Street news in Salt Lake City now a reality, CWC volunteer official vendor

Well, The Salt Lake City Mission finally got a street newspaper off the ground. I'm an official vendor. The second best thing to starting my own. I was on two local news stations, channel 5 and channel 4. It's called Salt Lake Street News. City Weekly also did an article. Shari (pictured at left) is our top vendor right now. Contact the Mission for subscription and advertising rates. Mention me,  John Wilkes,  Official Vendor #009, and I'll benefit from your ad or script. Contact Brad or Pamela at the Mission about that. New issue coming out in July 2010, but you can still get the premiere May/June 2010. If you see us on the street, please buy a copy. That is the most immediate way to help. Also, if you want to purchase quantities of the paper to distribute to the socially conscious clients and customers of your organization or business, email me (mrwrite@live.com). I'll deliver! [photo courtesy of Salt Lake City Weekly].

If you would like to submit writing on the subject of homelessness, or if you are a homeless or formerly homeless person and would like to tell your story or submit original work, call The Mission and speak to Brad or Pamela.

John Wilkes
Community Writing Center volunteer
DiverseCity Writing Series GLBTQ group co-mentor

Pride essay

Wanted to share my submisson to Q Salt Lake's "What Pride Means to Me." If I'm chosen as one of the top five, you'll see this printed in Q's upcoming Pride Issue. Wish me luck. If anyone else would like to submit, you have until Sunday May 23 at 12 noon. Submit to editor@qsaltlake.com .

John

Day Without Pride

The first Pride I attended - let’s just say several years ago, and leave it at that - was in Sunnyside Park. There were no booths, no beer garden, no corporate sponsors; just softball, watermelon and soft drinks. It was a way to come “out” a little farther than I was at the time. I’ve tried to stay directly or indirectly involved in Utah Pride every year since. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s almost always a good experience.

I have my favorite Prides, like the first year there was a parade. I marched front and center with some of the proudest fags I’ve ever known, carrying the huge rainbow flag you still see in the parade today. Another year a friend and I marched with a banner for Radio City Lounge. My absolute favorite is the year Tyler (an “ex”) and I walked down State Street holding hands.

Opinions regarding Pride are mixed in GLBTQ communities. Its relevance and effectiveness are being challenged. Some think it has become too political; others not political enough. Many think Pride presents queer people in a frivolous light, and do not want to be represented by flamboyant fairies or quixotic queens on colorful floats. Still others think Prides have become too commercial, and are suspicious of how funds are used. Sadly, too many have been indoctrinated to believe they have nothing of which to be proud.

Most just find it a great excuse to party.

Dissent is to be expected when trying to affect progressive change. Sometimes egos or agendas get in the way, personalities clash. Still, every year, a dedicated team of volunteers makes Pride happen. That’s one testimony to the relevance of Pride – Teamwork: overlooking differences to promote a common goal.

It’s much more, too. Freedom: to kiss, hold, love whoever you wish, wherever you like, without fear. Visibility: having the courage to be out, establish our right to exist, and show the world we are not ashamed of who we are. Diversity: gathering people of different ilks – race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity – under the same umbrella to forward the same cause – the most important reason for Pride - our struggle for Equality: a day when queer folks will be treated like everyone else under the law.

On that day, there will be no need for Pride.

But we’ll do it anyway – for the party.

photo courtesy of Utah Pride

Timpanogos Storytelling Festival

For all Writers and Writing Coaches at SLCC's Community Writing Center, The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival is beginning its first-ever Fall Intensive program the week of Oct. 19th. Teachers, storytellers, writers and family historians are invited to participate in this fantastic opportunity to learn the art of historical retellings with Syd Lieberman, one of the finest storytelling experts with experience teaching at the Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center.

Syd and his wife Adrienne will guide participants one-on-one through the research process and use of original documents, and provide writing and editing tools to fine-tune stories and create a sense of time and place. Participants will also enjoy field trips to various Utah locations and special performances of Syd's award-winning stories, including One Righteous Man: The Story of Raoul Wallenberg, which was presented at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.

Please see the attached document for more information about this unique opportunity. Registration is available with or without accommodation and can be purchased online at www.timpfest.org.

Thank you,

Krystin Anderson

Orem Public Library Publicity

(801) 229-7379

kmanderson@orem.org

Salt Lake Valley Fall Book Show

Salt Lake Valley Fall Book Shows

Get your book in front of
10 Thousand people

This unique opportunity is available to
all authors of any genre

Our Book Shows are in local
Hospitals
Office Complexes
and Universities
and more
through the months of
September - December


For the small fee of $250.00. Your book will be placed in
20 Book Shows. You get the full Retail Price of each sale. No other fees apply.


Don’t wait our Holliday Books Shows fill up fast. We introduce the books to a wide audience. And just in time for the Christmas Gift Season.

Contact Brenda Rogers of Salt City Books for an application and more information (801) 309-7820

GLBTQ DiverseCity Writing Series Group

Greetings!

I'm really excited to tell you about a new DiverseCity Writing Series group at SLCC Community Writing Center.

Monday July 13 2009 is the 1st meeting of the new Gay, Lesbian, B-sexual, Transgendered, and Questioning/Queer writing group.

This group has sort of petered in and out over the years, due to the regular comings and goings of CWC staff and volunteers. Now, thanks to myself, and Brian Short, who so graciously volunteered to co-mentor, it's up and running again. All we need is participants. That means you.

The DiverseCity Writing Series is an incredible program with regular groups meeting all over the city. It gives writers of all backgrounds and experiences a chance to express themselves, share their work at annual readings, and even publish in the sine cera, a yearly anthology. The amazing thing is - it's all FREE!

So, If you're GLBTQ, or supportive, please come on Monday to see what it's all about. Bring friends; spread the word. You're encouraged to bring something you've written just to share, or receive feedback if you wish. Also, think of ideas for a cool name for our group.

Just to recap:

GLBTQ Writers' Group
2nd and 4th Mondays of every month
beginning July 13th
at SLCC Community Writing Center
210 E 400 South (Library Square)
Suite 8 (on The Wall, under the steps)

6:30 - 8:00 PM

I hope to see a lot of my brothers and sisters from the family there. Remember: "Everyone Can Write!"

John Wilkes aka "Mister Write"
CWC Volunteer
Co-Mentor GLBTQ DWS Group
"The Rio Grande Report"

Volunteers Needed: DiverseCity Writing Series Reading

Thursday, June 25th through Sunday, June 28th, the Utah Arts Festival will be visiting Library Square and the SLCC Community Writing Center will become The Word Ecstatic. During this festival, we will be offering opportunities to take workshops, enter a writing competition, participate in a Poetry Slam or just enjoy readings from local authors and poets.

On Saturday, June 27th, members of the DiverseCity Writing Series are invited to participate in a public reading event from 7pm – 8pm in the SLCC Community Writing Center. Readings can be from the upcoming or previous editions of sine cera, or anything you have written while participating with the DWS.

If you are interested in reading, please contact the DiverseCity Writing Series Coordinator at cwc@slcc.edu. All volunteers will receive a pass to the Utah Arts Festival.

sine cera: Reading and Book Release!

On Wednesday, June 10th, several writers from the DiverseCity Writing Series will participate in a reading of sine cera: What I Think People Think About, an anthology of writing produced through these open writing groups. sine cera began in 2003 as a way to showcase writing from the DiverseCity Writing Series, and every six months the SLCC Community Writing Center publishes a new edition of sine cera, and hosts a public reading and book release event to celebrate participants' work.



You are cordially invited to the next reading and book release of sine cera. This event will happen 

Wednesday, June 10th 

from 7 PM – 8:30 PM 

in Salt Lake City’s Main Library Auditorium (210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84111). A reception will immediately follow at the SLCC Community Writing Center.



This event is free to the public, and you are encouraged to invite family and friends. For more information, please call the SLCC Community Writing Center at 801.957.4992.

To hear readings from our previous edition of sine cera go to kcpw.org/article/7087.

Volunteers Needed: Utah Arts Festival

Thursday, June 25th through Sunday, June 28th, the Utah Arts Festival will be visiting Library Square. During this time, the SLCC Community Writing Center will become The Word Ecstatic—encompassing a variety of literary arts programs and events at the Festival. We will be offering opportunities to take workshops, enter a writing competition, participate in a Poetry Slam or just enjoy readings from local authors and poets.



We will be in need of a band of volunteers to help keep everything running smoothly. Volunteers will assist in answering questions about the SLCC Community Writing Center, signing up individuals interested in joining any of our programs, providing information regarding The Word Ecstatic events, and generally assisting the crowd. Volunteers for this event will be needed during a variety of shifts. For shift details visit the CWC Volunteer Blog at http://cwcvolunteers.blogspot.com/2009/04/volunteers-needed-utah-arts-festival.html.



If you are interested in volunteering, passes for the week will be provided, but are quickly running out. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at cwc@slcc.edu with the dates and times you are interested in assisting. All volunteers are asked to work no more than one or two non-consecutive shifts.

LAST CALL: sine cera Submissions Due by November 29th

As you all know, the public reading of sine cera is Friday, December 5, 2008 at 7 PM in Salt Lake City’s Main Library Auditorium. Thank you to all those who have submitted:

Dave Bastian *
Tiffany Carver *
Larry Chaston
Kate Cushing
Harold W. Davis
Chanel Earl
Gregor Gable *
Elvin Gage
John Hicks *
Peggy Kadir
Paul Kartchner *
Julie A. Liljenquist *
Cyndi Lloyd
Joyce E. Luttrell
Paul L. Rosser *
Albert E. Smith
Winifred M. Walker
Becky Wilson
Deborah Young *

If you have not yet submitted a piece for this edition of sine cera, you still have time. The official deadline has passed, but there is still room for more submissions! Submit your writing by Saturday, November 29th, and you can still participate in the reading on December 5th.

Submissions should be sent to the DiverseCity Writing Series coordinator at jeremy.remy@slcc.edu. But, hurry. Time is running out, and there will be no additional deadline extensions.

* (If you have not already submitted a writer consent release, please be sure to drop one off at the SLCC Community Writing Center by November 29th)

sine cera: Deadline Extended!

This December, the SLCC Community Writing Center will publish sine cera, an anthology of writing produced through the DiverseCity Writing Series. Everyone participating in the DWS is welcome and encouraged to submit writing for publication. Because December’s edition will be electronic (with all accepted submissions appearing in print in the spring edition), the official deadline for submissions has been extended.

The final deadline for submissions to the December issue of sine cera is Tuesday, November 18th. Writing can be submitted anytime prior to this date, but writing submitted after this date will be too late for publication.

For more information about sine cera, submission guidelines, or how to participate in the DiverseCity Writing Series, contact the DWS Coordinator at jeremy.remy@slcc.edu or 801.957.4992.

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month, and the SLCC Community Writing Center is opening its doors to all the budding novelists in our midst. Each Wednesday from 7 to 8:30, through the month of November, the CWC is welcoming NaNoWriMo participants to make use of our open space. Join us as you write your novel in a supportive environment, with other writers focused on a similar goal, novel writing handouts and a Writing Assistant on staff to help out if you get stuck

Even if you don't join us for the event, give it a shot--NaNoWriMo is a "fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing." Some participants have already started writing, with the goal of reaching a 175-page (or 50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Check out their website to sign up and start tracking your progress today:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Haiku Contest!

Asking you to write
Inventing lines to blossom
All for a good cause

The SLCC Community Writing Center is accepting haiku poetry from students grades 1-12. Entrants will compete in four grade levels against students from across Utah.

Level I: Grades 1 - 3
Level II: Grades 4 - 6
Level III: Grades 7 -9
Level IV: Grades 10 - 12

Students interested in participating in the contest should contact the SLCC Community Writing Center at (801) 957-4992 for additional contest details, or to obtain an entry form.

sine cera: Call for Submissions

This December, the SLCC Community Writing Center will publish sine cera, an anthology of writing produced through the DiverseCity Writing Series (DWS). Everyone participating in the DWS is welcome and encouraged to submit writing for publication. While it is a bit early, the official deadline for submissions has been selected. You'll likely receive a reminder email as the deadline approaches, but this seemed the appropriate place to make the initial announcement.

The deadline for submissions to the December issue of sine cera is Saturday, October 25th. Writing can be submitted anytime prior to this date, but writing submitted after this date may be too late for publication.

For more information about sine cera, submission guidelines, or how to participate in the DiverseCity Writing Series, contact the DWS Coordinator at jeremy.remy@slcc.edu or 801.957.4992.

We Want to Write a Book with You!

The SLCC Community Writing Center is writing a book and we want you to be part of it. We hope this book will tell the story of the Community Writing Center through the many voices and experiences that have shaped it. There are no page-limits, no style requirements—we just want to hear from you in your own words.

Send your stories, statements, opinions or musings on all things writing, before October 10th, to the SLCC Community Writing Center at cwc@slcc.edu, or call 801-957-4992 to make other arrangements. You can also drop off your writing, in standard manuscript format, to the SLCC Community Writing Center at Library Square, 210 East 400 South, Suite 8.