May 17, 2016,  VOLUME 22, ISSUE 9

NEWSLETTER FINAL EDITION BEFORE THE SUMMER BREAK
Sumer is icumen in. Lhude sing cuccu!
GENERAL MEETING

Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 7 p.m.   
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, N.C., 28211

Featured speaker for May, Abigail DeWitt
Abigail DeWitt is the author of two novels, Lili (W.W.Norton) and Dogs (Lorimer Press) as well as short stories which have been published in several literary journals, including The Carolina Quarterly, Salamander, and The Journal. 
The recipient of a Michener Fellowship and a Tyrone Guthrie Residency Fellowship, as well as grants from the North Carolina Arts Council and the Asheville Arts Alliance, Abigail DeWitt received her BA from Harvard University and her MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop. She has taught Creative Writing at Harvard Summer School, The Duke Writers Workshop, Appalachian State University, and UNC-Asheville and has been the Visiting Writer-in-Residence at Lenoir-Rhyne University. 
Currently, she teaches Creative Writing and French at Appalachian State University, leads private workshops, and works one-on-one with students around the country. She lives with her husband and daughter in western North Carolina.

Winners of the poetry contest will be announced at the general meeting on May 17.
The awards will be presented by Anthony Abbott, 2015 recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature, the highest civilian honor given by the state. He is past President of the Charlotte Writers' Club, the North Carolina Writers Network, and a past Chairman of the North Carolina Writers Conference. 

Also, FYI, he will be giving a poetry reading at the main branch of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library on June 14, 12:15 - 1:30.


HUGELY IMPORTANT FUTURE NEWS!
Best-selling authors coming to Carolinas WordFest
 
Carolinas WordFest is just about ready for its close-up.
 
A celebration of the power of words and the talented writers of North and South Carolina, WordFest will be held October 15, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., throughout First Ward and 7-9:30 p.m. at Spirit Square. The free, inclusive, interactive festival will feature nearly two dozen poets, novelists, playwrights, storytellers, screenwriters, comics and others whose words spark readers' - and writers' - imaginations.
 
From New York Times best-selling authors to those who literally wrote the books used in classrooms around the country, all our panelists, interactive performers and workshop leaders have called the Carolinas home.
 
In many ways, this is your festival. The Charlotte Writers' Club is the primary underwriter, and CWC board members have put in hundreds of planning hours. Although the Carolinas WordFest website is still under construction, get a sneak peek of what's being planned by visiting https://carolinaswordfest.com. We'll continue to add writers as they send us their information, and we'll put up a tentative schedule in the next few weeks. If you have not already signed up to serve for a shift (or two) on the day of the festival and would like to volunteer, email Gina CarrollHoward(gch3631@gmail.com) with your name, email, phone number and availability October 15. Also indicate if you are interested in compiling email lists, doing PR or helping in other logistical areas in which you are skilled.
 
Carolinas WordFest is designed to educate, entertain, and inspire both today's wordsmiths and readers and those of the next generation. Your skills and talent are needed.


Our heartfelt thanks to these people, who labor in obscurity, or sometimes right out in the open.
Thanks to Glenda Blaisdell-Buck, who is retiring from the Board, for her service to our club and hard work as Co-chair of the Program Committee. The Program Committee searches out, vets, and selects the interesting and inspiring authors we have enjoyed at our regular membership meetings all year.
And thanks to Kelli Horne,  also retiring at the end of this year, for her work and contribution as Co-chair of the Contest Committee. The Contest Committee, in addition to providing an opportunity for  our members to display their talent, is  one of our greatest instruments of outreach to writers beyond the Charlotte Writers Club.
We are always interested in members that would like to be considered for serving on the CWC Board. If you are interested, give your name to any of the Board members.


Save on Membership Dues
Final notice!
Take advantage today!
Membership dues for CWC will be going up a whopping five bucks a year beginning June first.Your last chance to get in at the old rate is coming on apace.

Old rates: $30 (single), $40 (couple)
New rates: $35 (single), $50 (couple)
Student rates: $20 (unchanged)


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  http://www.charlottewritersclub.org and follow the instructions. 

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


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

Click here for a map of the location.
Contest notices:
Opens: March 15.
Closes: May 17.
Announce Winners: September 20, 2016.
A short story between 1500-4000 words.
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Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Prize
Opens: August 16, 2016
Closes: October 18, 2016
Announce Winners: December 20, 2016
Short fiction of up to 500 words.
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CWC Nonfiction Contest (article/essay)
Opens: October 18, 2016
Closes: December 20, 2016
Announce Winners: February 21, 2017
Nonfiction from 750-2000 words.
Kudos
Mike Tuggle's story, "The Clincher," was accepted for publication in The Flash Fiction Press. 
Mike invites CWC members to visit him at his writing blog mctuggle.com.
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NOTES ON WRITING
Immature poets imitate: mature poets steal.   T.S.Eliot

Failure is the path of least persistence. 
Michael Larsen

There are three rules for writing a novel:
1.
2. 
3.
Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
W.Somerset Maugham
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