Courageous Journey on the Book Shelves
Arkansas writer Barbara Youree’s long-anticipated narrative of the journey of two Lost Boys from Sudan to Kansas City is on the book store shelves.Courageous Journey is the moving story about the human cost of governmental greed, ethnic hostilities, and religious intolerance. Former President Jimmy Carter has this to say about this important book:
Ayuel Leek Deng and Beny Ngor Chol face incredible obstacles in this story of courage and unrelenting determination. Courageous Journey makes a powerful statement about the effects of today’s most threatening issues–terrorism, religious conflict and ethnic hatred–on the most vulnerable among us.
You can order your copy from this page, or from wherever books are sold.
Poets NW Meeting August 2, 2008
Poets NW will meet August 2, 2008 in room 222 of the Jones Center for Families in Springdale, Arkansas, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Featured speakers will be Van K. Brock and Geoff Brock.
Van Brock began publishing essays and poetry during the 1960’s and then moved to Florida where he helped establish the creative writing program at Florida State University. He founded Anhinga Press in 1972 which continues to support poets throughout the South.
Geoff Brock is on the faculty of the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and is an internationally known translator and poet. He has recently earned the privilege of translating Umberto Eco’s The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana.
Both Brocks will be reading from their works at the Ozark Poets and Writers Collective on Monday, September 24, 7 p.m., at George’s Majestic Lounge on Dickson Street in Fayetteville.
Pat Carr Workshop Set for August 2008
Award winning author Pat Carr will be conducting writing workshops each of the five Sundays in August 2008 from 1 to 4 pm in the library of St. Paul’sEpiscopal Church in Fayetteville on the corner of East and Dickson Streets.
Workshop sessions focus on writing exercises that are applicable to short and long fiction, non-fiction, and memoir. Each session stands alone, so participants can choose to attend as many of the sessions as fit their schedules.
Carr’s twelve books of fiction include The Women in the Mirror, winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, and If We Must Die, finalist in the 2003 PEN book awards. Her more than one hundred short stories have been published in Southern Review, Yale Review, and Best American Short Stories.
The workshop is free, Carr suggests a donation to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for allowing her to use their facilities for the fifteen hour program. No advance registration is required.
PRA Annual Conference October 17-18, 2008
In celebration of National Poetry Day, Poets NW, a regional member of Poets Roundtable of Arlamsas, will host the Arkansas Fall Conference in Fayetteville, October 17-18, 2008.
Offering awards in thirty poetry categories, the conference will feature Dr. Michael Heffernan (UA-Fay) as guest speaker. Fayetteville Poet Laureate Clayton Scott will also be a featured speaker.
For a copy of the conference information and list of contests, contact Kate Lacy 479-442-8028 or voicedancer2002@yahoo.com. The complete brochure is also available on the PRA website at http://www.poetsroundtable.com/brochure_new.html Entry deadline for poems to be crititqued by Dr. Heffernan and for contest entries is Spetember 1, 2008.
Siloam Springs Writer Workshop September 20, 2008
The Siloam Springs Writers will hold their annual fall workshop and writing contest on September 20, 2008 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Open to the public, the event will be held at the New Senior Activity Center, 750 Heritage Court off Tulsa Street, Siloam Springs, Arkansas. An admission fee of $5.00 includes the luncheon and an entry for the Gertrude Jesser Award for an inspirational poem. Submissions will be taken at the door.
The speaker and judge for the morning prose workshop will be published author, Carol Russell of Fort Scott, Kansas.
The poetry speaker and judge for the afternoon workshop will be Mary Ann Highfill, a high school English teacher from Siloam Springs.
For those participating in the contests, an entry fee of $2.00 for non-members and $1.00 for members will be required for each entry. Read more
University of Arkansas Press Sweeps Civil War Book Awards
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Military Order of the Stars and Bars announced its three annual book awards for 2008, and the University of Arkansas Press won all three. According to the organization, this has never happened before. Read more
Homicide Detective Featured Speaker July 12
Homicide detective and mystery writer David Williams will speak at the next meeting of the Who Dunit mystery writer and reader group at noon on Saturday, July 12 at AQ Chicken on College Ave. in Fayetteville.
Williams’s topic will be Personal Safety, with an emphasis on stalking, his particular area of expertise.
Contact Trisha Beland (582-0607) for further information.
Write History Right
CHS Publishing offers pre-release copies of Write History Right. The book is a practical guide for writers of local, regional, famiy, church, or organiztional history. Step-by-step tips for authors cover the research, documentation, interviewing, writing, and marketing of a successful book.Includes essential forms to support the writer’s work. This book is a must read for beginning writers or experienced writers trying this genre for the first time. This guide offers a clear, concise road map for achieving the book you’ve always wanted to write.
The author of Write History Right, Marilyn H. Collins, is an award winning author of three local history books and over 100 magazine articles. A resident of Rogers, she is available for workshops based on this book. hswc1@cox.net
Barbara Youree’s Book Available for Pre-Order
Barbara Youree, a member of the Writers’ Guild of Northwest Arkansas, has a book on the Lost Boys of the Sudan coming out in September 2008. It can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.com.Courageous Journey: Walking the Lost Boys Path from the Sudan to America traces the ordeal of Ayuel Leek and Beny Ngor, two of the thousands of children displaced by the chaos of civil war and exploitation in the Sudan. Barbara Youree was one of the volunteer mentors in Kansas City who helped rescued Sudanese immigrants adjust to life in the United States. She has written the stories of these two young men as they told them to her over the course of several years.To pre-order your copy, go to Amazon.
Calling All Writers’ Groups
In order to make this site more useful to all the writers in the state by supplying them with current information about events and opportunities, writers are invited to request Contributor status.
As a Contributor, an author may write posts, but the post will be reviewed by the Administrator before publication.
Contributors who need to post frequently, for example leaders of writers’ groups, may request Author status. The role of Author permits the writing, editing, and publishing of posts.
So, climb aboard. If you are interested in becoming either an Author or a Contributor at ArkansasWriters.com, let me know: Editor@arkansaswriters.com
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Barbara Youree's Book Is OUT!