Eat & Exchange is Back

by

Catherine Vlahos

 

While it may not seem like it with the massive amounts of snow NWI has received recently, spring is closer than we think—which means our third year of the IWC’s Eat & Exchange series is approaching! Seek shelter from the most likely rainy weather and join us in the warmth of our local Lake and Porter County cafés, sip a hot latte or two, and enjoy discussions facilitated by our own IWC members focusing on writing topics you care about—publishing tips, demystifying research, modern marketing, and more.

The series runs from March through May at the following times and venues:

Blackbird Café—Valparaiso, IN

March 7^th, 11am

 

Grindhouse Café—Griffith, IN

March 18^th, 6pm

 

Red Cup Café & Deli—Chesterton, IN

 April 11^th, 11am

 

Grindhouse Café—Griffith, IN

April 29^th, 6pm

 

Blackbird Café—Valparaiso, IN

May 13th, 6pm

 

Sip Coffeehouse—Crown Point, IN

May 30th, 11am

 

We already have facilitators lined up for some interesting sessions. Tiffany Cole will compare creative marketing strategies for both authors themselves and the stories they write. Kathryn Page Camp will discuss the research process for creative writing, from how much is enough to where to look for the best facts. Joyce Hicks is scheduled to reveal the best sources to seek out for publishing short fiction, and Michael Poore will outline the often daunting novel-writing process.

While our facilitators certainly have knowledge to share with attendees, don’t forget about the “exchange” part of our series! We are hoping to bring together the collective brainstorming force of everyone involved with Eat & Exchanges—whether this be in the form of personal experience, your own research on the topic, or anything else in between—to ultimately have a good discussion. All are welcome to share ideas of their own, so there won’t be any falling asleep during long, one-sided presentations!

While the first Eat & Exchange is almost a month away, it’s never too early to start the countdown. We hope to see you there!



Stream Line is Under Way!

by

Catherine Vlahos

 

We would like to announce the beginning of a new collection of events—look forward to the IWC's Stream Line literary reading series! Each monthly event focuses on a different genre or writing theme, and the public is welcome to experience a unique presentation by featured readers at the inspiring Paul Henry's Art Gallery right next to our office in downtown Hammond. 

 

Stream Line's structure is fast-paced and fluid with each reader only speaking for three 5-7 minute rounds, aiming to make individual pieces flow together to create a unified, energizing event that may challenge your current notions on (perhaps sometimes stagnant?) literature events. The audience is encouraged to engage and interact with the readers throughout the night, and a short intermission with a potluck will ensure that our creative minds have plenty of fuel to discuss, question, learn, and have a good time.

 

The first Stream Line night is on March 11^th and will focus on poetry. Below is our stellar guest reader line-up:

 

George Kalamaras, Poet Laureate of Indiana, has published fourteen books of poetry (seven of which are full-length), including The Mining Camps of the Mouth (2012), winner of the New Michigan Press Prize, Kingdom of Throat-Stuck Luck (2011), winner of the Elixir Press Poetry Contest, and The Theory and Function of Mangoes (2000), winner of the Four Way Books Intro Series. He lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his wife, the writer Mary Ann Cain, and their beagle Bootsie. He is Professor of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, where he has taught since 1990.

Gordon Stamper, Jr. is a writer and educator from Northwest Indiana. Currently he is a co-moderator for Highland Writers Group and a graduate student in Purdue's Learning Design and Technology program.

 

William Allegrezza edits Moria Books and Moss Trill and teaches at Indiana University Northwest. He has previously published many poetry books, including still. walk., In the Weaver’s Valley, Ladders in July, Fragile Replacements, Collective Instant, Aquinas and the Mississippi (with Garin Cycholl), Covering Over, Port Light, and Densities, Apparitions; three anthologies, The City Visible: Chicago Poetry for the New Century, The Alteration of Silence: Recent Chilean Poetry, and La Alteración del Silencio: Poesía Norteamericana Reciente; seven chapbooks, including Sonoluminescence (co-written with Simone Muench) and Filament Sense; and many poetry reviews, articles, and poems. He founded and curated series A, a reading series in Chicago, from 2006-2010. In addition, he occasionally posts his thoughts at P-Ramblings.

 

Mary Ann Cain has published a novel, Down from Moonshine (Thirteenth Moon Press 2009), two books of scholarship on writing, and dozens of short stories, poems, and essays. Her current project is a creative nonfiction book on the legacy of Dr. Margaret Burroughs, a Chicago legend and artist-teacher-activist, co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History and the South Side Community Arts Center. She and her husband, George Kalamaras, share a 1929 Tudor-style home in Fort Wayne with their beloved beagle, Bootsie.  Mary Ann is Professor of English and Women's Studies at Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne.  

 

The following is some vital information so you won’t miss the IWC’s very first Stream Line:

 

WHAT: Stream Line Poetry Night

 

WHEN: 7-9pm

 

WHERE: Paul Henry’s Art Gallery 416 Sibley St. Hammond, IN

 

WHO: Indiana Poet Laureate George Kalamaras, Gordon Stamper, William Allegrezza, Mary Ann Cain

 

ADMISSION: $5 ($3 if you bring a potluck dish!)

 

WHAT ELSE: There is an intermission with a potluck—bring a dish and get a discount!

 

As for future events, we are cooking up plenty of other exciting nights in the meantime. A young adult literature theme will be the focus of April’s Stream Line event, and possible other themes include a Midwest night and flash fiction and nonfiction. We hope to see you there and are looking forward to launching this series!