Third Thursday, and some prompts

Third Thursday Open Mic Poetry (and Prose) readings for this month will be held Thursday, May 16 at The Vintage, 326 Spruce Street, Scranton. Sign-ups start at 8:00 PM, and readings begin at 8:30 PM. Admission is free, and all are invited!


Prompts for the May 18 meeting come to us from KK:

The office girl looked terrified and annoyed.

and/or

I've already thrown the dirt on your grave.

Prompt for May 4 and 11 was

It has to have a gun.

Our meetings are held every Saturday at The Vintage from 1:00 - 3:00 PM. All are welcome! Bring a poem or prose piece to present to the group!

The NEPWC Journal

Today we tossed around the idea of creating a published journal of sorts, like the Stacks writing group did. It would feature original short stories and poems by our members, as well as artwork throughout. There seem to be four basic questions (or groups of questions) in doing this:

1. Getting the content. Poems and short stories, short enough to fit on one or two half-sheets of 8.5" x 11" paper, plus illustrations. All must be in a format that can be scanned, copied, and/or digitally stored. All content will be being released into the wild. Its appearance in even something like this may count as first publication, so that may complicate matters for pieces people may intend to publish later.

(One suggestion was that the content could be the result of a "free write", so that numerous stories and poems would be based on a single writing prompt. This would also keep the length of each piece low.)

2. Design. What works best for this? Everything typeset neatly, the rough-and-ready look of zines, or some combination of the two? What should the title be? What other information will be contained? How long will it be?

3. Creation. What sort of paper? Should the cover be a different paper? What kind of staples or stapler? How many copies? Where is the best place to do this? Who will bear the cost?

4. Distribution. The journal will serve as a sampler and an ad for the group. Where should we place copies? How many copies at each location? How many copies will we keep for ourselves, and for future use?

We are going to contact several people currently publishing zines (including the Stacks zine) to get their advice.  We might not have something in place for the Scranton Zine Fest in June, but we may have something ready to be dropped off at local libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops before too long.

Prompt for April 27

"I'll hurt you if you stay."

Prompt for April 20

The prompt for April 20 is from Rusted Root by way of K.K.: "Lift me up with golden hands."

REMINDER: Third Thursday is THIS Thursday, April 18

Our Third Thursday Poetry Readings for this month will be held Thursday, April 18 starting at 8:30 PM at The Vintage, 326 Spruce Street in Scranton. Admission is free, and all are welcome!

Here are some images from the March 2013 Third Thursday. All photos are by Alvin K. Nurse.

Leslee Clapp reading at Prose in Pubs at the Vintage, April 21 at 4:00!

Leslee Clap will be one of the opening readers at the April 21 Prose in Pubs, which will be relocated to The Vintage (326 Spruce Street, Scranton) for this month only. She did a preview of her presentation at this weekend's NEPWC meeting.

Prose in Pubs @ The Vintage will start at 4:00 PM on Sunday, April 21, 2013. The featured reader will be Rae Bryant.

Rae Bryant's biography, from the Prose in Pubs page:

BIO: Rae Bryant’s short story collection, The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals, released from Patasola Press, NY, in June 2011. Her stories and essays have appeared in The Paris Review (online), StoryQuarterly, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, BLIP Magazine, Gargoyle Magazine, and Redivider, among other publications and have been nominated for the Pen/Hemingway, Pen Emerging Writers, and Pushcart awards. She received fellowships from the VCCA and The Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a Masters in Writing, teaches creative writing, and is editor in chief of the university-housed literary and arts journal, The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review. 

Rae Bryant's website: www.raebryant.com

Rae Bryant's Wikipedia entry

HAPPENING NOW: K.K. Gordon's "Taking Liberties with Peter Rozig"

K.K. Gordon's dramatic comedy "Taking Liberties with Peter Rozig" is currently being performed at The Olde Brick Theatre, 128 West Market Street, Scranton, along with "Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer" by Jason Miller.

Performances are April 12 and 13, April 18, 19, and 20, and April 25, 26, and 27.

Showtime is at 8:15 PM.

Tickets are $12.50 for Adults, $10.00 for students and Senior Citizens.

For reservations call 344-3656.

The Olde Brick Theater, 128 West Market Street, Scranton

K.K.'s synopsis of "Taking Liberties with Peter Rozig": "Chris, a disgruntled postal employee, kidnaps a co-ed who's obsessed with serial killers in order to complete an absurdist piece by Peter Rozig. Wackiness ensues!" 

He summarizes "Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer": "Victor, the son of a spaghetti sauce mogul and a little league coach and his charming community theater bride seem to be outgrowing each other."

These two dramatic comedies are being presented by Scranton Public Theatre, Northeast PA's Resident Professional Theater, as part of A Spotlight on the Jason Miller Playwrights' Project.

Prompt and Superprompt

We wrapped up the normal meeting quickly on Saturday, so we took Chaz's suggestion of a "free write": ten minutes of quiet time dedicated to writing from a new prompt. The prompt Leslee chose was "rat poison," and we came up with diverse pieces of flash fiction: new member Vanessa told a tale of a quiet neighbor who has suddenly asked the story's narrator to pick up some rat poison at the store - even though the neighbor keeps a scrupulously clean house; Alvin wrote a story based on a true incident about a group of kids and their dog engaging in a fearless rat hunt - no rat poison needed (adding the phrase "beating a dead rat" to the vernacular);  Leslee wrote of a class that tries to have some fun with a substitute teacher by supplying her with false names (including "Rat Poison",) and how she turns the tables on them with a writing assignment; Marion wrote of two siblings, a hoarder and an anti-hoarder, and a dispute over an ancient container of rat poison; Leslie also wrote about two siblings, resuming their bickering after a temporary truce in the wake of their mother's death; and Harold wrote a story involving Ratt, Poison, and numerous other relics of mid-80's culture - and a woman who has chosen to live in the past, rather than join the modern world of iPhones, dubstep, and half-gallons of ice cream that are only a quart and a half.

Anyone else is welcome to write to the prompt of "rat poison" for next week. Try limiting yourself to just ten minutes of writing and see what you can come up with!

We also floated what Alvin described as a "superprompt": a "story seed" or beginning of a modified "exquisite corpse" story. Harold supplied the opening. Everyone else is welcome to take that starting point and run with it, wherever they see fit, possibly limiting themselves to three paragraphs or so, so they can then hand off their stories to the group to see where others might take them.

Here is the "superprompt" story seed:


Tim didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when he first came home. Pat was gone for the weekend, so he had the place to himself. He unlocked the front door, stepped inside, turned off the alarm, closed the door, took off his jacket, and tossed it over a chair. He stepped into the kitchen to fix himself a drink and heard an unfamiliar crunch under his shoes.

He was walking on broken glass.

The window over the sink was smashed, and glass was scattered around the kitchen.

He stopped moving and tried to assess the situation. Someone or something had smashed through the window.  Whoever or whatever it was would have made a hell of a racket coming through the window, but was stealthy or clever enough to avoid setting off the motion detectors - part of the alarm system he had shut off a minute ago.

Were they still here? It seemed likely. He knew that he should run, get out of the house, get in his car and call the police from there, but he felt rooted to the spot. Somebody was in his house - his house - and he wanted to confront them, not run away.

Tim stared at the broken glass and listened for any sounds that would give away the presence of someone else in the house. He didn't hear breathing, or snoring, or anything. But he did see spots of blood on the floor, scattered among the shards of glass.. Whoever or whatever had come through the window was injured and bleeding.


Where will you go with this? Write the next few paragraphs - or even chapters! - of the story, and bring them to next week's meeting!

Prompts and promptings for Saturday, April 6

At last week's meeting, Leslie pulled two prompts out of the book "642 Things to Write About."

Prompt 1: Choose how you will die.

Prompt 2: Write a scene where the only spoken dialogue is "Uh-huh," "Umm," "Errr...," and "Mm-mmm."

Harold suggested that for our next project we do a sort of "exquisite corpse" story - where one member writes a section and passes it off to another member, who will write another section and pass it on again.

Chaz suggested starting the meeting with an "open write," setting aside a few minutes for each member to write whatever comes to mind.

Our next meeting is Saturday, April 6 at the Vintage in Scranton starting at 1:00.

Third Thursday Poetry Reading is TONIGHT, March 21!

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Writers' Collective Poetry Reading and Open Mic is TONIGHT, Thursday, March 21! Readings are at The Vintage, 326 Spruce Avenue, Scranton, and begin at 8:30 PM. Bring something to read, or come and enjoy poetry readings by others. Admission is free!

Writing prompt challenge: expanded and revised edition!

The writing prompt challenge has been extended for another week to March 30! And I forgot to list a critical piece of it last time - a second prompt!

The challenge is to write "Flash Fiction", a short-short story of six hundred words or less, using one of these two prompts:

• During the long Arctic nights we held grave discussions.

or

• And then I asked him with my eyes to ask again - yes.

Present your story at next Saturday's the March 30 meeting at the Vintage, and the group will decide on a winner! We've already had three presentations, from Leslee, Harold, and Wendell, and they can revise and re-present their work, too!


For more on flash fiction see these sites:

Flash Fiction Online: http://flashfictiononline.com/main/
FlashFiction.net: http://flashfiction.net/
Flash Fiction World: http://www.flash-fiction-world.com/
Flash Fiction Friday: http://www.flashfictionfriday.com/

Writing prompt challenge!

Leslee Klapp came up with a contest at the March 2 meeting. First, the group would collectively decide on a prompt. Then, since we will not be meeting on March 9 due to the Scranton St. Patrick's Day Parade, we would have two weeks to compose short-short stories - flash fiction - of no more than six hundred words that use the prompt either in the title or somewhere in the story. The group will collectively decide on the best story, and the writer of that story will win a prize!...of some sort.

We grabbed random books scattered around the loft of the Vintage and began pulling out sentences for consideration. The group then voted, and we settled on one to be the prompt:

During the long Arctic nights we held grave discussions.

So. That's the challenge. Using that prompt as the title or part of the story, write a story of six hundred words or less for presentation at the March 16, 2013 meeting. The group will vote on all presented works, and the best story will win a prize. Good luck, and get writing!

Laurel Radzieski to be featured reader at New Visions

Laurel Radzieski will be one of the featured readers at the New Visions Bi-Monthly Writers Showcase & Poetry Reading at the New Visions Studio and Gallery, 201 Vine Street, Scranton on Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 7:00 PM.

Other featured readers will be Andrea Talarico McGuigan, Shelby Fisk, Chris Campion, Stanton Hancock, and Heather Davis. Featured Music during intermission will be by Danny Jackowitz.

The show starts at 7:00, and admission is free.

Storing and accessing your work online

Here's a simple solution for storing and accessing your work online in a way that it's easily accessible to you but not accessible to anyone else: Create a blog with the privacy settings set to allow only you to access it, and upload all your works there! No one else will be able to see what you've uploaded, but you'll be able to access your work as easily as signing in to your blog.

More details here:

Another Monkey: I've got a new blog (that you can't see!)

K.K. Gordon's "Real Friends Help You Move" to be performed at the American Globe Theatre in New York

K.K. Gordon's "Real Friends Help You Move" has been selected to be performed at the American Globe Theatre in New York on Wednesday, April 24 as part of their 15 Minute Play Festival!

19th Annual 15 MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL

It's fast, it's fun, it's where the audience gets to play critic and vote each night for their favorite play. This annual play festival features 35 original short plays chosen from more than 250 submissions from emerging playwrights throughout the country. Audiences' vote each night for their favorite play with the winners moving on to the finals and a chance to compete for awards and cash prizes.

Semi-finals
April 22 through April 28, 2013, 8:00 PM

Finals:
Friday,May 3, 2013 at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM
Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 5:00 PM and 7:30 PM

Tickets: $18 at the box office

The American Globe Theatre is located at 145 West 46th Street in New York City.  (Note: This special notice is on their website: "Sorry, American Globe Theatre is not wheelchair accessible.")

Best wishes to K.K., and big huge congratulations on this accomplishment!

Also check out this excellent article from the Scranton Times-Tribune!

Upcoming events and announcements

1. Our monthly Third Thursday Poetry Readings will be held on Thursday, February 21 starting at 8:30 PM at The Vintage, 326 Spruce Street, Scranton. All are welcome, and admission is free!

2. The very next day, Friday, February 22, K.K. Gordon will be the featured poet at a reading at the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock! Open mic sign-ups begin at 6:30, open mic begins at 7:15, and the feature begins at 8:15. Admission is free. Call the Dietrich at 570-996-1500 for details.

3. K.K.'s short play "Real Friends Help You Move," which was recently performed at the Shawnee Playhouse as part of their "One Act Winners" program, has been selected to be performed in New York City! More details to follow.

Leslee's birthday feast, Saturday February 2

At last week's meeting, Leslee asked me to remind everyone that, as part of her birthday celebrations, she will be providing refreshments at the February 2 meeting.

Poetry Night Thursday, January 17

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Writers Collective will be hosting its monthly Open Mic Poetry Night at The Vintage, 326 Spruce Street in Scranton, on Thursday, January 17. Poetry starts at 8:30. The event will feature an open mic.  All are welcome to read poetry (and even short prose!)

Why and How to Write: Advice from established authors

Advice on writing from Joyce Carol Oates, Gene Wolfe, Philip Levine, Thomas Pynchon, and many others:

This Recording: In Which We Get You Writing Something Dark And Very Disturbed

http://thisrecording.com/today/2010/10/5/in-which-we-get-you-writing-something-dark-and-very-disturbe.html

Open Mic is December 20 - special time with special guests!

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Writers' Collective will hold its next monthly Third Thursday Open Mic on Thursday, December 20 at The Vintage, 326 Spruce Street, Scranton. This installment will begin at a special time - 7:30 PM - and will open with a special program for local students, concluding with a very special visitor (from the south, not the north!) reading Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from Saint Nicholas."

At 8:30, the program will shift gears to the more traditional Open Mic Night format. While parental guidance is advised, all are welcome to attend and participate. There is no charge for admission, but donations for the support and upkeep of The Vintage will be happily accepted!