Bulletin Board

Compiled by Melissa Zimmerman

Nicole Jones and Wendy Blake, two of our beloved Zine editors, are pleased to announce the launch of Seattle Live Literature!

Seattle Live Literature (SLL) seeks to serve as a central location for Seattle-area literary events like open mics, book signings, author readings, and conferences. We live in a metro area that is rich in literary expression, but until now, you've had to do a lot of searching in several print and online sources to find many of these events. SLL works to compile as many of these as possible into a single calendar. SLL doesn't want to detract from organizations' own efforts to promote their events, but instead wishes to work in collaboration with them by offering further promotion, venue information, and links to the Web sites of like-minded organizations.

Besides a calendar of events, SLL also plans to review events/venues, interview writers, and provide articles based on other relevant subjects. There is already one article and one review on the site! We have a lot of ideas for the future and plan to update the site frequently. Visit often!

If you know of an event, feel free to contact Seattle Live Literature at events@seattleliveliterature.com.

If you'd like to share or receive other information, please contact info@seattleliveliterature.com.

If SLL only whetted your appetite, here are two other reading series that can help fulfill your need to be heard.

The Colloque Wheel Reading Series featured two new readers in January (Martin Marriott and Andrew Shuman), artist and writer Erin Shafkind, Robert Allen reading 20 poems about cigarettes, Victrola barista and man-about-town Wayne Proctor (he carries a cane), and the frequently published and soon-to-be-in-Greece-without-us Janice Van Cleve. If you are interested in reading at future events, please contact Amber Curtis at colloque_wheel@hotmail.com—she’s always searching for new talent.

Beginning & Experienced Writers Read Their Work It's About Time Writers Reading Series. Always the second Thursday 7:30-9:30 pm at Ravenna's Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave. N.E. 206-525-2347. Wheelchair accessible by arrangement. Free. For information: eahelfgott2@attbi.com. Open mic follows scheduled readers. Open mic readers have five minutes to read; scheduled writers read 15 minutes.

Kudos to the following women who are making waves!

Think the informal e-mail pitch can’t work? Pam Mandel is thrilled to let us know that it CAN! She submitted a brief intro, online links to her work, and references and voila—she landed a gig with Ski Europe. Congratulations, Pam! (You can contact her at pammandel@earthlink.net.)

Congrats, Alex Beauchamp! This freelance writer helped create a site called Another Girl at Play, a 100%-free site that features "creative women who tell their stories of how they make a living at their creative work." It features a writer, musicians, singers, painters, designers all helping women get creative. The site has been nominated as a finalist in the GRRL Category at the SXSW festival in Austin, beating out huge competitors like Nike Goddess, which feature major corporate backing! You can help Alex win the "People's Choice" award by visiting the SXSW Web site and voting for her. Get in touch with Alex at Girl at Play.

Classes, Classes Everywhere

If you want to stretch your mental muscles, check out these offerings from Bev Stumpf, Christine Cook, and Waverly Fitzgerald.

Bev Stumpf, freelance editor and consultant, conducts weekly free workshops in Issaquah. Everyone is welcome. For all writers: all ages, all experience levels, all genres. No dues. No signing up. Just show up!

B Write Writing Workshops
Freelance Editor, B Write L.L.C.
Starbucks on Gilman Boulevard in Issaquah, WA
Thursday evenings 7:15-9:00 pm

First Thursday of each month Writers Writing
You will write five, 10, and 15-minute writes on various topics to practice non-edited, "flow" writing.

Second Thursday Writer's Workshop
Bring something you have written (up to six pages, eight copies each) for verbal and written feedback from the other participants of the group.

Third Thursday Writer Speaking/Write Right
Various published authors will give special presentations on topics such as writer's block, getting published, and tricks of the trade OR you will have assignments to bring to the group for feedback.

Fourth/fifth Thursdays Write Right
Bev will give special assignments for writing, reading, and discussing the craft.

For more information or questions, contact Bev Stumpf at 425-785-9087 or bwrite@attbi.com.

Need help developing your novel? Waverly Fitzgerald is teaching some fascinating classes this spring.

Point of View
Thursdays, Apr 10-May 15, 1-3 pm, $190 ($175 members) (6)
A six-week exploration of the many choices a writer makes about point of view and how they shape the story. We'll experiment with first, second and third person narration, investigating the benefits of each for our particular stories, both fiction and nonfiction (even memoirs can be written in second and third person). Then we'll examine and explore the subtler aspects of point of view including level of penetration (how deep the author reveals the inner workings of a character), the omniscient or storytelling voice, and the skill of shifting POV.
At Richard Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Avenue on Capitol Hill. To register, call 206-322-7030 or visit the Hugo House Web site.

Writing Your Novel
Wednesday, Apr 23-May 1, 7-9:30pm $95 (5)
Have an idea for a novel but haven't started writing yet? Maybe you need the structure of a class and the support of other writers. In this five-week workshop, you'll learn how to construct a plot, develop characters, choose a point of view, research the current fiction market and set up your life so you can begin writing your novel.
On campus at the University of Washington. Register at 206-68-LEARN or the UW Experimental College.

You can find Waverly at www.waverlyfitzgerald.com if you have any questions about these or future courses.

Christine Cook continues her "Discover Your Million Dollar Self" course this March 22.

The course explores spiritual archetypes and how to employ them in your relationships and career. This will further help you unravel what you are meant to be doing in life vs. what you think you should be doing. If you were not able to attend the first session, you are still welcome to come. The last session had 42 people and Christine is hoping to hit 50 in February. Thank you to all who attended: the energy in that room was fabulous and a lot of you made important shifts! Get in touch with Christine M. Cook, Write Edit Design, at 206-779-9188 or cook@gizzard.org.

Two fun, supportive groups are helping Seattle writers keep their quills honed.

Beth Farmer (tomandbeth@arczip.com) started a West Seattle writing circle that started meeting in late November. To spur on your own creative writing and get some feedback in a casual atmosphere, get in touch with Beth and ask to be added to her mailing list. All are welcome!

Making a living as a freelance writer, especially if you're working by yourself, lacks a certain water-cooler aspect. To help bridge that gap, the Puget Sound Freelance Writers meets periodically to talk shop, compare notes, and learn from each other. This is a very informal, grass-roots group focusing on writers of any type (as opposed to freelancers in general). The group has invited a handful of magazine editors to discuss tips and tricks of the trade. Rachel Hart, Seattle Magazine's editor, was the guest in January. This is absolutely free, and you don't have to register or join anything. If you plan to attend, please shoot Beth Luce an e-mail. Any questions, comments, or questions can go to Beth Luce at Beth@LucelyTranslated.com.