December 20th, 2016,  VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: Thought for the day: "Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise." Francis Bacon.
GENERAL MEETING

Tuesday, December 20, 2016, 7 p.m.   
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28211

Guest speaker: Nora Gaskin, author
Nora Gaskin  was born and raised in Chapel Hill.    She studied English and creative writing at UNC and English at the University of Washington in Seattle. She then had a long career as stock broker and financial advisor in Durham and Chapel Hill.    She retired in 2005 to focus on a long-time dream: writing novels.  Until Proven  is her first published book.
   
The meeting will take place on the first floor of the PUMC, room 104, at 7:00pm.
 
News from CWC North
Joseph Bathanti
January 25, 2017: Joseph Bathanti, award-winning poet, essayist and novelist, and former NC Poet Laureate - at Waterbean Coffee in Hunterville (CWC-North is partnering with Iodine Poetry Journal).

January 26, 2017: Joseph Bathanti will read/sign books at Main Street Books in Davidson at 6pm.

Spring 2017: Marla Brown to lead a Playwriting Workshop.

 Barnes and Noble gift-wrapping volunteers needed

Barnes and Noble in the Carolina Place Mall in Pineville has given us the opportunity to promote our Charlotte Writers' Club and accept donations at their store if we can commit some volunteers to gift wrap purchases for customers during the Holiday Season.

We need two volunteers December 21st from 1pm - 6pm and two volunteers December 24th from 4pm - 6pm.  
  
Please email Debra Wallin if you are interested. We need to act on this ASAP so we can let the store know that we can cover these two shifts..  This is a great way for us to support our club, get free publicity and collect donations we can use for our own events. 

ALSO, WHILE YOU'RE IN THE VOLUNTEERING SPIRIT, PLEASE NOTE
Committed Volunteers needed to plan Carolinas Wordfest 2017.  Without members to do the planning and communications for this event,  we may not be able to hold this wonderful event in 2017.  Please contact a board member if you are interested in being part of this event. Thanks!
MORE ABOUT WORDFEST
Wanted: Creative, organized problem-solvers for 2017 Carolinas WordFest
 
The response to Carolinas WordFest was an emphatic "Yes!" Charlotte needs a free literary festival that embraces - and looks like - our community. Participating writers, festival goers and the 2016 planning committee were unanimous: Bring WordFest back in 2017.
 
Planning begins in six weeks, but to make it happen, we need committed volunteers to chair the website, logistics, volunteer and publicity committees. We are looking for people who are problem-solvers and creative-thinkers, as well as being organized and deadline-oriented. Committee chair descriptions are here. If you are interested, please contact Gina Carroll Howard  with a very brief explanation of what you would bring to the role.
 
Carolinas WordFest is North and South Carolina writers' gift to the community. Wrap that gift in your time and make it shine.
 

ABOUT CWC MEMBERSHIP
Membership in the Charlotte Writers' Club entitles you to participate in workshops, critique groups, contests, and guest speaker programs. The cost is a modest $35 per year for singles, $ 50 for couples, and $20 for students. 
We welcome writers in all genres and forms to join our Charlotte-area literary community. Your membership in the Charlotte Writers' Club helps support writers, readers, and literacy at a critical time in our nation's and our city's history. Join here.
To Join or Renew click this  Membership Link and follow the instructions. 

Charlotte Writers' Club 
P.O. Box 220954
Charlotte, NC 28222


In This Issue
General Meeting Location
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Rd.

Click here for a map of the location.
Contest notices:
Visit the CWC Contest page for contest rules.  

CLOSED
Short fiction of up to 500 words.
Winners will be announced at the regular meeting on December 20. 
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CWC Nonfiction Contest  (article/essay)
Opened: October 18, 2016
Closes:
December 20, 2016
Announce Winners: February 21, 2017
Nonfiction from 750-2000 words.
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Selected Members' Readings accepted until December 20,2016. Click on the above link for more information.
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(CWC Members Only)
Opens: December 20, 2016
Closes: February 21, 2017
Announce Winners: April 18, 2017
Short Story from
750-1500 words.
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Poetry Contest
Opens: January 17, 2017
Closes: March 21, 2017 
Announce Winners:  
May 16, 2017
Poetry of fewer than 50 lines; haiku excluded.
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Elizabeth Simpson Smith Contest
Opens: March 21, 2017
Closes: May 16, 2017
Announce Winners: September 18, 2017
A short story between 1500-4000 words.
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Notes on writing
Painting is silent poetry, and poetry, painting that speaks.   -Simonides
If you would not be forgotten,
 As soon as you are dead and rotten, 
 Either write things worthy reading, 
 Or do things worth the writing. -Ben Franklin

The poet may be used as the barometer, but let us not forget that he is also part of the weather. - Lionel Trilling

There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. 
-Emerson
Quick Links


 

Please "LIKE" our Facebook page to encourage discussion among fellow writers and keep up with the club offerings.
AUTHORS LAB
Authors Lab is a new program from Charlotte Lit that helps you to get that book out of your head and onto paper in 2017. Our model: Coaching + Classes + Community = Creative Success: a completed draft by the end of the year. 

Authors Lab members receive: coaching from a published and respected author matched to you and your book; classes on advanced writing skills, from talented teachers; and community: a writing cohort who will take the journey with you. 

What kind of book? Any book-length work: literary or genre novel, memoir or other creative non-fiction, business or trade book, or a collection of poetry, short stories, or essays.

To learn more, click here.

KUDOS
 Just one shout-out this time, and that's for Liz Gilmore Williams, whose book, No Ordinary Soldier: My Father's Two Wars, is set for publication this month.