Brush Up on Your Writing at YWC

Micah Wyatt in Laramie informs me that the dates have been set for the 2007 Young Writers Camp at the scenic Thorne-Rider Youth Camp near Story.

Writers (ages 15-18) will gather June 16-23 at the camp. Instructors/mentors/chaperones will be the same as last summer. Micah, a writer and YWC alumnus, returns as director. Danica Wyatt, a fine essayist, physicist, and Micah's sister, will be there, as will poet Jesse Loesberg from San Franscisco.

Guest teachers are wont to drop in. Last June, I joined the teachers and students for some mysterious homemade stir fry and we sat around the fire pit on a balmy evening and discussed short story writing. Everyone read a sample of his/her work.

Here's where I have to admit that my son, Kevin Shay, is a YWC alumnus. He says he'd love to come back as a visiting writer and may someday because he's a pretty good writer (I'm biased) and is working towards a career as a high school language arts teacher. As we speak, he's taking courses at Pima County Community College in Tucson, a place he enjoys very much in the winter months but not so much in July.

Sign up for the 2007 camp by going to the Young Writers Camp web site and downloading the printable application. It's open to teen writers who live in WYO and elsewhere.

Labels: poets, students, writers, writing conferences, Wyoming

- posted by Michael Shay @ 12:01 PM 0 comments

 
Reading Under the Stars

Wyoming summers are short.

That thought occurred to me (not for the first time) as I prowled around Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis a few weeks ago on a below-zero morning. My ears froze to my head and my breath formed clouds as I chugged along. I was transfixed by the patterns made by the ice which froze as it spilled over the hot springs terrace. Local ducks seemed content floating on the section of the Big Horn River where the geothermal flow spilled into the stream's icy waters.

During my gawking tour, I checked out the park's pavillion. At a meeting in Cheyenne in November, HSSP Superintendent Kevin Skates had offered the pavillion as a venue for summer arts events. Now that I had a chance to look at it, buried as it was under several feet of snow, I could see its possibilities. I suggested to Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference planners that it would make a great place to hold open readings during its annual conference June 1-3 at the Holiday Inn, located right inside the park.

So that's what we're going to do. Our sunset readings will be held on Friday, June 1, 7:30-10 p.m. and on Saturday, June 2, 8:30-10 p.m. I will serve as emcee, a role I've grown into the past few years. Charles Curley and I are looking around for a sound system and Kevin Skates promised to set up chairs for both nights. Although the pavillion is located within spitting distance of the hotel, a shuttle service will be available. Park visitors are also being invited to come out and see some of the best writers in the state read their work. This is part of Kevin's goal to add more arts programming to his summer events' schedule.

Some long-time Wyomingites might be remembering that the first weekend in June can be warm and dry and calm. Or cold and wet and windy. The pavillion stage is sheltered. Alas, the audience area is not. Never fear -- we're making contingency plans.

Still, how could you come to such a gorgeous place in the summer and not want to read your poetry outside?

Labels: nature, poetry, readings, writing conferences, Wyoming Writers, WyoPoets

- posted by Michael Shay @ 11:30 AM 0 comments

 
Literary Connection April 27-28

In early December, I reported that the Literary Connection: Between Readers and Writers conference in Cheyenne had selected three of its five presenters. Now the line-up is complete. They include Brooklyn's Myla Goldberg, author of the national bestseller Bee Season; novelist and short story writer Jill McCorkle (The Cheerleader, Crash Diet); Bob Shacochis, globe-trotting author of Swimming in the Volcano and Easy on the Islands; Wyoming songwriter Jeff Hawthorne Bullock (Girls Night Out, recorded by The Judds); and California poet Kim Addonizio, author of Jimmy & Rita and Tell Me, a finalist for the 2000 National Book Award.

As in the past, two of the scheduled writers will conduct a free writing workshop at Laramie County Community College on Friday, April 27, 1-4 p.m. On Saturday, April 28, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., at the Hitching Post Inn, the Connection’s five writers will talk about their work and sign books, courtesy of City News. There is a cost for this event.

Labels: Literary Connection, poetry, writers, writing conferences

- posted by Michael Shay @ 7:59 PM 0 comments

 
Tennessee Williams’ “Cat” Comes to the Rock

The Actors’ Mission in Rock Springs has chosen “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” by Tennessee Williams as its next production. Performances are set for March 2, 3, 9, and 10 at 6 p.m. in the Elk's Lodge, 307 C St. Performances are free, and a cash bar operated through the Elks will be open for the Saturday performances. For more info, contact the Actors’ Mission at 307-382-5377 and ask for Mike Jeffery, who’s the theatre’s secretary, stage manager, house manager, and occasionally fills in as an actor.

Williams must have worked 24 hours a day. He wrote 80 plays, three novels, two poetry collections, and six collections of short stories. The 21st annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival will be held March 28-April 1. As a young man, Williams lived in New Orleans and worked for the WPA Writers' Project.

Labels: script writing, theatre, writing conferences

- posted by Michael Shay @ 1:46 PM 0 comments

 
Line-up Announced for Jackson Writers Conference

The 15th annual Jackson Hole Writers Conference will be held June 28-July 1 in Jackson. Special tracks for this year include travel and outdoor writing, with featured speaker Daniel Glick, young adult fiction with Todd Strasser, and a teachers’ track with Lee Zacharias. An array of other fiction and nonfiction writers will talk about their work. They include Tiffanie DeBartolo, Terry Tempest Williams, and William Haywood Henderson.

Attendees can discuss their work through individual manuscript critiques with local writers (including Tina Welling and John Byrne Cooke) and these New York agents and editors: Katherine Ives, Alpinist Magazine; Amanda Murray, Simon & Schuster; Zoe Pagnamenta, PFD; Rebecca Friedman, Sterling Lord Literistic; and Karen Marcus, Doubleday.

JHWC offers a special offer for parents of teens interested in writing. Register and bring your teen (or teens) for half-price. Full registration info will be available soon at the conference web site.

Labels: literary agents, readings, writing conferences

- posted by Michael Shay @ 12:46 PM 0 comments

 


Hot Springs State Park Site for Wyoming Writers Inc. Conference

An internationally-renowned (and Wyoming-based) husband-wife writing duo, Montana’s poet laureate, and the Jackson novelist whom the New York Times Book Review recognized as the writer who “brilliantly and knowingly captures the spirit of the Wyoming wilderness."

Michael and Kathleen Gear of Thermopolis, Sandra Alcosser of Florence, Montana, and Tim Sandlin of Jackson are the authors who will highlight the 33rd annual conference for Wyoming Writers, Inc., June 1-3 in Thermopolis.They will lead panels and critique manuscripts during the course of the three-day event.

Joining them is children’s writer Dr. Toran Isom. She has been a professor at University of Arkansas-Little Rock for 17 years and teaches “Nonfiction Writing for Children” and other courses. John Helfers, acquiring editor for Tekno Books, will attend to talk about the world of publishing. A book packager, Tekno Books creates and sells fiction and nonfiction manuscripts to publishers.

Labels: writing conferences, Wyoming Writers, WyoPoets

- posted by Michael Shay @ 2:57 PM 4 comments

 
CONFERENCE OFFERS EARLY-BIRD RATES: Register now for the second annual Northern Colorado Writers Conference March 23-24, 2007, at the Fort Collins (Colo.) Hilton. Highlights include: Hear Sandra Dallas – best-selling author of eight books, including The Persian Pickle Club and New Mercies -- and motivational speaker Jim Davidson; attend the free trade show, featuring businesses and organizations tuned in to writers; visit with some of your favorite authors and learn their tools of the trade; learn from and visit with professionals in the industry; network with other writers. Registration rate is $245 through Jan. 1; $275 at the door.

Labels: writers, writing conferences

- posted by Michael Shay @ 10:53 AM 0 comments

 
NATURE WRITERS GATHER AT MAMMOTH: The Yellowstone Nature Writers Field Conference will be held Jan. 28-Feb. 3 at the Mammoth Hotel in Yellowstone National Park. This five-day workshop "seeks literary inspiration through park exploration and expert guidance from accomplished writers and publishers." Conference director is Digger Jerry George, author of several books and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. The conference faculty features best-selling Wyoming mystery writer C.J. Box; award winning author and publisher of Hayday Books, Malcolm Margolin; literary agent Judy Klein; and on-line magazine editor Courtney Lowery.

Labels: literary agents, mystery, writers, writing conferences

- posted by Michael Shay @ 9:37 AM 0 comments

 
SAVE THESE DATES: Tim Sandlin sends word that the 2007 Jackson Hole Writers Conference will be held June 28-July 1. The conference, once sponsored and promoted by University of Wyoming, is now on its own and has an office at the new Arts Center in Jackson. Tim says that he’ll be e-mailing updates about the conference as they become available. Meanwhile, check out the amazing Jackson Hole Center for the Arts and all its offerings.

Labels: writers, writing conferences

- posted by Michael Shay @ 1:54 PM 0 comments