 |
An insider's update on
Redbird people and plans.
For more information,
check our website: www.redbirdstudio.com
or contact Judy
Bridges, 414-481-3195, jb@redbirdstudio.com
REDBIRD
STUDIO -- A WRITERÕS PLACE
Happy New
Year, 2009
1. THE BIRD'S NEST
2. WHAT'S UP AT
REDBIRD
3. NEWS OF REDBIRD
WRITERS AND FRIENDS
4. OTHER
PLACES/FACES
5. HOW TO HELP, ETC.
1.
THE BIRDÕS NEST Judy Bridges
Love, Loss &
Lust ...
Of the sixty places
I've lived, the one I loved most was a chalet I built on Bull Run Mountain in
Virginia. Big windows, trees, birds at the feeder. With very little imagination
you could see Mosby's Raiders huddled around a night fire or charging down the
slope to annoy the Yankees. I wrote my first story in that house and sold it
for twenty bucks. I felt echoes of that place the past two months while I
stayed at my Aunt Claire's home in mid-Wisconsin -- big windows, trees, birds
at the feeder, me writing, falling in love with the country, again.
One sad note of my
time there was that Aunt Claire decided it was time to take her leave. Those
who have heard me talk about her for lo these many years may wish to see the
card I sent to friends and family. http://www.redbirdstudio.com/claire/
For the record,
Redbird ran splendidly without me being here. Jeannee, Laurel, Marilyn and
Robert led the roundtables -- with a few adjustments for weather. January
roundtables are filling. The new series, "Thursdays at Redbird: Smart
Friends & Deep Passion" is receiving lots of attention. (Be sure
to RSVP for the dates you'd like to attend.) There's a daytime session of
"Shut Up & Write!" starting Jan 12th (some space available) and
an evening session starting March 16th. The March "Hairshirt" Retreat
is almost full. The "16th Annual Writers' Showcase" event is set for
April 30th. I am leading two retreats at The Clearing this year -- one for all
writers (men, women, all levels) in June and one for women only (intermediate)
in September. In August I lead a workshop for Fox Valley Technical College.
Obviously, we are still enjoying a lust for life. And if you happen to have a
lust for learning, you picked the right place to hang out.
2. WHAT'S
UP AT REDBIRD
Register
now! Details and registration form on the website:
www.redbirdstudio.com or
414-481-3195
SHUP
UP & WRITE! with Judy Bridges
Our
premier craft and motivational workshop. Find your voice. Become the writer you
want to be.
Six Mondays, $345.
Some space available. Register now.
Day: Jan 12, 19, 26,
Feb 9, 16, 23 12noon-2:30pm
Evening: Mar 16, 23,
30, Apr 6, 3, 20 6:30-9 pm
New! THURSDAYS AT REDBIRD:SMART
FRIENDS & DEEP PASSION
One of the best things
about Redbird is the number of fascinating people who come through our doors.
Week after week we enjoy the company of smart, creative men and women who know
a lot about art, politics, health, business or baseball. We have writing
in common, and beyond that, deep individual wisdom about topics of interest to
writers. Conversations are exciting, but never quite long enough.
This series gives us a
little more time with the experts. One Thursday a month, at 6:30 pm, we gather
with friends who share their passions in a presentation, reading or open
conversation. To attend one or all of the events, RSVP via email (jb@redbirdstudio.com) or phone
message (414-481-3195) and we will save space for you. Contribution: $10 at the
door.
Jan 8: ROI SOLBERG, "Start Your New Year Right"
Roi helps you focus
your writing intentions and start your New Year Right. A nationally known
intuitive consultant, author, speaker and teacher, Roi is a new voice in an old
world. Using her intuitive insights, she has helped people reconnect to the
passion of life as they find new purpose and meaning in each day. Roi is
the author of Spirit
of Archetypes: Cards of Spiritual Guidance, to be published in Spring of 2009.
Feb 8: ANNE LANDRE,
"The Mother's Day Project"
Anne is a writer,
poet and fiber artist with an interest in politics and womenÕs issues. She has
received recognition for her writing about the politics of breast cancer
research and funding, and launched the ÔMotherÕs Day ProjectÕ in May,
2007 to draw attention to the human cost of the Iraq War. Currently,
the project involves nearly 200 individual stitchers from 37 states, five
countries and three continents. http://mothersdayproject.wordpress.com http://threadingwater.wordpress.com
March 12, SHAUNA
SINGH BALDWIN, "Finding Your Story"
Shauna discusses
questions that rise in the care and feeding of a work in progress, to help you
find your story. Who are the people talking to you, anyway? What's their
story? Why do they want you to tell it? Are you the right person to write it?
What's your point of entry into the story? Are there any subjects/plots that
just won't work? If you can't see the middle or the end - should you stop and
plot -- or start over? Shauna's first novel, What the Body Remembers,
the story of two women in a polygamous marriage in occupied India, received the
Commonwealth Prize for Best Book (Canada-Caribbean). Her second
novel, The Tiger
Claw, the story of a Sufi
Muslim secret agent searching for her beloved through occupied France, was a
finalist for Canada's Giller Prize. English
Lessons and Other Stories received
the Friends of American Writers prize. Her most recent collection of short
stories, We are
Not in Pakistan, was
selected a Book of the Year 2007 by Quill and Quire. http://www.shaunasinghbaldwin.com
REDBIRD'S
FAMOUS ROUNDTABLE GROUPS
All-genre critique
groups. Healthy feedback. Good friends.
Prior attendance at
"Shut Up & Write!" recommended but not required.
Four meetings per
session, $85 Register in advance.
Tuesday Afternoons
with JEANNEE SACKEN
12noon to 2:30 pm
#1: Jan 6, 20, Feb 3,
17
#2: March 3, 17, April
7, 21
#3: May 5, 19, June 2,
16
Wednesday Evenings
with LAUREL LANDIS
6:30 to 9 pm
#1: Jan 14, 28, Feb
11, 25
#2: March 11,
25, April 8, 22
#3: May 6,
20, June 3, 17
Thursday Evenings
with ROBERT VAUGHAN
6:30 to 9 pm
#1: Jan 15, Feb 19,
Mar 19, Apr 16
#2: May 14, Jun 18
(1/2 Session, $45)
Friday Mornings
with ROBERT VAUGHAN
9:30 am to 12 noon
#1: Jan 2, 16, Feb 6,
20
#2: Mar 13, 27, Apri
10, 24
#3: May 15, 29, Jun
12, 19
THE
HAIRSHIRT:WOMENS' WRITING RETREAT with Judy Bridges
A weekend writing
retreat at Sinsinawa Mound Center
Thursday-Monday, March
5-9, 2009 Almost full!
Fee $450, includes
private room, meals, roundtables and a private consultation.
16th ANNUAL
SHOWCASE CELEBRATION
A special
invitational reading by Redbird Writers
April 30, 6pm, details
tba
RED
OAK YOUNG WRITERS
SUNDAY WRITERS'
CIRCLES Young writers bring
photocopies of works in progress to receive feedback, share ideas and learn
from each other in a supportive environment. Meets with Kim Suhr or Kris Jaeger
in Redbird Studio, Room 429 at The Marian Center. Info and registration: www.redoakyoungwriters.com
3.
NEWS ABOUT REDBIRD WRITERS AND FRIENDS
Note: "R.W. and
Friends" either attended Redbird workshops, or taught them, or support the
studio in some special way. If you sent information and it did not appear,
please forgive and send it again. Web sites are listed but not necessarily linked.
Shauna Singh
Baldwin Secret Agents
affiliated with Shauna Singh Baldwin and Redbird are invited to the Safe
House Toast Around the World party
on New Year's Eve. It begins at 3 pm (yes, in the afternoon!) with Midnite in Moscow.
Ring in 2009 every hour on the hour in the spy capitals of the world as the
dateline crosses the planet. Receive complimentary appetizers and
country-specific toasts. Bring friendly agents :-). For more
information: www.safe-house.com
Tom Biel Look for Tom's winning short story,
"Fossil Fields," in the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences
publication, Wisconsin
People and Ideas.
Anne Bingham did a reading from her short story
"The Progression of Seasons" during the release party for the fall issue
of Fifth
Wednesday Journal at Northern Illinois University in
DeKalb.
Elaine Bergstrom leads a novelistsÕ critique group at
Roberts on Howell, 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 7 pm. For information
contact ebergstrom2@wi.rr.com.
Peggy Brown's "2009 Kids' Craft and Activity
Calendar" from Andrews McMeel/Accord Publishing, is available through
Amazon.com.
Ken Brosky is pursuing an MFA in the Nebraska writing
program.
Robin Chapman says the postmark deadline for Wisconsin
writers to enter their work published in 2008 for the Council for Wisconsin
Writers' contests is January 31, 2009. Contest categories include: books of
fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; short fiction and nonfiction; childrenÕs
literature; outdoor writing; a set of five individual poems, plus a young
author essay competition. Entry forms and details are on the CWW
site: http://www.wisconsinwriters.org/
Cynthia Dennis won awards from Waukesha Writer's Workshop
and Wisconsin Regional Writers Association for her short story, "A
Christmas Dream."
Chris Falk says The submission period is now open
for the WFOP Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry Contest. The submission period
opened on December 1st and goes through February 1st. Prizes are: 1st
place - $200.00 and trophy, 2nd - $100.00, 3rd - $75.00. See Error! Hyperlink reference not
valid. for more information.
Kirk Farber's debut novel POSTCARDS FROM A DEAD GIRL
was accepted for publication by Harper Perennial.
Bill
Gagliani's novel, WOLF'S
GAMBIT, a sequel to the Bram Stoker Award nominated WOLF'S TRAP, is slated
to hit stores in September 2009. WOLF'S BLUFF, third in the WOLF series
featuring Det. Nick Lupo, just sold to Leisure Books and will arrive in
sometime in 2010.
Cheryl Kelly started a writers' group in the Green Bay area.
Thea Kovac is leading a workshop, "The Secret
Life of Artists" at Riveredge Nature Center, Saturday, Jan 24, 2009.
Ellen Kozak's essay, "Reconnecting the
Story," was aired on WUWM Lake Effect, Dec 11, 2008.
Karen
McQuestion's humorous
essay, "When Joe McCarthy came for Thanksgiving," appeared
in the
Chicago
Tribune on November 27,
2008. It can be read online at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-oped1127thanksgivingnov27,0,1204207.story
Mel Miskimen is now a regular contributor on WUWM Public
Radio's Lake Effect. She also had a piece published in the Nov/Dec issue
of Wisconsin Trails about her family's quest for the perfect
Christmas tree, and had another essay published online at Boomer Cafe.
Jennifer Morales sadly announced the closing of the
independent bookstore, Broad Vocabulary. A group called A Broader Vocabulary
has formed a co-op to try to revive the store.
Anne O'Meara forwarded the preview and advance
registration information for the Seventh Annual UWM Spring Writers Festival,
March 6-8, 2009. sce-writersfestival.uwm.edu
Marjorie Pagel's article, ÒGirls and Women Together:
CHOICES,Ó will appear in January 2009 issue of Lutheran Woman Today.
Marjorie also mentons Judy Bridges in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online.
See www.myhalescornersnow.com,
scroll to "Community Voices" and see Marjorie's blog "Meet Me At
The Corner."
Anna Passante self-published her second book, ANARCHY IN
BAY VIEW'S LITTLE ITALY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1917, AND ITS SHOCKING AFTERMATH. She'll
be doing a book talk on February 2, 2009, 7 pm, at the general meeting of the
Bay view Historical Society at the Beulah Brinton Community Center on South Bay
Street.
Sara Rattan made Glimmertrain's Top 25 for the September Fiction Open --
for "Salvage" (the story about Ernie and the prosthetic leg
and the dog).
Kim Suhr keeps members of the Red Oak Young Writers
group in the know with the Red Oak e-newsletter, "Branching
Out."
Marilyn Taylor is the new Poet Laureate of
Wisconsin. Marilyn will serve for two years, succeeding Denise Sweet and
our first state poet laureate, Ellen Kort. Marilyn says her first priority will
be to showcase Wisconsin as a nurturing place for the arts. Translated, that
means she's going to be one wildly busy poet attending statewide literary
events, reminding people that poetry is alive and well in Wisconsin. Members of
the Redbird Poetry Roundtable say they will miss her during this time, but they
look forward to her return.
Larry Van
Veghel's recent publications include an
article in the November issue of MidWest
Outdoors called
"Southern Wisconsin Late Fall Angling." In the Wisconsin
Council of Sport Fishing Organizations' blog, his latest article is called
"Crankbaits for Christmas, or Anytime." He will also have the
article on Writers Ink in the next WRWA Journal.
Tom Zuehlke of the Village Playhouse of Wauwatosa says it's
time to submit One Act scripts for the 24th Annual Wisconsin Playwright
Original One Act Play Festival. Entries must be postmarked by Feb 15, 2009.
See: OneActFestival@villageplayhouse.org
4.
OTHER PLACES, OTHER FACES
Alverno Telesis
A variety of writing
classes including The Great Lakes Writers Workshop
For info email nancy.krase@alverno.edu Phone
414-382-6176
Broad Vocabulary,
now Broader Vocabulary
Feminist Bookstore in
Bay View
See: Jennifer Morales,
above
Cool Plums
Interactive webzine
for writers (John Lehman)
Council for
Wisconsin Writers
Recognizing Literary
Excellence Since 1964
Sponsors annual
contests for Wisconsin Writers
http://www.wisconsinwriters.org/contests.htm
The Clearing,
Ellison Bay, WI (Door County)
Folk School offers a
variety of programs, including retreats with Judy Bridges:
"Open Writing
Retreat" June '09 and ÒWomenÕs' Writing RetreatÓ Sept '09
Green Lake
Christian Writers' Conference, Green Lake WI
2009 Conference dates:
August 23-28
Contact janwhite@glcc.org; 920-294-7327;
visit www.glcc.org.
Interlochen College
of Creative Arts, Interlochen, MI
Screenwriting, Poetry,
Prose & Paint, Retreats
Kristin Celeste Hills,
www.interlochenorg/college
Milwaukee Book
Festival
Celebrates literary
arts of all genres with readings, workshops, talks and panels
Harry W. Schwartz
Bookshops
Independent bookstore.
Active supporter of Wisconsin authors.
Society of
Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, Wisconsin SCBWI-WI
Excellent professional
organization for writers and illustrators
Workshops, networking,
resources.
Still Waters
Collective
Community creative
writing and spoken word programs
Soulstice Theatre
Intimate theater in
The Marian Center, Bay View
Phone:
414-431-3187. www.soulsticetheater.org
The Inspired Writer
Writing, craft and
creativity workshops
The Marian Center,
Bay View
Home of Redbird and
dozens of dedicated nonprofits
See Activities
List: http://www.mariancenter.net
TYMEOUT Youth
Center
Summer Creative
Writing Camp for Middle School Students, June 21-26
Ben Brzeski, www.tymeout.org
262-966-1800
University of
Wisconsin, Guild for Learning in Retirement
Writer's Forum.
Members published WORD GAZING
Phone: 414-227-3222
University of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee, School of Continuing Ed
Many writing classes,
including Annual Spring Writers Festival (March 6-8, 2009)
Contact Anne
O'Meara, aomeara@uwm.edu or
414-227-3311
University of
Wisconsin, Madison, Div. of
Continuing Studies
Many writing classes,
including Write by the Lake, Writers' Institute and Rhinelander SOA
Phone
608-262-7942, www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/writing
Wisconsin Academy
of Sciences, Arts & Letters
Publishes Wisconsin
People & Ideas
Sponsors Short Story
and Poetry Contests
Wisconsin Book
Festival
Book Festival in
Madison and other locations each October
http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.com/
Wisconsin
Fellowship of Poets (WFOP)
Statewide network for
poets. Contests and information.
Publishes Muse Letter
and annual Poet's Calendar (just a few left!!)
Muse Prize for
Excellence in Poetry Contest submissions period Dec 1 - Feb 1 2009
2009 Spring
Conference, Oconomowoc, April 24-25. fkonieska@tds.net
Wisconsin Regional
Writers Assn. (WRWA)
Contests, conferences,
writers groups, excellent newsletter
Woodland Pattern
Book Center, Milwaukee
Outstanding poetry
resource, plus readings and workshops
Working Writers
Association of full
time professional independent writers based in S.E. WI.
Members serve business
clients, non-profit organizations, publishers and authors.
WriterÕs Ink,
Cudahy
Writers' group
welcomes all levels, all styles, all genres. Meets first and third Mondays,
7pm,
in the lower-level
meeting room of Chase Bank in Cudahy. Dues $3 per year.
Contact Gail Torpe: gtoe@aol.com
or 414-744-9664
http://www.writersinc.writernetwork.com/index.html
5.
HOW TO HELP, CONTACT US, REPORT NEWS or GET OFF THE LIST
How to help:
Redbird Studio is a
small outfit run by people who could make more money elsewhere. We could
probably do pretty well if we sought funding, but I'd rather work with writers
than write proposals. We operate with a simple business philosophy -- we don't
spend any more than we earn. If I stay awake worrying, it's not about the
money.
All the same, it would
be nice to have a few extra bucks. Our income comes from course fees, rent on
studios sublet to writers and artists, consulting fees and, hallelujah,
gifts from friends. If you would like to be one of those friends, we will use
your gift to support and encourage diligent writers.
To contact us,
report news or get off the list:
Judy Bridges
Redbird Studio
3195 S. Superior St.
#429
Milwaukee, WI 53207
414-481-3195