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Writing Classes, Conferences, and Inspiration
Inspiration into Action
Friday and Saturday June 25-26, 2021 Mark Your Calendar!
Registration for the 2021 Conference is Now Open chuckanutwritersconference.com
“Along Chuckanut Drive,” Nancy McDonnell Spaulding
Whatcom Community College 360.383.3200 Bellingham, Washington
Historic Fairhaven Winterfest celebrates Whatcom County writers in our 2nd annual "Tales of the Season" event.
Think of your favorite holiday memory and boil it down to between 300 and 500 words. Up to 20 stories and poems (divided by age groups) will be selected to be honored at the Winterfest celebration, which includes a video of a storyteller reading your work, story will also be posted online and in one of the festive shops in Fairhaven throughout the season.
Submissions from all ages are due by November 12, 2020. $5 entry fee. For more information and to register, please visit" fairhavenwinterfest.com
Chuckanut Writers
COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Classess for Your Writing Life
Village Books and WCC Community & Continuing Education offer a writing instruction collaboration called Chuckanut Writers. These programs are designed to inspire and encourage writers at all stages of their writing journey. Check out
these upcoming virtual classes:
Overcoming Writer's Block with Roby Blecker New!
Tuesday, 10/13, 6:30pm-8:30pm (1 session) F8294 / $29
Every once in a while, all writers hit a wall. This class offers techniques and exercises on how to make it easier to get back to work when blocks occur. Roby Blecker is a writer and editor, and has been helping others perfect their craft for over 27 years.
Ecopoetics: Voicing the Planet with Kevin Murphy
Saturdays, 10/17 & 10/24, 10am-12pm (2 sessions) F8108 / $59 Ecopoetry is nature poetry updated for the age of climate change and mass extinction. Informed by the urgency of the moment, it uses poetry as a vehicle for moving beyond a human-centered worldview. We'll look at a wide range of relevant poems and will work with writing exercises to explore the wildness and rhythms of the natural world and our place in it. New!
Keeping an Illustrated Journal with Nancy Canyon
Tuesdays, 10/20 - 11/17, 6pm-8pm (4 sessions) F8258 / $125
New!
Keeping an illustrated journal of personal discoveries and life observations is a delightful way to record daily experiences and create an heirloom. Through guidance, this class will support your daily recordings in pictures and words. Different drawing techniques and writing styles will be explored; no prior experience is necessary. Nancy Canyon, MFA, is a published author and artist. Her new book, The Daily Artist, is forthcoming. Have a blank journal and fine or medium point black waterproof drawing pen the first session. Class does not meet November 3.
Introduction to Fiction Writing with Roby Blecker
Wednesdays, 10/21 - 11/ 4 6:30pm-9pm (3 sessions) F8237 / $119
Write Tight with Heather Lea
Thursdays, 11/5 - 11/19 6:30-8pm (3 sessions) F8423 / $75
Do you ramble on when you could be more concise? Are exclamation points your favorite punctuation mark? What about verbiage—is there one word you could use to replace three or four? Do you really need a paragraph to explain something that can be said in a few sentences? Never again fear limiting word-counts or comments like, "Please simplify this." You'll learn to spot excessive wording, redundancy, and over-punctuation along with other tight-writing gems.
All classes will take place in a virtual classroom using Zoom
It's often said that everyone has a book in them, but many never write that book because they don't know how to get started writing fiction--perhaps after years of writing reports, memos, or emails. This class provides the basics for someone who wants to dip their toe into creating fiction for the first time.
Chuckanut Writers
Read more and reserve your space today at whatcomcommunityed.com You can also register by calling 360-383-3200
Youth Writing Contest
Every year, the Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center coordinates the Youth Peace Poetry Contest to inspire youth to imagine what healthy and happy relationships, and their community as a whole, could look like. The contest is open to any youth in Whatcom County ages 4-18. Submissions are accepted through September 25th at whatcomdrc.org or emailed to youth@whatcomdrc.org. It is called a poetry contest, but submissions of raps, songs, stories, or any kind of short creative writing piece is accepted. Participants are encouraged to explore themes related to peace in their writing such as listening, respect, antibullying, friendship, social justice, etc. Village Books is a proud sponsor. Free Online Youth Poetry Workshop Wednesday, September 16, 4pm whatcomdrc.org
WhaMemWriMo Write your Memoir in September!
September is your opportunity to turn your memories into memoir. Join all of Whatcom County in the annual WhaMemWriMo: Whatcom Memoir Writing Month, presented by Chuckanut Writers.
What do you do? Commit to writing 1,666 words a day for the month of September. At the end of September you’ll have 50,000 words: a book. You will have given shape and voice to the stories and adventures you always wanted to share, the stories your readers want to hear. Get Inspired!
WhaMemWriMo As a part of the annual Whatcom Memoir Writing Month, this series of
Zoom Webinars weekly workshops will help you along the way as you turn your memories Thursdays, into memoir. These workshops, all taught or led by experienced memoir
September 3, 10, 17, and 24 writers and teachers, can be taken as a whole ($99), or you can select from from 5:30pm-7pm the individual workshops ($29) to suit your needs and schedule.
September 3 Four Essential Practices for Successful Memoir Writing with Cami Ostman No matter how long you've procrastinated or how many times you've tried to write your memoir, this class will give you the tools you need to get it done. Walk out of this class with a plan that will carry you through the rest of your writing life. Cami Ostman is the founder of The Narrative Project, author of Second Wind: One Woman's Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents and editor of several anthologies.
September 10 Managing Family Relationships While Writing About Them with Laurel Leigh What should come first: publishing your memoir or preserving family relationships? Sometimes writers feel they have to choose—on occasion, they do. This discussion will encourage thoughtful exploration of the memoirist's commitment and responsibility to the project, to their authorial voice and freedoms, and to family members whose private lives may be part of the story. Laurel Leigh, MFA, has been a book editor for 20 years. Her memoir and fiction have appeared in The Sun. September 17 The Scene and Three Acts with Nancy Lou Canyon We'll examine pacing, flashback, action, dialogue, and learn how conflict is essential to writing a dramatic story. In this introductory class, we'll generate a beginning time-line and several scene ideas to write at your leisure. Nancy Canyon, MFA, an award-winning writer, is the author of "Dark Forest" (short fiction), Saltwater (poetry), Celia's Heaven (novel), and Lookout, a memoir detailing her work as a fire lookout attendant in the 70s.
VB VIRTUAL AUTHOR EVENT Nancy Lou Canyon will introduce her latest novel, Celia's Heaven September 19, 6pm • Info at villagebooks.com
September 24 Q&A Discussion with Memoirists with Cami Ostman Writing a memoir is a very personal journey which requires insight and bravery. Join your memoir month instructors and a panel of published memoirists to ask your questions about what it takes to write, publish, and stand behind your memoir. Ask anything from how to deal with missing memories to how to handle writing about family to how the authors managed to write about trauma without re-traumatizing themselves.
Don’t Wait Too Long! Chuckanut Writers classes are self-supporting and require a minimum number of students to run. Unless we hear from you in time, we may be forced to cancel a class you were planning to take due to low enrollment. Please register early.
