Our recent New Members Reception welcomed women writers who recently joined our group. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet these smart and talented women who share our passion for writing. Our new members add their voices to Women Who Write where we strive to be a unique group that supports women as they tell their stories through the written word.
Diane Cruze Director, Women Who Write
Welcome to the following who recently joined Women Who Write.
Deanese Jameson
Kenneta Lynn Ballard
Linda Yewell
Pam LaFollette
Member News
Congratulations to Erin Wedemeyer who has got accepted into the 37th Annual Kentucky Book Fair on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16–17, at the Alltech Arena, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington. Erin invites WWW members to stop by her booth where she will be selling and signing her book, A Vow to Fury.
July Meeting and Readings
We had a total of thirteen in attendance. Included in the thirteen, were two visitors and three new members.
Readings:
Linda Yewell – WW1 in Western Kentucky
Sherry Emery – Two poems. Mary Kelly and MacKenzie Victoria
We had a total of 12 in attendance. All were current members in good membership standing.
Readings:
Linda Yewell - Is writing a murder mystery. She read an excerpt from Chapter One. Untitled.
Donna Elkins - Also writing a murder mystery. Read Chapter One. Untitled.
Pat Smith (P G Smith) - “House Divided”
Suzanne Cordery - “A Little Girl's Migration Story: 1960’s West Louisville Kentucky”
Marty Hoover - “The Ford Sisters”
Pam Lafollette - Act 1, 1 - “Into Darkness“ and Act 1 11 - “Here Come the Cops”
Upcoming Meetings
The next regular WWW meetings will be Thursday, September 6. All meetings are from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Highlands-Shelby Park Library reading room, in the Mid-City Mall, 1250 Bardstown Road.
If you plan to read, please remember to use the industry’s standard of double spaced, 12-point, Times Roman font when preparing copies of your work for distribution during regular meetings. Also, please limit to four pages.
Announcing the WWW WORDS, WARMTH, and WISDOM PROJECT
In an effort to support a community-wide program, Women Who Write has created the Words, Warmth, and Wisdom project. In collaboration with the local Catholic Charities English as a Second Language Director program, our project will encourage reading while providing warm winter garments to local refugee families who participate in The National Center for Families Learning program. (NCFL)
Donations of picture books and outwear (hat, scarf, gloves) along with a brief note of encouragement or welcome will be collected from September thru December. At our December meeting, we will attach the outerwear, and notes to the books with ribbon. A date will be scheduled to distribute the gifts and read to the families if you wish to participate.
NCFL provides various ways to assist refugee family members of all ages, including ESL classes, homework assistance, and guidance and support to ease the challenges of relocation and transition.
The NCFL program in Louisville run by Catholic Charities takes place at Holy Cross High School on Monday thru Thursday evenings from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Now in its second year, the program is expanding and looking for volunteers to work in several areas. If you would like to volunteer or want to learn more about the program, contact Debbie Chartoff at or 502-767-8346.
Special WWW Workshop for Writers of all Genres
Women Who Write is hosting a writer’s workshop on Tuesday, September 25th, 2018 at the South Central Regional Library in Louisville, KY from 6:30 – 8pm. The address for the Library is 7300 Jefferson Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40219. Join author and EKU faculty member, Julie Hensley, as she facilitates an interactive workshop open to everyone on Building Characters through Inventory.
Get ready to empty the pockets, drawers, and glove compartments. In this fiction workshop, we’ll create inventories to enrich character development. We’ll learn how the physical characteristics of a character (eye color, hair style, height) are much less important to readers’ understanding than the objects the characters encounter and with which s/he interacts. Inventory is where action and characterization meet, making it an essential part of plot.
A donation of $10 is requested. You may register on the website with payment thru Pay Pal or mail a check payable to Women Who Write, P. O. Box 6167, Louisville, KY 40206.
Julie Hensley was raised in the Shenandoah Valley. She traveled west, earning a MFA at Arizona State University. Now she makes her home in Kentucky with her husband (the writer R. Dean Johnson) and their two children. She is a core faculty member of the Bluegrass Writers Studio, the low-residency MFA program at Eastern Kentucky University. Hensley’s poems and stories have appeared in dozens of journals, most recently The Journal, The Southern Review, New Madrid, Saranac Review, and Blackbird. She is the author of two books of poetry, The Language of Horses and Viable, and one book of fiction, Landfall: A Ring of Stories (winner of the 2015 Ohio State University Non/fiction Prize). SPACE IS LIMITED. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
WWW 2018 Fall Retreat
Join us at the Women Who Write’s Annual Fall Retreat at the Hopscotch House on Saturday, October 13th at 10 am thru Sunday, October 14th at 3pm. Come for a few hours, spend the day, or register as an overnight guest (accommodations are limited to 9 guests). Bring your writing project, enjoy the outdoors, and socialize with old and new friends who share your same interest. This is a MEMBERS ONLY event.
Please bring either a breakfast item or side dish to be shared for a pot luck dinner, and a Saturday bag lunch if you would like. Platters of fried chicken will be provided for dinner by WWW.
Register on the WWW website. Fifteen dollars will be collected at the time of registration by Women Who Write as a donation to the Kentucky Foundation for Women as a thank you for the use of their beautiful house and grounds. Payment may be made by Pay Pal, or mail a check to Women Who Write, P.O. Box 6167, Louisville, KY 40206.
Third Annual WWW Evening of Readings
Please join us at The Bard’s Town 1801 Bardstown Road, for Women Who Write’s Third Annual Evening of Readings on November 1, 2018. Gather at 6:00 pm to order beverage and food. Readings will begin promptly at 6:30 pm. This event is in lieu of our November WWW monthly meeting at the library. All genres are welcome. For those interested in reading a ten-minute piece or less, email your name and title to Diane Cruze at . First come, first serve with preference given to those who have read at our monthly meeting. Maximum of 12.
The Evening of Reading replaces our monthly meeting for November.
WWW Holiday Luncheon
The Dutch treat holiday luncheon is scheduled for Sat., Dec. 1, 20118, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at Mimi’s Café 615 S Hurstbourne Pkwy, Louisville, KY 40222.
Call For Submissions to the BOOM! PROJECT An Anthology of the Ohio Valley by the Baby Boom Generation
WWW members Bonnie Omer Johnson and Kimberly Crum have launched The Boom! Project, a multi-genre anthology they will be producing and editing. The editors are two baby boomer writers, who believe it is time for their generation to lift their voices again, to preserve the past and inspire the future.
Writers, poets and storytellers born between 1946 and 1964 are invited to submit memoir, fiction, essay, poetry or interview— between June 1 and September 15, 2018—for publication in an edited anthology. Submissions must be composed by persons who came of age, or are living now, along the Ohio River Valley—From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cairo, Illinois.
Bonnie and Kim are looking for humorous, quirky and zany writers, urban and rural writers, farmhands and praying hands, professionals and porch sitters, teachers and learners, soldiers and sailors, protestors and civil rights marchers. In 4,000 words or less, write about life as a member of our loud, proud Baby Boom generation.
The anthology will be published by Butler Books, a well-respected publisher, since 1989, in Louisville, Kentucky. $12 entry fee
Persons without Internet access may send entries to PO Box 7182, Louisville, KY. 40057. Selected writing will receive publication, a $100 cash award and five copies of the anthology, as well as future copies at cost and a chance to read at local libraries and bookstores. All stories must be original. Reprints will be considered as long as writers have full rights.
Seasonal Rites
Seasonal Rites events give members an opportunity to bring their laptop or writing tablet and start on that new writing project, revise and edit a piece, or use a writing prompt to jumpstart new writing ideas. It is also an opportunity for members to support each other in their writing pursuits.
We would love for members to volunteer to host a Seasonal Rite at their home or at a community location. As the host, you choose the date, place and time for us to gather. Contact a board member if you would like to host a Rite.
Celebrate Women’s History Month March 2019
Steve Cambron, organizer of the Flying Out Loud monthly public literary readings has invited WWW members to participate in celebrating Women’s History month in March 2019. Six WWW members will give ten minutes readings of work they have written that are related to a woman’s perspective on history or living in today’s world. All genres are welcome. The reading will be March 11, 2019 from 6 to 8 pm at Sunergos Coffee shop, 2122 South Preston Street. Reading slots are limited. Deadline to sign-up is October 1 so that the March reading can be announced on the Flying Outload Website and event calendar. Notify Diane Cruze if you would like to participate.
Events / Opportunities
Sept. 13–16. Kentucky Women Writers’ Conference in Lexington. Featured guests include poets, novelists, bloggers, agents, and more. Six workshops. Fees and registration details online. https://womenwriters.as.uky.edu/
Sept. 14, 7 p.m. InKY Reading Series features Joe Manning (nonfiction), Sarah Rose Nordgren (poetry), and Stephanie Kartalopoulos (poetry). Open mic sign-ups at 6:30 p.m. The Bard’s Town, 1801 Bardstown Rd., Louisville. Free.
Sept. 15, 9:30–noon. Louisville Literary Arts presents “Creating New Poem Drafts When the Muse is on Vacation.” Mellwood Arts Center, 1860 Mellwood Ave., Studio 123, Louisville. Instructor: Stephanie Kartalopolous, professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
Saturday, November 10 –Writer’s Block Festival at Spalding University. The Louisville Literary Arts's Writer’s Block Festival brings together published and emerging writers, readers, professors, and book industry professionals for a full-day, free public event. The Festival hosts a range of workshops, readings, panels, staged interviews, open mics, and a print & resource fair. More information at https://www.louisvilleliteraryarts.org
Kentucky Foundation for Women Artist Enrichment Grant. This grant provides opportunities for feminist artists and arts organizations to further their artistic development to create art for positive social change. Deadline Sept. 7, 5 p.m. EST.
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest awards $4,000 in cash prizes; published and unpublished work accepted. All entries that win cash prizes published on WinningWriters.com. Entry fee: $12 per poem (each up to 250 lines). Deadline Sept. 30.
2018 PRINCEMERE POETRY PRIZE- Prizes: $300 will be awarded for the winning poem, with $200 to be divided among runners-up. Three poems allowed per entry fee. All submissions will be considered for publication; author will be contacted for permission. http://www.princemere.com/. $5 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 11, 2018.
MASTERS FLASH FICTION CONTEST - Our love of flash fiction runs deep. We are proud to now offer a contest dedicated solely to flash twice a year. This is the first time we have offered a summer contest for tiny and mighty fiction. The winning writer will be awarded $3,000 and publication on The Masters Review site. Second and third place will be awarded $300 and $200, respectively, as well as publication in The Masters Review. Limit 1,000 words. https://mastersreview.com/flash-fiction-contest/ $20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 30, 2018.
EQUESTRIAN VOICES CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST - The Equestrian Voices Creative Writing Contest is sponsored by The Plaid Horse, and promotes fine, literary prose involving horses and the equestrian experience. This contest is open to writers of fiction and nonfiction, regardless of any previous publications, and awards three prizes: The Plaid Horse Prize in Fiction - $1,000; The Constance Wickes Prize in Creative Nonfiction - $1,000; and The Piper J. Klemm Emerging Authors Prize - $500. The winning story, essay and emerging authors piece will be published in a 2018-2019 edition of The Plaid Horse magazine. All submissions must be under 5,000 words. https://theplaidhorse.com/equestrian-voices-creative-writing-contest/ $20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 15, 2018.
Lilith Magazine—independent, Jewish & frankly feminist—invites submissions of quality short fiction, 3,000 words or under, for our Annual Fiction Contest. The magazine proudly spotlights both emerging and established writers. When selecting what you'll submit, please remember our tagline, and familiarize yourself with Lilith by visiting our website. Winner receives $250 and publication. No fee to enter. Please email your entry to with "Fiction Contest Submission" in the subject line. Deadline September 30
The Missouri Review’s Jeffery E. Smith Editor’s Prize -$5,000 Fiction | $5,000 Nonfiction | $5,000 Poetry. Winners receive publication, invitation to a reception and reading in their honor, and a cash prize. Submit one piece of fiction or nonfiction up to 8,500 words or any number of poems up to 10 pages. Enter online or by mail. Entry fee: $25. Winners will be announced in early 2019. Each entrant receives a one-year subscription to the Missouri Review in digital format (normal price $24) and a paperback copy of the second title in our new imprint, Missouri Review Books, Trouble in Mind: The Short Story and Conflict, an anthology of our very favorite Editors' Prize fiction winners and runners-up from the past twenty-eight years (normal price $14.95). Questions? Email .Deadline: October 1
