New Books by Great Writers
Reading and Workshop Series
Thursdays @ 6
The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning
251 West Second Street
Lexington, KY
The Carnegie Center offers its inaugural New Books by Great Writers, a variety of readings and workshops, to those who love hearing from great writers and those who want to learn more about the craft of writing. The series will feature some of the state’s finest authors and some from outside the state. READINGS ARE FREE!
Featured writers include: Frank X Walker, Marie Bradby, Neela Vaswani, Bob Sloan, Leatha Kendrick and Silas House. All readings are free and open to the public. The workshop price includes a free book by the authors.
Thursday, May 6
Frank X Walker, author of Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York (The University Press of Kentucky)
6 p.m. Reading, 7 p.m. Writing the Persona Poem (Poetry Workshop)
Walker, who blurs the lines between poetry, fiction, and history to tell the story of the infamous Lewis and Clark expedition from the point of view of Clark’s slave, York, will lead workshop participants in exploring the research involved in the process of realizing a full-bodied persona poem and guide participants toward writing their own persona poems. ($50) All workshop registrants will receive a free copy of Buffalo Dance.
Frank X Walker, vice president of the Kentucky Center and executive director of the Governor’s School for the Arts, is the author of Affrilachia. A founding member of the Affrilachian Poets, he currently resides in Kentucky.
Thursday, May 20
Marie Bradby, author of Some Friend (Antheneum Books)
Bradby will read to local 4th and 5th graders earlier in the day
6 p.m. Women and Girls Writing Together
Bradby will lead a workshop for females of all ages—mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, sisters—on the topic of friendship. ($50) All workshop registrants will receive a free copy of Some Friend. Note: Mothers and daughters may sign up as a pair for this workshop for $50 but they will only receive one free book. Marie Bradby was a staff writer for National Geographic magazine. She has also held staff reporting positions with The Providence-Journal, The Lexington-Herald Leader, and The Courier-Journal. A native of Alexandria, VA, her other books include More Than Anything Else, Once Upon a Farm, The Longest Wait, and Momma, Where Are You From? She resides in Louisville, Kentucky.
Thursday, June 3
Neela Vaswani, author of Where the Long Grass Bends (Sarabande Books)
6 p.m. Reading
7 p.m. Creating Character (Fiction)
In this fiction workshop, we'll broadly discuss the craft of creating "character." The general structure of the workshop will be as follows: 1) We'll analyze some examples of characters from literature (a handout will be supplied; examples will be drawn from short stories, novels, plays, and some visual mediums). 2) Discussion of what we've read. 3) We will write brief and causal in-class exercises that relate to our discussion; I will ask volunteers to read what they've written aloud. In terms of content, we'll look at various aspects of character--psychological, dialogue, body language, how POV (point of view) affects character and vice versa, first person and third person renderings, how identity (gender, class, race/ethnicity, sexuality, age, religion, etc.) and culture affect character portrayals. We'll briefly look at actor techniques for creating character and discuss what a writer can learn from an actor's process. We'll also briefly discuss the issues of creating a character from another time period or of a culture, gender, age, etc., different from the author--the slippery slopes of "authenticity," and the importance of research and empathy. ($50) All workshop registrants will receive a free copy of Where the Long Grass Bends.
Neela Vaswani lives in New York. Her short stories have appeared in numerous journals, including Prairie Schooner, American Literary Review, and Shenandoah. In 199, she was awarded the Italo Calvino Prize. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland, and teaches in the brief-residency MFA Program at Spalding University in Louisville.
Thursday, June 10
Bob Sloan, author of Bearskin to Holly Fork: Stories from Appalachia (Wind Publication)
6 p.m. Reading
7 p.m. Working With a Small Press (Fiction)
Bob Sloan believes that for nearly all who want to publish a book length fiction manuscript—a collection of stories or a novel—the only realistic initial venue for their work is the small press. In six months he sold almost a thousand copies of his collection of short stories. Come to his workshop and learn the pluses and minuses of working with a small press and find out how he did it. ($50) All workshop registrants will receive a free copy of Bearskin to Holly Fork: Stories from Appalachia. Bob Sloan is frequently heard on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition news program, and his opinion pieces run in the Lexington Herald-Leader. He’s a Faulkner Award winner, and has received a PRNDI for his radio work. He majored in creative writing at Purdue University. He teaches creative writing workshops in Morehead.
Thursday, July 15
Leatha Kendrick, author of Science in My Own Back Yard (Larkspur Press)
6 p.m. Reading
7 p.m. The Moment of Change (Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction)
Adrienne Rich has said that “the moment of change is the only poem.” Most moments of change are ordinary moments, recognized only in retrospect. Kendrick says “Writing has given voice to moments of transition in my life, whether these moments were traumatic (like cancer diagnosis) or apparently trivial (like seeing my daughter through the multi-paned window of a patio door).” Her workshop and reading focus on how we articulate our changing selves in the act of writing and how giving voice to change helps to integrate it into our sense of who we are. ($50) All workshop registrants will receive a free copy of Science in My Own Back Yard. Leatha Kendrick has taught creative writing for the University of Kentucky, the Carnegie Center, the Appalachian Writers Workshop, and elsewhere. The former poetry editor of Wind magazine, she is widely published. She is also the author of Heart Cake. Her poetry and essays have appeared in numerous publications including The Louisville Review, The American Voice, The Connecticut Review, Passages North, Nimrod and others. Kendrick was also a screenwriter for a documentary film, Doris Ulmann: A Lasting Thing for the World, about the life and work of Ulmann, who photographed Appalachia.
Thursday, September 30
Silas House, author of Coal Tattoo
6 p.m. Reading
7 p.m. Workshop
How to Get Published: Learn About the Industry
Silas House, one of Kentucky’s most successful authors will conduct this workshop on learning about the publishing industry. Silas says learning about the publishing industry is essential to having a successful publishing experience even though “as writers this is not our true nature.” He will share ways to learn about the industry, how to write good query letters, and how to find a good agent. ($50) All workshop participants will receive a free copy of Coal Tattoo. Silas House was named one of the South’s “Ten Emerging Writers” by the millennial gathering of writers at Vanderbilt University in 2000. His first novel Clay’s Quilt, received rave reviews from over 40 publications, was called “perfect” by USA Today, and received the Bronze Book Award from Foreward Magazine. His second novel, A Parchment of Leaves, was nominated for the Southern Book Critics Circle Prize, The Booksense Book of the Year, The William Styron International Literary Prize, The SEBA Book Award and The Foreward Magazine Bronze Book Award. He is a member of the creative writing faculty of Eastern Kentucky University and Spalding University.
New Books by Great Writers has been made possible through a generous grant from the Lexington Arts and Cultural Council. All LACC programs and services are supported in part by the Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet.
Contact: Crystal Wilkinson or Jan Isenhour, Carnegie Center, 254-4175
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