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REDBIRD STUDIO -- A WRITERÕS PLACE
February,
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
The group I want to
belong to...
In the first days of Redbird, when I stared out
the studio windows at Lake Michigan and wondered what to make of the place, I
thought, "I want our workshops to be the kind I'd like to go to."
That meant friendly, for one thing. Also a place to do some serious learning,
to be with others who love writing and want to challenge themselves. Variety
seemed important -- different types of writing and different types of people. I
think it's richer that way.
Lately I've
been attending our workshops. Two days a month I make copies of recently
written pages and present them to the group gathered at the roundtable -- which
is actually square but we won't quibble. I wait as anxiously as anyone while
people make notes and talk about my work. Every conversation is an opportunity
to learn.
It
is pure joy for me to be at the "writer" side of the table. Redbird
works! It's everything I hoped it would be.
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 Redbird Founder JUDY
BRIDGES (Last chance 'til fall)
Develop your
skills. Build confidence. Become the
writer you want to be.
Register
now for this nationally recognized craft and motivational workshop. Appropriate
for beginners and
pros.
Six Monday Evenings
Mar 16, 23, 30, Apr 6, 3, 20 6:30-9 pm
$345 (deposit $100)
Do you want to write
fiction, nonfiction, an article, a play? Have you been talking (and thinking)
about it for a long time, but just can't seem to get it done? Here's help for
you - a seminar with a writing coach who just won't take No for an answer. Judy
has heard every excuse (and tried most of them!) and knows how to give you the
nudge you need.
Shut
Up and Write! is a highly individualized program in which Judy focuses on your
particular goals and finds ways to help you meet them. She's had a lot of
experience doing this, so be prepared to make progress. The first few
sessions include a fair amount of stand-up teaching about the craft. Whatever
your level or area of interest, you'll learn more about writing -- fiction and
nonfiction, characters, dialogue, scenes, setting, structure, point-of-view,
language, project management and publication. As you learn helpful
techniques, you will apply them to a project of your choice. If you don't have
a project in mind, Judy will help you find one. By the end of the course,
you will have completed a number of pages and gained confidence and skills you
can use to reach the goals you set.
Prior
to founding Redbird, Judy Bridges earned her living writing articles, stories,
plays and business communications. She holds a bachelor's degree in writing and
a master's in adult education.
THURSDAYS AT REDBIRD:SMART FRIENDS & DEEP PASSION
This is the third in
this successful new series of events at Redbird. We are nearly full, so if you
want to come, RSVP via email (jb@redbirdstudio.com) or
phone message (414-481-3195) and we will save space for you. Contribution: $10
at the door.
Note:
This presentation is intended for fiction writers who have a work in
progress.
March 12, 6:30
pm
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.
Four meetings per
session, $85 Register in advance.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON
ROUNDTABLE with JEANNEE SACKEN
All-genre critique
group. Prior attendance at "Shut Up & Write!" recommended.
Four Tuesdays
12noon to 2:30 pm $85
#2: March 3, 17, April
7, 21
#3: May 5, 19, June 2,
16
WEDNESDAY EVENING ROUNDTABLE
with LAUREL LANDIS
All-genre critique
group. Prior attendance at "Shut Up & Write!" recommended.
Four Wednesdays
6:30 to 9 pm $85
#2: March 11, 25,
April 8, 22
#3: May 6,
20, June 3, 17
THURSDAY EVENING
ROUNDTABLE with ROBERT VAUGHAN
All-genre critique
group. Prior attendance at "Shut Up & Write!" recommended.
(one meeting per
month) 6:30 to 9 pm
#1 Four Thursdays
Jan 15, Feb 19, Mar 19, Apr 16 (Full session) $85
#2 Two Thursdays
May 14, Jun 18 (Half Session) $45
FRIDAY MORNING
ROUNDTABLE with ROBERT VAUGHAN
All-genre critique
group. Prior attendance at "Shut Up & Write!" recommended.
Four Fridays
9:30 am to 12 noon $85
#2: Mar 13, 27, Apr
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 (Waiting
list)
Fee $450, includes
private room, meals, roundtables and a private consultation.
16th ANNUAL SHOWCASE CELEBRATION
Mark you calendar
now for this special reading by selected Redbird Writers
April 30, 6 pm in the
first floor Social Room Light refreshments. Free.
RED OAK (formerly Redbird) YOUNG WRITERS
Register now for
Summer Camps at The Marian Center (Redbird), Ten Chimneys and the Sharon Lynn
Wilson Center
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.
In Tribute:
Wisconsin poet Judith Strasser died
at her home in Madison on January 29th. In her blog, "In Lieu of
Speech," she wrote that although cancer affected her ability to breathe
and to speak, she still had plenty to say. http://inlieuofspeech.blogspot.com/2009/01/judith-strasser-1944-2009.html
Shauna Singh
Baldwin In a two-book
deal, Rupa Publications has bought Indian subcontinent rights to Shauna Singh
Baldwin's English
Lessons and Other Stories (Reader's
Guide Edition) and We Are Not in Pakistan. Indian Publication of English Lessons and Other
Stories (Reader's Guide
edition) is scheduled for April 2009. Rupa will publish We Are Not in Pakistan in the subcontinent in August 2009.
Elaine Bergstrom leads a novelistsÕ critique group at
Roberts on Howell, 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 7pm. ebergstrom2@wi.rr.com
Sally Blommer emails news of bike trips with husband Peter. It
is difficult to envy her when she writes that their bikes passed the durability
test: "First the rain, then a 6KM slog through mud (road
construction), then pushed through sand to our hotel, then lashed to the front
of an outrigger 'ferry' to cross to Luzon. For 3 hours they were awash in the
salt water of the rough sea."
Sunni Boehme posts news of her seminars and coaching
events on www.sunniboehme.com
Robin Chapman will read poems from recent anthologies at
the Chaos and Complex Systems Seminar, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 12-1:00
p.m.Tuesday, February 17th, 4274 Chamberlin Hall. She will also read from Abundance on WORT's Radio Literature program on
February 26th at 7:00 pm and at A Room of One's Own in Madison on February
27th.
Kirk Farber writes: "After my agent posted the
sale to Publisher's Marketplace, we got a lot of requests from literary scouts
inquiring about film/tv rights and translation rights. So far, seven studios
have requested the manuscript and seven foreign publishers have requested it.
The latest was a Brazilian publisher! Who knows what will happen with those, if
anything, but it's sure a fun ride."
Stacey
Kannenberg continues to add
to her list of books and articles for moms. Now on her blog, Let's Get Ready
for: Spring Cleaning, Breakfast, Snack Time, Internet Safety, Kindergarten,
Birthday Time and Exercise. http://cedarvalleypublishing.com/blog/about/
Bert Kelly won all kinds of points by painting a new
hideaway studio for Judy. He has an artist working on illustrations for a
picture book he wrote for his daughter.
Al Krueger of Comet Branding has a regular show on
Sohobiztube.com One recent topic: How PR will evolve in 2009 and how
social media will continue to impact it.
Amy Jenkins writes: "The football season may be
over, but the Chicago Literary Magazine--Sport
Literate-- is celebrating the
sport in its current issue. My essay. 'Real Packer Fans,' which I wrote
at one of your boot camps, appears in the issue."
Carol
LaChapelle has a new book
for writers, Finding
Your Voice, Telling Your Stories. www.marionstreetpress.com.
John Lehman has a new poetry book from Parallel Press
called Acting
Lessons. Read a review of it
by Mike Kriesel or order a copy. www.CustomerDirectBooks.com
Jill Morin had three publishers showing interest in
her book -- working title: Get
Real: How to design for organizational authenticity in an increasingly
fake world. She
signed a contract with Praeger Publishers, a division of Greenwood
Publishing Group.
Paul Salsini received an excellent review on his new
novel, Sparrow's
Revenge: A Novel of Post War Tuscany. http://www.bookreview.com/$spindb.query.listreview2.booknew.17708
Jean Scherwenka has an article coming out in the
April/May issue of Animal Wellness magazine. Subject: Chinese
Herbal Formulas Resolve the Root of Arthritis Pain.
Roi Solberg's new publication Spirit of Archetypes: Cards of
Spiritual Guidance is
scheduled for release next month. You can hear her podcast on http://dianeonbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/01/roi-solberg-on-starting-year-off-right.html.
Roi had a full house for her presentation, "Start Your New Year
Right." in the new series, "Thursdays at Redbird: Smart
Friends and Deep Passion." www.spiritelan.com
Larry Small writes from New Orleans: "I'm still
here. And I still get up every morning and stare at this damn screen.
Working on a story I call "The Festival of the Guillotine." In it I
erect a scaffold in Jackson Square and on top of that scaffold, I place my
guillotine and use it to behead a very unfortunate man who did something
terrible and almost got away with it. Most readers have said it's too graphic.
I wonder why."
Kim Stezala, author of Scholarships 101: The Real-World Guide to
Getting Cash for College (AMACOM 2008), was recently on WTMJÕs The Morning
Blend sharing tips from her book. Check out the broadcast of Six
Strategies for Winning Scholarships: http://tinyurl.com/9uranl She will also divulge her personal path
to publishing in ÒFive Months Flat: From Query to Agent to PublisherÓ at
the UWM Spring Writers Festival.
Marilyn Taylor, Wisconsin Poet Laureate, will share her
love of poetry at the following events:
March
4 - Speaker: Arts Day, Arts Wisconsin Legislative Breakfast at Monona Terrace
Convention Center, Madison
March
7 - Workshop facilitator: "Operation Rescue: Resuscitating the Hopeless
Poem". UWM Spring Writers Festival, Milwaukee
March
13 - Reading: The Village Booksmith, 526 Oak Street, Baraboo
April
6 - 6:30 p.m. - Reading: Conkey's Book Store, 226 E. College Ave.,
Appleton.
April
16 - 7:00 p.m. - Reading: Kiel Public Library, Kiel.
April
28 and 29, Elderhostel, "Exploring the Writer in You" at Green Lake
Conference Center, Green Lake.
May
3, 2:00 p.m. - Reading with Milwaukee poet Judith Harway: Avol's Books, 315 W.
Gorham, Madison.
Glenna Vance published a delightful family memoir about
her Uncle John.
Kenneth Walker is featured in a video interview with WISN
reporter Colleen Henry titled, "MPS Teacher Reflects On Civil Rights
Movement." Ken was one of the first black students to attend UW-Eau Claire
in the 1960s. An essay he wrote in a Journalism class was published as a four
page spread in the Milwaukee Journal in January, 1969. Photos from the article
are included in the video.
http://www.wisn.com/video/18513742/index.html
Judith Zukerman was asked to read at the Winter
Festival of Poets in Madison Sunday, Feb. 8th. She was one of six poets
reading at AVOL's Bookstore is at 315 W. Gorham, Madison.
4. OTHER PLACES, OTHER FACES
Alverno Telesis
A variety of writing
classes including The Great Lakes Writers Workshop
A Broader
Vocabulary Cooperative
New Feminist Bookstore
organizing in Bay View
abroadervocabulary.blogspot.com
Cool Plums
Interactive webzine
for writers (John Lehman)
Council for
Wisconsin Writers
Recognizing Literary
Excellence Since 1964
Sponsors annual
contests for Wisconsin Writers
Awards luncheon at the
Wisconsin Club, May 9th
http://www.wisconsinwriters.org/contests.htm
The Clearing,
Ellison Bay, WI (Door County)
Register now for a
variety of folk school programs, including week long writing retreats
with Judy
Bridges: "Open Writing" in June and ÒWomenÕs' WritingÓ in
September
Fox Cities Book
Festival
April 14-19, 2009
Sherman Alexie, Dwight
Allen, A. Manette Ansay, Simon Armitage, Elizabeth Berg, Samantha Chang,
Marshall Cook, Darren DeFrain, Mary Relindes Ellis, John Galligan, David
Giffels, Maggi Gordon, Phillip Gulley, Victoria Huston, C.J.
Hribal, Leslie Kagen, Sandra Kring, W. Nikola Lisa, Mary Logue, Gerald
McDermott, David McGlynn, Kalsa Ullsnik Miller, Debra Morningstar, Michael
Perry, Lowell Peterson, Jess Riley, William Sleator, Kenneth Steven, Patrick
Warrick,
http://www.focol.org/bookfest/index.asp
Fox Valley
Technical College
Variety of writing
programs including:
"The Power of The
Pen" March 21 and 28, with
John Lehman, Shannon
Jackson Arnold, Mary Agra, Tim Meier, Ellen Kort and Nikki Kallio.
Also, "Women
Writing About Their Lives" with Judy Bridges, Sat, Aug 1st, 9:30-2:30
Green Lake
Christian Writers' Conference, Green Lake WI
2009 Conference dates:
August 23-28
Marshall Cook John
Lehman, Patti Lacy, Elsie Mae Cofer, Mary Pierce, Cassandra Williams, Rebecca
Irwin-Diehl, Carol Pierskalla, Cindi Umstadt, Sheila Hansen, Beth Ziarnik.
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
Watch for news of
Spring 2009 events.
Milwaukee Public
Library
Email newsletter
alerts you to great selection of current readings and events.
Harry W. Schwartz
Bookshops
Our cherished
Independent bookstore is scheduled to close March 31st. GO BUY A BOOK!
(Also watch for the
opening of Boswell's at the Downer Avenue location)
Society of
Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, Wisconsin SCBWI-WI
Excellent professional
organization for writers and illustrators
Workshops, networking,
resources.
Soulstice Theatre
Intimate theater in
The Marian Center, Bay View
general_info@soulsticetheatre.org
Still Waters
Collective
High energy creative
writing and spoken word programs
The Inspired Writer
Writing, craft and
creativity workshops
The Marian Center,
Bay View
Home of Redbird Studio
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, Milwaukee, School of Continuing Ed
Spring Writers
Festival (March 6-8, 2009)
Sheree
Bykofsky, Liam Callanan, Traci Clark, Keith Donohue, Katie
Dublinski, Chris Fischbach, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Jeffrey
Gingold, Dasha Kelly, Maurice Kilwein Guevara, Michael
Kula, Valerie Laken, Philip Martin, Anne O'Meara, Kevin
Peterka, Eva Augustin Rumpf, Paul Salsini, Katharine
Sands, Gary Shea, Mary-Jeanne Smoller-Phillips, Marilyn
Taylor, Lori Tharps, Katy Vopal, Carolyn Kott Washburne.
http://www4.uwm.edu/SCE/course.cfm?id=13682
University of
Wisconsin, Madison, Div. of
Continuing Studies
Writing classes
include Write by the Lake Writers' Institute and Rhinelander School of the Arts
summer program
Phone
608-262-7942, www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/writing
Urban Echo Poets
Reading, February, 19 7pm, at People's Book Coop at 2122 E. Locust, Milwaukee
For more information,
contact Carolyn Vargo at Error!
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"February Reading People's")
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
2009 dates:
October 7th through 11th. The theme for the 2009 Festival is ÒCOURAGEÓ
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!!)
Poems for the
Wicked, Friday, March
6, 6:30-8 pm, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art,
Spring
Conference, Oconomowoc, April 24-25. fkonieska@tds.net
Wisconsin Regional
Writers Association (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