Requests
Looking for Website Consultant:
SDWG members Stephen Billias and Bela Breslau are seeking a consultant to help upgrade or possibly replace our current website (www.stephenbillias.com) . If you are a Straw Dog Writers Guild member who can help or if you can recommend someone, please contact Bela at: belabreslau@comcast.net. Thanks very much.
Writers Read Co-host Needed
Jane Roy Brown is seeking a volunteer partner to co-host Writers Read/Hilltowns for the remainder of 2021 and to assume the role of primary host in 2022. In the event we resume meeting in person, the co-host ideally would be a Hilltowns resident. Please contact Jane at brownjaneroy@gmail.com.
Mid-Month Open Mic
SDWG member Terianne Falcone is interested in running a mid-month open mic. She is in the planning stage and is seeking a buddy or two to help her run the open mic. Contact Terianne at tfgottalaugh@gmail.com if interested in co-creating this program.
Belchertown Writers Meetup Sundays at 2:30pm
Meetup page: 
Simian Press Releases Volume 2 of LINEA, a Journal of Micro Fiction
Simian Press is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 2 of LINEA, a journal of micro fiction. LINEA features work by thirty-one writers, both new and established, many based in the greater Northampton area. LINEA is edited by writers Elizabeth George and Carol Edelstein, both of Northampton and designed by artist and educator Adell Donaghue. Volume 2 includes recent drawings by Donaghue. LINEA is a hand-stitched journal produced annually in limited edition. Volume 2 was created using letterpress, offset lithography and digital printing technologies. Simian Press will host a virtual launch of Volume 2 on February 7, 2021, at simianpress.org. This online event will feature recordings of authors reading their work as well as a video showcasing the artwork included in this volume. The event will remain available on the Simian Press website.
Celebrate the release of Suzanne Rancourt’s 3rd book: Old Stones, New Roads, forthcoming April / May from Main Street Rag Book Publishers. To buy advanced copies, go to: https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/old-stones-new-roads-suzanne-s-rancourt/
Feb 21, 2021 Suzanne S. Rancourt reads w/ Harpy Hybrid Review, #3, Contributors! An international line up! 6:00 pm EST.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtfu-srjsiHtQR7BKcXCxIYli1rk85_I9m Or connect through Facebook: https://fb.me/e/1VvV261Vh
April 13, 2021 Book Release Zoom Reading! Suzanne S. Rancourt reads from her 3rd book, Old Stones, New Roads, Main Street Rag Book Publishers. Send your poems to read requests to Suzanne. For more info about the event, contact: Rachel Person at https://www.northshire.com/saratoga-springs-store tel:855.339.5990 Rachel Person rperson@northshire.com
May 2, 2021 Suzanne S. Rancourt is the Featured reader at Writers Read / Hilltowns Straw Dog Writers’ Guild. Via the Zoom platform, hear Suzanne read from her 3rd book, Old Stones, New Roads, Main Street Rag Book Publishers. To register for the event contact: Jane Roy Brown brownjaneroy@gmail.com
May 12, 2021 Suzanne S. Rancourt, reading from her 3rd book, Old Stones, New Roads, Main Street Rag Book Publishers, is the Featured River Heron Review author. Human Beings Being Human – the narrative of self – is both a reading and Salon discussion of the creative process with a special focus on survivors of trauma and indigeneity. How can you access your narrative in ways that affect your everyday life? Join us for this free event. Register NOW for this Zoom event by contacting: Robbin Farr rfarr@riverheronreview.com
Explore Suzanne’s other works: https://www.expressive-arts.com/Artists–Page.html
Have an upcoming reading?
Email us here – admin@strawdogwriters.org
Into the Mystery/The Bodypoem
In deep winter, let’s get in touch with our inner spaces and our outer bodies. We’re going to explore the physical experience of language in this new online workshop, Into the Mystery/The Bodypoem, led by Slate Roof Poets Audrey Gidman and Anna M. Warrock. Saturday, February 20, 2021, 2-4pm. $15 sliding scale. To register go to https://authorsandartistsfestival.wordpress.com/associated-programming/#SlateRoof
Taking Shape: Experimenting with Form in Poetry with Gail Thomas – 4 Weeks
Do you have ideas for poems, but haven’t found a way to begin writing? Sometimes the best way to break through is to experiment with form. We will examine how form and subject work together to create memorable poems. In this workshop we will experiment with forms such as the pantoum, cinquain, villanelle, sonnet, ghazal and prose poem. Finding a “container” for your ideas will expand your writing in a fresh way and give you more versatility as a poet. All levels. Limited to 10 writers.
WHEN: Mondays, March 8 – 29 (6 – 8pm EST)
WHERE: Online, via Zoom video conference (live) REGISTER HERE
Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop
Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop is a Northampton MA-based literary arts organization, now completely online for the foreseeable future, offering a wide array of one-day and multi-week writing workshops for experienced and aspiring writers of all levels, genres, and backgrounds. Founded by Joy Baglio in 2016, PVWW has a team of over 30 professional writers, authors and editors and a constantly changing lineup of workshops and events. All our workshops are limited to a small number of writers (8, 10, or 12, depending on the particular class) and are held live on Zoom. In addition to seasonal workshops, PVWW runs aYear-Long Manuscript Group Program for writers working on book-length projects, open for applications every year October – January. In addition to our classes and workshops, we host a FREE twice-a-month generative Community Writing gathering open to writers everywhere and frequent virtual author readings. For writers looking for more direct hands-on help with their projects, we offer professional one-on-one manuscript consulting and editing services. Our focus is on a rigorous understanding of craft and technique, while also creating a supportive and fun environment for writers of all levels. As Ursula K. Le Guin says: “Skill in writing rees you to write what you want to write. Craft enables art.”
Writers in Progress Workshops
Nerissa Nields writing it up in the garden
Please visit here for up to date listings
No Bull Writing Workshops with Terianne Falcone aka Miss T
No Bull Workshops:1. Thursday Workshop, once a week: Starting February, we’ll meet on Thursdays, 4pm-6pm for eight weeks. We’ll be doing a combination of feedback and writing exercises. Sign up here.
2. Monday & Wednesday, twice a week. One session is feedback, the other, writing exercises. I currently run an M-F workshop, 8:30am-10:30am. Next one starts March 8th. Sign up here.
3. THE ONE DAY WORKSHOP: Sunday, March 14, 1:00-4:00pm. In this workshop, students will start off with a few silly (and non-silly) writing exercises. No one does writing exercises like Miss T! Then people will read the short pieces (or excerpts) they brought. Miss T will discuss the most productive way to give feedback and then…participants will give feedback to each other! Even in only three hours, you’ll learn tons about writing—including your own—and have a ridiculous amount of fun! Cost: $20-$60 sliding scale. Register HERE.
One student from Singapore says: “I’m on my third run of the workshop – truly no bull (with heart). Loads of actual writing and workshopping. Terianne has given me the gift of writing ‘in flow’; the inner critic is silenced and my just fingers tap away. A godsend for the neurotic writer!” ~ CS
www.teriannefalcone.com
Poet’s Seat Poetry Contest for adults and youth in Franklin County
Mentoring and Editing Services with Michael Favala Goldman
Michael Favala Goldman hammerandhorn.net. I know how difficult it is to be objective about one’s own writing. Having skilled readers and mentors helped me gain the skills to publish16 books of prose translations, poetry translations and original poetry. I have been leading poetry critique groups since 2018. I give direct, compassionate feedback, to help clarify and magnify the author’s voice. I am happy to look at a few short pieces or an entire manuscript. hammerandhorn@gmail.com.
Manuscript Consultations and Editing Services with Jan Freeman
With 40 years of editorial experience, I am available to review works of prose and poetry, including full-length manuscripts, chapbooks, and selected collections. Through multiple readings, I evaluate literal and emotional narratives and a manuscript’s organization, texture, shape, tension, and emotional flow. I am author of 3 books of poetry and co-editor of Sisters: An Anthology; from 1995–2018, I directed Paris Press (now an imprint of Wesleyan University Press), which published critically acclaimed books by Emily Dickinson, NBCC award winning Ruth Stone, Virginia Woolf, and many others.
Jan Freeman, janfreemanpoetry@gmail.com
Mentoring Services with Lesléa Newman
Lesléa Newman has created 75 books for readers of all ages and mentored hundreds of writers including Newbery Award-winner Kwame Alexander (The Crossover), novelist, Leah Henderson (One Shadow on the Wall) and poet Floyd Cheung (Jazz at Manzanar). If you are working on a manuscript, I’d love to take a peek and see how I can help you make your book the best it can be. Whether you write for kids, teens or adults, whether you write poetry or prose, whether you write fiction or non-fiction, you name it, I can critique it. I will mark up your manuscript in purple ink, write you a long, editorial letter, read one revision, and if appropriate, offer publishing suggestions. More information can be found here: https://lesleanewman.
Consultation w/ Gail Thomas
I am available for individual consultation on your poetry submissions, manuscripts and residency applications. With more than 40 years of publishing and teaching experience, I offer feedback that not only focuses on your writing goals, but also strengthens your craft. If you are assembling a chapbook or full-length manuscript, I will work with you to organize and present your best work for publication.
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