MEWS – Montclair Editors and Writers

Montclair Editors & Writers

 Subscribe (RSS | Email)

Submit News Submit News

Veteran/Author Launches Poetry Collection: “Gospels of Rage”:Proceeds to Benefit Combat Paper Project

What: Free Poetry Reading
Who: Author Forest F. White
When: Saturday, June 9, 2 p.m.
Where: Newark Public Library

Montclair Write Group member Forest F. White of Verona, NJ, will launch his newly-published book of poems “Gospels of Rage” at the Newark Public Library (5 Washington Street) on Saturday, June 9 at 2 p.m. in the auditorium, fourth floor. There is access for the disabled. The reading is free and open to the public. The collection costs $9.99.

Sales of his book will benefit the Combat Paper Project. The Project “utilizes art making workshops to assist veterans in reconciling and sharing their personal experiences as well as broadening the traditional narrative surrounding service and the military culture,” as stated in the organization’s website. In the workshops, uniforms worn in combat are cut up, beaten to a pulp, and formed into sheets of paper to be used in various art forms.

White is a 2001 graduate of University of California Santa Cruz with a degree in Literature who grew up in Pacifica, California. He is married to the artist Ashli Sisk, who designed the cover of the book, published by Scribbulations LLC.

Other participants—all retired servicemen/women— at the June 9 reading are: David Keefe, Montclair, coordinator of Combat Paper New Jersey, US Marine Corp; Jan Barry of Teaneck, author and poetry anthology editor, US Army; Jake Simmons of Newark, author and poet, US Army; Eli Wright of Pennsylvania, artist, poet, coordinator of Combat Paper New Jersey ,US Army; Walter Zimmerman, South Orange, glass sculptor, poet, US Air Force; Walt Nygard of Teaneck, author, US Marine Corps., and Jennifer Pacanowski of Ithaca, NY, US Army. Keefe will present the Combat Paper Project story.

For more information about the author: www.ffwhite.com
Contact Forest White: forestwhite01@yahoo.com
PH: 650-430-5099.

PR Contact: Josie Zeman
Zeman Communications
Montclair, NJ
jerseyjosie@comcast.net
973-744-3969


How do you get romantic with a Neanderthal woman?

            Is it cannibalism if you eat yourself?

            Does it matter if the souvenir you bring home from Africa is another human being?

            Find the answers in “My Date with Neanderthal Woman,” which won Dzanc Books’ first short-story collection prize. Reading at Montclair Public Library, 7:00, Wednesday, May 9.

            The author, David Galef, has published over a dozen books and is the director of the creative writing program at Montclair State University, as well as The Fiction Workshop columnist for The Writer and a humor columnist for Inside Higher Ed.

Book Launch and Reception for Carole De Santis, editor at Viking Penguin and author of the newly released book by Houghton Mifflin, The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R.

Love and war converge in this lush, epic story of a young woman’s coming of age during and after France’s Second Empire (1860–1871), an era that was absinthe-soaked, fueled by railway money and prostitution, and transformed by cataclysmic social upheaval.

Saturday, April 21st, 5pm
Watchung Booksellers
54 Fairfield St.
Montclair NJ 07042
973-744-7177

Pamela Redmond Satran, mistress of MEWS and author of the new novel The Possibility of You, will be reading from the historical novel and signing copies at Watchung Booksellers this Thursday night, March 8th, at 7 pm.

SAVE THE DATE, SPREAD THE WORD — A Free Community-wide Event

Sunday, March 25 2-4 pm AN INVISIBLE THREAD – NY TIMES’ Best Seller
Presentation and book signing
St John’s Parish Hall
55 Montclair Ave. Montclair (near Clary Anderson Arena)
For Information: 973 746 4399

Meet Laura Schroff (author) and Maurice Mazcyk. They will be discussing their most unlikely, awesome, and inspiring 25-year friendship.

An Invisible Thread is the true story about Laura, a successful NY ad exec, who takes an 11 year old panhandler, Maurice, to lunch – a random act of kindness which transforms both their lives and develops into a deep friendship. It’s a story of love, salvation and redemption.

Watchung Booksellers will be attending with books for purchase (donating a portion of book sales to NOLA youth mission). Whole Foods has donated water and snacks for sale.

An Invisible Thread – a remarkable story, told so beautifully and honestly – shows us what’s possible when we are not afraid to connect with another human being and tap into our compassion. It is a story about the power each of us has to elevate someone else’s life, and how our own life is enriched in the process. This special book reminds us damaging cycles can be broken and not to neglect the humanity of the strangers we brush up against every day.”

Chris Gardner
Bestselling author of Pursuit of Happyness
and Start Where You Are

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=31dde66245&view=att&th=13554e927fd6e856&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw

The Caldwell College Department of English will present its first Elizabeth Michael Boyle Poetry Celebration, featuring nationally acclaimed poet and playwright Jeanne Murray Walker.

“Celebrate Life, Celebrate Faith, Celebrate Poetry,” will take place on Wednesday, April 11 at 7 p.m. in the Caldwell College Alumni Theatre. A professor of English and creative writing at the University of Delaware, Walker is co-editor of “Shadow & Light: Literature and the Life of Faith” and for 20 years was poetry editor of Christianity and Literature. Walker is the author of seven volumes of poetry, including “A Deed to the Light” and “Coming into History,” and was featured in Best American Poetry in 2009 and in Poetry Magazine’s Centennial Anthology.

Biographer and critic Dan Cryer will speak on “Is Your Life Worth Dying For? The Legacy of Forrest Church” at the Montclair Unitarian Church (67 Church St.) at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Feb. 19. Cryer’s talk is based on his “Being Alive and Having to Die: The Spiritual Odyssey of Forrest Church” (St. Martin’s), a biography of the Unitarian leader who championed liberalism and opposed the religious right. Church overcame alcoholism and a sex scandal at his church only to succumb to cancer at age 61. The New York Times called “Being Alive and Having to Die” “inspirational,” and Booklist named it one of its Top Ten Books for 2011 on Religion and Spirituality. Cryer, former book critic at Newsday, has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and vice president of the National Book Critics Circle.

Write Group New Year’s Update

The Write Group is a Montclair-based group of writers who hold regular workshops, readings, and events.  Among their upcoming and regularly-scheduled get-togethers are:

– “Critiques for Novelists” Group – EVERY THURSDAY MORNING: 10 am -1 pm, Montclair Library Conf. Room.  Critiques for novelists and would-be novelists.  To add your name to the waiting list, please contact Eveline Speedie at espeedie@msn.com.

–  “Free-For-All (FFA) for Writers” - EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT: 7-8:45 pm, Montclair Library Conference Room.  

— 1/12 - Poetry & Poetic Prose – Led by Mirela Trofin & Howard Gardner.  It was suggested at our last meeting in December that we try the following prompt: “Locks.”  Please bring 6 copies of a poem using the prompt, or of any poem you would like to share and receive comments.
— 1/19 – Young Adult (YA) & Middle Grade (MG) – Mackenzie Reide looks at the strange & fascinating worlds of YA and MG: what are they, where are they going, & opportunities both genres present to today’s writer.
— 1/26 – Getting organized! – Carl Selinger will lead a workshop about getting better organized for your writing … and organizing your life as well.  We’ll share challenges & tips to get your act together so you can focus on the hard stuff: writing!
— 2/2 All-genre Critique Group – Led by Harriet Halpern.  Bring 6 copies of whatever piece you're working on and we'll share constructive feedback. 
-- “Free Write” Workshop - EVERY SATURDAY MORNING: 10:15 am–noon - this week at Harriet Halpern’s place (5 Roosevelt Place, Apt. 4P).  Last week 7 of us—Joe, Carl, Mirela, Candi, Steve, Danyelle and Jeanne—wrote to prompts: An afternoon of stupidity; Weight allowance; and Back in the fray.  Free Writes are held at participant’s homes; contact Carl if you will need a ride or can give a ride.
 
- – Penny University – 3RD MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH: next on Monday, 1/16, MLK holiday, 10-noon – Joe DelPriore lead a “Free Writing Workshop” as we’ll write to various “prompts.”  At the Fine Grind Coffee Bar, 101 Route 23, Little Falls, south of Willowbrook Mall, www.thefinegrindcoffeebar.com.
 
- – Support Group - EVERY TUESDAY MORNING: 10:15-11+ am, Montclair Library Conference Room.  Share your progress in writing and discuss writing topics.

- – Write Group Open Mic! - EVERY MONTH: Tuesday, 1/17, 6:45-8:30 pm, Montclair Library Auditorium – Sign-up starts at 6:30 pm.  Read a polished piece up to 8 minutes long … or just listen!  Info from emcee Jeanne Margolskee at jpmar@usa.net

-- Memoir Group - EVERY TWO WEEKS: Wednesday, 1/18, 10am-noon, Montclair Library Conference Room.  No “drop ins” are allowed.  New members are asked to make a several-month commitment to participate.  Contact Marie Shukaitis at marie.shukaitis@gmail.com if you wish to “observe.”

– Reading Like a Writer, EVERY six weeks or so, next meeting Sunday, 1/22, 7 pm, at Harriet’s apt. – The selection is “Mrs. Manstey’s View” by Edith Wharton. Download at www.classicreader.com/book/1972/1.  Note: Reading Like a Writer is full; to get on wait list, contact Harriet at surewhynot4p@yahoo.com.
 
– “High Noon” Short Story Group - EVERY MONTH: next Tuesday, 1/24, noon-2 pm, at Harriet’s apt.  Email Harriet at surewhynot4p@yahoo.com if details are needed.
– NEW GROUP!!!  Script Writing Group – every other Wednesday, starting 1/25, 10-noon, Montclair Library Conference Room - First meeting to discuss screenwriting, playwriting, dialogue, etc.  Join Katinka Neuhof, Joe DelPriore and others to share writings and critique and plan for the group’s future activities.  Bring something to read.

–Write Group web pages hosted at scribbulations.com.  Go to www.scribbulations.com and click the Write Group logo, or go straight to www.scribbulations.com/The_Write_Group.htm.  Any WG member who has a website and would like a link on the LINKS page, send the details to Ed.
Write Group organizer Carl Selinger can be contacted at:    Phone/cell: 973-953-0937   selinger99@aol.com    www.carlselinger.com

For many, writing and publishing a book is a distant dream. Those dreams are becoming a reality for a group of students in our area by participating in the Books & Beyond Project: A Service-Learning Program.

Books & Beyond is a cross-cultural literacy exchange for students and teachers from TEAM Schools in Newark, Indiana University’s Global Village Living-Learning Center, and the Kabwende Primary Center (KPS) in Kinigi, Rwanda. The writing cross-cultures project focuses on developing critical literacy skills while addressing a Rwandan book famine. There are no books at the Kabwende Primary Center. The books the US and Rwandan students author are the only books the 2,000 students at Kabwende Center own. This year the students are writing volume four of The World Is Our Home. The series is used as a tool to teach English. Books & Beyond also seeks to foster global citizenship by promoting communication and understanding among students from diverse backgrounds in the United States and Rwanda.

Please join us at the Cedar Grove Public Library, located at One Municipal Plaza in Cedar Grove, NJ on Saturday, January 14th from 2-3:30 pm to support this skill building empowerment project. Meet a few of the students and hear from them how this global school partnership has personally impacted them. This is an opportunity to understand more about the power these partnerships can have on our youth who are enriched by learning through service.

For more information about this project, connect with us on the web: http://www.indiana.edu/~booksb/ or on Facebook at:facebook.com/BooksnBeyond

http://new.evite.com/#view_invite:eid=0271AARBSZ35RYIKCEPBFAQXU6MGJI

MEWSie and New York Times bestselling novelist Dottie Frank will be at Watchung Booksellers tonight, Tuesday July 26, at 7 pm to talk about her new book, Folly Beach.