Irish and Americans. Other more recent books include: The Undertaking, Still Life in Milford and Bodies in Motion and at Rest. He published his first volume of poetry, Skating with Heather Grace, in 1987. Following this unique collection of poems, in 1994, he published his next volume of poetry Grimalkin & Other Poems.
He is regularly featured on the op-ed page of The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Times of London, as well as in the pages of Harper’s. He has appeared on C-SPAN, MSNBC, the NBC “Today” program and the PBS series “On Our Own Terms.”
5. THE KENYON REVIEW LITERARY FESTIVAL
Thursday, November 6 to Saturday, November 8
Gambier - various locations
Check the schedule of events at http://www.kenyonreview.org/programs/litfestschedule.php for details of poetry readings, lectures, panel discussions, the empty bowls dinner, book signings and more. Don’t miss Saturday evening’s keynote event with Richard Ford.
6. INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S WRITING GUILD OPEN READING
Sunday, November 9 - 2 to 4PM
Barnes & Noble
Easton Town Center
4005 Townfair Way
free parking
Hear a variety of IWWG members read from their work. For more information contact Jeanne Marlowe at 614-476-8802 or jamarlowe@juno.com, or visit the Guild’s web site at http://www.iwwg.org.
7. READING: STUART O’NAN
Monday, November 10 - 7:30PM
Columbus School for Girls
56 S. Columbia Avenue
$18 in advance; $20 at the door.
Student and Senior discounts
O’Nan will read from two novels: his 2007 New York Times “Editor’s Pick,” Last Night at the Lobster, and his brand new work Songs of the Missing, an enthralling account of a family in the aftermath of their daughter’s disappearance. O’Nan’s acclaimed talent for depicting his ordinary heroes with empathy and grace is evident on every page of these two books. O’Nan is the author of several works, one of which sow Angel, was made int a film. He has won several literary awards, including The Washington Post’s “Book of the Year” for Last Night at the Lobster. He lives in Connecticut.
For more information, call 614/464-1032 or visit www.thurberhouse.org
8. OSU CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM READING SERIES
Thursday, November 13 - 7PM
Denney Hall 311
164 W 17th Avenue
The Ohio State University
Join Professor Michelle Herman, Claire Watkins and David Macey. For more information, call 614.292.2242
9. READING: POET PATRICK ROSAL
Thursday, November 13 - 5:30 to 6:30PM
Denney Hall 311
164 W 17th Avenue
The Ohio State University
Patrick Rosal is the author of Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive (Persea Books, 2004), finalist for the Asian-American Writers’ Workshop Literary Awards and winner of the AAWW Member’s Choice Award. His chapbook Uncommon Denominators won the Palanquin Poetry Series Award. His work has appeared in journals such as North American Review, Columbia, Folio, and many anthologies including The NuyorAsian Anthology, Pinoy Poetics, and The Beacon Best. He has been a featured reader at many venues around the country, in Buenos Aires, London, and on the BBC radio program “The World Today”. His second full-length collection, My American Kundiman, was published by Persea Books in fall 2006. For more information, call 614.292.2242
10. CHARACTER, CONFLICT & CHAOS with MICHAEL WILSON
Saturday November 15 from 9AM to 5PM
UA Municipal Services Center
3600 Tremont Road - Lower Level Conference Room
Cost: $45 for UA residents: $50 for non-residents
The essentials of fiction writing are addressed in this all-day writing workshop. Explore how to create realistic and multi-dimensional characters, how to engage them in interesting situations involving conflict and how to shake up their world to generate more interesting fiction. The class covers the essential dynamics of character creation, how to use plot motivation and situations to create realistic conflict, and how to utilize these techniques to help bring order back to the chaos you have created, all the while keeping your readers motivated to the end. Writers of all levels are welcome. The class schedule includes a one-hour lunch break.
Register one of three ways:
1. Call 614-583-5333 between 9:30 AM and 3:30 PM weekdays to register using your VISA or MasterCard
2. Online using MasterCard or VISA at: https://parks.uaoh.net/VSIWEBTRAC.HTML You need to call first to get a username and password
3. Print and fill out a registration form http://www.ua-ohio.net/parksrec/lifelong/registration.pdf and mail or drop it off (with a check or money order) at Lifelong Learning & Leisure, 3600 Tremont Road, Upper Arlington, OH 43221
11. IWWG Meeting
Saturday, November 15 - 10AM to 12PM
Columbus Public Library
96 S. Grant Ave. - 3rd Floor Board Room
(microwave available - feel free to bring food)
Free and open to writers of all ability levels
The Central Ohio community of the IWWG invites writers to gather at our monthly meetings for writing, reading and gentle critiquing in a safe, supportive environment. Each meeting includes “The Circle,” which gives participants an opportunity to share information about their writing and other work. Monthly meetings are free and open to all. You may bring work you’d like to have critiqued. Readers for our Fall Reading are encouraged to rehearse during this meeting.
From 11-12:30, long-time member, Ginger Watkins, will talk about the process of publishing Tommy Can You Hear Me? the Story of a Brother Lost with LULU.com. This poignant novel is based on the life of Ginger’s schizophrenic brother, growing up in the 60’s in a small town on the Ohio River. She will also relate the reactions of her large Catholic family to the book’s publication and her experience at IWWGs Big Apple conference in Oct. of 2007. (She attended Eunice Scare’s writing class and met with several agents afterward.) She will answer questions and conclude by reading a short excerpt from her book.
For more information contact Jeanne Marlowe at 614-476-8802 or jamarlowe@juno.com, or visit the Guild’s web site at http://www.iwwg.org.
12. WRITERS’ BLOC - HOLIDAY POTLUCK & OPEN MIC
Thursday, November 20 - 6:30PM networking; 7PM program
Thurber Center
77 Jefferson Avenue
Free to members; $5 non-members
Join Writers’ Bloc for a smorgasbord of holiday goodies and writing successes. Don’t forget to bring your own SHORT piece to share.
WRITERS’ BLOC is a congenial group of creative dedicated writers, editors, poets, and other wordsmiths — published and unpublished — who gather six times a year for professional development, to share resources, to socialize, and to network. Our presentations and workshops bring the best authors, poets, publishers, and editors to us bi-monthly. We’d love you to join us, learn with us, and share your writings.
Annual dues are $15 and include admission to all programs. Admission for guests and non-members to individual events is $5 with the exception of the November Potluck and Open Mic, which is free to all. Thurber House does not run Writers Bloc but sponsors us by providing space and info about us to writers.
Call 614-861-3394 for further information.
13. LOUIS BAYARD Reads THE BLACK TOWER
Tuesday, November 20 - 7:30PM
Columbus Performing Arts Center
549 Franklin Ave.
$18 in advance; $20 at the door.
Student and Senior discounts
Louis Bayard, the acclaimed author of Mr. Timothy, a New York Times Notable Book, and The Pale Blue Eye, nominated for both the Edgar and Dagger awards, is back with another spellbinding historical mystery about a lost king and a real-life convict who transformed himself into the world’s first modern detective. A riveting thriller of cover-ups and conspiracies, The Black Tower is set in Paris in 1818, and follows the brilliant man known as Vidocq - former criminal and father of modern forensic detection - who is close to unveiling a tantalizing secret: the fate of Louis-Charles, the lost son of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. A contributing writer and book reviewer, Bayard has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, and Salon.com. He lives in Washington D.C.
For more information, call 614/464-1032 or visit www.thurberhouse.org
