Non-fiction writer Tom Evans to read in September
Join us on Friday September 6 from 5:30 to 7 pm, for a reading by author Tom Evans as a part of the First Friday Art Walk. Reception begins at 5, reading at 6 pm with Q&A and signing to follow.
WORKSHOP – “The Non-fiction process as discovery” – Saturday, September 7 from 9 am to 12 noon.
This workshop will focus on the analytical energy of writing non fiction as a process of discovery. The workshop will demonstrate methods with which to initiate and sustain a productive curiosity in writing when approaching non fiction topics and how these methods can engage the rewards and excitement of discovery.
Creating a non fiction work as a process will be discussed in terms of employing some of the same tools found within the scientific method. While this may sound intimidating, it is actually designed to make the work of writing an easier and more compelling one — that asking questions, employing a hypothesis, researching the topic, and analyzing the results can free, energize, and direct the author to a successful outcome. The workshop goal is to provide readily employable tools to the author of non fiction that can lead to unexpected journeys of creativity, interest and discovery.
TO REGISTER – Pre-registration is required. Fee: $40 for Adults / $20 for Students. Space is limited. For information or to register call (218) 444-7570.
Three exciting Author Events hosted by Spoken Word in August
1) AUGUST 5 – Reading and book release by Marsh Muirhead
Sparkling Waters Restaurant in Bemidji will be hosting a book release party and reception on Monday, August 5, at 6 pm for Marsh Muirhead and his first published collection of haiku poetry, her cold martini. The event is sponsored by the Watermark’s Spoken Word Committee. Muirhead will read from his collection, discuss the history and practice of haiku, and answer questions about this small and sometimes misunderstood area of poetry. Reservations for the event are suggested and can be made by calling Sparkling Waters (444-3214) and mentioning the event. Copies of her cold martini will be available for sale and signing. There is no fee for the reading, and attendees can order drinks, appetizers, or dinner during or after the presentation.
About the book and the author….
her cold martini brings together sixty-seven previously published poems–some award winners–of more than one hundred haiku that Muirhead has published in the last six years. Among several awards, he has won the Museum of Haiku Literature Award, made possible by the Museum of Haiku Literature in Tokyo, Japan. Several of the poems have been anthologized, many of them in The Red Moon Anthology, the annual international anthology of English-language haiku published around the world.
2) AUGUST 17 – Discussion and workshop with Marsh Muirhead
Join Marsh Muirhead from 9 am to 12 noon for “The Tip of the Tip of the Iceberg — the history and practice of haiku — a discussion and workshop. It’s not seventeen syllables anymore!”
From the early Japanese masters to the current practitioners of these simple yet difficult-to-write poems, we will discuss how haiku “mean,” what truths they reveal, and how they are written. We will mine our life experiences, memory, and the images that deeply affect us in building lines that, in a moment, reveal so much more. We will read and study a number of classic haiku to see how truth is found through humor, sadness, and epiphany. Both novice and experienced writers are on equal footing in this area of poetry – it’s been said that the very young and the very old are mostly likely to come up with excellent haiku.
WHERE – Workshop will be held in the Bemidji Library Conference Room. Optional: After Workshop Lunch Session at 12:30 – restaurant, TBA. Take time for an informal after-workshop discussion with Muirhead over lunch. Dutch Treat!
TO REGISTER – Pre-registration is required for the workshop. Fee: $40 for Adults / $20 for Students. Space is limited. For information or to register call (218) 444-7570.
MORE ABOUT MARSH – Marsh Muirhead is a writer of poetry and fiction, and also writes on travel, aviation, and other topics. He is a past winner of the Great American Think-Off, answering the question “Does Poetry Matter?” He has published more than 100 haiku in all the major English-language haiku journals, has judged national haiku contests, and is chairing a panel on the direction of American Haiku in Chicago in September. He is the author of “Key West Explained – a guide for the traveler” and” her cold martini,” a collection of 65 haiku.
3) August 24 – “Contracts & Copyright: Traditional, Self- and E-Publishing, and Publishing Services” with Susan Carol Hauser
Whether you self-publish, use a publishing service or publish with a traditional press, you should understand your “intellectual property” (IP) rights. This workshop, held August 24 from 9:30-12:30, addresses rights, royalties, contracts, permissions, pitfalls, traps, and other aspects of publishing rights and contracts, with additional information on seeking an agent or publisher.
WHERE – Lueken’s Village Foods North in the Conference Room just off of the Deli. 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM on Saturday, August 24th.
TO REGISTER – Pre-registration is required. Fee: $40 for Adults / $20 for Students. Space is limited. For information or to register call (218) 444-7570.
MORE ABOUT SUSAN – Susan Carol Hauser is a freelance writer, essayist, and poet. She has 13 published books, is the recipient of numerous literary awards, and is a Contract Advisor and Grievance Officer for the National Writers Union.
MN Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen at Bemidji Library Book Festival
You’re invited to a Spoken Word Soiree on Friday, June 21st from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Watermark honoring Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen and other writers form the Bemidji Library Book Festival. Enjoy meeting these poets and authors and help raise funds for a new Art Center across the street.
(Donations of any amount will be gratefully accepted at the door.)
- Meet the Minnesota Poet Laureate
- Chat with writers from the Book Festival
- See the painting exhibit and engage the artist
- Enjoy wine, soft drinks and an array of delicious appetizers
Workshop – Saturday morning, June 22, 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Joyce will present a free poetry workshop at the Library Front Room sponsored by the Bemidji Library Book Festival. (Space is limited. Contact the Bemidji Public Library to register.)
Reading – Saturday evening, June 22, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Joyce will read from her work at the Headwaters School of Music and the Arts sponsored by the Bemidji Community Art Center.
Joyce Sutphen’s first collection of poems, Straight Out of View, won the Barnard New Women Poets Prize; Coming Back to the Body was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award; and Naming the Stars won a Minnesota Book Award in Poetry. In 2005, Red Dragonfly Press published Fourteen Sonnets in a letterpress edition. She is one of the co-editors of To Sing Along the Way, an award winning anthology of Minnesota women poets. Joyce Sutphen is also a Renaissance scholar and has published essays on Shakespeare’s Sonnets; she teaches literature and creative writing at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. First Words was published in 2010; in March of 2012, House of Possibility, a letter press edition of poems, was published by Accordion Press; and in early 2013, Red Dragonfly Press published a new collection (After Words). She is the second Minnesota Poet Laureate, succeeding Robert Bly.
Poet Carol Ann Russell to be featured in March Spoken Word Series event
Join us on March 1 as a part of the First Friday Art Walk for a reception with Russell who will be reading selected poems from previously published books and sharing work from her new manuscript. Reception begins at 5:30, reading at 6 pm with Q&A and signing to follow. This event is free and open to the public.
POETRY WORKSHOP – In conjunction with the reading, Watermark will be hosting a writer’s workshop with Carol Ann Russell on Saturday March 1 from 9 am to noon. Pre-Registration is required – $40 for Adults / $20 for Students. To register call the art center at 218-444-7570.
Participants are asked to please bring no more than 2-3 pages of their own poetry: TYPED, with 13 copies to share. (Work cannot be discussed unless the poet brings xeroxed, typed copies for all participants and workshop leader).
Following in-depth discussion of each poet’s pieces by the workshop leader, and time permitting, the workshop will conclude with a session designed to help generate new work: dynamic exercises and ideas to stimulate writing will be offered and participants will be guided through a process of creation while in attendance.
This workshop will be of interest to anyone who has been writing poetry and seeking guidance from poet-teachers along the way. The intent of the workshop is to assist poets in seeing their poems as holographic containers of images (and “stories”) which have a life of their own, separate from the original intention of the poet; and which, furthermore, possess a creative impetus toward ever differentiating FORMS (some of which defy traditional genre categories or even flow into other artistic media).