Opportunities for Writers

THE WRITERS' WORKSHOP

387 Beaucatcher Road

Asheville, NC 28805

828-254-8111 writersw@gmail.com  www.twwoa.org

    HARD TIMES CONTEST , ONLINE TUTORIALS & EDITING SERVICE

Dear Editor, please announce these offerings for writers, such as our Hard Times Contest, open to any writer regardless of residence or experience. The Writers’ Workshop is a non-profit writing center founded in 1985. Thanks so much! – K. Ackerson, Exec. Director

The Writers' Workshop is offering on-line classes for beginning and experienced writers. Each class meets on Saturdays, 10-3 pm (with 1 hr. lunch break). Registration is in advance only, at www.twwoa.org. Classes are $65. Financial assistance is available for low-income writers in exchange for volunteering.

To register, email writersw@gmail.com, or call 828-254-8111.

Hard Times Writing Contest  

 Deadline: Emailed or postmarked by August 30, 2020.

1st Place: Three free workshops (in person or on-line); or 50 pages edited and revised by our editorial staff.

2nd Place: Two free workshops, in person or on-line; or 35 pp line-edited.

3rd Place: One free workshop; or 25 pages line-edited.

10 Honorable Mentions

Guidelines:

•      Write about a difficult experience in your life, how you overcame this obstacle, and how you were changed by it. Winning stories will be chosen for originality and creative writing style.
•  Stories should not exceed 5,000 words (double-spaced, 12 point font). Your name, address, email and title of work should appear on a separate cover sheet. 
•  The entry fee per submission is $25. Multiple entries are accepted.    Enclose self-sealing SASE for critique and list of winners.
•      Make check or money order payable to The Writers’ Workshop, and mail to:  Hard Times Contest, 387 Beaucatcher Road, Asheville, NC  28805.
•      Emailed submission may be sent (in Word Doc) to writersw@gmail.com, with "Hard Times Contest" in the subject. Entry fee is payable online at www.twwoa.org.

* * * * *

Please note: We also offer online one-on-one tutorials for any writer, regardless of experience. Whether you need help getting started and sticking to a schedule, or how to polish your work for publication, we're here to help.

If you'd like more information on setting up a personal or class meeting via Zoom, or on the phone/email, please email us at writersw@gmail.com. Mention your name, email, genre of writing, & any questions re your work. We'll set this up at your convenience!

  

THE RENBOURNE EDITORIAL AGENCY provides expert assistance with revising and editing your work - memoirs, fiction or creative non-fiction.  We use a fine-tooth comb to ready your work for publication. For details, please contact www.renbourne.com, or call 828-254-8111.

The Renbourne Editorial Agency is a division of The Writers' Workshop of Asheville, NC, a non-profit literary center founded in 1985.

                                                          *******************

--

Sincerely,

Karen Ackerson, Exec. Director
The Writers' Workshop
387 Beaucatcher Rd.
Asheville, NC 28805

828-254-8111
www.twwoa.org

Want to be a better writer?

March 26 - Carol Crawford - instructor

He Said, She Said:  Tackling Dialogue in Prose

This interactive workshop will help you bring your characters to life with dialogue that is authentic, clear, and compelling.  Capture the flavor of personality, place, and culture through speech that sounds real.  In-class exercises will cover word choice, tone, action beats, what to leave out, and format.
Fee: $40

April 23 - Catherine Carter

Description:

Bracket and Hinge: Strengthening Poems’ Sonic Level. In this 2-hour lecture/workshop, Catherine Carter will use contemporary poems to discuss a few of the ways in which a poem can be built around the sounds of single words, model one possible process for revising a poem in this way, and encourage participants to do this with their own works. Participants should bring hard copy of one or two of their own short poems to work on.
Fee: $40

June 25 - Patricia Zick

Patricia Zick's workshop, "The Road to Publishing" will explore the different choices for publishing a book. Then she will delve into the step-by-step process for self-publishing a work of nonfiction or fiction using Amazon’s publishing platform. Ms. Zick, the author of twenty-five published books in a variety of genres, will demonstrate how to prepare a manuscript, provide definitions for publishing jargon, and walk through the process for uploading a book for both Kindle and paperback publication to the online retail site. 

Fee: $40

Registration must be made ten days before class date.
Contact glendabeall@msn.com
Send check, $40.00, made to NCWN West 
Mail to: PO Box 843, Hayesville, NC 28904

Poets and possible classes for 2020

Congratulations to Carroll S. Taylor for having her poem chosen to appear in Reach of Song for 2019.
Read more including the poem and words of the judge here.

Mary Ricketson recently had another poem published in The Lake, a fine journal.
Read her poem here.

Our Netwest poets continue to submit and publish their poetry all over the world, not just in the USA.

If only Nancy Simpson, poet and instructor, were here to see what she created in Clay, Cherokee, and the counties in north Georgia with her classes at John Campbell Folk School and Tri-County-Community College. 

Nancy Simpson

Carroll Taylor never met Nancy, but has benefited from all of us who learned from Nancy, as has so many others.

Every week I receive calls from people who want to learn, to take classes and become poets and writers of prose and who want to become part of our fabulous writers' group.

Aren't we fortunate to live here and be part of the writing community?

If you live in Murphy, Hayesville, Hiawassee, Young Harris, Blairsville or within driving distance of Tri-County College, you can check with Lisa Long about upcoming writing classes for 2020. Contact me, Glenda Beall, at gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com and I will try to help you with information.

NCWN-West's Program Coordinator, Glenda Council Beall to teach writing classes this spring at Tri-County Community College and Young Harris College's Institute for Continuing Learning

Glenda Council Beall will teach writing classes this spring at two colleges.

Beall will teach on Monday evenings beginning in March 2018, from 5:30 – 8:00 PM, at Tri-County Community College in Murphy, NC. Her topic is Creative Writing. Beall writes: Perhaps you want to write about yourself or people you know, places you have been or family history. Perhaps you have always had stories wandering around in your brain and you want to write fiction. Poetry? Prose? Not sure? Your questions will be answered to help you discover your writing niche. This class is for new or aspiring writers. To register, please contact:
 
Lisa Long
Director of Community Outreach
(828) 835-4241
LLong@tricountycc.edu


Beall will also teach at Young Harris College's Institute for Continuing  Learning , beginning in May, the 3rd-24th, 2018, Thursdays from 3:15-5:15 PM.  Registration is made through ICL. More information will  be available as the class gets closer. Institute for Continuing Learning's link is:

http://icltest.org/index.html

The Writers' Workshop, Asheville, NC, hosts Autumn writing workshops, contests and a retreat

THE WRITERS' WORKSHOP 387 Beaucatcher Road Asheville, NC 28805     AUTUMN WORKSHOPS, CONTESTS & RETREAT     The Writers' Workshop is offering classes and contests for beginning and experienced writers. Each class meets on Saturdays, 10-4 pm, at 387 Beaucatcher Rd., Asheville. Registration is in advance only, at www.twwoa.org.     Classes are $75 each, or $70 for Workshop members. Financial assistance is available for low-income writers in exchange for volunteering.  For more info, contact writersw@gmail.com or call 828-254-8111.  * * * * * * *  AUG. 30  FICTION CONTEST DEADLINE!! (Postmarked or emailed)  (for guidelines, see twwoa.org)  * * * * * * * Sept. 5 Deadline to RSVP:  WRITERS'  RETREAT at FOLLY BEACH, SC  OCT. 5-8 (For details, see twwoa.org. Please RSVP by Sept. 5! )    * * * * * * * ASHEVILLE WORKSHOPS These one-day intensive workshops meet on Saturdays, 10-4 pm, at 387 Beaucatcher Rd., Asheville. Registration is in advance only, at twwoa.org. Financial assistance is available for low-income writers. For more info, contact  writersw@gmail.com or call 828-254-8111.   SEPT. 16:  FICTION WORKSHOP with MILDRED BARYA   Participants will learn new techniques for writing fiction, focusing on the craft of the narrative structure. Discussion will include characterization, point of view, setting, plot, and dialogue. Imagery, irony and other aspects of the craft will also be explored. Students will engage in writing exercises, and may bring 3 pages and/or a synopsis to the class. Barya teaches Creative Writing and Literature at UNC-Asheville. Her stories and poems have been published in anthologies and journals such as Tin House, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Quarterly, Per Contra and Northeast Review.  She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Denver. Meets Saturday, 10-4 pm. $75/70 members. OCT. 7:  PUBLISHING OPTIONS with RICHARD KRAWIEK The opportunities for writers to publish can be very confusing. Self-publishing, vanity press, co-operative publishing, traditional publishing - what are the options and choices?  And how will the choice you make affect your own writing career? In this workshop we'll look at the various publishing models, their pros and cons, and determine which ones would suit the needs of each student in the class.  Krawiek has been involved in the publishing scene since the 1970s.  He is founder of Jacar Press, which has published established writers such as Kathryn Stripling Byer and Dorianne Laux, as well as first timers. Jacar's anthology, Resisting Arrest Poems to Stretch the Sky was named one of the year's best by review journals in Canada and the U.S.  His own work appears in the U.S., Europe and South America. Meets Saturday, 10-4 pm. $75/70 members.             OCT. 21:  WRITING FROM the TOP of YOUR HEAD with NINA HART  Writers will learn innovate ways to generate fresh material, avoid writer's block and tap into their creative side. The class will be guided towards accessing the inner voice through KaizenMuse Creativity methods, evocative "timed writes", and lively class readings and discussions. Hart is a writer and creativity coach trained in the Kaizen Muse method. She is also certified by the Gateless Method - "a method of teaching the art and craft of writing using creative brain science, allowing writers to access the creative genius inside". Her first collection of short stories, Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed, was a finalist in Foreword Review Book of the Year Award. Meets Saturday, 10-4 pm. $75/70 members. NOV. 4:  WRITING YOUR MEMOIRS with KAREN ACKERSON  Participants will learn how to turn personal and family experiences into a compelling memoir for family and friends, or for publication. In-class writing exercises will help to identify life-changing events, to be used as the backbone of a memoir. Discussion will include creating a sense of place, dialogue, and enhancing one's writing style. Writers may bring up to five pages (double-spaced) to the class for review. Ackerson, a biographer and Senior Editor at The Renbourne Editorial Agency, has taught workshops throughout the Southeast for over twenty years. Meets Saturday, 10-4 pm. $75/70 members. NOV. 18:  POETRY and TENSION with ERIC NELSON  Conflict-or tension-is indispensable to successful poetry, providing the driving force of the poem as well as its depth and complexity. Writers of all levels will explore different kinds of poetic tension, from the most subtle, such as haiku, to the most obvious (such as epics) through reading and discussion of examples, and by creating tension in our own poems through prompts and exercises. Nelson's six books include the award winning collections Some Wonder (Gival Press Poetry Award); Terrestrials (Texas Review Poetry Award); and The Interpretation of Waking Life (U. of Arkansas Poetry Award). He has taught poetry at GA Southern University for 26 years. Meets Saturday, 10-4 pm. $75/70 members.  * * * * * * *  MEMOIRS CONTEST Deadline: Postmarked by Nov. 30, 2017. AWARDS: 1st Place: Choice of a 2 night stay at our Mountain Muse B&B, 3 free workshops, or 50 pages line-edited and revised by our editorial staff 2nd Place: Two free workshops, or 35 pages line-edited 3rd Place: Choice of 1 free workshop, or 25 pages line-edited Up to 10 Honorable Mentions GUIDELINES: Submit a short story or chapter of a novel of 5,000 words or less.  Multiple entries are accepted.   Pages should be paper clipped, with your name, address, phone and title of work on a cover sheet. Double-space, and use 12 point font. The entry fee per submission is $25 ($20 for Workshop members), and is payable online. Enclose self-addressed stamped envelope for critique and list of winners, if sending by mail. Make check or money order payable to The Writers' Workshop, and mail to:  Memoirs Contest, 387 Beaucatcher Road, Asheville, NC  28805. Emailed submissions may be sent to writersw@gmail.com, with "Memoirs Contest" in the subject. Send in Word Document only.  Please put your contact info on the first page.  The entry fee is payable online at www.twwoa.org. * * * * * * *

Contact Information phone: 828-254-8111 email: writersw@gmail.com website: www.twwoa.org