REDBIRD NEWS - OCTOBER, 2004

 

1. KID STUFF

2. FALL CLASSES

3. NEWS ABOUT REDBIRD WRITERS AND FRIENDS

4. HOW TO: help/contact/report

 

 

1. KID STUFF

 

I thought this summer was going to be quiet --  a few kids here for a couple weeks, lots of lazy hours to write. Ha. We had 65 kids here at Redbird, in five week-long camps, writing, hiking, hanging out, making books, rehearsing for the Friday readings, hugging goodbye, promising to come back again next year. Yes, we'll have summer camps again next year. You can't do something this well and not do it again.

 

Thanks to the kindness of PATRICIA WEISBERG, CONNIE SQUIRE, KRIS BABE, ELIZABETH BOSTROM, MARY LOU BELL and COUNCIL FOR WISCONSIN WRITERS, nine deserving students received scholarships to the writing camps. I hope we said thank you in enough ways. The young writers truly appreciated your support.

 

Thanks also to teachers KIM SUHR, JOAN BOYCE, PAM PARKER, DORIS HAYES, JUDY BEEHLER and KATIE LANCE;  Musicians SCOTT DONALDSON AND FRIEND; Guest writer MEL MISKIMEN; the supportive staff of the MARIAN CENTER; and my husband, DAVE BLANK.

 

WHAT THE KIDS HAD TO SAY:

"My Mom said I'm going to be a novelist someday. I believe her. You should read what I wrote." KV, G3

"We went to Lake Michigan and went hiking and we caught a toad and named him Jumper. After we did that stuff we wrote about it." CR, G3

"(I liked) the ideas we got from the teachers and the places we go, but most of all the time to write." MS G5

"I really liked going to the lake, and playing the writing-go-round was awesome! I loved everything about this camp! It rocks! BK, G6

"I I just thought it was a lot of fun to hear other authors and share my own work." AB, G7

"I loved that nobody thought of you a certain way because of what you wrote." ZW, G7

"I was able to express myself in a way I never did. I even met a few friends and people liked my story." RH, G7

"I learned how to expand my horizons and write better poetry." AP, G7

"It was so nice to wake up in the morning and know that I was coming here, just to write! It was so cool. MH, G12

"I got 'me' time to just reflect on my life right now, but especially my writing." MZ, G12

"I loved that I could present something and get honest feedback from people who knew what they were doing." MH, G12

"The instructor treated us like adults, and give us encouragement and the opportunity to share our work." KS, G11

        

KID STUFF, EXTENDED: Mary Jordan from the Salvation Army created a writing program for kids attending S.A. summer camps in Milwaukee. Redbird helped with the planning. Mary sent a copy of the book compiled by eight young writers. You can see it, along with the Redbird books, on the "Show-Off" Shelf outside Redbird Studio.

 

 

 

2. FALL CLASSES (descriptions, registration forms and updates at www.redbirdstudio.com)

 

Registration is open for the following fall classes:

"SHUT UP AND WRITE! " with JUDY BRIDGES, starting Nov. 8

"ROUNDTABLE GROUPS" with JUDY BRIDGES, starting Nov 2 and 3.

"ROUNDTABLE WEST (Delafield)" with SHANNON JACKSON ARNOLD, 2nd Tuesdays, (fee prorated)

 

Plus, Saturday's at Redbird:

"HAND CRAFT GIFTS OF YOUR WRITING"  with SHANNON JACKSON ARNOLD, Oct 23

"WRITING THE INDEPENDENT FILM"  with DAN WILSON, Nov. 13;

"MARKETING YOURSELF AS A FREELANCE WRITER" with WAYNE MUTZA, Dec. 4.

 

 

 

3. NEWS OF REDBIRD WRITERS AND FRIENDS (email your news to jb@redbirdstudio.com)

 

SARA RATTAN will read her short story, "Neighbors," at the Wisconsin Academy Review Short Story and Poetry Contest Winners' Reading, Sat. Oct. 9, 3-5 pm, at Cafe Montmartre, Madison. The reading is part of the Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison, Oct. 6-10.

 

JOHN LEHMAN, MARILYN TAYLOR and KIRA HENSCHELL will also be presenting at the Festival.

 

MEL MISKIMEN received a nice plug for her book, "Cop's Kid," in the October issue of Midwest Living.

 

BARBARA MALCOLM received an Honorable Mention for her short story, "Moon," in the Adult Short Story category of Wisconsin Regional Writers Jade Ring Contest.

 

JEAN SCHERWENKA sold her article, "Murphy's Legacy-The Natural Pet Store," to Fetch magazine.

 

AMY JENKINS has had two short-shorts published in this summer's release, Humor for a Teachers Heart. Also, "Josh: Defender of Youth," was published in Pet Tales, and "Friendship Bread" was picked up to be published this fall in Journeys of Friendship.

 

LUDMILLA BOLLOW's new book, "Dr. Zastro's Sanitarium -- For The Ailments of Women" was published by Behler Publications.

 

SHAUNA SINGH BALDWIN's new novel, "The Tiger Claw," is receiving sterling reviews. One is posted at: www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041002/BKCLAW02/TPEntertainment/?query=noor+against+the+Nazis.

 

SHANNON JACKSON ARNOLD's book, "Everybody Loves Ice Cream: The Whole Scoop on America's Favorite Treat," was reviewed (favorably, of course) in Newsday. She was also interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio and for articles in the New York Daily News and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

 

MARY BRILL will be leading another tour to Ireland in Spring of 2005.

 

NANCY REILAND's poem, "Making Love on Moving Day," won an honorable mention in "Between the Sheets," a contest sponsored by Free Verse Publication. "Touch Me, Heal Me," is a semifinalist in another Free Verse Publication.

 

RAE SPENCER has had two stories accepted for publication this fall by the e-zine, Long Story Short.

 

DAVE BIEMANN's tongue in cheek revisionist history of NY/NYC is being published by Crime Spree magazine. He has also contributed to reviews published in the Bookstore spotlight column.

 

LEAH CARSON announced the release of her new parody, "The Lord of the Wrinkles," published by Booklocker.

 

KAY PLISZKA's poem, "Silent Rage," will be published in Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul in January.  This will be her 5th story in one of their books. She also won the grand prize in a Chicken Soup writing contest earlier this year. 

 

PAT LORENZ reports that Guideposts sold out of all 40,000 of the first print run of "Life's Too Short to Fold Your Underwear," and "Grab the Extinguisher, My Birthday Cake's on Fire!" But you can still get copies of her anthology, "Great American Outhouse Stories: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt."

 

ORDERING NOTE: To order books by Redbird Writers, go to the Redbird site (www.redbirdstudio.com) and click on "Books by Redbird Writers and Friends."

 

IF YOUR NEWS ISN'T HERE it's because you didn't send it or I screwed up. In either case, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

 

 

 

4. HOW TO HELP/CONTACT/REPORT

 

HELP: Distribute flyers. Tell People about Redbird. Sign Up for a workshop. Contribute, especially to the Young Writers Fund.

 

CONTACT/ REPORT: email jb@redbirdstudio.com or call Judy Bridges at 414-481-3195.