A Community for Writers

• Writers Studio Literary Contest
• Writers Studio Student Scholarship
• Progenitor, ACCs Literary magazine, wants you!
• WS Club News Update
• News About Campus and Town

6th Annual Writers Studio Literary Contest: Deadline February 16, 2010

Enter this year's literary contest in three categories: Poetry, Fiction, and/or Creative Nonfiction. The winner of each category wins $250 and will be Writers Studio's special guest for its Annual Literary Festival on April 11, 2010. The winning entries this year will be published in a special chapbook.

This year's final judges, who will also serve as faculty for our Sunday, April 11, 2010 Literary Festival, are:

Fiction: Janis Hallowell is the author of two novels, The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn (Wm. Morrow 2004) and She Was (Wm. Morrow 2008). She is a MacDowell fellow and has published in Ploughshares magazine and 5280 magazine. She’s on the faculty at Denver’s Lighthouse for Writers.

Creative Nonfiction: Robert Root teaches nonfiction for the low-residency MFA Program at Ashland University and previously taught at Central Michigan University and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Among his fifteen books are the anthologies Landscapes with Figures: The Nonfiction of Place, The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction, now in its fifth edition, E. B. White; The Emergence of an Essayist, The Nonfictionist’s Guide: On Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction, and Recovering Ruth: A Biographer’s Tale. He has been an artist-in-residence at Isle Royale, Rocky Mountain, and Acadia National Parks and a visiting writer at various writing programs and conferences, most recently the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference in Alaska and the Geneva Writers Conference in Switzerland. His personal essays, articles on writing and teaching, and criticism have been widely published. He is the Interview/Roundtable Editor for the nonfiction journal Fourth Genre. In 2009 he published Following Isabella: Travels in Colorado Then and Now. 

Poetry: Ruth L. Schwartz is  the author of four award-winning books of poetry, including Edgewater, a National Poetry Series winner, and a memoir. She has won over a dozen major grants and prizes, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Astraea Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council. Ruth has taught creative writing at five universities, and is currently a core faculty member of the low-residency M.F.A. program at Ashland University. She has also had a private healing and shamanic practice since 2003 (see www.HeartMindIntegration.com), and teaches The Writer As Shaman, along with other workshops related to both writing and healing, nationwide.

Deadline for literary contest submissions is February 16, postmarked. All entries should be original, unpublished, typed manuscripts. For submission guidelines, where to send, and the winning entries from last year's contest, please go to our Writers Studio contest website.

Writers Studio Student Scholarship Update

Writers Studio wants to give money to dedicated ACC student writers to help them move forward with their passion. Period.

So-- we have now revamped the requirements for the scholarship.

1. Scholarship requirements: 
   1. Enrollment in an Associate of Arts degree. (No longer do you have to be in the Creative Writing Emphasis)
   2. Enrollment must meet at least half time status which is equal to 6 credit hours per semester
   3. Completion of Intro to Creative Writing (ENG 221)
   4. GPA of 3.0 or above at ACC
   5. Submission of a 500 word essay describing your background in writing and how this scholarship will assist you with your personal or professional goals.
   6. Submission of a portfolio with a minimum of five pages of creative work which may include: selection of prose from fiction, nonfiction, screenplay or play, or poetry.

Scholarship winners will be selected by the Writers Studio Committee. Scholarship money will fund one course in Creative Writing at ACC. For more information and the application form, please contact Dr. Kathryn Winograd at kathryn.winograd@arapahoe.edu.

Deadline: March 16, 2010.

Progenitor, ACC's Literary Magazine, Wants You!

Chris Ransick will hold his yearly Spring Progenitor class, starting in January. Each year, a group of students has the opportunity to learn real-life skills in the field of publishing by creating ACC's award-winning literary magazine from the ground up.

What's in it for you?

• Work both independently and collectively on multiple tasks, from soliciting manuscripts and artwork to distributing the finished product.
• Learn procedures for soliciting and cataloging, art and literary entries, and for communicating in a timely manner with contributors
• Organize and conduct in-depth jurying of art and literary work to reach consensus on material that will be published
• Edit manuscripts, and the magazine as a whole, in an effort to produce a magazine with the highest standards of excellence
• Engage with the process of layout and design to create a unified publication
• Seek a printer and conduct the process of preparing and delivering the materials for printing
• Publicize the release of the magazine and organize its distribution

If you'd like the opportunity to learn editing and publishing skills, please contact Chris Ransick at chris.ransick@arapahoe.edu. Community members are welcome to join the class by registering for ENG 231 Literary Magazine.

Writers Studio Club News

As our fearless president, Oliver Branerd heads off to new territories, we welcome in our new Writers Studio Club president, Mandi Stevens. Mandi Stevens is an ACC student working on her AA degree with a creative writing emphasis. Starting in January, join Mandi for face to face critique groups, speaker presentations and an online creative writing critique group. More from Mandi in January. And many thanks to Oliver for his help with Writers Studio Club.

News About Campus and Town

ACCs new student newspaper, Arapahoe Avenue, is now online. Arapahoe Avenue continues to look for aspiring journalists. If you are interested, please contact the faculty advisor, Josie Mills at josie.mills@arapahoe.edu.

ACC faculty Chris Ransick has debuted his new book of poetry, Asleep Beneath the Hill of Dreams, published by Ghost Road Press. Read a review of the book on page 9 of the Arapahoe Avenue.

ACCs newest faculty member, Leah Rogin-Roper, founder of fastforward Press, announces the deadline for flash fiction submissions for the third volume of Flash Forward. All submissions must be in by December 31., 2009. For submission guidelines and information, click here. Welcome, Leah!

 Have a Happy Holiday! Please join Writers Studio in January for a spring full of events: Writers Studio Showcase, Writers Studio Literary contest, Community College Poetry Project Celebration with Poets and performers Dee Galloway and Seth, Writers Studio club critique groups and speakers, and the Writers Studio Literary Festival.