WAG THAT TAIL SOMEWHERE ELSE, WILL YA?
I'm not a dog person. Don’t throw things at me. I think dogs on videos are adorable, and I understand how people love their pets like children. My favorite dogs are other people's dogs. It's not particularly popular to admit such a thing, but my family and I are a "no pets" household. For which, I assure you, we are sufficiently ostracized.
It's the dog days of summer, those final sluggish moments wherein the enthusiasm of summer has waned and the promise of change is yawning.
This month our Short Story Workshop with Keith Lesmeister, Digging Trenches, gives us the opportunity to create and iterate, to shape an experience into a specific form. It's one of the add-on offerings from this year's Events & Education programming. I am able to join (unexpectedly) and look forward to getting a kind of JOLT to the doldrums of August and the winding down of summer fun.
Perhaps I'll find a wagging tail, an enthusiastic bark, or the sprinkled shake of a beloved friend galloping out of the surf. A story waiting for my attention. Glad to see me. Grateful I belong to it and it to me.
I'd ask you to send me your doggie stories but see line 1. Instead, send me anything you'd like to share about the dog days of summer or the upcoming Digging Trenches workshop to kasie@clemsonroad.com.
I loved hearing from those of you who reached out in July. You're a blessing to me as is SCWA.
Happy writing!
Kasie Whitener
President, SCWA Board of Directors
Events and Education
SHORT STORY WORKSHOP: DIGGING TRENCHES WITH KEITH LESMEISTER
It's your LAST CHANCE to sign up for our Short Story Workshop series this month, led by Keith Lesmeister.
Digging Trenches: A generative fiction workshop is a four-week workshop set for Aug. 9, 16, 23 and 30.
The foundational aspects of plumbing a house do not start with roughing in water lines or PVC, and they certainly don't include the fancy ornamental sinks or shower heads. All of that comes later. In order to plumb a new house, start to finish, we first need to dig trenches to lay cast iron, which will ultimately flow to the city sewer line. Then the concrete foundation, exterior walls, and all of a sudden we see the outline of a house emerge. Throughout this workshop, we'll be digging our own trenches and building our foundation. We'll focus on character and setting, conflict and empathy -- critical aspects of all good fiction. We'll read contemporary short stories from Kenyon Review, Narrative and other literary journals as blueprints for how to incorporate dialogue, action, desire, conflict. We'll read, discuss and write. We'll dig, pour and build.
Lesmeister is the author of the story collection We Could’ve Been Happy Here. His fiction has appeared in American Short Fiction, Gettysburg Review, New Stories from the Midwest, North American Review, Redivider, SLICE and many others. His nonfiction has appeared in The Good Men Project, River Teeth, Sycamore Review, Tin House Open Bar, Water~Stone Review, and elsewhere. He received his MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and serves as editor of Cutleaf. He lives in Iowa’s Driftless region.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT! REGISTER FOR THE FALL CONFERENCE
Join us in beautiful Pawleys Island for a weekend of immersive workshops on craft, publishing and the writing life. SCWA is all about building your writing skills and building a cohesive writing community to keep you engaged and motivated in your writing practices. Come write by the beach!
SCWA PARTNERS WITH PAT CONROY CENTER FOR OPEN MIC NIGHTS
SCWA has partnered with the Pat Conroy Literary Center to present monthly open mic nights virtually beginning this month. All sessions will be 6 to 7:30 p.m. on are via Facebook Live/Zoom on PCLC's Facebook page at the links provided below. For more information, email Contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org.
Sept. 8, with Susan Cushman, author of Pilgrim Interrupted. Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/440417244397991. Cushman is author of five books: Pilgrim Interrupted (essays/memoir), John and Mary Margaret (novel), Friends of the Library (short stories), Cherry Bomb (a novel) and Tangles and Plaques: A Mother And Daughter Face Alzheimer's (a memoir). She is editor of three anthologies: Southern Writers on Writing, A Second Blooming: Becoming the Women We Are Meant To Be and The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate 20 Years. Cushman was co-director of the 2013 and 2010 Oxford (Mississippi) Creative Nonfiction Conferences. She was director of the 2011 Memphis Creative Nonfiction Workshop. She was a panelist at the 2017, 2018 and 2021 Mississippi Book Festival, the 2017 Decatur Book Festival, the 2012, 2017 and 2018 Southern Festival of Books, the 2013, 2018 and 2019 Louisiana Book Festival, a speaker at the 2018 Mississippi Writers Guild Conference, the 2018 Alabama Writers Conclave Conference, the 2019 Southern Literary Festival, the 2019 Middle Tennessee State University Writers Conference and the 2020 AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Professionals) Conference. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Cushman lives in Memphis. Read more at www.susancushman.com.
Oct. 13, with Angelo Geter, Poet Laureate of Rock Hill (SC) and author of More God Than Dead. Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/564424731808167. Geter is an award-winning poet, educator, author and performance artist based in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He currently serves as the Poet Laureate of Rock Hill and is a 2020 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. Geter is a 2018 National Poetry Slam champion, Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam finalist, Southern Fried Regional Poetry Slam finalist and the founder/director of One Word Poetry Festival. His work has appeared on All Def Poetry, Charleston Currents, Gratefulness.com and the Academy of American Poets "Poem a Day" series. His debut collection More God Than Dead was released in June 2022.
Nov. 10, with Monica Lee Weatherly, winner of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry. Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1755017598196853. Weatherly is a poet, writer and professor of English at Georgia State University’s, Perimeter College. She is the 2021 winner of the Willie Morris Prize for Southern Poetry. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Tulane Review, Plainsongs Magazine, Nzuri Journal and Auburn Avenue, a biannual publication showcasing the intellectual and creative voices of people of color. She is a member of the Georgia Writers Association and is listed in the Georgia Writers Registry. Weatherly's writing often focuses on the culture and experiences of women of color in the American South.
Dec. 8, with Juan Eugenio Ramirez, author of The Man with Wolves for Hands, winner of the Nilsen Prize for First Novel. Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1206211220194005. Ramirez is the author of The Man with Wolves for Hands, winner of the Nilsen Prize for First Novel and published by Southeast Missouri State University Press in September 2022. Though born in Washington state, Ramirez spent most of his formative years in Florida. Having taught both middle school and high school these past 15 years, he holds an MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and a BA from Florida State University. His work has appeared in The Carolina Quarterly, Armchair/Shotgun and Madcap Review. He currently teaches high school English at St. Francis School, an independent, progressive education school in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Petigru Review is open for submissions from members and nonmembers until Aug. 15, 2022, our final deadline for publication in mid-September.
We have accepted many wonderful pieces from South Carolina writers and SCWA members as well as the general public, but we are still looking for all types of writing for our annual issue. Complete guidelines can be found at The Petigru Review and Submittable. Please feel free to reach out to Managing EditorMaria S. Picone at mspicone@gmail.com with any questions.
We’d like to welcome Vickey Finkley-Brown as our new Chapter Liaison. As Ella Shawn, she writes Southern gothic erotica. If she's not writing, reading, podcasting or blogging, you can find her sitting in her favorite chair with a crochet hook, a ball of yarn and a cup of herbal tea. We appreciate her stepping up to fill this vital role.
GREENVILLE I HAS NEW CO-LEADERS
Barbara Evers, the award-winning author of The Watchers of Moniah trilogy who has led the Greenville I chapter since 2012, is stepping aside as its leader. Barbara also served on the board from 2008 to 2010 and was president of SCWA in 2009. For this service, as well as the many other ways she has contributed her time to this organization over the years, we offer our gratitude.
Beginning in August, June Baswell and Mary Lash are co-leading the Greenville I chapter. June writes short stories and poetry and is currently working on a novel. Her writings have been published in The Pettigru Review, Catfish Stew and Thema. She is the 2022 recipient of The Hub City/Emrys Prize for her story "Scheherazade." Mary is the author of Love and the TSA and co-authored A Roller Coaster Down. Her stories have appeared in Catfish Stew and moonShine Review. We thank June and Mary for stepping up to share this leadership role.
CLEMSON CHAPTER HAS A NEW LEADER (AND SHE NEEDS YOU!)
Hooray! The Clemson Chapter will be active again in September and has a new leader: Gayle Baldwin. She describes herself as "infinitely curious," which drove her to achieve numerous degrees, from a Ph.D. in religion to an MFA in creative writing. She currently is working on two novels, a collection of stories and a book of poetry.
The Clemson Chapter will meet in-person at the Clemson-Central Library seminar room from 7 to 9 p.m. beginning Thursday Sept. 8, and welcomes writers of all genres. The first meeting will be an exploratory meeting to determine the group's interests and direction. If you live in the Clemson area and are interested in this chapter, please contact Gayle at gaylebaldwin60@gmail.com for further information.
Thank you, Gayle, for taking on this role.
SHORT FICTION VIRTUAL GROUP HAS NEW CO-FACILITATOR, ADDED SESSIONS
The Short Fiction Virtual Chapter is adding a second monthly meeting beginning Aug. 25, which will be facilitated by award winning author Lis Anna-Langston. Her two novels, Gobbledy and Tupelo Honey, won the Parents' Choice Gold, Moonbeam Book Award, Independent Press Award, Benjamin Franklin Book Award and NYC Big Book Awards. Lis is a three-time Pushcart Award nominee and finalist in the Brighthorse Book Prize, William Faulkner Fiction Contest, George Garrett Fiction Prize and Thomas Wolfe Fiction Award. Her work has been published in The Literary Review, Emerson Review, The Merrimack Review, Emrys Journal, The MacGuffin, Sand Hill Review and dozens of other literary journals.
This fourth-Thursday-of-the month meeting will focus exclusively on the craft of writing short fiction. As a member of the Short Fiction Virtual Chapter, you can attend either or both monthly sessions, as they will be facilitated independently of each other. All meetings are via Zoom.
Raegan Teller will continue to facilitate the second-Thursday-of-the-month critique sessions.
For more information on chapters, visit Local & Virtual Chapters and click on the chapter leader’s name to send an email. For any questions related to chapters or SCWA membership, contact SCWAMembership@gmail.com.
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