| In This
Issue
From Our Chapter
President
WNBA-SF
News
Announcements
From Our Literacy
Liaison
Bookworm Talks
To.....
WNBA National
News
Patricia McKissack, ELMCLS Guest
Lecturer
Poets' Corner
Link to Renew Membership (General
Member - $45)
Link to Renew Membership (Senior/Student -
$25)
WNBA-SF
Holding Elections
WNBA-SF holding
elections!
Here’s your
chance to meet interesting people, learn new skills and be a part
of the guiding force shaping WNBA-SF. Being a part of the Board
offers a rich and rewarding experience, filled with networking
opportunities and the chance to really make an impact on the
careers of authors and the lives of readers. Please go to the
web site to submit nominations and to read job descriptions for the
open board positions.
Contact Mary at
president@WNBA-SF chapter.org if you have any
questions.
Slate
of Officers so far…
Linda Lee and Mary E. Knippel co-presidents
Vice-President:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
***********************
SAVE THIS DATE!
JUNE 7, 2008
MAKE YOUR
RESERVATIONS TODAY!
Pay right now online
The 40th Anniversary of
the San Francisco Chapter of WNBA will be celebrated with a dinner
at Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Sat., June 7 in the heart of San
Francisco.
Highlights include:
• Keynote
speaker: Beth Lisick, local best selling author and
performance artist. Beth’s recent book, Helping Me Help Myself, was praised in
Entertainment News and the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Honoring Effie Lee
Morris, our founding president and also recognized by the American
Library Association as a living legend. Ms. Lee has served the
cause of children’s literacy around the
globe.
• Come greet our national
officers, make new friends, network and make coast-to-coast
connections. Presidents from all of the National WNBA branches will
be in attendance. This is a great opportunity for WNBA-SF authors
to schedule events in other WNBA chapter
cities.
Reservations need to be secured right now. Contact Vick Weiland at
Hospitality@wnba-sfchapter.org.
We
look forward to seeing you there and celebrating with you!
********************
From our Literacy
Liaison
Dear WNBA-SF Chapter
Members,
Roya Yasharpour, Statewide
Program Director of Reach Out and Read, was in San Francisco in April for a
conference. So, yours truly and Joan Gelfand, WNBA National Vice
President/President-Elect, met with Ms. Yasharpour to discuss
creative ways to link WNBA members to Reach Out and Read
programs.
Email me
if you are interested in this
awesome organization.
Our Literacy Partnership list is
growing:
REACH
OUT AND READ
Email: Roya
Yasharpour
BRING ME
A BOOK
BAY AREA
LITERACY
PROJECT READ—SF CHAPTER
If you are involved with these or
other literacy advocates, please email me and I'll showcase you in
this Column. Please put "WNBA and Literacy" in your subject
line.
Be well.
Sincerely,
Teresa LeYung Ryan
LiteracyLiaison@wnba-sfchapter.org
********************
Bookworm Talks To Cheryll W. Crane,
author of Lady
Lazarus
Cheryll is
an avid
reader and playwright. She is currently writing her second novel
and finding the experience to be both challenging and
rewarding. Cheryll
lives in
California with her husband and son.
Please visit www.cheryllwcrane.com for more information
highlighting Cheryll
's past and
present endeavors.
(Interview questions posed by Sara Cassella, WNBA-SF Newsletter
Editor to author, Cheryll W. Crane.)
When did you start
writing?
I began writing about 15 years
ago. I wrote a short story and then a short play. Finally, I wrote
a first novel.
Why did you choose your particular
genre?
I always read a lot of stories and
novels. I love fiction. I especially liked stories about women from
all backgrounds, but especially African American and other American
minority group women. I also enjoyed theater. I studied acting for
two years, so I have a fondness for drama. I also write
screenplays.
What inspired you to choose your
subject matter?
For my novel, Lady Lazarus, I was
inspired by the struggles some women have, especially psychological
struggles. I was interested in how their concerns and illnesses
affect their families and especially their children. I also read an
article in a newspaper about a woman who had drowned her children.
She looked devastated and yet blank. The report stated that she had
tried to pull her baby out of the water, but it was too late. I
wondered how things might have been different for that family. So I
wrote a story about a woman and her children who are
saved.
How difficult/easy has your
experience been as a published writer?
I have found the difficulty of
obtaining agent or publisher interest to be disappointing and even
a deterrent to writing; however, I always get back to writing
eventually, because I enjoy it. I believe I should try a lot harder
to promote my work than I do. I also have a demanding full-time job
and a family. Excuses, excuses.
What advice would you give other
aspiring authors?
The advice I need to give to
myself. Write as often as possible. Believe in yourself and your
story and have the courage to share with others.
Anything else you would like to
share with the WNBA?
It has been wonderful to meet and
share with other writers. I appreciate the support of the
WNBA.
Would like to be
featured as our Author Spotlight? Please email Sara
at newsletter@wnba-sfchapter.org.
******************
Poets' Corner
Poetry Review
God of the
Jellyfish: Lucille
Lang Day
Cervena Barva Press,
2007
“God of the Jellyfish” is WNBA member Lucille Lang Day’s seventh
poetry book and tenth book length publication. A poet,
scientist/naturalist and publisher of Scarlet Tanager Books, Day
has been publishing to critical success for over thirty years.
The title poem, “God of the Jellyfish” sets the tone for a weighty
topic explored with a light touch. Jellyfish introduces us to Day’s
aesthetic and world view that a higher power exists in the natural
world, a higher power that does not “expect worship or even
praise:/the iridescence /of their umbrellas will suffice.”
In “14 Stations,” the centerpiece of this packed chapbook, Day uses
the metaphor of the Stations of the Cross to explore death and
resurrection. Inspired by the art installation “14 Stations” in
which artist Robert Wilson abandoned traditional iconography to
open the story of the 14 Stations into something more universal,
Day explores womanhood, fear of living as well as fear of dying,
the banalities of daily life and the transcendent moments.
Always accessible, the accomplishment of “God of the Jellyfish” is
Day’s ability to be both lighthearted and profound at once:
“Dressed in white/like an angel or bride,/she is larger than
life/like Alice, or a mother, seen by a small child. What can she
offer?/A kerchief to wipe/sweat from a brow? A/week’s worth of
ironing?”
Day’s themes are the unceasing search for answers surrounded as we
are by the detritus of life – domestic life and furnishings, the
natural world’s rhythms and constraints. In “11. Bed
Pierced by Light” our protagonist experiences enlightenment, but
only just for a moment before “one by one the stars/blink out,
constellations/disappear, and you/are a barren cave.”
Day’s love and knowledge of the natural world also inform her
poetry in the most delightful use of sounds and language:
“Silvery monkfish, with sickle-shaped fins,/flick forked
tails. Moon jellies throb-/lustrous round bells with eggs/lodged in
frills of their oral arms.”
Bookending the long poem “14 Stations” are an homage to her father,
a meditation on the color red and “Heaven on Earth” in which Lang
tells us it is good to be alive, fully inhabiting the moment,
reveling in the natural world.
********************
WNBA-National
News
One of the benefits of being a WNBA-SF member is that you are
connected to seven chapters nationwide.
Here a few benefits the National organization has for you:
1: Permanent Collection of WNBA member books. In 2007 the Boston
Public Library set aside a section for a permanent collection of
all WNBA authored books.
Please contact Katherine Dibble to have your book included in the
collection: kdibble@att.net
2: Have your book listed on our National Web site/WNBA
Author's page. National web site member password is included in
your membership kit.
Please contact Shyne Lunning for more information: lunni8@aol.com
3: Get published in WNBA's National Newsletter, The Bookwoman. Send
us a short article on a favorite book you read while traveling for
our "Have Book Will Travel" section. Contact Joan Gelfand for
more information about The Bookwoman: joangelfand@pacbell.net
4: Nominations for our bi-annual WNBA award are due in
May. Please nominate your favorite 'bookwoman' for the award.
See www.wnba-books.org for more
information on the WNBA Award.
Lastly, tell us about your successes with WNBA for our endorsements
page.
Joan Gelfand
Vice President, National Women's Book Association
joangelfand@pacbell.net
(510) 757-5626
Blog: http://jg.typepad.com/ciel
WNBA: http://www.wnba-books.org
********************
EDITCETERA Workshops
EDITCETERA, an association of freelance publishing
professionals, presents the following workshops in May. For
registration and more info: www.edicetera.com; 510-849-1110; also learn about
correspondence courses and freelance editorial
services.
• Building Your Editorial Career:
Opportunities and Strategies
Instructor: Barbara
Fuller
When: Tuesday, May 20; 6:30 to
9:30 p.m.
Where: First Presbyterian Church,
2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Cost: $75 for enrollments paid on
or before May 13; $85 after
Details: Learn the nuts and bolts
of starting and running a freelance business.
• Technical Editing: 2008 and
Beyond
Instructor: Susan
Ledford
When: Wednesday, May 28; 6:30 to
9:30 p.m.
Where: First Presbyterian Church,
2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Cost: $75 for enrollments paid on
or before May 21; $85 after
Details: Explore the elements
that define technical editing as a profession and the areas of
expertise that are required of technical editors in and beyond
2008.
• Freelancing as a Business, Not as
a Hobby
Instructor: Robyn Brode
Orsini
When: Saturday, May 31; 9:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m.
Where: First Presbyterian Church,
2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Cost: $135 for enrollments paid
on or before May 23; $145 after
Details: Learn the nuts and bolts
of starting and running a freelance
business.
***************
History
The
Woman's National Book Association is a national organization of
women and men who work with and value books. WNBA exists to promote
reading and to support the role of women in the community of the
book. The San Francisco Chapter of WNBA was founded in 1968 by
Effie Lee Morris, then coordinator of Children's Services for the
San Francisco Main Public Library.
Membership
has ranged from sixty to one hundred. Our members are writers,
booksellers, agents, editors, publishers, publicists, librarians,
graphic designers, career coaches, marketing specialists,
conference planners, aspiring authors and avid
readers.
The
San Francisco branch of WNBA is one chapter in a vibrant
organization with over 800 members across the county. Each branch
has its own flavor and lively events to honor books, the creation
of books, the world of books, and allied
arts.
The
Women's National Book Association has been a Non-Governmental
Organization member of the United Nations since 1959. An NGO is
defined as "any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is
organized on a local, national or international level.
Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs
perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions, bring
citizens' concerns to governments, monitor policies and encourage
political participation at the community
level."
In
effect, WNBA members are to be ambassadors for the UN. Our
organization disseminates information about the United Nations
through all the means at our disposal, especially through our
national and chapter publications and monthly
programs.
****************
WNBA-SF Chapter Board
Members
President: Mary E. Knippel
president@wnba-sfchapter.org
Vice President: Linda Lee
vicepresident@wnba-sfchapter.org
Treasurer: Allegra Harris
treasurer@wnba-sfchapter.org
Literacy Liaison: Teresa LeYung Ryan literacyliaison@wnba-sfchapter.org
Membership Chair: Mary "Shyne" Lunning membership@wnba-sfchapter.org
Newsletter Editor: Sara Cassella
newsletter@wnba-sfchapter.org
Publicity Chair: Barbara Whittaker
Hospitality Chair:
Vicki
Weiland
Founding Member: Effie Lee
Morris
Immediate Past President and Secretary:
Joan
Gelfand
WNBA National
Board Members
President:
Laurie Beckelman
lbeckleman@aol.com
SF Chapter Correspondent, National Book Woman:
Joan
Gelfand
secretary@wnba-sfchapter.org
|
|
From Our Chapter
President
Dear WNBA-SF
Friends,
The Merry Month of May is upon us and it will be busy as we
approach the final days before we celebrate our 40th anniversary as
a chapter and host the annual WNBA National Board meeting here in
San Francisco. Any WNBA-SF member is welcome to sit in on the WNBA
National board meeting on Sat., June 7, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., or Sun.
morning, June 8, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. It is an opportunity to make
a personal connection with WNBA chapter presidents across the
country and hear what all of us have been doing on the local
level.
Our Gala 40th anniversary celebration on Sat., June 7promises to be
an occasion you won’t want to miss with a banquet at the historic
Sir Francis Drake hotel, speaker Beth Lisick and distinguished WNBA
guests. Lisick was our speaker for our October Book Group Month
launch at BookShop West Portal where she read from and talked about
the writing of, "Helping Me Help Myself." WNBA-SF members (and
guests) should take advantage of this opportunity to network with
WNBA chapter presidents who are here for the National meeting. If
you are planning a book tour to the East Coast, just think of the
insider information you could glean from our Boston, Washington
D.C., or New York associates.
Our next WNBA-SF board meeting will be held a little early on May
29 (same time and place, 6-8 p.m. at the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art Café) to allow for any last minute discussions about the
40th anniversary preparations and details about hosting the WNBA
National board meeting. All WNBA-SF members are welcome to attend
board meetings. WNBA-SF is the wonderful organization it is because
of all of us working together, so please stop by and join us on May
29.
Temperatures were hot, but WNBA-SF had a warm reception at April
26’s Mixer in Pleasanton. It was a gorgeous Saturday and we spent
the afternoon talking, laughing, eating, networking and getting to
know each other. Everyone was part of the program as we went around
the group introducing ourselves and sharing projects we were
working, or success stories of accomplishments. One of our authors
was there with a copy of her book hot off the press! I met
her when I first became your president and told her about WNBA. She
took her book project to our Meet-the-Agents event, got an agent,
got a contract, and attended the Mixer with the final results in
hand. That is a true WNBA-SF milestone and success story.
I consider my time as your president a success story, but is almost
up and I urge you to consider becoming a part of the WNBA-SF board.
Linda Lee and I are teaming up to be co-presidents next year.
There’s still time for you to step forward; the vice-president,
secretary and treasurer positions are still open. A position on the
board is a great way to meet some terrific women (and men), hone
your skills and contribute to the growth of our organization. Is
there a program/event you'd like to see WNBA-SF sponsor? Don't
think you have the time to commit to a specific board position, but
would be willing to take on a specific project? Let us know. Anyone
who wants to coordinate a program for the WNBA-SF members should
bring their suggestion to the board. If you would like to nominate
anyone for an office, please visit the web site where we'll have a
page set up for this purpose. Our new board will take their
positions at the June board meeting (to be held May 29).
Finally, if you are someone who feels you are juggling too much in
your life and would like to learn strategies to slow down and add
yourself as a priority on your “to do” list, please join me for a
Free Talk in Pacifica on Sat., May 31. See the Member News section
of this newsletter for all the details.
Please note that our “June” board meeting is taking place on May 29
to accommodate the details we may need to address before the 40th
anniversary gala and the National Board Meeting.
Be
well,
Mary
********************
WNBA-SF
News
Mixing and Mingling in
Pleasanton
By Beth Schaefer
On the sunny Saturday afternoon of April 27, about 25 members of
the WNBA gathered at Faz restaurant in Pleasanton for hors
d'oeurves, networking, ideas, and mutual support. After mingling
and talking books and articles, publishing and media opportunities,
each person stood and introduced herself to the group. Members,
both new and long-time, described their literary projects,
interests, and connections to the WNBA.
The group included authors and poets, some of whom displayed their
works. I know I was delighted to again thank the WNBA for helping
me find my agent at its meet-the-agents event 18 months ago -- as a
result, my book, Writing through
the Darkness: Easing Your Depression with Paper and Pen, is
being published by Ten Speed Press in June.
Members spotted at the Mixer in Pleasanton: Rebecca Martin,
Mary E. Knippel, Elisa Southard, Connie Post, and Deborah
Grossman.
Teresa LeYung Ryan and Glenda G. Ewing discuss advertising in the
Bay Area
Business Woman.
Members at WNBA-SF Mixer
********************
Patricia McKissack to present
The 12th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture
Storytelling, the
Heart of Literacy
Guest lecturer:
Patricia McKissack
12th Annual Effie
Lee Morris Children’s Lecture Series
June 6 at San
Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium
(3:30 p.m.
reception, 4:30 p.m. lecture)
Please join us Friday, June 6 at 3:30 p.m., for our 12th Annual
Effie Lee Morris Children’s Lecture featuring Patricia McKissick at
the San Francisco Main Library. Ms. McKissick will discuss how she
brings the past to life through the stories she tells of African
American historical characters. Ms. McKissick has received the 1993
Coretta Scott King Author Award and Newbery Honor Award for
The Dark Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural 2002 WNBA
Award 2007 ALA Notable Books For Children for Porch Lies:
Tales of Slicksters,Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters.
The WNBA Award is presented by the members of the Women's National
Book Association to "a living American woman who derives part or
all of her income from books and allied arts, and who has done
meritorious work in the world of books beyond the duties or
responsibilities of her profession or occupation." Ms. Effie Lee
Morris received the WNBA Award in 1984.
WNBA-SF established this lecture series in 1996 as a tribute to our
founding president. During her long career at the San Francisco
Library, Ms. Morris was instrumental in taking aside books from the
children’s collection that portrayed racist stereotypes and placing
those books in a separate historical collection. Not only did she
help to bring an awareness of racism to the public, but The
Children’s Historical and Research Collections Ms. Morris began in
1964 exists today as an incredible resource for authors, historians
and librarians to use in their research and writing.
Previous series participants:
2007 - Javaka Steptoe
2006 – Tommie dePaola
2005 – Pamela Munoz Ryan
2004 – Nikki Grimes
2003 – Daniel and Robert San Souci
2002 – Milly Lee
2001 – Thacher Hurd
2000 – Alma Flora Ada
1999 – Ashley Bryan
1998 – Laurence Yep
1997 – Linda Geistlinger, Karey Wehner and Toni
Bernardi
********************
Introducing
Simple
Abundance
Close-to-Home
Workshop
Free talk, Sat., May
31
Sponsored by
Collective Fitness and Fitness for Every Body
104 & 108 Paloma Ave, Pacifica
Hello Kindred
Spirits,
Is the closest
you get to a luxurious bubble bath that TV commercial while you are
making peanut butter sandwiches for the kids? Is the last time you
had 15 minutes to yourself when you arrived early at the dentist?
Would you like to change that? Please join us. We’ll discuss coping
strategies for those who find themselves hurdling through each day
as if it were an out of body experience. Learn how to slow down,
take stock of your world and perhaps make changes in your life.
Celebrate quiet joys, simple pleasures and everyday
epiphanies.
Are you ready to
join the company of like-minded women who share your challenges,
dreams and hopes? More importantly, are you ready to begin a
journey which will lead you on an amazing quest to become
acquainted with the most important woman in your world?—Your
Authentic Self.
Simple Abundance
Close-to-Home Workshop
Mary E.
Knippel
Writer and
Creativity Mentor
Simple Abundance
Close-to-Home Certified Leader
info@openuptoyourcreativity.com
www.simpleabundance.com
********************
Reminder: WBNA-SF Board
Meetings
Board meetings
are open to the entire membership and are usually held the
first Thursday of the month at the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art; however, the next board meeting will be May 29,
6-8 p.m. to allow adequate time to prepare for the
upcoming events: the Effie Lee Morris Children’s
Lecture on June 6, the 40th Anniversary Gala on June 7 and
the National Meeting June 7-9.
********************
Joan Gelfand, SF
Chapter Board Secretary and WNBA National Vice President will
be interviewed live on "Poetry Scene"
The half hour radio show, hosted by San Francisco poet Stephen
Kopel, will be broadcast from City Hall on Friday, May 16th at
10:30 AM. Joan will read from "Seeking Center" as well as a
manuscript in process.
You can find the show, streaming at:
www.lighthouse-sf.org/audio/streaming.php
The show will be re-broadcast five additional times in the month of
May.
**********************
WNBA Members Get to
Read Their Works-in-Progress or Published Works
at
BookShop West
Portal
We've been having such good times at this beloved bookstore that
Pam Reitman, our new Open Mike Liaison, suggested having our next
event on
Thursday, July 10, 7:00-9:00 pm.
The first 6 members to email Pam will get to read their
works-in-progress or published works. Each reader will get 7-10
minutes at the microphone. After the readings, we will have
time to network. So, email Pam immediately if you'd like to
be in the line-up at pamreitman@california.com.
If you don't get in this time, Pam will add your name to the
waiting-list.
Take a look at our April newsletter at wnba-sfchapter.org to see
who the
stars were in March.
*********************
California Writers
Club—San Francisco Peninsula Branch
GROUP MENTORING
May 17, 2008 12:15-1:15pm
"Before or After
Publication—Build Your Career NOW!" with Teresa LeYung
Ryan
Whether you are pre or post
publication, Guest Mentor Teresa LeYung Ryan
will help you take 2 steps
forward toward reaching your writer's dreams
by:
1) showing you how to get endorsements or
advance praises
2) giving you leads to get more connected
with the reading community
3) sharing her extensive resources with
you
Teresa says: "Behind every face
is a compelling story. I encourage everyone to step into their dearest
dreams."
Priority is given to members of
the CWC SF/Peninsula branch members, then other branch members, then non-members. Tell
Teresa and Joyce which branch of CWC you're with. Non-members can
attend one group mentoring session per year.
Email Teresa LeYung Ryan and
Joyce Robins, CWC's Group Mentoring Co-Chairs
at Mentoring@sfpeninsulawriters.com
and they will email back confirmation or put your name on the wait
list. Put "May CWC Group Mentoring" in
the
subject
line.
*********************
CWC Writer's Forum
Open Mic Night: 10 Writers Read, for 10 minutes
each
When: Third Wednesday
of every month
Hosted by: Borders Books and Music, 2925 El Camino Real, San Mateo,
CA (On El Camino Real, 1 mile south of Highway 92, across from the
Hillside Shopping Center.)
Time: 7:30
pm
Cost:
Free
Details: This is a
great opportunity for authors to get exposure and to practice
public speaking skills. Open to all writers and listeners,
including CWC members and non-members. Each reader is given a
choice of whether or not they wish to receive
feedback.
If you would like a free one-hour speech coaching lesson to prepare
for our Open Mic, contact Geri through
CWC.
************************
ADVANCED PLOT WORKSHOP
By Martha Alderson
Author of Blockbuster Plots
Pure & Simple
Saturday May 17, 2008 10am-3pm
The
Advanced Plot Workshop is for any writer looking for an
advanced, practical, hands-on approach to plotting and is willing
to have their work used as an example. Rather than "tell" you about
the plot structure of scenes and an overall story through lecture
using published works, Martha will "show" you by using your own
individual work as example.
Cost is $100. Class size is limited. Workshop to be held in
Los Gatos. To qualify, each writer must have read Blockbuster Plots
Pure and Simple, viewed a Blockbuster Plot DVD, or attended a live
workshop. For more information click
here.
Martha Alderson, M.A., is an international plot consultant, an
award-winning writer of historical fiction, and speaker. She
teaches plot writing workshops privately and through UC Santa Cruz
Extension, Learning Annex, East of Eden Writers Conference, Jack
London Writers Conference, and elsewhere. Join Martha to explore
the critical relationship between characterization and plot.
|
The Bookworm
