Delaware is small, but we have a mighty big and mighty active writing community. Ahead are a few local events scheduled in the coming few weeks.
First, a reading of Irish poetry: Continue reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Humanities Are US
What are the humanities?
The humanities are language, literature, law, history, archeology, religion, ethics, art, heritage, traditions. The humanities make us feeling, thinking, creative, caring, compassionate human beings. Without the humanities, we become soulless creatures without a past or future.
The National Endowment for the Humanities is the government agency that spearheads projects to preserve and explore our national heritage.
Have you seen Ken Burns’ documentaries on The Civil War, Prohibition, the Roosevelts. Huey Long, the Dust Bowl, the National Parks, Baseball? Of his body of work so far–27 documentaries–15 have been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Do you know the Library of America, with support from the NEH, focuses on a writer of the week? This week’s writer is Ursula LeGuin.
Did you realize the NEH, since its inception 50 years ago, has published 7,000 books and, through its Chronicling America Project, catalogued and preserved over 63 million pages of historic newspapers?
This is the NEH’s mission statement:
Because democracy demands wisdom, NEH serves and strengthens our republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes this mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers. NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars.
“Because democracy demands wisdom”- can anyone argue with this statement?
The NEH needs support to continue its work to preserve America’s history. Please contact your legislators to express your appreciation for the NEH, and grab a poster below.
Get to Know Louisiana!
Acadian Flag
When my sons were in second grade, their favorite part of the school day was the “Get to Know Me” half hour. At that time, each student got up before the class to talk about himself and share some show and tell about her favorite things. Today’s blog post is a “Get to Know Me” about my home state of Louisiana.
In September, hundreds of crime writers will descend upon the city of New Orleans. If you’ve ever attended a writers’ conference, you’ll know that the venue city can be as much a lure as the gathering of your peers. New Orleans has plenty of lure, and allure, and mysteries in all of its nooks and crannies. Continue reading
A First State Reading Series
Delaware Literary Reading Series, 2016
A new series of literary readings featuring Delaware authors sharing poetry and prose in artistic hot spots and historic places throughout the state kicks off in February in Newark.
Writers from all three counties will read works to promote a new anthology showcasing Delaware authors. CURRENTS: Selected Poetry & Prose from the 2014 Cape Henlopen Retreat Writers is a collection of poems, short fiction, and essays from authors who were selected to attend the Delaware Division of the Arts’ biennial writers retreat. Twenty working Delaware writers contributed to the anthology. Continue reading
Save the Date!
I am happy to announce the date, time, and place for my Delaware Division of the Arts’ literary reading.
DDoA Fellowship Readings – April 3, 2016
My fellow DDoA fellowship recipient, poet Maggie Rowe, and I will share stories and poetry at the Judge Morris Estate, White Clay Creek Park in Newark, on Sunday, April 3, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. We will host a reception in the lovely estate dining area after the reading.
The Estate, circa 1790, was the home of Delaware native and federal judge Hugh M. Morris.
Fellowship Announcement
I am pleased, honored, and humbly thrilled to share this announcement. Congratulations to my fellow awardees, and many thanks to the Delaware Division of the Arts, the State of Delaware, and the National Endowment for the Arts for their support for art and artists.
Press release here.
2016 Individual Artist Fellowship Winners |
The prestigious Individual Artist Fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts recognize artists in a variety of disciplines for their outstanding quality of work and provide monetary awards. Continue reading
The Sacred Writing Time Pledge, 2016
On New Year’s Day of 2012, I created the Sacred Writing Time Pledge. The Pledge was born in response to a writing group colleague who bemoaned her lack of organization, willpower, family cooperation, and other reasons (aka excuses) that prevented her from being the steady, daily, productive writer she wanted to be. Continue reading
What’s your wheelhouse? A quiz for creatives.
A wheelhouse can be defined in three ways: the pilot room of a steamboat; a batter’s power zone in baseball; a person’s area of expertise or interest.
I have no real interest in steamboats, and all I know about baseball is that there is no crying in it, so the focus of this post is the third definition. What is your area of expertise or interest as an artist? Continue reading
What Do You Want?
Once a month, I attend a Writing as Healing class at a local hospital. Writing as Healing is a journaling course and part of a popular Wellness program. The growth of Wellness courses, and the philosophy of Wellness in general, is an acknowledgment that, alongside the technical parts in medicine, an approach to patient care should include guidance for a positive approach to living. Continue reading
You Can Tell a Lot about a Person
Life is a never ending quest. That quest means different things to different people, and some of us have more than one quest. I’m one of those people.
I am constantly on the search for three things: blog post topics, writing prompts, and character studies.
(What, you thought this was going to be about the meaning of life or something? I’m a writer, not a philosopher.) Continue reading
