Meeting Minutes July 12th

The meeting commenced at 6 pm. We discussed upcoming events, established and proposed. Two members of the Swanton community came to the meeting and were introduced. Scott and Judy announced an appearance on AM 620.  They were going to be interviewed on Wednesday, July 18th at 7:40 for approximately 15 minutes.  Topics included: The Swanton Arts Spectacular, Author panel and various arts events sponsored by SAC.  A link to SAC (Swanton Arts Council) website has been added to the sidebar of this blog.

We discussed poetry. What defines a poem and various types and authors were mentioned. Specific recommendations were: Stephen Vincent Benet's "John Brown's Body" and Kwame Alexander's "Booked" and "Solo"

Additional topics were: play writing, Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" was recommended, Becky proposed writing short plays as a writing exercise for the group. Writing memoirs as fiction due to the challenges of discussing living family members and friends in print and, Commonplace" books

"Commonplace" books as defined on wikipedia:  A commonplace book from the mid-17th century. Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Such books are essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind: recipes, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, proverbs, prayers, legal formulas.

Flat Stella and Stanley were handed out.  Adventures to be chronicled and shared by group members monthly. 2 group members read their work.

Upcoming Events and Contests

Edwin M Church Award: Deadline is July 31st. Application can be found HERE

Swanton Arts Spectacular: August 25th. The Writer's Group in conjunction with SAC will be sponsoring a local author's panel. The following authors are committed: Chloe Viner, Pat Esden, Bill Schubart, Tammy Hetrick, Jerry Johnson, Bethany Morrow, and our own Rebecca Rupp!

In Discussion: A Single concept art show. Idea is that all contributors would be given a limited space - say, a 10 x 10-inch square - and would be challenged to respond, in text, print, art, or combo, to a single word, such as HOPE or DESPAIR.  More details in a future post.

Book Recommendations

The Great American Read. A PBS presentation hosted by Meredith Vieira. Click HERE to see the list of books and read more.

Meeting adjourned at 7:20. Next meeting is Thursday August 16th at 6 pm Swanton library.