summer literary festival courting bliss july 6-22, 2012
readers and writers today and tomorrow
Words o f Wel c ome Never write with pencil, m’ija. It is for those who would erase. Make your mark proud and open, brave, beauty folded into its imperfection, Like a piece of turquoise marked. Carmen Tafolla
We’re “Courting Bliss” at Gemini Ink this summer. Having assembled a plentiful festival of literary offerings, our hope is that you’ll find bliss in leaving your own indelible mark on a page—a mark in “Ink” that will invigorate your creativity. Reveling in our unique voices, braving the creative process, and asserting our art as we do our individuality will undoubtedly rejuvenate. You’ll have the opportunity to work through the structure of a Young Adult novel with Brian Yansky, and get a “thrill” in Roger Boylan’s fiction class. Poetry editor Thom Ward will navigate the “truth” in poetry, and hold one-on-one consultations. Blogger Tunette Powell brings a fresh perspective and honesty to her writing, and will guide parents in sharing their own unique parenting experiences. Our beloved Young Writers Camp returns, led by equally treasured Donna Peacock and Derek Delgado. Help your kids discover their inner hero by joining author and illustrator Xavier Garza on his fantastic “Lucha Libre” day. Evoke your senses for fuller access to your memory in Kelly Grey Carlisle’s memoir class, and find authentic ways to write about music with award-winning music journalist John Swenson. Discover the art of chapbook making with Wings Press’ Bryce Milligan, or unroll your Yoga mat to connect with your body and poetic self in Celeste Guzman Mendoza’s class. We’ll also have an exciting Spelling Bee with Bryce Milligan, and a night of “blackout” poetry. No matter how you choose to “court bliss” this summer, just know how welcome you are to do so at Gemini Ink! Erika Nadeau Morgan University Without Walls Director
about Gemini Ink Gemini Ink nurtures writers and readers and builds community through literature and the related arts. At Gemini Ink we believe human story in all its diverse and complicated forms and genres — from poetry and fiction to memoir and oral tradition — is essential to developing compassion and richness in both individual and community life. We encourage focused reading, writing, and exchange at every level, from elementary school student to incarcerated youth and from polished professional to the elder who has always wanted to record her family stories. Gemini Ink, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, is extremely grateful for contributions from avid readers and writers, as well as grants from the George W. Brackenridge Foundation, Brown Foundation, City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs, Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation, Edouard Foundation, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Frost National Bank, theFund, Guerra • DeBerry • Coody Marketing and Communications, Howard and Betty Halff Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation, H-E-B, King William Association, Albert and Bessie Mae Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, Ruth Lang Charitable Fund and Beulah M. and Felix J. Katz Memorial Trust of the San Antonio Area Foundation, Lifshutz Foundation, Genevieve and Ward Orsinger Foundation, Myra Stafford Pryor Charitable Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, Rackspace Foundation, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, San Antonio ExpressNews, Shield-Ayres Foundation, Smothers Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, USAA Foundation, Valero Energy Foundation, Esther and Harold Vexler Advised Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation, and Wayne Wright Lawyers.
Cover Artist: April Campos, 16 years old, SAY Sí Title: Inspiration Mixed Media summer catalogue 2
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summer 2012 schedule Dates
Classes & Events
Page
Tuesday, June 12
Summer Registration Begins
22
Friday, July 6
Festival Reading
15
Saturday, July 7
Fiction / Yansky
4
Sunday, July 8
Fiction / Garza Lifelong Learning / Powell
5 7
Monday, July 9
Young Writers Camp* (8-12) Delgado & Peacock
9
Wednesday, July 11
Spelling Bee
11
Friday, July 13
Festival Reading
15
Saturday, July 14
Fiction / Boylan Poetry & Multi-Genre / Ward
4 6, 8
Sunday, July 15
Lifelong Learning / Milligan
6
Monday, July 16
Young Writers Camp* (13-18) Delgado & Peacock
9
Wednesday, July 18
Blackout Night
10
Friday, July 20
Festival Reading
15
Saturday, July 21
Memoir / Carlisle Multi-Genre / Swenson
7 8
Sunday, July 22
Poetry / Mendoza Young Writers Camp Reading Summer Festival Ends
5 9
Friday, August 3
Open Mic Night
15
Note: Classes are shown here by genre and instructor(s). See page listings for detailed class descriptions and registration deadlines. *Multi-session courses are shown with an asterisk. gemini ink 2012
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About Our Classes
Are you interested in music, photography, theater, science, or philosophy? Are you a teacher searching for ideas to use in the classroom? Are you a business professional wanting to polish your communication skills? Do you enjoy books and good conversation? Maybe you’ve always wanted to be a writer, but you’re not sure how to get started. Or you’re a writer whose work needs more attention. The University Without Walls program offers a wide range of classes and workshops for anyone with an inquisitive mind. Whether you’re curious about ideas or deeply committed to the craft of writing, you’ll find the literary camaraderie you’re looking for at Gemini Ink. Our faculty members have extensive credentials and are committed to teaching. And, at the heart of our classes are creative, intelligent, and talented students like you. Join our community and make Gemini Ink part of your life.
classes FICTION #1 Young Adult Novels Level: All Instructor: Brian Yansky How do you bring order to a Young Adult novel, or for that matter, any novel? In this course, we’ll tackle this very difficult question of structure, focusing particularly on Young Adult novels where a strong story is absolutely essential. We’ll cover strategies for prewriting, first drafts, and revision. There will be in-class writing exercises (bring pen and paper) as well as discussion, lecture, and YouTube videos. Date: Saturday, July 7, 9am-12pm Limit: 15 Participants Registration Deadline: Thursday, July 5 CPE Credits: 3 Language Arts Fee: $75 Discounted Fee: $65
Course Levels
Beginner: Writers or readers who are new to the course subject and/or design. Intermediate: Writers and readers who have background knowledge of the course subject, will complete required readings, and will actively participate in class discussion. These writers have had working practice with this aspect of craft and have participated in at least one writing workshop (either with Gemini Ink or elsewhere); they are comfortable with in-class writing exercises. Intermediate/Advanced: Intermediate level requirements, plus a knowledge of all technical and formal aspects pertinent to this class. Participants are experienced in critical analysis. Writers have a history of practical experience in this area, have participated in several writing workshops, and are probably researching the publication process (and have a realistic understanding of its demands). Advanced:Intermediate/ Advanced requirements, plus extensive knowledge of this course subject. Each participant is something of an expert in this field. Each writer has attained a professional level, that is, writing has become an integral part of her/his routine and her/his work is of publication quality.
#2 Discussion Point: A Thriller of My Own Level: All Instructor: Roger Boylan In this seminar, you will learn practical, focused ways to write a thriller: how to analyze your thriller’s structure, what to leave in, and what to take out. Participants should bring a synopsis draft of a proposed thriller, which will be discussed (but not critiqued). Featured will be excerpts from the films The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) and The Bourne Identity (2004), archetypal thrillers from their respective eras. Students will comment on what changed in the genre between 1935 and 2004, and what stayed the same. What stayed the same is what a good thriller must have. Excerpts from the novels will be read and discussed in conjunction with the film excerpts. Date: Saturday, July 14, 10am-3pm (1-hour lunch break) Limit: 15 Participants Registration Deadline: Wednesday, July 11 CPE Credits: 4 Language Arts Fee: $90 Discounted Fee: $80
Course levels are self-selected. summer catalogue 4
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#3 Lucha Libre Day Level: All Instructor: Xavier Garza Join author, illustrator, and storyteller Xavier Garza as he brings the world of “lucha libre” and its masked heroes and villains to life for both children (ages 6-12) and parents alike. Discover your inner hero, and dive into the process of bringing your character to life. Xavier Garza will share stories from his books, Lucha Libre — The Man in the Silver Mask and Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel. Afterwards, in an activity that is sure to be great family fun, children and their parents will work together to design and create their own lucha libre masks. Please note: each registration includes one parent and one child. Price includes both parent and child. Date: Sunday, July 8, 9am-1pm (half-hour lunch break. Please bring a sack lunch.) Limit: 10 Registration Deadline: Thursday, July 5 CPE Credits: 3.5 Language Arts Fee: $105 Discounted Fee: $95
POETRY
#4 Body Bliss Level: All Instructor: Celeste Guzman Mendoza Delighting in the human body is the purpose of this generative workshop. We will discuss and read works by Sandra Cisneros, Maya Angelou, Gloria Anzaldúa, Pablo Neruda and others who celebrate and praise the human form. Then we will write poems and/or dramatic monologues in response to these works. Please dress comfortably and bring a mat; during the class we will do movement work and some basic yoga to ground awareness into our bodies. Date: Sunday, July 22, 10am-1pm Limit: 15 Participants Registration Deadline: Wednesday, July 18 CPE Credits: 3 Language Arts Fee: $60 Discounted Fee: $50
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How to Register A registration form appears on page 22. Please mail the completed form to Gemini Ink at 513 S. Presa, San Antonio, TX 78205, along with your class tuition and registration fee. You may also register by visiting our website at www.geminiink. org, calling us at 210.734.9673 (877.734.9673, toll-free), or visiting our office at the above address. Registration Fee Be sure to include the $10 registration fee in your total. The fee is required each time you enroll for classes and helps cover expenses like registration staffing, classroom maintenance, handouts, flyers, mailings, and supplies. If you are taking several classes, register for them all at once to avoid paying multiple registration fees! Credit Card Payments Gemini Ink accepts Discover, VISA, and MasterCard payments for class tuition or contributions. For more information, please call the office at 210.734.9673. Registration and Payment Policies Registration and payment should be made as soon as possible. Class size is limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis. After the published deadline, we accept registrations on a spaceavailable basis. We will charge a $10 processing fee for any returned check. Class Cancellations Gemini Ink reserves the right to cancel or reschedule courses to adjust for enrollment. If it is necessary to cancel a course, all registered participants will be informed immediately and will be extended the opportunity to transfer to another course. If participants enrolled in a canceled class do not wish to transfer, a full refund will be made. Discounts on Class Tuition! The class fee reflects a $10 discount. An additional 5% deduction is offered to educators, seniors (65+), and students. Refer five friends to any University Without Walls class or combination of classes, and we’ll waive your tuition for one class or workshop. Some restrictions apply. Call the office at 210.734.9673 for details.
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Withdrawals
A student may withdraw from a Gemini Ink workshop at any time. The student must notify the office at least 5 business days prior to the first date of the workshop to be eligible for full tuition refunds, less a $25 withdrawal fee. Alternately, tuition transfers to another class are available within the same semester. Withdrawal notifications not made within 5 business days of the workshop are not eligible for tuition refunds, but students may transfer tuition to another class within the same semester, less a $25 late withdrawal fee and/or faculty cost. Withdrawal notifications made the day of the workshop or after the workshop has begun are not eligible for refunds or transfers of any kind. Transfer of tuition across semesters is not possible. Failure to attend sessions or verbal notification to instructor will not be regarded as official notice of withdrawal. Refunds will be processed within 14 business days. Refund checks must be cashed within 90 days of the check date. Otherwise, we will have to charge for any stoppayment costs we incur.
Special Info
Occasionally classes will be photographed or videotaped. Please notify the instructor if you wish to be excluded. Adult classes are open to high school students by permission of the instructor only. On occasion, classes may deviate from the published course descriptions.
Volunteering
Do the Write Thing. Work toward a free class! We have lots of opportunities and a variety of jobs to do. To learn more please call 210.734.9673 and pitch in!
#5 Lie to Tell the Truth Level: All Instuctor: Thom Ward In this poetry workshop and readshop we will explore aesthetic strategies, based on “lies,” that might enable us to discover what we didn’t know when we started writing our poems/stories. Simply put, we’ll pursue aesthetic truths as opposed to “reality” by taking a closer look at, and discussing several contemporary poems. Two writing exercises will free our imaginations. Students will be encouraged to share their poem/stories in the democratic spirit of art. Date: Saturday, July 14, 10am-12pm Limit: 15 Participants Registration Deadline: Wednesday, July 11 CPE Credits: 4 Language Arts Fee: $55 Discounted Fee: $45
LIFELONG LEARNING #6 Chapbook Seminar Level: All Instuctor: Bryce Milligan Bryce Milligan, publisher and editor of Wings Press, will show and discuss examples from his own collection of chapbooks, both traditional and contemporary. We will cover the history of the chapbook, but the focus will be on relating content to design. Students will learn binding techniques: saddle-stich, basic stab-stich, Coptic and Japanese stitches. We will also discuss the making of miniature books. Come appreciate the artistry in chapbook-making. Date: Sunday, July 15, 1pm-5pm Limit: 15 Participants Registration Deadline: Wednesday, July 11 CPE Credits: 4 Language Arts Fee: $80 Discounted Fee: $70
Be good to the earth...
Please recycle! Paper-free people may receive all catalogue information online at our website www.geminiink.org
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#7 Adventures in Motherhood and Blogging Level: All Instructor: Tunette Powell From celebrating your baby’s first steps, to giving advice to new parents, sharing stories is how parents learn. This four-hour course takes parents from changing diapers to changing minds, as it dives into the art of storytelling via blogging. Through inclass exercises, lecture, and discussion, this class will demonstrate how to use blogging and short story structure to share memorable parenting experiences. This interactive, hands-on course is ideal for new bloggers or seasoned vets looking to rejuvenate their site. Date: Sunday July 8, 10am-2pm Limit: 15 Participants Registration Deadline: Thursday, July 5 CPE Credits: 4 Language Arts Fee: $60 Discounted Fee: $50
MEMOIR #8 The Sensory Story Level: All Instructor: Kelly Grey Carlisle Remember the cold sea rushing around your ankles, the way you dug your toes into the wet sand? Do you remember the gull’s cry, the roar of the breakers, how salt lingered on your lips hours later? Specific, sensory details help a reader experience a story viscerally—and providing those details helps you, the memoirist, fully access memory. Join us as we use our bodies to remember and write. This class will combine generative exercises, in-class writing, and sharing. Students may submit up to 10 pages for instructor critique. Please submit work no later than Friday, July 13. Date: Saturday, July 21, 10am-3pm (1-hour lunch break) Limit: 15 participants Registration Deadline: Wednesday, July 11 CPE Credits: 4 Language Arts Fee: $80 Discounted Fee: $70
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Credit for Teachers
Gemini Ink is registered with the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) as a provider of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) activities for standard certificate renewal for teachers. CPE credits are listed by each course description. Credit should be requested at the time of registration. Certificates will be mailed within 7 days of course completion.
Business and Professional Managers
If you are looking for an exciting continuing education experience for your valued employees, a Gemini Ink class is ideal. University Without Walls class offerings begin on page 4. For writing instruction in the workplace, contact the Director of the Writers in Communities program at our office. Whether held at our site or yours, our classes will enrich your employees’ lives on and off the job.
Course Texts
Most course texts and faculty books may be purchased at the Gemini Ink office during business hours (call for availability), or at The Twig Book Shop, 200 E. Grayson Ste. 124, 1.800. SAYTWIG. The Twig donates 20% of our in-office book sales to Gemini Ink. www.thetwig.indiebound.com
Manuscript Submissions
For courses requiring advance manuscripts, please send manuscript attached to an email to info@geminiink.org. Manuscripts must have at least one-inch margins, be in an easily legible font, adhere to the instructor’s specified length limitations, and, if fiction, be double-spaced. Please note that Gemini Ink is unable to reformat manuscripts that don’t meet these guidelines. Include your instructor’s name, along with your name and contact information. The email should indicate “manuscript” and class number in the subject line. Manuscripts will be circulated electronically for advance critique. Please bring one hard copy to class. Manuscripts submitted after the published deadline will be distributed in class and discussed only at the instructor’s discretion.
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Thank You
We are grateful to our many Gemini Ink donors and funders who make it possible to keep your tuition affordable.
Interested in Teaching?
Proposals for classes are invited! Generally, we require that our faculty have significant publishing and teaching experience. Please send a sample course outline, résumé/curriculum vitae, and (if possible) a copy of a recent book. Direct your materials to uww@geminiink.org, or, to teach in community settings, send to wic@geminiink.org.
Plans in the Making
Parents! If your children are interested in classes/workshops for young writers, please call our office at 210.734.9673 to get on our planning list. When we have ten potential students, we’ll put a workshop together, considering instructor availability and compatible ages in the group.
Where to Find Us
Unless otherwise noted, events take place in our bright green building at 513 S. Presa in Southtown/King William. If you are coming from 35&10, exit César E. Chávez Boulevard Blvd. East. Drive to S. Presa and turn right. We are on your right. From 37/281, exit César E. Chávez Boulevard West. Drive to the stoplight at S. Alamo and turn left; take the next right on S. Presa. We are on your left almost at the end of the block.
Parking
Parking for classes and events at our facility is available in front of the building, along the street, and across the street in the lot marked “Gemini Ink.” In the interest of being good neighbors, we ask that you not park in the El Mirador restaurant lot next door.
Accessibility
Gemini Ink provides parking for the physically challenged in front of the building, which is wheelchair accessible.
MULTI-GENRE
#9 Private Consultations with Editor Level: Intermediate Instructor: Thom Ward Submit up to five pages of your poems-in-progress (unpublished work, please). The editor will meet with you for 30 minutes to discuss your poetry and provide feedback on your work. Please submit your poems no later than June 28. Date: Saturday, July 14, 1pm-6pm Limit: 8 Participants Registration Deadline: Wednesday, June 27 CPE Credits: .5 Language Arts Fee: $100 Discounted Fee: $90
#10 Music Journalism Level: All Instructor: John Swenson How does one write about musicians without resorting to simply offering critical opinion or practicing celebrity journalism? This class will demonstrate the rich tradition of music journalism as a way to understand the relationship of artists to the communities they represent. The class will also provide an opportunity to accurately document important events in music history. The writers will be actively engaged in imaginative interactions with musicians, while examining their own work. The class will include writing exercises, review of manuscripts, discussion, and a demonstration of the best and worst techniques to interview musicians. Date: Saturday, July 21, 10am-3pm (1-hour lunch break) Limit: 15 Participants Registration Deadline: Wednesday, July 18 CPE Credits: 4 Language Arts Fee: $80 Discounted Fee: $70
Office Hours
Monday through Friday, 9am-4pm; closed on all major holidays.
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YOUNG WRITERS CAMP FINDING FERDINAND Instructors: Derek Delgado & Donna Peacock While all the other little bulls jump and butt heads, Ferdinand prefers to sit in the pasture and smell the flowers. “He is very happy.” (Munro Leaf, “The Story of Ferdinand”) Whether it’s blindly leaping into a cold pond, blowing the threads of a dandelion into the wind, or having an idea so powerful that it gives you goose bumps, this simple act of embracing the beauty around you can be extraordinary — the feeling of transforming the everyday into a truly blissful experience. It’s at the heart of much music, art, and literature, and, in this workshop, students will explore all that inspires bliss in their own lives and ways to celebrate their discoveries in words. The playful environment will nurture and honor each student’s perspective and voice, encouraging sharing within a supportive writing community. Finally, on Sunday, July 22, all participants are invited to share their work at a public reading at Gemini Ink. #11 Session I (ages 8 - 12) Dates: Monday – Friday, July 9 – July 13, 10:30am-1:30pm Limit: 20 Participants Registration Deadline: July 5 Required Materials: Bring your favorite writing tools and a sack lunch each day Fee: $155 Discounted Fee: $145 #12 Session II (ages 13 - 18) Date: Monday – Friday, July 16 – July 20, 10:30am-1:30pm Limit: 20 Participants Registration Deadline: July 11 Required Materials: Bring your favorite writing tools and a sack lunch each day Fee: $155 Discounted Fee: $145 Young Writers Camp Reading: Sunday, July 22, 2pm for Sessions I and II
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Gift Shop Our inventory includes books by current and previous Gemini Ink faculty; signed, limited edition prints, handmade chapbooks of the works of Gemini award winners, and gift certificates for University Without Walls classes and workshops. We also stock the literary journal, Rain Taxi, which is free for the taking. Lending Library Gemini Ink has an eclectic array of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and how-to-write books, as well as literary journals that are available to borrow. Please stop by and check out our titles. Facilities Rental The Gemini Ink conference room is available for $20/hour, while the large meeting room is available for $30/hour rental fee. Our facility belongs to you. Please take this opportunity to call the office for details. Staff Erika Nadeau Morgan Director, University Without Walls Anisa Onofre Director, Writers in Communities Evelyn Reyes Managing Director Anna Sánchez* Registrar | Office Manager Lucinda Vela-Wick Director, Communications
*part-time Volunteers Dario Beniquez Facilitator, Open Writing Workshop Jim Dawes Facilitator, Open Writing Workshop Roland Huff Facilitator, Open Writing Workshop Consultants Gloria Pins Arecchi CPA Bett Butler & Pamela Dean Kenny Dramatic Readers Theater Interns Diana Garcia Paul Hoeg Mary Kate Hull Angela Pantoja Sarah Serrato
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Gemini Ink Board of Directors Mallory Belt Ahl Public Finance, Frost Bank Marian Aitches Senior Lecturer in History, University of Texas at San Antonio Eusebio Díaz Program Director, Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio William A. Dupont, AIA San Antonio Conservation Society Endowed Professor of Architecture, University of Texas at San Antonio John Frederick Provost, University of Texas at San Antonio James Heidelberg Attorney, Escamilla & Poneck, Inc. María Luisa Holmgreen Attorney Lee Robinson Attorney Writer Jan Jarboe Russell Freelance writer, Author Josie Seeligson Freelance writer, Photographer and Tree Farmer Michael Soto Professor, Trinity University Aïssatou Sidimé Communications Specialist, Business Financial Group
BLACKOUT NIGHT @ Gemini Ink We’re stealing a page from Austin Kleon’s Newspaper Blackout, and asking you to join us for an evening of creativity. We’ll have mounds of newspapers and bunches of black markers. All you’ll have to do is pick an old clipping, and create a new poem. Writer Lyle Rosdahl will be here to guide and inspire us through the process.
National Advisory Board Dorothy Allison San Francisco Robert Boswell Houston Sandra Cisneros San Antonio Katy Flato San Antonio Robert Flynn San Antonio Ernest J. Gaines Louisiana Edward Hirsch New York Tony Hoagland Houston Phillip Lopate New York Terry McMillan California W.S. Merwin Hawaii Antonya Nelson Houston Naomi Shihab Nye San Antonio Gregory Orr Charlottesville Carolyn Osborn Austin Martha Rhodes New York Richard Russo Maine John Phillip Santos San Antonio Ellen Bryant Voigt Vermont Chuck Wachtel New York Marion Winik Pennsylvania summer catalogue 10
Wednesday, July 18 at Gemini Ink Free and open to the public
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sp ellin g bee Wednesday, July 11, 7pm 513 S. Presa u Free and open to the public
Join us, along with the publisher and editor of Wings Press, Bryce Milligan, for an evening of friendly competition and poetry. Words will be pulled from San Antonio poet laureate Carmen Tafolla’s Curandera and Sonnets and Salsa. The winning speller will receive a special prize. Please call 734.9673 to reserve a spot. Children are welcome to attend, but only adults can participate in this spelling bee. gemini ink 2012
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summer 2012 facult y Roger Boylan is an American writer with family roots in Ireland and the New York area. Raised in Europe, he attended the University of Ulster and the University of Edinburgh. He lived in New York City for many years, working as a teacher, translator, bartender, and freelance editor. His novel Killoyle, which Publishers Weekly called “a virtuoso performance,” is published by Dalkey Archive Press, and is currently in its fourth printing. A second novel, The Great Pint-Pulling Olympiad, is published by Grove Press, New York. The third volume in the Killoyle trilogy, The Maladjusted Terrorist, was published in Germany as Killoyle Wein und Käse in 2006. Boylan’s novel The Adorations will soon be published, initially as an e-book. Boylan is a regular contributor to Boston Review, and his work has appeared in many journals and reviews, including The Economist, The New York Times Book Review, The Literary Review, The Scotsman, and The Texas Observer. He currently lives in Texas.
Kelly Grey Carlisle teaches creative nonfiction writing at Trinity University. Her personal essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Ploughshares, River Teeth, Subtropics, Tampa Review, and The Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction. She has been cited twice in Best American Essays and was a winner in The Atlantic’s annual student writing contest. Her booklength memoir, My Secret Life in Film, is currently under representation.
An El Paso native, Derek Delgado is a writer of short stories and sudden fiction. He graduated from St. Mary’s University and has taught with Gemini Ink’s Writers in Communities program, in addition to courses at Our Lady of the Lake University where he earned his M.A. Among his short stories are “Sweat Pea” and “Friends and Neighbors,” both of which appeared in The Thing Itself Literary Journal. He is currently pursuing his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.
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Xavier Garza has authored and illustrated the books Creepy Creatures and other Cucuys, Lucha Libre: The Man in the Silver Mask, Juan and the Chupacabras, Charro Claus and the Tejas Kid, Zulema and the Witch Owl, Kid Cyclone Fights the Devil and other Stories and Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel, which was chosen by the American Library Association as a 2012 Pura Belpré Author Honor Book. Born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, Xavier Garza has made San Antonio his home since August of 2000.
Celeste Guzman Mendoza is a Macondista, Hedgebrook resident, and co-founder of CantoMundo, a master writer’s workshop for Latina/o poets. Her poetry and essays have appeared in various anthologies published by Penguin, Calaca Press, Eakin Press and Wings Press. Her first, fulllength poetry manuscript, Beneath the Halo, is due out in September 2012 by Wings Press. Her chapbook, Cande te estoy llamando, won the Poesia Tejana Prize in 1999. A performer and playwright, Mendoza’s plays have been produced in Austin and San Antonio. She is at work on a second poetry manuscript, and lives in Austin with her husband and three cats. Bryce Milligan is the publisher and editor of Wings Press. Every two years the press publishes a new title in the Whitebird Chapbook Series, and has published chapbooks by several notable authors, including Donald Hall, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Ana Castillo, Angel Gonzalez, Robert Flynn, Michael Ventura, Carmen Tafolla, Naomi Shihab Nye, Vassar Miller, and others. In the last few years, Wings Press has been featured in Poets & Writers, Bloomsbury Review, and the Huffington Post. Milligan has served as a judge for the Hertzog Prize for Excellence in Book Design.
In Memoriam Theodoros Angelopoulos, 1935 Doris Betts, 1932 Marie Colvin, 1956 Shelagh Delaney, 1938 Carlos Fuentes, 1928 Christopher Hitchens, 1949 Ricardo Legorreta, 1931 Christopher Logue, 1926 Adrienne Rich, 1929 Bobbie Jo Martin, 1949 gemini ink 2012
Tomás Segovia, 1927 Maurice Sendak, 1928 Anthony Shadid 1968 Josef Skvorecky, 1924 Wislawa Szymborska, 1923 Eleanor Ross Taylor, 1920 Piri Thomas, 1928 Mike Wallace, 1918 Christa Wolf, 1929 13 summer catalogue
Donna Peacock is the author of two published nonfiction works, as well as both original and adapted material for children’s theatre productions. She was the first Director of Creative Writing at the North East School of the Arts, where she designed and implemented what was then the nation’s only high school four-year creative writing program. Cited for excellence and outstanding innovation in teaching of Humanities by the Texas Committee for the Humanities, she is also a memoirist, writing workshop presenter, and creative writing curriculum designer.
Tunette Powell is a motivational speaker and speech consultant who has racked up a host of public speaking awards. Most recently Powell won the Interstate Oratory competition, the nation’s oldest persuasive speaking tournament that features the top two speakers from each state. Powell is also author of the unorthodox mom blog, “Tunette’s Baby Steps,” which has been consistently ranked in the top 25 most read blogs by the San Antonio Express-News’ website (www.mysanantonio.com). Powell worked at the San Antonio Express-News as an editorial assistant and staff writer for five years. As a staff writer, she chronicled everything from a homeless community’s fight to save their makeshift homes to an aspiring rapper in San Antonio. Powell now resides in Nebraska with her husband, Jason, and two children — Jason Jr. and Joah. John Swenson has worked as an editor at Crawdaddy, Rolling Stone, Circus, Saturday Review and OffBeat and was a syndicated music columnist for more than 20 years at United Press International and Reuters. Swenson has written 14 published books including New Atlantis: Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans (Oxford University Press, 2011), winner of the Jazz Times critics poll for 2011; biographies of Bill Haley, The Who and Stevie Wonder; and co-edited the original Rolling Stone Record Guide with Dave Marsh. He is also the editor of The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide. Swenson’s articles in OffBeat magazine won first place awards from the Press Club of New Orleans in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
“LIKE” Gemini Ink on Facebook for updates, photos and videos from recent events, a chance to win a prize, interesting links, and inspiration! summer catalogue 14
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Thom Ward is sole proprietor of Thom Ward’s Poetry Editing Services. He is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Etcetera’s Mistress, published in 2011 by Accents Publishing. Ward teaches creative writing workshops at high schools and colleges around the country, tutors individual poetry students, and edits poetry manuscripts. He is a faculty and advisory board member at Wilkes University’s Graduate Creative Writing program in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. Thom Ward lives in western New York with his girlfriend Jennifer and their cat Phantom.
Brian Yansky is the award-winning author of My Road Trip to the Pretty Girl Capital of the World (Texas Institute of Letters Best Young Adult Novel of the Year), Wonders of the World (Texas Institute of Letters Finalist), and his latest novel, Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences. A sequel to that novel, Fighting Alien Nation, will come out next year. He teaches writing at Austin Community College and has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College.
Readings & more! Reading, July 6, 7pm Garza, Powell, and Yansky
Reading, July 20, 7pm Carlisle, Mendoza, and Swenson
Reading, July 13, 7pm Boylan, Milligan, and Ward
Reading, July 22, 2pm Young Writers Camp Reading
Spelling Bee, July 11, 7pm*
Reading, August 3, 7pm* Open Mic Night
Blackout Night, July 18, 7pm
*Spaces are limited! Please call to sign up. 734.9673 Free and Open to the Public at Gemini Ink (513 S. Presa) Open Writing Workshop Join this peer-driven workshop facilitated by longtime Gemini Ink volunteers Dario Beniquez, Jim Dawes and Roland Huff. Share your writing and get feedback on works-in-progress in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. The workshop is held from 6:30 - 8:30 pm, on the last Monday of every month at Gemini Ink, 513 S. Presa. This summer’s Open Writing Workshops will be held on June 25, July 30, and August 27. Bring 6 - 10 copies of your work to share! Free and open to all writers! gemini ink 2012
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writers in communities helping people tell their stories
Trey Moore at Frank Tejeda Academy in Harlandale ISD
Writers in Communities (WIC) provides workshops – always free to participants – highlighting oral traditions, reading, and creative writing. Our professional teaching writers work alongside students of all ages, needs, interests and abilities in diverse community settings – from schools to justice facilities. WIC has served well over 7,000 individuals and published more than 60 chapbooks and broadsides of writing by students of all ages since 2002, and we continue to seek innovative partnerships throughout the community. Our work builds the critical thinking, reading, writing, and verbal skills essential to a healthy and economically thriving populace. Writers in the Community WIC partnered with Guadalupe Home of Catholic Charities, a transitional living facility for homeless pregnant women and homeless women with infants —for the workshop Mother Tongue. Writer Nelly Rosario worked with eight women touching on everything from fairy tales and haikus to memoir and poetry. A chapbook of their collected work is coming this summer. This project was funded by the Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation. Writers in Schools Ten students at Krueger Middle School in North East ISD took part in an after-school poetry workshop with poet Trey Moore. This was part two of a collaboration that began last fall with a Storybook Project in which students produced children’s stories to share with neighborhood youth. Two publications have resulted from this project! See our list of anthologies on the next page. This project was funded by Rackspace Foundation. Writers in Juvenile Justice Settings This spring, WIC returned to the Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center for Poetry in Life, a six-week intensive workshop with Ben Olguín. Youth explored themes of self-identification, manhood, gender relations, and cultural pride. WIC partnered with BCFS’s Children’s Aftercare Reentry Experience (C.A.R.E.) program to work with a group of eight teens for an Introduction to Poetry workshop with Trey Moore. The group met at Gemini Ink once a week for ten weeks as part of C.A.R.E.’s mentoring component. summer catalogue 16
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WIC Summer Projects This summer, Bárbara Renaud González facilitates Life Stories: Crafting Memoir from Memory in two five-week bilingual writing workshops with elders at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Center. WIC received funding from the Genevieve and Ward Orsinger Foundation for this important project. Writer Alan Stewart Carl will work with middle and high school students at Harlandale ISD annual Summer Writing Camp. In the past, HISD summer students have studied and written flash fiction, the gothic story, column writing, and poetry—all resulting in publications. We’re anxious to see what this summer’s workshop brings! The Real Seven Wonders of the World Close your mouths before a fly flies in Feet glued down as your heads tilt up Look at you standing in awe, talking about the beauty Of a wall people died while building Or a mountain people died while climbing Or a coliseum that rooted pride into people’s souls No three of these is as marvelous as The way a child reads before he learns to read The wisp of air that appears without notice When you peel an orange peel The way clouds tell stories in their shapes The way birds have built-in engines Which don’t require fancy college-level math to build The captivation words can instill in our bodies if arranged right The way sound travels in waves That aren’t blue, or salty, or visible But still powerful and definitely nowhere close To the way our hearts long for another being Without science’s permission From the anthology Writing on the Walls by Ariana Hernandez Harlandale High School, San Antonio
Writers in Communities Funders and Partners Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation Baptist Children & Family Services (BCFS) Bexar County Juvenile Probation Dept. Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center Genevieve and Ward Orsinger Foundation George W. Brackenridge Foundation Guadalupe Home Harlandale Independent School District King William Association Krueger Middle School North East Independent School District City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs Rackspace Foundation San Antonio Independent School District Texas Commission on the Arts
Spring WIC Anthologies Writing on the Walls—An anthology of some 100 poems, haikus, and short stories by students in Harlandale ISD. The workshops took place in two elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools. The Moon Towards Me—A chapbook of poetry by students at Krueger Middle School in North East ISD, with cover art by Trey Moore. The Fairies’ Travels and Other Stories for Children—A beautiful collection of fairy tales written by Krueger Middle School students in North East ISD, with illustrations by Carolina Flores. As Long As I Have My Memory—A chapbook of writing from students at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio ISD. The book includes images of a mural the students produced with artist Fadela Castro and host teacher (and local artist and illustrator!) Teresa Ybañez. Ésta es mi palabra—A collection of poetry and illustrations by Latin American immigrant youth in a local emergency shelter. The book features cover artwork donated by local artist Vincent
Valdez.
Opportunity for Professional Writers
If you have a published book (or the equivalent), have experience teaching creative writing, and want to help bring creative writing, reading, storytelling, and thinking to diverse communities, we want to meet you. E-mail your resume or CV and three pages of writing samples to wic@geminiink.org. gemini ink 2012
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facult y excerpts “Max, get off of there!” I hear, just as the crowd pushes my father right into me. He reaches out, but he can’t keep me from flipping head first over the guardrail on to the runway. Suddenly the world is spinning all around me. I look up and witness a sight I know I will carry with me until the day I die: the Guardian Angel stands before me clad in his silver wrestling boots and tights, a long orange cape with gold sequins draped over his massive shoulders. My hero’s chest is exposed, revealing— like medals of honor— the scars of his historic battles with such men as Tarzan Lopez, Gory Guerrero, Black Gordman and the Gladiator. The Silver mask with the embroidered orange flames shimmers every time the arena spotlights dance around him. He is taller, more imposing than I could ever have imagined. And then?— the Guardian Angel bends down and picks me up off the floor and delivers me into my father’s arms. Xavier Garza Excerpt from Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel Cinco Puntos Press
Miming the petulant moue of, say, a Roman sensualist of the post-Antonine era, or a Regency brat under the Younger Pitt, Michael T. “Mick” McCreek’s face, that interesting preface to the rather ordinary rest of him, buried itself pillow-deep in a vain attempt to avoid the probing rays of the rising Irish sun, a weak sun at best but a game one, bedad, and not a sun to be shut out of the bedroom window of Flat 16A, Padre Pio Houses, by a mere flimsy curtain or so. Indeed, by shining persistently and directly onto your man’s Romano-Regency face, it illumined in an unwelcome, glaring red glow the intricate Mississippi Delta network of his inner-eyelid veins.1 He grumbled. Slowly, sleep ebbed as sufficient time dragged itself along, with the lame determination of a hunchback2 in heat, to accommodate the twin phenomena, one tactile, the other aural, of: (1) warmer sunshine splashing onto Mick’s gob and (2) a car outside starting up with hiccupping roars exacerbated by much boot-to-the-floor pedal-pumping followed by the gear-grinding diminuendo of exceedingly slow departure. There goes that Indian dickhead (shouted the uninvited thought-announcer in Mick’s brain) at the wheel of his effing old Escort that he should have sent to the junkyard long since, the stingy wee bastard, turning his lights off in the middle of the night and spewing clouds of burnt oil left right and centre and no bloody notion in the world of how to shift into first...! Roger Boylan The Great Pint-Pulling Olympiad; A Mostly Irish Farce Grove/Atlantic Inc. summer catalogue 18
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Goldfinch, Cockroach Once in a while my soul exits this body, goes shopping for another house of flesh. Giant sheets of ice north and south of us rip from their moorings, crash into the sea. Those with the most superfluous gadgets cast the longest silhouettes, but not enough to thwart ultraviolet rays. For a dollar the drunk outside the corner bar will share fantastic tales from the captain of the ship in the bottle. Yes, that’s correct. Goldfinches no longer visit our garden, and the cockroaches have a new king. My soul is a fickle shopper, rummaging through clearance sale bins. What you didn’t do, what I did; at the end all we can hope for are the right regrets. Thom Ward ETCETERA’S MISTRESS Accents Publishing Pool 50 cents for kids a dollar for adults The four of us stood in the cement showers framing the entrance to the fenced-in pool. Father. Mother. Brother. Me. They’d step into the shallow end. I’d dive into the deep, touch the bottom surface with my palm, then shoot into the air. I was a fish back then. Held my breath for a minute under water; my lungs held up against the pressure like my tears held the tension in our house: just enough money at the end of the pay period for a dip in the public pool; we floated. Me, up to my ears. Them, comfortable; the water lapping up between their legs. Celeste Guzman Mendoza Beneath the Halo Wings Press, Fall 2012 gemini ink 2012
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facult y excerpts continued They say you can’t go home again, but that isn’t true, so long as you have memory. On warm nights when Ben and I sleep with the windows open, I can hear trains sounding their horns in the distance, mournful calls that echo through the dark around Lincoln, Nebraska. If I close my eyes and forget the miles of land that surround me, I can pretend they are the horns of ships anchored in the outer harbor, the fog horn at Angel’s Gate. Sometimes I let my mind follow one of those trains heading west. I glide along the rails through fields and farms to the shaggy grass near the Colorado border, then wend my way up the steep, windswept slope into the Rockies. I travel through white rock canyons then plunge into the long darkness of the Moffat tunnel and pass beneath the Continental Divide. I switch rails and head southwest, through the rainbow canyons of Utah down to Nevada, through the desert to California, then into Los Angeles. I creep through the teeming city, its thousands of rail crossings and back yards, factories, warehouses, malls, until I reach the LA Harbor. Then I follow the rails past the port’s oil refineries and chemical plants, its scrap metal yards, mountains of sulfur and coal, boatyards, dry docks, and, finally, turn on to the switch of track that leads to the West Basin of the harbor to Berth 117. Here I leave the rails for a dusty road that once led down to the sea. And with my first footfall, I step into the past. I go back some twenty years, to when the shore of the West Basin was still mud, and the breeze smelled of muck and salt, of diesel and eucalyptus trees. In my dream, Donahue’s Marina is still there, its rundown boats bobbing on the green water, the boat where we lived there at its end tie, and the girl I once was sitting on its bow. And in the way such things are possible in dreams, I become that girl once more. I dangle my feet over the fuel-sheened water, feel the warmth of the sun on my back. I listen to the sound of sheets banging against masts, the creak of lines pulling against dock, the rub of rope against hull. And from my perch on the bow, I watch the shore as a train rumbled by on its tracks, headed for points east—to places I’d then only ever dreamed of going—Utah, Colorado, Nebraska. My grandfather is still alive. Marilyn is doing laundry and the smell of dryer sheets and steam drifts across the air to me. My friend Pete is somewhere tinkering in the engine room. My dog Charlie is barking at his own shadow. The cats are sitting on the cap rail, sniffing the air. I’m home again. Kelly Grey Carlisle My Secret Life in Film summer catalogue 20
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bringing conceptual innovators and their books to San Antonio
Save the Dates: Oct. 25 & 26, 2012 Dr. Christopher Phillips Author, Democracy Activist & Social Entrepreneur Founder, Socrates Café & Constitution Café Dialogue Groups Public Reading with Q&A Thursday, Oct. 25 Location TBA Free and open to the public Colloquium Luncheon Q&A and book signing follows Friday, Oct. 26, 11:30am Pearl Stable 307 Pearl Parkway
A foremost specialist in the Socratic Method, Phillips reminds us that we ought to ask questions — “not about any chance question,” as Socrates put it in Plato’s Republic, “but about the way one should live.” Dedicated to the Jeffersonian idea of freedom: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, his goal is to inspire curiosity and wonder, to nurture self-discovery and democracy. Join us in dialogue as he leads us in a space of human interaction and shares aspects of his new book, Constitution Café (W.W. Norton, 2011), in which he describes his launch of an initiative aimed at generating a new, nationwide Constitutional Convention. CALL GEMINI INK FOR RESERVATIONS AND MORE INFORMATION: 210.734.9673 gemini ink 2012
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registration form First day to register for summer 2012: Tuesday, June 12 You can also register online at www.geminiink.org Please review our registration and payment policies on page 5 as well as our updated class withdrawal policy on page 6.
Name:___________________________________________________________ Day Phone:____________________ Evening Phone:_____________________ Mailing Address:___________________________________________________ Email Address:____________________________________________________ Ethnicity (For grant reporting purposes only): ____________________________ M ____ F____ Age: 0-17______ 18-64_______ 65+_______ Do you require assistance accessing our facilities? ________________ Referred by:______________________________________________________ In response to the economic downturn, Gemini Ink is extending a $10 discount to everyone who registers. This discount is already reflected in the catalogue listing. An additional 5% discount is offered to students, educators, and seniors. (No additional discounts for Young Writers Camp). Do you qualify for an additional 5% discount? _____ Student ______ Educator _____ Senior Class #
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Use additional page if necessary. To audit a class, write “A” next to the title and deduct 10% from the fee. Because not all classes can be audited, please contact the Gemini Ink office before registering for a class as an auditor.
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Account Number__________________________________________________ Exp. Date________ Signature _______________________________________ Mail to: Gemini Ink, 513 S. Presa, San Antonio, TX 78205. Credit Card registrations may also be faxed (210.737.0688), phoned in (210.734.9673), or paid online (www.geminiink.org). summer catalogue 22
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suppor t Gemini Ink YES, I SUPPORT READING AND WRITING FOR ALL! This is your chance to stake a claim for reading and writing and to enrich your community’s quality of life. We appreciate all donations, big and small. Contribute to our fund drive, and be an activist for language! Name: ______________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________ City: ______________________ State: ________________ Zip: ________________ Work Phone: ______________________ Home Phone: _______________________ Fax: ____________________________ Email: ______________________________
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513 South Presa | San Antonio, Texas 78205 210.734.WORD (9673) | Fax: 210.737.0688 | info@geminiink.org www.geminiink.org
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gemini ink 513 south presa san antonio, tx 78205 telephone 210.734.9673 www.geminiink.org
INKstravaganza 2012
Non-profit organization U.S. Postage Paid San Antonio, Texas Permit No. 1360
Thursday, September 27
Save the Date! Honoring Barbara Ras