Published: March 24, 2008 08:29 am      

Berea Arts Council set for writers workshop

BEREA — Seven award-winning writers and one artisan will be featured in the inaugural Writers Collective Workshop.

Co-sponsored by the Berea Arts Council and the Kentucky Writers Collective, the workshop will be conducted April 11-12 at the Old Town Professional Center, 204 North Broadway.

“We’re trying to widen and broaden our offerings and do more than visual arts,” said Gwen Childs, executive director of the Berea Arts Council. “I think people associate us with visual arts more than anything else, but we’ve been doing some readings here. This is an extension of that effort to move into all forms of the arts.”

On Friday, April 11, Normandi Ellis, author and editor of the Berea College Magazine, will conduct “Journal to the Self” from 2 to 4:30 p.m. about journal writing.

Gin Petty, a fiber artist from Berea, also will present “Handbinding Chapbooks and Journals” at the same time, but the workshop is limited to 12 participants.

Public readings from the presenters will be conducted 7:30 to 9 p.m. April 11.

The workshop will continue from 9:25 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday, April 12, with two classes — “Ten Minutes of Action: An Interactive Workshop” with Trish Ayers and “So You Want To Write Inspirational Fiction: Six Steps To Jump Start Your Success” with Jan Watson.

Ayers, a Berean whose one-act plays have toured throughout the United States and Japan, will teach about playwriting and improvisation.

Watson, a retired registered nurse of 25 years who specialized in the care of newborns and their mothers, will share how she overcame obstacles to become an author.

Poetry will be the topic of discussion from 11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. during “Writing the news that stays new: Poetry from the outside in” with Leatha Kendrick, who teaches poetry and life writing classes at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington.

At the same time, Berea author Jim Tomlinson will discuss “Short Fiction Essentials.”

“Excavating Personal Stories for Nonfiction Writing” with Beth Dotson Brown is scheduled from 1:30 to 2:50 p.m.

Lancaster resident Beth Dotson Brown is the author of “Yes! I am Catholic,” which includes interviews with 39 people, including Olympic gold medallists and best-selling authors, about their faith.

Lexington resident Steve Lyon will present “Learning To Walk in the World You Have Made” from 1:30 to 2:50 p.m. looking at the relationship between setting and story.

For the grand finale, an author panel about the first successes and publishing will be conducted from 3 to 4 p.m. with the workshop presenters.

“I think that writing is such a solitary activity that sometimes writers really enjoy getting together,” said Brown, who helped organize the workshop. “A lot of us who will be presenters have been in writers’ groups at some point. So we know the benefit of being in a creative atmosphere like we wanted to create at the workshop.”

“I personally like to work with people who enjoy writing and especially who are just getting started,” she said. “They are so enthusiastic. There are so many people who have talent and need just a little bit of help refining their skills and what to do with them.”

Registration for the event is $20 for Friday, $45 for Saturday or $65 for both days.

Partial funding has been provided by the Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more details or for a registration form, go to www.bereaartscouncil.org/workshops/2008/writers/writers.htm or call the Berea Arts Council at 985-9317.

Bryan Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@richmondregister.com or 624-6691.