Meeting notes September 10, 2020

Notes taken by Becky, Remember to check the Swanton Writing Group FB page for info on contests, events, general chat and more - and our blog, faithfully maintained and updated by Michelle. Upcoming: Scary Story Contest and Zine Due date: October 1 Submit to: circulation@swantonlibrary.com Short piece of original fiction with a focus on the scary or the horrific. Maximum word count: 1500 words. Include your name and contact info on your document. See our FB page for scary story starters! Edwin M. Church Award Due date: October 1 Open to ages 17 up who live, work, or are otherwise involved in Swanton, Submit to jpaxmax@swantonartscouncil.org. Original short story of 1500-3000 words maximum; MUST include a railroad or train mention or reference. Prize of $500 Booksie 2020 Poetry Contest https://www.booksie.com/contest/the-booksie-2020-poetry-contest-20 Due date: November 7 Any type, length, or content of poetry; can submit as many entries as you like. Prize of $1000 National Poetry Competition https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/national-poetry-competition/ Due date: October 31 Submit an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines; open to anyone 18 and over. Ten cash prizes. Boulevard Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers https://boulevardmagazine.org/nonfiction-contest Due date: September 30 Entry fee: $16 Open to writers who have not been published with a nationally distributed press. Essays of up to 8000 words. Winning essay gets $1000 and publication in the magazine. Boulevard Short Fiction Contest https://boulevardmagazine.org/short-fiction-contest Due date: December 31 Entry fee: $16 Open to writers who have not been published in a nationally distributed press. Fiction pieces of up to 8000 words. Winner gets $1500 and publication in the magazine. Recommended by SWG members: Masterclass Online Classes https://www.masterclass.com/ For $15/month or $180/year, access to unlimited online video classes. These are available in a number of categories - writing classes are variously taught by Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Brown, Joyce Carol Oates, Billy Collins, and more. Window Swap https://window-swap.com/ Open a new window somewhere in the world. Participants can post short videos or still shots from their windows. The Museum of Four in the Morning https://www.ted.com/talks/rives_the_museum_of_four_in_the_morning Just why is four in the morning so ubiquitous? Find out with this TED talk by poet/storyteller Rives. Mondegreens and the Science of Misheard Lyrics https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/science-misheard-lyrics-mondegreens From tonight's discussion - check this out from the New Yorker. Obit https://www.amazon.com/Obit-Bruce-Weber/dp/B071FN1YW3 A great documentary on the small staff at the NY Times who are responsible for writing the obituaries. Fascinating. (Nancy! Thinking of you!) Who Read What: Emmet read the first part of a piece - possibly a submission for the Scary Stories Zine - involving a kidnapped princess, a fashion-challenged prince, a fearsome blind fairy, and a corset. (By next meeting, Emmet's daughter Ella will have arrived - the SWG's first baby!) Ev read "Mood Swings with Pear" causing the entire group to obsess about paintings of pears. Renee read a piece about an interaction with an infernal fire alarm (at four in the morning; see above) and a poem about a friend's ex-boyfriend titled "Dead Fish." Next meeting: Thursday, October 8, 6-7 PM. Please join in - with recommendations, good books, suggestions, and news - and please bring something to read!

Meeting Minutes September 26th 2019

The meeting commenced at 6:05 in the King's Daughters room at the Swanton library.  Future meetings will likely be held there due to the expanding size of our group!  Please note: future meetings of our group will be held on the second Thursday of every month unless otherwise posted.  Below are a compilation of notes assembled by Becky and myself.

Judy spoke about the Edwin M Church Award.  The 15 entries were well received by a panel of 3 judges.  2 book stores owners/managers and an editor.  Congratulations to group member Ev Larson on taking first place!  The benefactors of the award have decided to extend the number of years the contest will run due to the quality of work which has been submitted over the last 2 years.  In future there will only be one cash prize and one contest, which will include HS seniors. It was proposed that a list of publications which might accept these stories should be made available to contest participants. 

2 possibilities: Green Mountain Trading Post (Don has been published multiple times) The Mud Season Review.

Events/Workshops

The League of Vermont Writers  is meeting Saturday September 28th from 8:30 – 3:15) in the Bliss Room at the St. Albans Historical Society. Various presentations; theme is the Art of Writing. Registration and fee required.

The Eloquent Page on Main Street in St. Albans, will host an open mic for writers from 3:30-4:30. (Immediately following the League meeting)

The St. Albans Art Walk and Sidewalk Sale will occur on Saturday, October 5th from 10 – 2. Writers wanted! To participate, simply pick a site on Main Street and contact the business you will be in front of to make sure they’re okay with you being there – then bring your own table, chair, and books to sell.

Activities

The Swanton Library is looking for book reviews. Each review should be about a paragraph long. Pitch your favorite books! EMAIL to Caleb Rupp, Swanton Library Director.

Monster Prompts.  In early October the Swanton Library will host an event for area children.  The activity will have them designing a monster (Halloween is around the corner!) and writing a short story about it.  It was proposed that writer's group members read these stories and elaborate on them.  Possibly a flashfiction piece of 500 words or less. More discussion at our next meeting.

 The Great Ghost Read is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 10 AM – noon, at the Swanton library.  Come read your favorite Halloween/ghost/spooky story – either one of your own or a favorite by another author.

Many thanks to the group members who chose to share their ongoing projects with the group.  We had an hour of stimulating discussion about various topics and genres!

Meeting adjourned at 7:30.

Next meeting: Thursday October 10th, 6 pm at the Swanton Public Library.

Meeting Minutes September 20, 2018

Meeting commenced at 6 p.m. We discussed several upcoming writing contests, events and workshops detailed below.

Next was the announcement of the winner of the Edwin M. Church Award. Congratulations to our own Don Lefebrve for his winning entry: "The Farm Connection". A beautiful memoir about farm life in mid-twentieth century VT.  Second place went to Joy Choquette. Third to Tom Benton. The Swanton Library in conjunction with SAC is hoping to publish a book containing all 10 contest entries and the winning youth entry written by Emmett Mathieu "Tracks of Destiny"

Judy shared news regarding a potential movie project in 2019. A grant is being written to fund the writing, production and editing of a short film relating to the 'year of the salmon', which is 2019. There will be more details released in the next few months, including how local writers and film buffs can get involved with the project.  Keep an eye on the SAC website as well as this blog. The idea of recording podcasts of local authors reading their respective works was floated again. There might be grant money available to fund such a project and the library has the equipment to record and edit. More details to follow.

Nancy returned Flat Stanley and Flat Stella. Pictures to follow.  Becky took them for the next month.  She is planning to send them to NYC, among other places.

Three group members read their work, or had it read for them. Emmet, Nancy and Don. The latter read his winning contest entry: The Farm Connection"

Contests

Hunger Mountain: Four annual contests will open for submissions on October 1st. The Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize, The Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Prize, The Ruth Stone Poetry Prize, and The Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing. Submission details and the names of past winners and their work can be found HERE. The deadline for all submissions is March 1, 2019. Happy writing!

Vermont Writer's Prize: There is still time to enter this contest co-sponsored by Green Mountain Power and Vermont Magazine. Deadline is November 1. Details can be found HERE

Exhibitions

Registration forms and canvases are now available for the SAC exhibition "Emotion Speaks" The one word theme is Anxiety. Find more details HERE. Please see a SAC member or stop in at the Swanton Library to pick up your materials.  A $5 fee is payable by cash, check or paypal.

Workshops

Burlington Book Festival: October 12-14 at the UVM Alumni House Silver Pavilion and various other locations. A variety of talks and workshops will occur over the 3 days. Concluded by a presentation by nationally known personality Garrison Keillor. Find all the details HERE,

Burlington Writer's Workshop: Regular meetings are held in their Burlington location.  Find details on current and upcoming events HERE

Corrina Thurston is holding 3 workshops this fall at the My-T-Fine restaurant in Swanton. Corrina is the author of 2 books: "How To Build Your Art Business: With Limited Time Or Energy" and "How To Communicate Effectively: For Artists & Creatives" Workshops will be held on 3 Thursday evenings starting at 6 pm. The subjects and dates: September 27th "How to Market Your Art", October 4th "Social Media for Artists", October 25th "Creating Your Best Artist Statement" More details to be found HERE.

Meeting concluded at 7:40. Our next meeting is Thursday October 18th. 6 p.m. at the Swanton Library.