Summer Staff Shuffle at TWC

Hello loyal readers of First Person Plural! Zachary Fernebok here—you know, the guy who you probably talked with on the phone the last time you called TWC, or saw at the front desk. Dark hair? Well-dressed? Yep, that’s me!

I’m blogging today (and it seems for more days to come) with exciting news. We here at TWC are coming out of the summer totally re-energized and completely pumped for a stellar selection of Fall Workshops and our 35^th Anniversary Reading Series. In fact, the year-long party begins Saturday, September 10 at 7:30 with a reading by poet Martin Espada, referred to as “the Pablo Neruda of North American Authors” by the world, and “I can’t believe he’s really going to be reading at TWC!” by his fans.

Former staff member Kyle Semmel has done a great job promoting all of the wonderful workshops and events we have to offer, and I’m picking up the torch as the new Marketing & Program Manager. I started at TWC as Kyle’s intern in 2009, and I’m so honored to be coming full-circle. In my new position, I will be continuing work on all of Kyle’s marketing initiatives, and starting a few things of my own. Additionally, I will be assisting Sunil with workshops by putting together our Bethesda batches of workshops.

Yes—that’s right! Sunil Freeman is back in business this month after a few weeks away doing what we can only hope was working on a new collection of poetry. I personally like to imagine he was trying his hand at cape-crusading, keeping our streets safe, and being the hero that this city needs. Sunil will be continuing his work as Assistant Director, but focusing more on the programming of our satellite venues (check out our workshops at Capitol Hill and Annapolis, for example!) and our events.

And last but not least, I’m overjoyed to announce Laura Spencer as our new full-time receptionist. She has served TWC very well for over a year as a part-time employee, and now she gets a chance to shine even brighter from nine-to-five. Next time you’re in TWC to sign up for a workshop or meet with your writing group, don’t be shy and say hi!

With that, I hope everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing Labor Day weekend. I would even say it’s the perfect three days to finish your entry for our poetry slam competition in preparation for our event with slam poet Taylor Mali. Thanks for reading!

The Writer’s Center Kicks Off 35th Anniversary Reading Series with “The Latino Poet of His Generation”

Martín Espada, an internationally-acclaimed poet with local roots, will also lead a one-day poetry workshop: Barbaric Yawp.

The Writer’s Center is pleased to kick off its 35^th Anniversary Reading Series on Saturday, September 10^th with former Rockville and Gaithersburg resident Martín Espada, the “Latino poet of his generation” and a graduate of the former Woodward High School. 

Today, Espada is the author of ten collections of critically acclaimed poetry, including his recently published collection, TheTrouble Ball. He’s currently a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. But in 1973, at the age of sixteen, he worked on a cleaning crew at a Sears & Roebuck in Bethesda, an experience he would later write about in the poem "My Heart Kicked Like a Mouse in a Paper Bag," which appears in his latest collection (excerpt below).

“That sixteen year-old boy working at Sears wrote poetry at the time,” Espada says, “but never would have imagined that he would one day return to Bethesda to give a poetry reading.”

What: Martin Espada Kicks off 35thAnniversary Reading Series

When: Saturday, September 10, 7:30 P.M. Register here

Where: The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD 20815

Admission: $10 for TWC members; $15 for non-members

Details: Contact 301.654.8664 for details, or visit www.writer.org

In addition to this event, Martín Espada will also lead a workshop on Sunday, September 11 (Barbaric Yawp). Here’s an excerpt from his poem “My Heart Kicked Like a Mouse in a Paper Bag” (used with permission by the author):

A stock boy handed me a paper bag one night

as if it were the lunch he forgot to eat, and punched out.

The bag was alive. There was a mouse inside, kicking,

caught sniffing around the Crusher. Bewildered boy

that I was, I called security, department store cops

who loitered at the loading dock, breath hot

from smoking, hunting shoplifters and telling lies

about the war. One of them said: Where’s the mouse?

About the 35^th Anniversary Reading Series

The Writer’s Center’s 35^th Anniversary Reading Series includes authors who represent the diversity of The Writer’s Center community, which has nurtured a wide variety of writers—and readers—throughout its long history in the DC area. Featured readers include “the Latino poet of his generation,” Martín Espada; renowned slam poet Taylor Mali; and the author of the first-ever biography of Kurt Vonnegut, Charles J. Shields—also the prize-winning biographer of Harper Lee. Finally, longtime TWC workshop leader and novelist Robert Bausch and his former TWC student Allison Leotta prove how successful workshop leaders inspire success in workshop participants. Each event singly is $10 for members/students with a valid ID and $15 for non-members. You can purchase a season pass, though: $30 for members/students; $45 for non-members. Purchase tickets here.

The Writer’s Center Announces 35th Anniversary Reading Series

Includes slam poetry featuring Taylor Mali; “the Latino poet of his generation,” Martín Espada; and Kurt Vonnegut’s biographer, Charles J. Shields

The Writer’s Center is pleased to announce the fall line-up for its 35^th Anniversary Reading Series. The list of authors represents the diversity of The Writer’s Center community, which has nurtured a wide variety of writers—and readers—throughout its long history in the DC area. Featured readers include “the Latino poet of his generation,” Martín Espada; renowned slam poet Taylor Mali; and the author of the first-ever biography of Kurt Vonnegut, Charles J. Shields—also the prize-winning biographer of Harper Lee.

Longtime TWC workshop leader and novelist Robert Bausch and his former TWC student Allison Leotta prove how successful workshop leaders inspire success in workshop participants, and the two will come together for a joint reading. Additional 35^th Anniversary events are planned for the winter/spring, and will include Stanley Plumly/Josh Weiner, Clark Blaise/Bahrati Mukhurjee, and BookTalk: Double Indemnity featuring novelist Con Lehane, NPR critic Maureen Corrigan, novelist Megan Abbott, and Round House Theatre’s Blake Robison in an event moderated by fiction writer and critic Art Taylor. This event is co-sponsored by Round House Theatre, which is staging the theatrical adaptation of Double Indemnity in May/June 2012.

All 35^th Anniversary Reading Series events are at The Writer’s Center.

Tickets for all fall events are $10 for members of The Writer’s Center; $15 for nonmembers. Except for Taylor Mali: members/students with a valid ID $5; nonmembers $10. To purchase a season ticket to attend each of these events, the cost is $30 for members; $45 for nonmembers. For additional information, or to purchase tickets, visit the 35^th Anniversary Reading Series page at Writer.org or e-mail post.master@writer.org.

The Events:

Saturday, September 10, 7:30 P.M. Martin Espada: The Trouble Ball

Known as the “Latino poet of his generation,” visiting writer Martín Espada is the author of 10 collections of critically-acclaimed poetry, including the recent The Trouble Ball. A poet, editor, translator, and attorney, Espada’s powerful poetry explores the social conditions affecting immigrants and Latinos. He is also leading a one-day workshop, “The Barbaric Yawp.”

Purchase individual tickets.

Friday, September 30, 7:30 P.M. Robert Bausch & Allison Leotta

Robert Bausch was educated at George Mason University, and he says he has been a writer all his life. Since 1975, Bausch has been a college professor, teaching creative writing, American literature, world literature, humanities, philosophy, and expository writing. In 2009 he was awarded the John Dos Passos Prize in Literature.

Allison Leotta served as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. for 12 years. Her first novel, Law of Attraction, was named one of the best books of the year by Suspense Magazine, and The City Paper called her "one of the most notable new faces to debut in 2010." Leotta also blogs about what TV crime shows get right and wrong, from her perspective as a real-life sex-crimes prosecutor. 
Purchase individual tickets. 

Tuesday, October 11, 7:30 P.M. Taylor Mali: Slam Poetry Competition

Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement. At this one-of-a-kind event, the finalists of TWC’s poetry slam competition will get to show their stuff. A performance by Mali follows. If you are a slam poet and would like to participate, visit us at www.writer.org/slampoetry for details. We will ask our community to vote for their favorites, and winners will be invited to the finals.

Taylor Mali is the author of two books of poetry, The Last Time As We Are and What Learning Leaves, and four CDs of spoken word. He received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop Teacher! Teacher!, a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 Comedy Arts Festival. Purchase individual tickets.

Saturday, November 12, 7:30 P.M. Charles J. Shields: Portrait of a Biographer

Charles J. Shields spent five years researching and writing And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life. He is also the author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee—a New York Times best seller. Two years ago, he co-founded the 400-member Biographers International Organization (BIO), and is currently associate director of the Great Lives program, which features presentations by 20 famous biographers each year at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. Purchase individual tickets.