The Writing Trance – Elevating Your Writing to the Next Level

The Writing Trance – Elevating Your Writing to the Next Level: A Writing Seminar on the creative writing techniques of Pulitzer Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler featured in the book  From Where You Dream

Sunday, May 6, 12:45 PM
Unity Church of Albany, 21 King Avenue  Albany, NY

This two hour seminar will be lead by Stephen W. Leslie and will teach the practical steps towards allowing the unconscious to come forward in your writing.  Safe and proven methods of entering into a state of deep concentration will be practiced and experienced.   This seminar is useful for those who are involved in any creative art,.  It is recommended that each participant read From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler prior to the seminar, if possible.

The seminar is free and open to the public; pre-registration is encouraged.

Stephen W. Leslie has been practicing meditation for 39 years.  He spent 19 years studying yoga meditation with a swami from the Himalayan mountains.  He has been a psychotherapist for eleven years and for the last two years has been a hospice chaplain.  Stephen’s poems have been published by Contemporary Haibun Online, The Red River Review, Alpha Press, The Himalayan Journal, Ink Sweat &Tears, World Haiku Review and Three Line Poems.  He has also been published by The Paper Wasp (Australia) and won the silver medal in poetry in an international competition in Japan in 2011.  The Sun will be publishing one of his pieces in August, 2012.    Stephen has a B.A. from the University of Maryland, a Master of Science from Johns Hopkins and a Master of Science from Loyola College.  He is a resident of Schoharie, New York.

Contact Stephen W. Leslie for questions or to register:  gofigure2006@verizon.net

Winners of 2011 non-fiction contest announced

The Hudson Valley Writers Guild is pleased to announce the winners of its 2011 Non-Fiction Contest:

Personal Essay

Winner
Fran Yardley, Tupper Lake / “Roots”

Finalists
Kathleen Anne Smith, Loudonville / “Why I Can’t Write”
Pamela Clements, Albany / “Tuna in Truro”
Faye Silton, Albany / “Muse, Mystery and Music”

Memoir

Winner
Judy Staber, Old Chatham / “My Baby Docs”

Finalists
Chloe Caldwell, Hudson / “Who the Others Were”
Francine Dempsey, Albany / “Confessional”
Jean Venable, Poughkeepsie / “Sounds Remembered”
Jean Van Dyk, Delmar / “Black Tight Pants”

Humor

Winner
Sandra Powley, Loudonville / “Friday Night at the ‘Vent”

Finalists
Christina Pultzer, Phoenicia / “Safe!!”
Rodney L. Aldrich, Troy / “Mozart’s Rest”
Christa Holder Ocker, Newburgh / “Sister Bernadette”

Honorable Mention for HVWG Member
Mary Murphy, Albany / “Beauty Secrets”

The winning entries and the honorable mention will be read at the Community of Writers Event on October 15. Presentation of awards will also be featured, as well as recognition of the finalists and judges. This event is free and open to the public. It will be held at the Albany Public Library’s Main Branch, 161 Washington Avenue, from 2-4:30 pm. The rest of the slate includes Jan Tramontano and Howard Kogan. Tramontano will be reading from her recently published novel, Standing on the Corner of Lost and Found, and Kogan will be reading from his new book of poems, Indian Summer.

HVWG featured at 10th Anniversary WordFest

The 10th Annual Albany WordFest was held on Saturday, April 16, at The Linda Auditorium on Central Avenue in Albany.  Not only did many Guild members participate throughout the day, but the Hudson Valley Writers Guild had its own one-hour slot.  Organized by member Jill Crammond, the Guild reading was hosted by Dan Wilcox, HVWG President.

Readers included Cecele Krauss, Henry Tedeschi, D. Colin, Sylvia Barnard, Leslie Neustadt, Grayon Blye and Jill Crammond. There is a summary of WordFest at Dan’s blog here, and photos from the event can be found on his flickr site.