|
June is the beginning of summer. For the Santa Barbara me summer means cruise ships and tourists, the Solstice celebration and Fiesta Days, the beach and humidity. For the Bakersfield me those hot summer days and nights are filled with barbecues and cold beer, pools and water parks, and street fireworks on fourth of July. For both cities the kids are out of school and their parents are figuring what to do with the influx of childhood energy: vacations and camps and sports—soccer, lots of soccer. Whatever summer means to you, I hope you have one filled with fun, friends, and family, and a whole lot of love. Be safe, too.
For the Writers of Kern (WOK), June is the end of board terms; voting for the new year takes place, and we begin again in July. I'm fortunate and grateful to have had the opportunity to serve on the WOK Board. I joined the Writers of Kern as an active member in 2017. I began volunteering immediately: I started as the photographer and assisted on two WOK anthologies. Later, I served as treasurer for two years, then became president and program chair. It was challenging work at times, but I enjoyed helping and consider the experience invaluable. I connected or reconnected with a lot of great authors and speakers: Cecil Castelucci, Henry Barajas, Mika McKinnon, Lucy Snyder, Cat Rambo, Clarissa Kae, Peter Clines, Susanne Dietze, Portia Choi, and in August, Alex Segura.
June 30 marks the end of my term as president, and it has been my pleasure to serve. The new board elections will take place at our June Meeting. Please see the nominations below or click here for the ballot. We have several positions that still need to be filled. If you love this club and the community it creates, please consider volunteering.
This is my last message as president, but I'll be around. Friend me on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. Or say hi at our monthly meetings.
Sincerely,
Cyn Bermudez | writer. poet. artist. nerd. | cynbermudez.com
Author of And the Moon Follows, Brothers, Graffiti Heart, and
The Dragons Club (forthcoming) | illustrations @cynb.art;
twitter, facebook, & instagram @cyncbermudez; editor @planisphereq; youtube
|
|
|
Board Appointed Positions and/or Volunteers (open and filled)
Membership Chair Sandy Moffett
Newsletter Editor Shelley Evans
Member at Large Gay Chambers
Hospitality Chair Stephanie Apsit
Meeting Greeter #1 Bethane Banks
Webmaster Cynthia Bermudez
We still need help with the following positions:
Newsletter Assistant
Meeting Greeter #2
Program Chair
Publicity Chair
AV Equipment Help #1
AV Equipment Help #2
|
|
From Your Membership Chair:
Writers Rejoice!
Sandy Moffett – Membership Chair
We are an eclectic lot, we writers. We do things differently – think outside the box. Ah! A cliché. But, it’s true. Why else would our “new year” start in July? And, yet it does.
So, let’s get ready for renewal – dues renewal, that is.
Starting July 1st, and until September 30th is the window for renewing your Writers of Kern membership. The rate is $45 and puts you in good standing through June 30th, 2023.
If you are not a current member and would like to become part of our writing family, we welcome you as well. New members pay $65 for the first year, and a portion of that amount ($20) goes to the California Writers Club to cover insurance for our meetings.
Why, you ask would I want to be a member of WOK? Well, you can’t find a better bunch of people anywhere…my opinion, but I’m right. 😊
Perks of membership include a discounted rate for monthly breakfast meetings at Hodel’s Country Dining, access to incredible speakers, writing exercises, contests and publishing opportunities, and some amazing critique groups.
Most important though, is the chance to help keep our family growing strong by bringing your unique talents and perspectives to our group. The opportunity to serve on our governing board and volunteer for support positions is only open to members in good standing.
So, put your pen to paper or your fingers to keyboard and make sure to send in your renewal via our website or by picking up an application at the next monthly meeting.
We welcome you in advance.
|
|
|
|
18 June 2022 Featured Speaker: Aimee Liu
Gaining Substance by Composing in Layers
Stanley Kunitz, in an essay called “The Layers” in Next-to-Last Things, writes: “One of the great resources of the poetic imagination is its capacity to mount thought on thought, event on event, image on image, time on time, a process that I term ‘layering.’ The life of the mind is largely a buried life.” Just so, the literary products of the mind are composed through this same process of layering. Scenes, stories, and characters with depth and authenticity are rarely, if ever, created in a single burst. Like great paintings, they come to life bit by bit, as the artist approaches from different angles, bringing a different focus with each pass. In this workshop, we’ll deconstructing the opening of my novel Glorious Boy to see how the scene was built, layer by layer.
Aimee Liu is the bestselling author of the novels Glorious Boy, Flash House, Cloud Mountain, and Face, as well as the memoirs Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders and Solitaire. Her books include a Literary Guild Super Release and have been published in more than twelve languages and serialized in Good Housekeeping. She also is the editor of Alchemy of the Word: Writers Talk About Writing, and Restoring Our Bodies, Reclaiming Our Lives: Guidance and Reflections on Recovery from Eating Disorders. Her articles have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Ms., Literary Hub, The Rumpus, The Los Angeles Review of Books and other publications . She holds an MFA in creative writing from the Bennington Writing Seminars and taught for more than 15 years in Goddard College’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program. More at aimeeliu.net
|
|
|
The attendees of this workshop had the opportunity to learn more about advancing skills in real-world characterization and authentic representation. Michelle Cruz Gonzales taught how to write diverse characters in a rich and meaningful way that humanizes them.
Thank you, Michelle, for a great workshop.
|
|
|
 Sunday June 19th is the annual celebration honoring fathers everywhere. The Writers of Kerns wishes all fathers, fathers-to-be, and father figures a wonderful Father's Day.
Need gift ideas? Check out WOK Press for our anthologies or books by our members. |
|
|
Why should I join a Critique Group? What’s in it for me?
Here’s my story:
When I was preparing my chapbook of poetry to publish during the pandemic in 2020, every month, I presented poems for my critique group to discuss. They helped me hone my work – making suggestions to improve confusing passages, any grammar mistakes, making my writing clearer and more engaging.
Thanks to their help, I was able to complete my manuscript and put it up on KDP on Amazon and now have my book published and available for purchase! It is called A Kaleidoscope of Love by Carla Joy Martin.
I encourage you to take the plunge and join a Critique Group! I have become close friends with all my Critique Group’s members. I couldn't have published my book without them. Whether we meet on Zoom or in person, our gatherings are always upbeat and full of happy laughter.
What kind of writing do you like to do? Mysteries? Young Adult? Children’s? Poetry? Screenwriting? SciFi? Non-fiction? Romance? Memoir? Let me know and we will connect you with a group and/or create a new Critique Group to suit your needs!
Blessings,
Carla Joy Martin, Critique Group Chair
critiquegroups@writersofkern.com
|
|
|
Carla Stanley’s play, Point of No Return, selected by Bakersfield Community Theatre, will be performed June 24-July 2, 2022.
In the past two years, WOK member, Carla Stanley, has written a book, multiple memoirs and poems, and, most recently, a one-act play. Previously a theatre teacher, Stanley had worked on plays and decided it was time to learn the basics of writing them. She took a playwriting class taught by Carol Wolf through the Leven Institute at Bakersfield College in September 2021. She learned that action and characters can combine to tell a story and “keep people in their seats.” She and the other students crafted short plays and critiqued them.
During the four weeks of the class, Stanley created three short plays. She then reworked them with everyone’s comments in mind and the assistance of Wolf’s book, Playwriting: The Merciless Craft. Stanley submitted her plays to the Bakersfield Community Theatre (http://www.bctstage.org) in March 2022. BCT selected her play, Point of No Return, to be performed for the Bakersfield Community Theatre One-Act Festival featuring a total of six new plays by local writers.
The plot of Point of No Return revolves around a teenager, Frankie, who is gender fluid. Their mother is accepting, their father believes conversion therapy will put his daughter on the proper path. The battle for allowing Frankie to follow their path is the center of the story.
Performances are June 24-July 2, 2022 at Bakersfield Community Theatre, 2400 South Chester.
Respectfully submitted,
Carla Joy Martin, Critique Group Chair
critiquegroups@writersofkern.com |
|
|
|
|
|
