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Santa Cruz Local
Jun 7, 1994, 9:36:00 AM6/7/94
to
The Monterey Bay Writer
Newsletter of the Santa Cruz/Monterey Local (7)
National Writers Union
Summer Issue 1994
Adrienne Rich to Judge 1994 Local 7 National Poetry Competition
The NWU Santa Cruz/Monterey Local announces its Tenth Annual
National Poetry Competition. This year's final judge is celebrated poet,
author and Local 7 member, Adrienne Rich. Prizes are $200 first place,
$100 second and $50 third. In 1993, the first-place award went to Elinor
Benedict of Ohio for her poem "A Daughter-In-Law Watches the Old Man
Hesitate." Winners are published in the national and local Union
newsletters.
The NWU celebrates multi-cultural creativity; all subject matter
is welcome. Poets are welcome to enter any number of poems. Each poem
submitted to the competition should be: typed, double-spaced on 8-1/2" X
11" paper, no longer than three pages and accompanied by a $3.00 entry
fee. Entries must include a cover page with author's name, address, phone
number and a list of entry titles. The author's name must not appear on
poems.
Categories ineligible for submission are: translations, published
poems (including self-published) and unpublished award-winners.
The deadline for submissions is September 30, 1994. Entries will not
be returned. Include an SASE for the list of winners and finalists.
Winners will be announced on November 30, 1994. Proceeds from the
competition support NWU programs.
Mail poems, cover sheet, check and SASE to: NWU Poetry
Competition, P.O. Box 2409, Aptos, CA 95001. - Steve Turner
Local 7 Notes
Laura Davis' Courage to Heal Workbook has been targeted by a
lawsuit which clearly impugns the First Amendment. The best guess is that this
absurd charge will be thrown out of court. If not, NWU nationally
and locally will assist as strongly as possible in the defense.
In order to fight for the rights of writers, the NWU depends upon
the timely payment of your dues. Please help keep the NWU funded in its
struggle for recognition and fair treatment of writers. You never know
when you might be faced with a problem that's a lot higher in cost than
the yearly dues.
Special thanks to Jean Walton Wolff who wrote the letter submitted
by the Steering Committee to the Santa Cruz Sentinel on May 5. Not only
did she author the letter, but she also circulated a petition at the
Writers Group requesting that the Sentinel expand its coverage of local
writers and writing events.
Special thanks to Mike West for his letter to the Good Times (May
9) pointing out that they overlooked Local 7's efforts in their poetry
article. The NWU poetry and prose readings have showcased local writers
for over 10 years. Thanks again to Mike West (Santa Cruz), and John Laue
and Jennifer Lagier (Monterey) for their efforts coordinating the reading
series.
IRS Alert - Home Offices No Longer Deductible!!
Freelancers-how often does your New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles
editor pull up a chair in your home office to confer with you? Never?
Then, according to a Supreme Court decision made last year, it's illegal
for you to deduct expenses for your home office from your income taxes.
Most of you probably went ahead and claimed this deduction anyway on your 1993
tax return-but you're in danger of having it disallowed this year
and in the future unless two pending bills pass the U.S. Senate and House
of Representatives this session.
In previous years, the I.R.S. allowed home office expenses if
three conditions were met: the space was devoted to the sole and
exclusive use of the office; the taxpayer used no other office; and the
business income covered the deduction. In the Commissioner v. Soliman
decision [133S.Ct. 701 (1993)], the Supreme Court added two more
conditions that must be met for home office expenses to be tax
deductible: the business revenue must be produced within the home office
itself AND the customers of the home-based business must physically visit the
home office.
To remedy this situation, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has sponsored
S.1924, with Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and James Exon (D-NE)
co-sponsoring it. Representative Peter Hoagland (D.NE) has sponsored the
twin of this bill, H.R. 3407, and has gathered 30 or 40 co-sponsors in
the House of Representatives. Both bills have bipartisan support.
The National Executive Board of the National Writer's Union voted
unanimously at the last board meeting to support both bills and now is
putting out a call to members nationwide to help preserve the home office
deductions.
The NWU asks all writers to contact their U.S. Senators and
Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor these bills. Writers in the
Santa Cruz-Monterey area should contact:
Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (re S. 1924), U.S.
Senate; Washington, D.C. 20515.
Representative Sam Farr (re: H.B. 3407) 1216 Longworth, House of
Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515; Santa Cruz ph#: 429-1976;
Monterey ph#: 649-3555.
Representative Norm Mineta (re: H.B. 3407), 2221 Rayburn, House of
Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515; District Office: ph# 438-4819.
In addition, the NWU asks that writers also write to the chair,
Representative Dan Rostenkowski of the House Ways and Means Committee and ask
him to schedule a hearing on H.R. 3407. (He hasn't yet resigned, so
letters will reach him at the House of Representatives address above).
- Lorraine Sintetos
The NWU would appreciate it if you would also send copies of your
letters to:
NWU PIC Chair Bob B Chatelle
296 Western Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139
or by e-mail to:
k...@world.std.com (Bob B Chatelle)
Santa Cruz Writers' Group News
The following is the schedule and agenda for upcoming Santa Cruz
Writers' Group meetings:
June 6th-"Book Publishers Large & Small" with Michael Riordan.
Learn the pros and cons of publishing with a small independent
press and a major NYC publisher. Michael founded Cheshire Books, a small
publisher of energy and environmental books in the 1970s. He co-authored
the Solar House Book, a major bestseller in its field, and won the
American Institute of Physics award for science writing for Hunting the
Quark, published by Simon & Schuster. Currently, he's working on a book
about the origins of Silicon Valley called Silicon Fire.
June 20th-roundtable
July 11th-Laurie King will speak on: "From Unpublished to Edgar
Award Winner in 16 Months."
Laurie is the author of Grave Talent and winner of Edgar Award for
Best First Mystery Novel.
The Santa Cruz Writers Group has been so successful that we've
added another night each month. Now, on the third Monday of the month,
the group will meet for a roundtable to exchange ideas, wrestle with
problems and garner advice for writing projects.
There will be no roundtable meeting in July.
The Santa Cruz Writers Group meetings begin at 6 PM at the Santa
Cruz Brewing Company, 516 Front St, Santa Cruz. Non-members are welcome. For
more info call 724-2059. - Don Monkerud
Profile: Poet Robert Sward
One of the best-known members of Local 7, Robert Sward has an
impressive list of accomplishments. He has taught at Cornell, the
University of Victoria, B.C., the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and currently
teaches at Cabrillo College and UCSC.
His list of publications is voluminous, consisting of 20 poetry
volumes, a novel and a non-fiction book, plus two anthologies he has
edited. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship and, more recently, the Villa
Montalvo Literary Arts Award.
Books by him available now are his new and selected poems, Four
Incarnations, and Family, a collaboration with three other UCSC faculty
members.
My first contact with Sward's poetry was over 30 years ago when I
read his fine poem, "Uncle Dog," in a national anthology. At that time,
academics, who comprised most of the poets in such anthologies, all
pretty much followed the same canons of taste, as they do today. However,
Sward's poem was different: it had a sense of playfulness and risk which
made it memorable.
Over the years, when I saw other poems of his, I was constantly
impressed with his humor and idiosyncratic style. Here was a man who,
though he took his poetic vocation seriously, did not take himself so
seriously that he was constantly trying to present an image of "The Great
Poet" like so many other modern versifiers. In fact, there is a Zen
quality to his poems; he allows himself the freedom to laugh at himself,
and the reader laughs along with him.
Whatever the verdict of critics, who also often take themselves
too seriously, I am certain Robert Sward's writing will be around for us
to enjoy and appreciate long after most of the correct, but plodding and
conformist works of today have passed out of fashion. Comic it may be in
an age of desperate seriousness, but, like the flicker of sun on water, I
believe it has the power to return and return and return. -John Laue
Conference Almanac
-Want to Write for Interactive Multimedia?
Writers Connection, June 18
Le Baron Hotel, San Jose, CA $115
The Writers Connection conducts a day-long conference on such
topics as career strategies, market opportunities, interactive genres and
writers' resources. Randy Haykin and Chris Okon, co-authors of
DeMystifying Multimedia, will join Scott Fisher, author of Multimedia
Authoring, and Larry Kay, a freelance animation writer who worked on the
"Pink Panther" series, as conference leaders. Call 408-445-3600 for
information.
-Want to become a foreign journalist?
On June 27 to July 8, Pacifica Radio's National Affairs
Correspondent, Larry Bensky, is offering a seminar in Paris on the nuts
and bolts of being a foreign correspondent. In addition to reporting for
KPFA, Berkeley, on the Anita Hill Congressional hearings, Bensky has
written for The Nation and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. For further
information call Media Alliance at 415-441-2559.
-Who-dunnit & Where?
Mystery Writers' Conference, July 7 to 10
Book Passages, Corte Madera, CA $425
Editors, publishers, agents, crime specialists and mystery writers
will conduct a series of classes, meetings and simulated crime scenes
that will sate the appetite of the most avaricious mystery writer.
Over 18 writers will present, including Robert Crais, Susan
Dunlap, Joe Gores, Lia Matera and Shelly Singer. Call 800-999-7909 for
info.
-Go on the Road...and write about it.
Travel Writers' Conference, August 18 to 21
Book Passages, Corte Madera, CA $485
Travel Editor Donald George, S.F. Examiner, and authors Pico Iyer,
Video Nights in Katmandu, and Jan Morris, Destinations, will highlight a
conference for both new and veteran travel writers. Learn about
photography, guidebooks, CD-ROM markets and life as a freelance travel
writer. Call 800-999-7909 for more info.
-Writing is a beach...
1994 Maui Writers Conference, Sept. 2-5
Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui, HI $350
Where else to meet such NY editors and publishers as Robert
Loomis, VP at Random House; Peter Mayer, CEO of Penguin;, and Judith
Regan, senior editor at Simon and Schuster, except on Maui. Authors
Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One, Joe Esterhaus, Basic Instinct, and
Kirk Sale, Columbus, the Conquest of Paradise, along with a number of
other famous writers, will lead the workshops. Call 808-669-6109,
Local 7...Sure can pick 'em
Choosing poet Elinor Benedict's, "A Daughter-in-Law Watches the
Old Man Hesitate," as winner of the 1993 NWU Poetry Contest was no fluke.
Benedict just won a new award for a chapbook of poems from Illinois State
University. In 1983, Benedict co-authored A Bridge to China, a compilation
of poems written with seven Chinese women. Each poem was written in both
English and Chinese.
The Publishing World: A Story Without a Beginning or End
If you to want to write for Sunday inserts think again. A decade
ago there were 52 Sunday magazines-those glossy, saddle-stitched inserts that
often included investigative reporting. Today, there are 31,
according to the Sunday Magazine Network.
On the other hand, there were 789 new magazine titles launched
last year. This was an increase of 110 over the previous year. Sports
magazines more than doubled, overturning the sex category that led for
the previous five years. The number of home service magazines reached
record levels. The new launches were primarily quarterly and
bimonthly-only 54 magazines began as monthlies-and the number of annuals
reached a record 258.
While Samir Husni's Guide to New Consumer Magazines didn't report
on the proportion of ad pages to editorial, it did report that the
average page count was 94 and average cover price was a record $4.
Maybe you'd rather self-publish. Unable to interest a publisher,
author James Redfield self-published The Celestine Prophecy, and peddled
it to small book stores around the South. His initial $13,000 investment
for 3,000 books sold out and he went on to sell 75,000 copies.
Redfield self-published when he was rejected by Ted Turner's
Tomorrow Award contest in 1991. The winning book, Ishmael, received a
$500,000 prize for offering a solution to the world's problems, but
dropped from sight after an initial print run of 50,000.
Although one critic described Redfield's book as "new age pop
psychology in the form of a bad novel," Warner Books bought the rights
for $800,000 last December and has sold more than 570,000 copies. The
book is an adventure in which the Peruvian government and the Catholic
Church attempt to suppress an ancient manuscript containing insights to
the secret of living. Its popularity is attributed to the baby-boomer's
attempt to find meaning in a materialistic world.
Another self-published book recently made headlines when Beatrix
Potter's classic children's story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, sold for a
record $95,380. Potter self-published 250 copies in 1901 after being
rejected by six British Publishers. - Don Monkerud
Freelance Success Comes with Guarantee
Here are some reviews of Freelance Success, published and edited
by former Local 7er, Judith Broadhurst, now living in NYC. The newsletter
is a marketing and management guide for experienced journalists:
"This is the most professional, informative, opinionated and
helpful newsletter for freelancers that we've ever seen."
"It's packed with money-making information."
"I'm very impressed with the no-nonsense insider tone, the
let's-make-money attitude and the many tips for surviving in today's
marketplace."
"You assume a level of experience that no other writers'
publication I know of does ... You treat us like professionals with
brains."
Limited-time offer: Save 30% off the full subscription rate of
$125. Pay only $87 for 12 issues, or $49 for six. Samples $6 for one, $10
for two. Satisfaction guaranteed, or full refund.
Check or Amex charge to: Freelance Success, 370 Court Street - 77,
Brooklyn, NY 11231-4331. (Ph) 718-875-1022, (fax) 718-643-2758.
Monterey Reading Series
June 10-Jim Standish, Host of the KKUP poetry program; Taelen
Thomas, a local actor who gives dramatic renditions of famous poems.
July 8-Claire Braz-Valentine who has a play running currently
off-Broadway in New York. She also teaches poetry at Soledad and
Chowchilla Women's prison; Frank Parker, local minimalist poet from the
Monterey Peninsula.
August 12 (tentative)-Maude Meehan, one of Santa Cruz's best-loved
poets; Joyce Jenkins, editor and publisher of Poetry Flash, the premier
West Coast poetry publication.
NOTE RE: new Monterey mailing list- If you would like to receive
individual notices about the series readers and events, sign up at the
readings or call John Laue at 684-0854. Your sign-up is good for
notification of three readings.
July 1-Monterey Peninsula Writers Group will present a poetry and
prose reading. Many of its members joined Local 7 last year. The event
will begin at 7:30 PM at the Pacific Grove Art Center in Pacific Grove.
Join Local 7 on the second Friday of every month at the
Thunderbird Bookstore at 7:30 PM. Come early and have dinner at the
Thunderbird Restaurant before the reading. Also, check out the
Metaphysics and Psychology section-the largest collection of its kind in
the area. Here's what's upcoming in the series: - John Laue
Who Writes These Anyway...?
-Sun sees freedom" -San Jose Business Journal, 3/12/94
-"Bible Clearly Shows that God is a Baseball Fan" -Santa Cruz Sentinel,
4/4/94
-"Never Mistake a Writer for Real Letter Writer" -Sentinel, 4/11/94
-"Latest Floods Ambushed Midwest" -San Jose Mercury News, 4/15/94
-"Dog Jumps Off Cliff & Lives to Bark About It" -front page, Sentinel,
5/1/94
-"Harvard Professor Won't Discount Claims of Sex with Aliens" -Sentinel,
4/20/94
- Don Monkerud
National Writers Union Just Keeps on Growing
Welcome to NWU's newest Local in Seattle, and to the emerging
sub-Local in Orange County! Plus a strong transmission of good vibrations
to the organizing commitees now active in Tucson, Philadelphia and
Hartford, CT. Roll the Union on! - Steve Turner
Santa Cruz Reading Series
On April 20th, another standing room-only crowd attended a very
special Santa Cruz event-a reading by the next generation of Santa Cruz
poets and writers. Winners of Poets in the High Schools Poetry Contest
read their prize-winning poems to an appreciative audience of family and
friends.
Here's some upcoming readers:
June 15th- Lauren Crux and Jim Houston will read on life,
love and body surfing.
Lauren Cruz is a poet, photographer, psychotherapist,
hiker, biker and bodysurfer. Her poetry and prose have appeared in
numerous journals and anthologies. Inspired by the waters of Monterey
Bay, she is currently completing her first book of poetry, Immersion.
Jim Houston is a Santa Cruz novelist and Pacific
adventurer. He is an award winning author of a dozen works of fiction and
non-fiction, including Continental Drift, Gig, and Californians Search
for the Golden State. His collection of personal stories, The Men in My
Life is being reissued this spring by Graywolf Press.
July 20th-Dona Luongo Stein and Ekua Omosupe. More
information to come.
August-No reading
Admission to Local 7's readings are $5 and students with
appropriate IDs-$3. If you have questions, or poetry or prose to read,
contact series coordinator Mike West, 688-6253. - Mike West
New Monthly Monterey Writers Roundtable
Currently in the planning stage, this new group will be an
opportunity for Monterey-area writers to meet and discuss working
issues,network for jobs, and hear experts in the industry. The planned format
is similar to the popular Santa Cruz Writers Group, now entering its fifth
year.
The Monterey Writers Roundtable is tentatively scheduled for the
first Thursday of every month from 6 - 7 PM at the Thunderbird Bookstore.
Questions? Call Deborah Johansen at 659-0632.
Announcing an informal workshop
An evening for all writers that could be vital to our health &
career: The workshop is conducted by Joan Stigliani, Local 7 member,
researcher & author of the forthcoming book "High Tech Health-The
Computer User's Survival Guide, (a detailed handbook covering all
computer-related health problems). Learn how to recognize the symptoms of
repetitive strain injury, eyestrain, and other keyboarders' afflictions.
Learn how to prevent them and what to do if you already have the problem.
Bring your questions!
Wednesday, June 22, 7 - 9 PM, Central Library (upstairs function
room) 221 Church Street, Santa Cruz
The William Everson Fund (Everson passed away 6/2/94 after publication date)
1993 NWU Poetry Competition judge, 82-year old William Everson,
entered the hospital with pneumonia in September and was unable to
complete judging the competition. He left the hospital in December,
determine to recover in his home, with his library and works-in-progress
around him.
Bill adamantly wants to spend his remaining days at home, but his
funds are running out. Two plans will help him. One is the pledging of
monthly contributions, and the other is to help purchase his private
library and donate it to the University of California, Santa Cruz. For
information, contact Jude Everson 408/425-1240.
Co-Chair: Don Monkerud, Compuserve 70713,2215
Editor Susan Heinlein, Compuserve 74164,3506
Newsletter of the Santa Cruz/Monterey Local (7)
National Writers Union
Summer Issue 1994
Adrienne Rich to Judge 1994 Local 7 National Poetry Competition
The NWU Santa Cruz/Monterey Local announces its Tenth Annual
National Poetry Competition. This year's final judge is celebrated poet,
author and Local 7 member, Adrienne Rich. Prizes are $200 first place,
$100 second and $50 third. In 1993, the first-place award went to Elinor
Benedict of Ohio for her poem "A Daughter-In-Law Watches the Old Man
Hesitate." Winners are published in the national and local Union
newsletters.
The NWU celebrates multi-cultural creativity; all subject matter
is welcome. Poets are welcome to enter any number of poems. Each poem
submitted to the competition should be: typed, double-spaced on 8-1/2" X
11" paper, no longer than three pages and accompanied by a $3.00 entry
fee. Entries must include a cover page with author's name, address, phone
number and a list of entry titles. The author's name must not appear on
poems.
Categories ineligible for submission are: translations, published
poems (including self-published) and unpublished award-winners.
The deadline for submissions is September 30, 1994. Entries will not
be returned. Include an SASE for the list of winners and finalists.
Winners will be announced on November 30, 1994. Proceeds from the
competition support NWU programs.
Mail poems, cover sheet, check and SASE to: NWU Poetry
Competition, P.O. Box 2409, Aptos, CA 95001. - Steve Turner
Local 7 Notes
Laura Davis' Courage to Heal Workbook has been targeted by a
lawsuit which clearly impugns the First Amendment. The best guess is that this
absurd charge will be thrown out of court. If not, NWU nationally
and locally will assist as strongly as possible in the defense.
In order to fight for the rights of writers, the NWU depends upon
the timely payment of your dues. Please help keep the NWU funded in its
struggle for recognition and fair treatment of writers. You never know
when you might be faced with a problem that's a lot higher in cost than
the yearly dues.
Special thanks to Jean Walton Wolff who wrote the letter submitted
by the Steering Committee to the Santa Cruz Sentinel on May 5. Not only
did she author the letter, but she also circulated a petition at the
Writers Group requesting that the Sentinel expand its coverage of local
writers and writing events.
Special thanks to Mike West for his letter to the Good Times (May
9) pointing out that they overlooked Local 7's efforts in their poetry
article. The NWU poetry and prose readings have showcased local writers
for over 10 years. Thanks again to Mike West (Santa Cruz), and John Laue
and Jennifer Lagier (Monterey) for their efforts coordinating the reading
series.
IRS Alert - Home Offices No Longer Deductible!!
Freelancers-how often does your New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles
editor pull up a chair in your home office to confer with you? Never?
Then, according to a Supreme Court decision made last year, it's illegal
for you to deduct expenses for your home office from your income taxes.
Most of you probably went ahead and claimed this deduction anyway on your 1993
tax return-but you're in danger of having it disallowed this year
and in the future unless two pending bills pass the U.S. Senate and House
of Representatives this session.
In previous years, the I.R.S. allowed home office expenses if
three conditions were met: the space was devoted to the sole and
exclusive use of the office; the taxpayer used no other office; and the
business income covered the deduction. In the Commissioner v. Soliman
decision [133S.Ct. 701 (1993)], the Supreme Court added two more
conditions that must be met for home office expenses to be tax
deductible: the business revenue must be produced within the home office
itself AND the customers of the home-based business must physically visit the
home office.
To remedy this situation, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has sponsored
S.1924, with Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and James Exon (D-NE)
co-sponsoring it. Representative Peter Hoagland (D.NE) has sponsored the
twin of this bill, H.R. 3407, and has gathered 30 or 40 co-sponsors in
the House of Representatives. Both bills have bipartisan support.
The National Executive Board of the National Writer's Union voted
unanimously at the last board meeting to support both bills and now is
putting out a call to members nationwide to help preserve the home office
deductions.
The NWU asks all writers to contact their U.S. Senators and
Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor these bills. Writers in the
Santa Cruz-Monterey area should contact:
Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (re S. 1924), U.S.
Senate; Washington, D.C. 20515.
Representative Sam Farr (re: H.B. 3407) 1216 Longworth, House of
Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515; Santa Cruz ph#: 429-1976;
Monterey ph#: 649-3555.
Representative Norm Mineta (re: H.B. 3407), 2221 Rayburn, House of
Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515; District Office: ph# 438-4819.
In addition, the NWU asks that writers also write to the chair,
Representative Dan Rostenkowski of the House Ways and Means Committee and ask
him to schedule a hearing on H.R. 3407. (He hasn't yet resigned, so
letters will reach him at the House of Representatives address above).
- Lorraine Sintetos
The NWU would appreciate it if you would also send copies of your
letters to:
NWU PIC Chair Bob B Chatelle
296 Western Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139
or by e-mail to:
k...@world.std.com (Bob B Chatelle)
Santa Cruz Writers' Group News
The following is the schedule and agenda for upcoming Santa Cruz
Writers' Group meetings:
June 6th-"Book Publishers Large & Small" with Michael Riordan.
Learn the pros and cons of publishing with a small independent
press and a major NYC publisher. Michael founded Cheshire Books, a small
publisher of energy and environmental books in the 1970s. He co-authored
the Solar House Book, a major bestseller in its field, and won the
American Institute of Physics award for science writing for Hunting the
Quark, published by Simon & Schuster. Currently, he's working on a book
about the origins of Silicon Valley called Silicon Fire.
June 20th-roundtable
July 11th-Laurie King will speak on: "From Unpublished to Edgar
Award Winner in 16 Months."
Laurie is the author of Grave Talent and winner of Edgar Award for
Best First Mystery Novel.
The Santa Cruz Writers Group has been so successful that we've
added another night each month. Now, on the third Monday of the month,
the group will meet for a roundtable to exchange ideas, wrestle with
problems and garner advice for writing projects.
There will be no roundtable meeting in July.
The Santa Cruz Writers Group meetings begin at 6 PM at the Santa
Cruz Brewing Company, 516 Front St, Santa Cruz. Non-members are welcome. For
more info call 724-2059. - Don Monkerud
Profile: Poet Robert Sward
One of the best-known members of Local 7, Robert Sward has an
impressive list of accomplishments. He has taught at Cornell, the
University of Victoria, B.C., the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and currently
teaches at Cabrillo College and UCSC.
His list of publications is voluminous, consisting of 20 poetry
volumes, a novel and a non-fiction book, plus two anthologies he has
edited. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship and, more recently, the Villa
Montalvo Literary Arts Award.
Books by him available now are his new and selected poems, Four
Incarnations, and Family, a collaboration with three other UCSC faculty
members.
My first contact with Sward's poetry was over 30 years ago when I
read his fine poem, "Uncle Dog," in a national anthology. At that time,
academics, who comprised most of the poets in such anthologies, all
pretty much followed the same canons of taste, as they do today. However,
Sward's poem was different: it had a sense of playfulness and risk which
made it memorable.
Over the years, when I saw other poems of his, I was constantly
impressed with his humor and idiosyncratic style. Here was a man who,
though he took his poetic vocation seriously, did not take himself so
seriously that he was constantly trying to present an image of "The Great
Poet" like so many other modern versifiers. In fact, there is a Zen
quality to his poems; he allows himself the freedom to laugh at himself,
and the reader laughs along with him.
Whatever the verdict of critics, who also often take themselves
too seriously, I am certain Robert Sward's writing will be around for us
to enjoy and appreciate long after most of the correct, but plodding and
conformist works of today have passed out of fashion. Comic it may be in
an age of desperate seriousness, but, like the flicker of sun on water, I
believe it has the power to return and return and return. -John Laue
Conference Almanac
-Want to Write for Interactive Multimedia?
Writers Connection, June 18
Le Baron Hotel, San Jose, CA $115
The Writers Connection conducts a day-long conference on such
topics as career strategies, market opportunities, interactive genres and
writers' resources. Randy Haykin and Chris Okon, co-authors of
DeMystifying Multimedia, will join Scott Fisher, author of Multimedia
Authoring, and Larry Kay, a freelance animation writer who worked on the
"Pink Panther" series, as conference leaders. Call 408-445-3600 for
information.
-Want to become a foreign journalist?
On June 27 to July 8, Pacifica Radio's National Affairs
Correspondent, Larry Bensky, is offering a seminar in Paris on the nuts
and bolts of being a foreign correspondent. In addition to reporting for
KPFA, Berkeley, on the Anita Hill Congressional hearings, Bensky has
written for The Nation and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. For further
information call Media Alliance at 415-441-2559.
-Who-dunnit & Where?
Mystery Writers' Conference, July 7 to 10
Book Passages, Corte Madera, CA $425
Editors, publishers, agents, crime specialists and mystery writers
will conduct a series of classes, meetings and simulated crime scenes
that will sate the appetite of the most avaricious mystery writer.
Over 18 writers will present, including Robert Crais, Susan
Dunlap, Joe Gores, Lia Matera and Shelly Singer. Call 800-999-7909 for
info.
-Go on the Road...and write about it.
Travel Writers' Conference, August 18 to 21
Book Passages, Corte Madera, CA $485
Travel Editor Donald George, S.F. Examiner, and authors Pico Iyer,
Video Nights in Katmandu, and Jan Morris, Destinations, will highlight a
conference for both new and veteran travel writers. Learn about
photography, guidebooks, CD-ROM markets and life as a freelance travel
writer. Call 800-999-7909 for more info.
-Writing is a beach...
1994 Maui Writers Conference, Sept. 2-5
Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui, HI $350
Where else to meet such NY editors and publishers as Robert
Loomis, VP at Random House; Peter Mayer, CEO of Penguin;, and Judith
Regan, senior editor at Simon and Schuster, except on Maui. Authors
Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One, Joe Esterhaus, Basic Instinct, and
Kirk Sale, Columbus, the Conquest of Paradise, along with a number of
other famous writers, will lead the workshops. Call 808-669-6109,
Local 7...Sure can pick 'em
Choosing poet Elinor Benedict's, "A Daughter-in-Law Watches the
Old Man Hesitate," as winner of the 1993 NWU Poetry Contest was no fluke.
Benedict just won a new award for a chapbook of poems from Illinois State
University. In 1983, Benedict co-authored A Bridge to China, a compilation
of poems written with seven Chinese women. Each poem was written in both
English and Chinese.
The Publishing World: A Story Without a Beginning or End
If you to want to write for Sunday inserts think again. A decade
ago there were 52 Sunday magazines-those glossy, saddle-stitched inserts that
often included investigative reporting. Today, there are 31,
according to the Sunday Magazine Network.
On the other hand, there were 789 new magazine titles launched
last year. This was an increase of 110 over the previous year. Sports
magazines more than doubled, overturning the sex category that led for
the previous five years. The number of home service magazines reached
record levels. The new launches were primarily quarterly and
bimonthly-only 54 magazines began as monthlies-and the number of annuals
reached a record 258.
While Samir Husni's Guide to New Consumer Magazines didn't report
on the proportion of ad pages to editorial, it did report that the
average page count was 94 and average cover price was a record $4.
Maybe you'd rather self-publish. Unable to interest a publisher,
author James Redfield self-published The Celestine Prophecy, and peddled
it to small book stores around the South. His initial $13,000 investment
for 3,000 books sold out and he went on to sell 75,000 copies.
Redfield self-published when he was rejected by Ted Turner's
Tomorrow Award contest in 1991. The winning book, Ishmael, received a
$500,000 prize for offering a solution to the world's problems, but
dropped from sight after an initial print run of 50,000.
Although one critic described Redfield's book as "new age pop
psychology in the form of a bad novel," Warner Books bought the rights
for $800,000 last December and has sold more than 570,000 copies. The
book is an adventure in which the Peruvian government and the Catholic
Church attempt to suppress an ancient manuscript containing insights to
the secret of living. Its popularity is attributed to the baby-boomer's
attempt to find meaning in a materialistic world.
Another self-published book recently made headlines when Beatrix
Potter's classic children's story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, sold for a
record $95,380. Potter self-published 250 copies in 1901 after being
rejected by six British Publishers. - Don Monkerud
Freelance Success Comes with Guarantee
Here are some reviews of Freelance Success, published and edited
by former Local 7er, Judith Broadhurst, now living in NYC. The newsletter
is a marketing and management guide for experienced journalists:
"This is the most professional, informative, opinionated and
helpful newsletter for freelancers that we've ever seen."
"It's packed with money-making information."
"I'm very impressed with the no-nonsense insider tone, the
let's-make-money attitude and the many tips for surviving in today's
marketplace."
"You assume a level of experience that no other writers'
publication I know of does ... You treat us like professionals with
brains."
Limited-time offer: Save 30% off the full subscription rate of
$125. Pay only $87 for 12 issues, or $49 for six. Samples $6 for one, $10
for two. Satisfaction guaranteed, or full refund.
Check or Amex charge to: Freelance Success, 370 Court Street - 77,
Brooklyn, NY 11231-4331. (Ph) 718-875-1022, (fax) 718-643-2758.
Monterey Reading Series
June 10-Jim Standish, Host of the KKUP poetry program; Taelen
Thomas, a local actor who gives dramatic renditions of famous poems.
July 8-Claire Braz-Valentine who has a play running currently
off-Broadway in New York. She also teaches poetry at Soledad and
Chowchilla Women's prison; Frank Parker, local minimalist poet from the
Monterey Peninsula.
August 12 (tentative)-Maude Meehan, one of Santa Cruz's best-loved
poets; Joyce Jenkins, editor and publisher of Poetry Flash, the premier
West Coast poetry publication.
NOTE RE: new Monterey mailing list- If you would like to receive
individual notices about the series readers and events, sign up at the
readings or call John Laue at 684-0854. Your sign-up is good for
notification of three readings.
July 1-Monterey Peninsula Writers Group will present a poetry and
prose reading. Many of its members joined Local 7 last year. The event
will begin at 7:30 PM at the Pacific Grove Art Center in Pacific Grove.
Join Local 7 on the second Friday of every month at the
Thunderbird Bookstore at 7:30 PM. Come early and have dinner at the
Thunderbird Restaurant before the reading. Also, check out the
Metaphysics and Psychology section-the largest collection of its kind in
the area. Here's what's upcoming in the series: - John Laue
Who Writes These Anyway...?
-Sun sees freedom" -San Jose Business Journal, 3/12/94
-"Bible Clearly Shows that God is a Baseball Fan" -Santa Cruz Sentinel,
4/4/94
-"Never Mistake a Writer for Real Letter Writer" -Sentinel, 4/11/94
-"Latest Floods Ambushed Midwest" -San Jose Mercury News, 4/15/94
-"Dog Jumps Off Cliff & Lives to Bark About It" -front page, Sentinel,
5/1/94
-"Harvard Professor Won't Discount Claims of Sex with Aliens" -Sentinel,
4/20/94
- Don Monkerud
National Writers Union Just Keeps on Growing
Welcome to NWU's newest Local in Seattle, and to the emerging
sub-Local in Orange County! Plus a strong transmission of good vibrations
to the organizing commitees now active in Tucson, Philadelphia and
Hartford, CT. Roll the Union on! - Steve Turner
Santa Cruz Reading Series
On April 20th, another standing room-only crowd attended a very
special Santa Cruz event-a reading by the next generation of Santa Cruz
poets and writers. Winners of Poets in the High Schools Poetry Contest
read their prize-winning poems to an appreciative audience of family and
friends.
Here's some upcoming readers:
June 15th- Lauren Crux and Jim Houston will read on life,
love and body surfing.
Lauren Cruz is a poet, photographer, psychotherapist,
hiker, biker and bodysurfer. Her poetry and prose have appeared in
numerous journals and anthologies. Inspired by the waters of Monterey
Bay, she is currently completing her first book of poetry, Immersion.
Jim Houston is a Santa Cruz novelist and Pacific
adventurer. He is an award winning author of a dozen works of fiction and
non-fiction, including Continental Drift, Gig, and Californians Search
for the Golden State. His collection of personal stories, The Men in My
Life is being reissued this spring by Graywolf Press.
July 20th-Dona Luongo Stein and Ekua Omosupe. More
information to come.
August-No reading
Admission to Local 7's readings are $5 and students with
appropriate IDs-$3. If you have questions, or poetry or prose to read,
contact series coordinator Mike West, 688-6253. - Mike West
New Monthly Monterey Writers Roundtable
Currently in the planning stage, this new group will be an
opportunity for Monterey-area writers to meet and discuss working
issues,network for jobs, and hear experts in the industry. The planned format
is similar to the popular Santa Cruz Writers Group, now entering its fifth
year.
The Monterey Writers Roundtable is tentatively scheduled for the
first Thursday of every month from 6 - 7 PM at the Thunderbird Bookstore.
Questions? Call Deborah Johansen at 659-0632.
Announcing an informal workshop
An evening for all writers that could be vital to our health &
career: The workshop is conducted by Joan Stigliani, Local 7 member,
researcher & author of the forthcoming book "High Tech Health-The
Computer User's Survival Guide, (a detailed handbook covering all
computer-related health problems). Learn how to recognize the symptoms of
repetitive strain injury, eyestrain, and other keyboarders' afflictions.
Learn how to prevent them and what to do if you already have the problem.
Bring your questions!
Wednesday, June 22, 7 - 9 PM, Central Library (upstairs function
room) 221 Church Street, Santa Cruz
The William Everson Fund (Everson passed away 6/2/94 after publication date)
1993 NWU Poetry Competition judge, 82-year old William Everson,
entered the hospital with pneumonia in September and was unable to
complete judging the competition. He left the hospital in December,
determine to recover in his home, with his library and works-in-progress
around him.
Bill adamantly wants to spend his remaining days at home, but his
funds are running out. Two plans will help him. One is the pledging of
monthly contributions, and the other is to help purchase his private
library and donate it to the University of California, Santa Cruz. For
information, contact Jude Everson 408/425-1240.
Co-Chair: Don Monkerud, Compuserve 70713,2215
Editor Susan Heinlein, Compuserve 74164,3506
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