A series of workshops set in the South …

April 13-19, 2010

Writing and Photography Workshop with Linda Watanabe McFerrin and featured local photographers …

Charleston and the South Carolina Low Country beckons! Join the organizers of the Southern Sampler Artists Colony on a journey into a place like no other—a place brushed with spirit, dipped in belonging, and brought to life in Gospel, Jazz, Blues, soul food, cooling ocean breezes, wraparound porches, and warm welcomes that begin with y’all. Relax! Let your heart open, soul sing, and spirit soar.

Byron says ...

We had a full house Monday when Byron Belitsos explored the dance of publisher and author at the Literary Salon in a talk that addressed literary matches: Made in heaven? . . . Or hell?

Belitsos, founder of Origin Press, publisher of books on practical spirituality, entertained the group with wild tales about the authors who populate his dreams and nightmares. In addition to an interesting look at some of his list, past and present, he shared his evaluation of what makes a book succeed commercially. Here’s Byron’s test. It’s easy and enlightening. You might want to note that while it applies primarily to non-fiction, fiction writers might want to consider his points as well. We’re sharing it with his compliments.

Roger Housden

Such a simple idea – have an evening of spoken word, poetry and readings in the Bay Area, and send the money raised to those in need. A village in India can then have clean water for the first time and prevent three or four children a month dying from water borne diseases. There are thousands of villages throughout India without clean running water.

All it takes to change that is $8,000 -10,000 per village. That sum pays for a well with simple hand pump, a rainwater collection tank, and eco-sanitation toilets. The groundwork is done by a UK charity, Wherever The Need, which also has non-profit status in the US.

Poetry for Water with Anne Lamott, Roger Housden, Nina Wise

POETRY PUBLICATION WORKSHOP with C.B. Follett, Susan Terris, and Rebecca Foust

Rebecca Foust

Saturday, November 7, 2009 || 10am – 1pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Learn what to do to get your poetry published in literary journals and other publications. Two experienced poet/editors and one relative newcomer to the poetry scene will address questions related to WHEN, WHERE, HOW, and WHAT to submit, with focus on how to get your work out in the world without stress, fear of rejection, or waste of valuable writing time. When is your work ready to submit? Where should you send it? What is the most efficient way to get the work out? What goes into a submission? Sample cover letters, lists of how-to’s, and website resources will be provided, and an inventory of resource books and sample literary journals will be available for review.

Linda Watanabe McFerrin

This time last week I was still in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I was a workshop leader and panelist at the 31^st Nimrod Literary Awards Conference for Readers and Writers 2009 at the University of Tulsa. Other Faculty included Peter S. Beagle (a past LCW Presenter), Marvin Bell, Robert Olen Butler, Marie Howe, W. Scott Olsen, James Ragan, and Nimrod International Journal Editor in Chief, Francine Ringold. The judges for the 2009 Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction and the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry were novelist Robert Olen Butler and poet Marie Howe. The winners were Alicia Case (fiction) and Mike Nelson (poetry).

The theme of this year’s Awards Celebration was “Words at Play,” a topic that award winning poet and Iowa’s first Poet Laureate, Marvin Bell, tackled creatively. Here’s an excerpt:

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, author of Love in Translation

Saturday, December 12, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

IT’S NOVEL OR NEVER ,,,,

Tim Urlaub

The folks at National Novel Writing Month have devised a plan so simple that even a knucklehead like me has trouble messing it up.  My mistake:  not taking advantage of the opportunity to stretch out.  Me thinks I doth text too much.  Hence, the bad facial hair to conceal my identity until I get it write.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Mary Lou Peters Schram, author of Pursuing Happiness … One More Time

Saturday, November 14, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

LOOKING FOR LOVE AND HAPPINESS

Four women, a dead husband, a not-so-great boyfriend, a little extra weight and lots of money—is this a recipe for joy or disaster?

If a good book and a glass of wine is your idea of happiness, please grab a friend and join us for a delightful evening with local author Mary Lou Peters Schram.

“Although the pursuit of happiness is one of our inalienable rights, nowhere is it guaranteed that we shall catch it.  Mary Lou Peters Schram’s witty new novel chronicles the lives of four women, all residents of Shady Acres, an adult community in California’s wine country, as each pursues her own particular vision of happiness.

Monday, November 2, 2009 || 7pm ||

Byron Belitsos, Publisher, Origin Press, talks about the complex dance of author and publisher

Book Passage – Corte Madera

51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Byron Belitsos

Marin-based small press publisher Byron Belitsos of Origin Press will share stories and wisdom drawn from his experiences of the publishing business over the last 15 years—with special focus on his perceptions of the many authors with whom he has worked. Belitsos has edited and published books on health, consciousness, spirituality, and politics, including Faith and the Placebo Effect by Lolette Kuby, Mind Science by Charles Tart, The Unfolding Self by Ralph Metzner, and Waking Up in Time by Peter Russell. He has also played the roles both of coauthor and publisher for several