Remain Anonymous, Get Feedback at 2019 Slush Pile Live!
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Registration for the NCWN 2019 Spring Conference is now open.
Beginning at 4:00 pm on Saturday, April 27, attendees may drop off either 300 words of prose or one page of poetry in the room of their choice (prose and poetry will be read in both MHRA rooms 1214 and 1215). The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript.
At 5:00 pm, a panel of editors will listen to the submissions being read out loud and raise their hand when they hear something that would make them stop reading if the piece were being submitted to their publication. The editors will discuss what they did and did not like about the sample, offering constructive feedback on the manuscript itself and the submission process. All anonymous—all live!
Those interested in having their anonymous submission read should bring a hard copy of up to 300 words of prose from a single work or one page of poetry (40-line max) to one of the Slush Pile Live! rooms. Submissions should be double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font. No names should appear on the submissions.
This year's panelists include:
- Lauren Faulkenberry (Blue Crow Publishing)
- Crystal Simone Smith (Backbone Press)
- Kevin Morgan Watson (Press 53)
- Stephanie Andrea Allen (BLF Press)
- Jason T. Graves (Prospective Press)
- Rhett Trull (Cave Wall)
As many submissions as the panelists can get to in an hour, that's how many they'll read. Authors can reveal themselves at the end, to thunderous applause, befitting their bravery, but only if they want to.
“If you’ve never worked or volunteered for a publisher or literary magazine before, the submission process can seem kind of mysterious,” says NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern. “Slush Pile Live! will give attendees a peek into the editorial screening process, with the added bonus of giving feedback to anonymously submitted manuscripts in a non-threatening way.”
Other familiar programs will remain, including faculty readings, an open mic for conference participants, an exhibit hall packed with publishers and literary organizations, and “Lunch with an Author,” where conference-goers can spend less time waiting in line and more time talking with the author of their choice.
Spaces in “Lunch with an Author” are limited and are first-come, first-served. Pre-registration and an additional fee are required for this offering.
Pre-registration for the North Carolina Writers' Network 2019 Spring Conference closes Sunday, April 21. Register now!
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, and to register, visit www.ncwriters.org.
NCWN to Host Creative Capital Career Development Workshop Just for Writers
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GREENSBORO—Can’t make it all the way to Oregon for this year’s AWP Conference? Then has the Network got a deal for you.
Thanks to a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, the North Carolina Writers’ Network will host a one-day Career Development Workshop for Writers, presented by Creative Capital, on Saturday, March 30, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Creative Capital’s intensive one-day Career Development Workshop will cover strategic planning, business management, goal setting, negotiations and income streams—all geared towards the specific needs and circumstances of writers. Participants will learn key business, management, and communications skills and hear first-hand from other writers how these tools can be used to achieve success, however they define it.
In addition to lecture presentations, participants will join in interactive exercises, hear case studies, have the opportunity to meet with leaders in small working groups, and take home a Strategic Planning workbook to help guide their process.
Burnsville novelist Abigail DeWitt, a past participant in a Creative Capital Career Development Workshop, said of her experience, “It was great—life-changing, actually.”
DeWitt is the author of three novels, most recently News of Our Loved Ones.
The March 30 workshop will be co-led by poet and Creative Capital Awardee Tracie Morris and strategic planning consultant Colleen Keegan.
Morris is a writer, sound poet, critic, scholar, bandleader, actor, and multimedia performer. She is the author of Intermission, Chap-T-her Won, handholding: 5 kinds, Rhyme Scheme, and was co-editor, with Charles Bernstein, of BAX 2016: Best American Experimental Writing. She leads her own eponymous band and is a lead singer for Elliott Sharp's group, Terraplane. Morris has earned numerous awards and fellowships for poetry and performance, including New York Foundation for the Arts, Asian Cultural Council, Franklin Furnace and Creative Capital fellowships as well as residencies at Millay, Yaddo and MacDowell colonies. She is a former Poetics fellow of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing at the University of Pennsylvania, a Cave Canem Fellow, and Professor and Coordinator of Performance and Performance Studies at Pratt Institute, New York. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Hunter College, a Ph.D in Performance Studies from New York University, and has studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and at Michael Howard Studios. Morris is currently visiting professor of poetry at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Keegan is a corporate Strategic Planner and Arts Activist. She is a partner in Keegan Fowler Companies, an equity investment and consulting firm specialized in providing strategic planning and business affairs services to companies in the communications and entertainment industries. Previously, Keegan served as the president of Pacific Arts Video Production and Washington Video Services, and also worked as a producer for MTV Networks, WETA, and Showtime. Keegan is the art business adviser for the TED Fellows program and the Co-Chair of the TED Fellows Arts Committee. She lectures on art and new markets at California College of Art, Cal Arts, and the Wharton Business School among others.
Workshop participants will learn key skills, including:
- A personalized system for using strategic planning to increase your satisfaction in your life and career
- Improved communication techniques to represent yourself and negotiate with clarity and confidence
- Strategies for balancing time and money
- Calculating the real cost of your time for budgets and negotiations
- Essentials for running your art practice as a small, independent business, including employment, contracts, incorporation options, budgeting and cash flow
- How to write and use a business plan and why it is crucial to both personal and professional development
- How to analyze, navigate and secure teaching and other related opportunities
Accepted participants will leave the workshop with a personalized plan of action based on their own goals for their writing careers, a close community of informed and educated peer artists (including participants and workshop leaders) who can act as resources for future endeavors, and the Strategic Planning Workbook, which includes exercises and evaluation processes to work toward personal goal setting and financial management.
The registration fee for this full-day workshop—a value of more than $200, including morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch, and the Strategic Planning Workbook—is only $35 for NCWN members, $75 for non-members.
This Career Development Workshop is open only to the first 24 qualified applicants. Those who wish to register must apply online through the NCWN Submittable page, submitting a short writing sample, a current CV, and a brief Statement of Writing Intent, along with the registration fee. Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis until the workshop fills or the registration deadline of Monday, March 18, whichever comes first—so don’t wait until the last minute to apply. Applicants who are not accepted into the workshop will receive a refund of their registration fee.
Kim Church, author of the award-winning novel Byrd, said, “I’ve taken two Creative Capital workshops, one at Penland and one through the NC Arts Council when I got a fellowship a few years ago. I found them useful in that they helped me be clear about my professional goals and how much time I needed to allocate to career development and marketing. The workshops are probably most useful for writers just starting to think about the business of writing, but they’re also good refreshers.”
“I loved the CC workshop I attended,” said poet Anna Lena Phillips Bell, author of the Vassar Miller Prize–winning Ornament and editor of Ecotone. “It was really clarifying, and a different perspective than I often hear about living and working as an artist . . . one that acknowledges artists should be and can be paid for their work, and offers helpful guidance on how to make that happen more.”
Creative Capital supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel and career development services. Our pioneering venture philanthropy approach helps artists working in all creative disciplines realize their visions and build sustainable practices. Made possible through public and private philanthropy, Creative Capital has committed $45 million in financial and advisory support to 561 projects representing 700 artists, and our peer-to-peer career development program has reached more than 15,000 artists in 700 communities through in person and online workshops. Learn more online at http://www.creative-capital.org.
The North Carolina Arts Council builds on our state’s long-standing love of the arts, leading the way to a more vibrant future, and serving as an economic catalyst, fueling a thriving nonprofit creative sector that generates $2.12 billion in annual direct economic activity. The Arts Council also sustains diverse arts expression and traditions, while investing in innovative approaches to art-making. Visit them online at http://www.NCArts.org.