APRIL 2015 | VOLUME 21, ISSUE 8
April Program: Diana Pinckney
April is National Poetry Month and CWC will be hosting an award-winning poet for our monthly meeting. Join us on Tuesday, April 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Providence United Methodist Church for an evening with Diana Pinckney.


Diana Pinckney is the winner of the 2010 Ekphrasis Prize and Atlanta Review's 2012 International Poetry Prize. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize 5 times. Cream City Review, Crucible and Persimmon Tree are among the journals that have given her awards. Published in RHINO, Cave Wall, Green Mountains Review, Tar River Poetry, The Pedestal magazine, Main Street Rag, Iodine & other journals and anthologies, in 2013, she received the Irene Blair Honeycutt Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts Award. Pinckney's first book won contests from South and North Carolina presses. She has five books of poetry, including Green Daughters, Lorimer Press and her latest full-length collection from FutureCycle Press, titled The Beast and The Innocent. Visit her website at www.dianapinckney.com.
CWC & Sensoria: Programs & Notices
Program Information: Fiction Workshop
The Charlotte Writers' Club is pleased to partner again with Sensoria to support and celebrate the region's fine tradition of literary achievement within the arts. This year we will offer an Open Fiction Workshop with Susan Woodring on Thursday, April 16, from 12:30-1:45 in the Overcash Building, Tate Hall.

Susan Woodring is the author of the novel, Goliath (St. Martin's Press, 2012) and a short story collection, Springtime on Mars (Press 53, 2008).  Her short fiction has appeared in The Cupboard, Passages North, turnrow, Literary Mama and Surreal South, among other anthologies and literary magazines. Her short fiction was shortlisted for Best American Non-Required Reading 2008 and Best American Short Stories 2010. Susan currently lives in the foothills of North Carolina where she writes and homeschools her two children.

A full listing of all Sensoria literary programs can be found online.

Volunteers Needed
The CWC needs volunteers to staff a CWC table in the Overcash building Tuesday-Thursday between 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. If you are interested, please contact Gina Howard (gch3631@gmail.com) and indicate your availability. 

Blair Honeycutt Award
The recipient of the 2015 Blair Honeycutt Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts is Rebecca McClanahan. She will be reading from and discussing her work on April 14, at 7 p.m. in the Overcash Building, Tate Hall.

McClanahan has published ten books, her most recent being
The Tribal Knot (Indiana University Press, 2013). McClanahan presented to CWC two years ago.
Open Search for Board Members
We are excited about the leadership team that is developing for CWC's 2015-2016 year. There are still opportunities available for current members interested in giving back to the literary community. This is a two-year volunteer commitment to support the goals and operations of the CWC.

Descriptions of all Board positions are available on our website. To contribute to the ongoing quality of our organization, please contact the current President, Gina Howard (president@charlottewritersclub.org) or any Board member for more information. 
Meet-A-Member: Dolores Andral
 
Quick Bio: 
Dolores Andral is originally from Brooklyn, NY and now calls Charlotte, NC her home. She received her MFA from Queens University in Charlotte and is both a stay-at-home mom to four children and a writer. Information about her debut children's book can be found at www.prissyworld.com or by liking it on Facebook at Prissy World.  

1. What type of writing do you do? What challenges you the most and what comes naturally?
I write both adult fiction and picture books. The biggest challenge I face as a writer is working in such a subjective field. It can take you months to years to complete a story and within moments that story that you slaved over will be dissected and criticized. 

Storytelling comes very naturally to me. Even when speaking or listening to others I always have this need to hear or tell the "whole story." I tend to write in that manner as well (editing has become my specialty!). 

2. How do you cultivate inspiration for your work?
For me, art certainly imitates life. I'm influenced by my surroundings and daily interactions. It's my job to transform the things I see to get down that spirit that makes them unique and memorable, and helps embellish my descriptions.

3. What do you enjoy most about the Charlotte Writers' Club?
There's no 'I' in team, but there's certainly an 'I' in writer. So I love the fact that there is a society available for us.  It's nice to have a group of people with whom to commiserate and socialize. 

4. What writing advice would you pass on to other writers?
Write what you want to write-the world isn't waiting for you. What I mean by that is that the world didn't know it would be crazy about a little wizard boy named Harry until the story was written. The world didn't know it wanted a vampire love story, again, until that story came out. Even with my own children's book, I told my husband (who is the illustrator) that the world is never going to tell me that it wants a little puffy-haired girl who travels to the moon. It's my job to present her to the world and hope they fall in love with her as I have.

5. In a sentence or two, what else would you like people to know about you?
My husband and I have a debut children's book called Prissy On The Moon. You can check her out at www.prissyworld.com. We also have four kids, and when the stories were just on my computer, we would sit together and have a "Prissy Party" with hot apple cider and whip cream and I would read the stories they have all influenced.
Members Needed for Newsletter Feature
The Charlotte Writers' Club newsletter is now accepting applicants for the Meet-A-Member section for next year.

It's as easy as 1...2...3...

1. The guidelines are simple: be a member in good standing with the CWC.

2. Signing-up is simple: send an email to newsletter@charlottewritersclub.org expressing your interest. The editor will fill the slots on a first-come, first-featured basis in the 2015-2016 programming year.

3. Being featured is simple: fill out a set of questions and send in your picture. We'll do the rest!
Register Now:
"Enacting Your Character" Workshop
CWC-North is hosting a workshop,  Enacting Your Character , on Saturday, May 2 from 10 a.m.-noon at the Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius, NC.

What is the best way to create a character who is compelling and convincing for readers and audiences? What aspects of characters define their personalities and drive their actions? How can these qualities be revealed in language? Join Charlotte playwright, essayist and poet  David Radavich to talk about the nuts and bolts of building a strong, complex, believable character from the ground up. 

Following a discussion of theory, participants will be asked to develop their own characters in the dynamic context of their chosen genre, whether drama, fiction, or other forms. The goal will be to create characters in action.

The fee to participate is $25 for CWC members, $35 for non-members. To register, please click here.

Questions? Contact David Radavich at radavich@earthlink.net or Caroline Kane Kenna, CWC-North liaison, at ckanek5@gmail.com.  
Membership
Let's face it: most of us would rather put pen to paper or fingers to keypad than stand up and shout the merits of our latest literary achievement like someone trying to sell a cheap watch or a used car. But we know, because we're members of CWC and have successful authors and poets tell us at all our meetings, that publicity is critical. 

We understand. 

If you're a member, we have some publicity opportunities just for you. Not only do we encourage participants in our monthly programs to share their exciting news with the group, we have several platforms for putting your name and accomplishments out there. Members may send a description of their recent publication success for use on our website and in our monthly newsletter. What better way to reach a targeted audience - people interested in what you're writing. Further, our newsletter features a Meet-A-Member section that allows hundreds of newsletter subscribers from around the Carolina region to get to know you and your work better. Easy as (eating) pie. Free publicity for you - our members.

Still not a member? Click here to join.
In This Issue
Calendar
April 16
Fiction Workshop
with Susan Woodring
12:30-1:45 p.m.
Overcash Building, Tate Hall

April 21
General Meeting
Poet Diana Pinckney
7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Providence UMC

May 2
Workshop: "Enacting Your Character" 
Led by David Radavich
10 a.m. - noon
Warehouse Performing Arts Center, Cornelius

May 19
General Meeting
Short Story Writer Bob Strother
7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Providence UMC
General Meeting Location
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Rd.

Click here for a map of the new location.
Contests
Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline:
April 21, 2015

Elizabeth Simpson Smith Short Story Contest
Deadline:
May 19, 2015

For a complete listing of CWC contests, please click here .
Kudos
Paul Kurzeja recently had three articles published by the Charlotte Museum of History.
A History of Bank of America Charlotte - The Queen of Finance , and
History of First Union can be found online.
Writing Prompt
Write an "elsewhere" poem. Maybe elsewhere is a physical place, like Ohio instead of Georgia. Maybe elsewhere is a season, like summer instead of winter. Maybe elsewhere is a state of mind, like happy instead of depressed. Whatever your elsewhere is, write it.

Writer's Digest, July/ August 2014, p.29
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