Nancy Gerber will be presenting a workshop, “Writing to Heal: The Powers of Narrative Writing in Transforming Trauma to Resilience,” at a conference sponsored by the Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis (ACAP), to be held at Caldwell College, July 29-July 31, 2012. Attendees can choose from more than 20 workshops, including sessions on humor as a mode of healing (Eva Silver), Stress Management Techniques (Mary Massaro), The Step Back Method (Dr. Patricia Bratt), and Helping Veterans to Heal (Annette Vaccaro).

The keynote speaker is former First Lady of New Jersey Mary Jo Codey, who will discuss “Journeys to Resilience.” For more information, visit www.trauma-studies.org or call 973-251-9312.

The next Sackett Street Creative Writing Workshop will begin the week of May 28th! This Fiction & Creative Non-Fiction Workshop, taught by Montclair writer and resident, Jill Rosenberg (http://www.sackettworkshop.com/faculty.html#rosenberg), will meet one weekday evening per week for 8 weeks, from 7:30 to 9:30 (or during school hours, if requested) at the instructor’s home on Walnut Street.

For additional information, visit www.sackettworkshop.com or email julia@sackettworkshop.com.

The $475 fee includes a private conference with the instructor.
Visit www.sackettworkshop.com or email julia@sackettworkshop.com to register.

For writers who want to work on specific areas of creative nonfiction skills, don’t have the time to commit to a long class but still want plenty of private feedback, MEWsie Lisa Romeo is offering One-Week Workshops in May, June, and July.

You select a topic from the list of 17 different craft topics, which are usually only available in 4- or 8-week classes. Simply choose the individual subject(s) that will most help you enhance your writing craft, and then select the week(s). Each week includes a full lesson, reading materials, examples, (optional) assignments, in-depth private feedback on your work, unlimited email exchanges, and (optional) phone call.

You can see a list of all 17 craft-centric choices at Lisa’s blog (www.LisaRomeo.blogspot.com) or here: http://bit.ly/Hdb4TA. Multi-week discounts are available. Please reserve your spot one week in advance by contacting Lisa: LisaRomeoWrites@gmail.com or calling 973-857-4383.

Lisa teaches creative nonfiction in the Rutgers University Writing Program Extension, and works as a freelance writer, editor, ghostwriter, and writing coach. She holds an MFA from Stonecoast and a B.S. in journalism from Syracuse. Her work has appeared across print and online media, including the New York Times, O The Oprah Magazine, and many essay collections, literary journals, and anthologies, including the recent Women Writing on Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching, and Publishing.

News:
Fiction and creative non-fiction class to run six weeks May-June

Writing Our Stories
Six Mondays, May 7-June 11, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

MEWsie Laura Zinn Fromm is offering a new class. Both fiction and creative nonfiction involve strong story lines, memorable characters, and lively dialogue. We will migrate between the two genres. Students can submit short stories, portions of novels, essays and/or sections of memoirs. Instructor’s approval required prior to registering. Please e-mail a 3–5 page writing sample to zinnfromm@gmail.com. This class meets in the instructor’s home in Millburn-Short Hills and is limited to eight people.

Laura Zinn Fromm is the author of the forthcoming My Inner Fruitcake: Tales of Cooking and Coping. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University and teaches fiction and creative non-fiction through the New York Writers Workshop at the JCC Manhattan. She has also taught at Columbia and Montclair State. A former editor at Business Week magazine, she is the winner of the Clarion Award and the Newspaper Guild’s Page One Award for Labor Reporting. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Ducts.org, Writing Raw, Patch, New Jersey Life & Leisure and Wellesley. For more of her work, please visithttp://www.flawedmom.blogspot.com and http://www.myinnerfruitcake.com.

The International Women’s Writing Guild is thrilled to present the 63rd Annual Spring Big Apple Conference, “ReNEW the Magic,” a two-day event featuring writing workshops and the opportunity to pitch one-on-one to NYC agents.

Our conference takes place April 14-15 at the historic National Arts Club at 15 Gramercy Park South (East 20th Street, just east of Park Ave.), New York City.

Visit http://iwwg.org/63rd-big-apple-conference to register.

SACKETT STREET WRITERS’ WORKSHOP is offering a workshop for Fiction & Non-Fiction Writers in Montclair, beginning the week of April 14th. Classes are taught by Montclair writer and resident, Jill Rosenberg. (See her bio at http://www.sackettworkshop.com/faculty.html#rosenberg).

Workshops meet for two hours each week, usually on a weekday evening, and they run for eight weeks. Writers will learn how to recognize the successful techniques in their fiction – what engages the reader, and how that success is achieved. In-class discussions will focus on analyzing the many choices (point-of-view, tone, characterizing details, pacing, etc.) a writer must make concerning structure, character and language.

Writers will have their work critiqued in class two times during the 8-week session. After each workshop they will receive typed feedback from both the instructor and their classmates. Sessions are held at the instructor’s home on Walnut Street in Montclair.

If you are interested, please email Julia Fierro at julia@sackettworkshop.com.

The $475 fee includes a private conference with the instructor.

Visit www.sackettworkshop.com or email julia@sackettworkshop.com for more information.

Fiction and creative non-fiction class to run six weeks May-June

Writing Our Stories
Six Mondays, May 7-June 11, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

MEWsie Laura Zinn Fromm is offering a new class. Both fiction and creative nonfiction involve strong story lines, memorable characters, and lively dialogue. We will migrate between the two genres. Students can submit short stories, portions of novels, essays and/or sections of memoirs. Instructor’s approval required prior to registering. Please e-mail a 3–5 page writing sample to zinnfromm@gmail.com. This class meets in the instructor’s home in Millburn-Short Hills and is limited to eight people.

Laura Zinn Fromm is the author of the forthcoming My Inner Fruitcake: Tales of Cooking and Coping. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University and teaches fiction and creative non-fiction through the New York Writers Workshop at the JCC Manhattan. She has also taught at Columbia and Montclair State. A former editor at Business Week magazine, she is the winner of the Clarion Award and the Newspaper Guild’s Page One Award for Labor Reporting. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Ducts.org, Writing Raw, Patch, New Jersey Life & Leisure and Wellesley. For more of her work, please visit http://www.flawedmom.blogspot.com and http://www.myinnerfruitcake.com.

Ever wanted to learn to write a screenplay?

Whether you want to transform your novel into a screenplay or if you just want to learn how to write one, Introduction to Screenwriting is being offered on Tuesdays April 3rd to May 29th at the First and Trinity Church in South Orange.

In the class you will learn screenplay structure, how to develop the plot, and create compelling characters by studying films and screenplays of the masters. The class is taught by fellow mewsie Carol Forbes, an award-winning screenwriter and Columbia University, MFA in Screenwriting.

Cost: $120
Hours: 7:15PM to 9PM
Where: First and Trinity Presbyterian Church
111 Irvington Avenue, South Orange
Contact Carol at: carolftwin@gmail.com

The Bloomfield Public Library is pleased to announce the formation of a writing club, which will meet at the library on the first and third Monday of each month at 10am. All writers or aspiring writers are invited to attend these meetings and share their work, their knowledge of writing and the business of writing with their fellow authors.

The Bloomfield Public Library would like to thank a local volunteer, Quinita Good for generously donating her time to lead this club twice a month. Quinita is an award-winning journalist and business & creative writer living in New Jersey. The recipient of first- and second-place awards from the New Jersey Press Association in 2005, She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations and has studied at the Master’s level in Writing Studies. She also held positions as writer, editorial assistant, and editor. Her writing spans the spectrum–from business & technical to creative.

If you’d like to volunteer to lead a program or club at the Bloomfield Public Library, please contact Lisa Cohn at lcohn@bplnj.org.

The Bloomfield Public Library is located at 90 Broad Street in Bloomfield. For more information on this event or upcoming programs please call (973) 566-6200 x 502. To be notified of upcoming programs, visit our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter. Visit our website, www.bplnj.org, and join our google group to receive notices of upcoming events directly in your email inbox.

April 1
Reading Your Writing for an Audience
with Sandra McLaughlin & Leonie Higgins
Sunday 2:00-4:00 PM
Luna Stage, 555 Valley Road, West Orange, NJ

Your words may sing on the page – but sometimes even the best of writers fall flat when reading their own work before an audience. This workshop will help you improve your public presentation and give you the confidence to read your writing with pride. Broadway actress/director Sandra McLaughlin and actress/musical theatre director Leonie Higgins of Center Stage Dance and Theatre School, will teach participants how to give their written words the respect, emphasis and flair they deserve not only on the page, but when read out loud.

Sandra McLaughlin has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional rheatre and on television. She was a co-founder and member of the American Theatre Alliance in New York.

Leonie Higgins (is something of a Central Jersey musical theatre diva, having played lead roles in “I Do! I Do!,” “Guys and Dolls, ” “A Little Night Music,” “A Chorus Line,” “Gypsy,” and many, many more shows.

$25 if pre-registered, $35 at the door
$20 for TWC students & parents
Special $15 price for kids under 15!

www.writerscircleworkshops.com
973-900-0415
info@writerscircleworkshops.com