2008

DWW member Terry Blackhawk has been one busy poet! In addition to her duties as founder and executive director of the InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, Terry was featured panelist at the University of Michigan on March 8 for the conference titled "Writing in Public," honoring Karl Pohrt founder of Ann Arbor's Shaman Drum; she read on March 26 for the Tom and Stan Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, on April 4 at the Downtown YMCA in Syracuse, NY, on April 18 with Blair at the Howell Opera House and on April 27 for the Princeton Public Library, which was posted as the podcast of the day. She has also been invited to submit poems to an anthology of women's poetry from Autumn House Press, edited by Andrea Hollander Budy, and her third full length collection, The Dropped Hand, is going into a second printing soon. Blackhawk is also now a board member of the AWP, and received the 2008 Michigan Youth Arts Festival Creative Writing Educator of the Year (for the second time).

 

Naomi Long Madgett, poet laureate of Detroit and author Jean Alicia Elster were among those honored at the 4th Annual Literary Jam/SPIRIT Awards at the Southfield Public Library on Mar. 5. The awards, originated by DWW past president Darlene House, owner of House of Communications, recognize “innovative educators” who are individuals, companies, non- or not- for profit corporations/organizations that have carried on the legacy of the visionary seven founders of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.

Cindy La Ferle is the new Writer in Residence for the Royal Oak Public Library. In addition to teaching classes and hosting forums for writers, she serves in an advisory capacity for ROPL literary programs and events. For more information on the ROPL's Writer-in-Residence series, visit www.ropl.org, or Cindy's web site, www.laferle.com.

Linda Nemec Foster recently received the 2008 Creative Arts Award sponsored by the Polish American Historical Association.  This international award recognizes the contributions in the field of creative arts (music, visual arts, film, and literature) by individuals or groups who have promoted an awareness of the Polish experience.  Linda was honored on January 5 in Washington, DC at a gala reception and banquet at the Embassy of Poland with a commemorative plaque and a $1,000 cash award.  She also gave a poetry reading at the event. The reception was part of the annual conference of the American Historical Association.

Marion Marzolf’s article on Sherri Smith, professor of art and head of the Fibers Department at University of Michigan, about Smith’s recent weaving is in the current issue of Surface Design Journal, Winter 2008.

Martha Bennett Stiles was among the authors invited to participate in the University of Kentucky's McConnell Children's Literature Conference February 29—March 1, 2008.

2007

Linda Nemec Foster had an exciting year in 2007! A finalist for the Michigan Artist Award at the Governor's Awards Ceremony for Arts & Culture last November, Linda won the first prize in this year's Springfed Arts-Detroit Metro Writers 2007 Poetry Contest. Her poem, "A Sign from God," was selected for the award by poet Clare Rossini. Linda's most recent book, Listen to the Landscape, was a finalist for the 2007 Michigan Notable Book Award and is in its second printing. Linda's work has also been the subject of several reviews in Europe. Specifically, her book Amber Necklace from Gdansk is the focal point of a Web site being developed in The Netherlands. For more info go to gajewski.tv/poets or visit Linda's Web site and click on the "weblinks" section. The first item listed is the link that highlights Linda's poetry and that of five other American poets.

Jean Alicia Elster signed a contract with Wayne State University Press for the publication of her middle grade novel titled Who's Jim Hines? It's a coming of age story about a 12 year old boy as he comes to terms with the racial realities of 1935 Detroit. Who's Jim Hines? is scheduled for release in 2008.

La Paz, a feature screenplay by Tina Datsko de Sánchez and her husband Bolivian filmmaker José Sánchez-H., advanced to the semifinal round of the 2007 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.  It was one of 108 entries out of 5050 to make the cut in this competition sponsored by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. La Paz, a political thriller along the lines of Hotel Rwanda and The Constant Gardener, is based on actual events.  A young doctor’s visit to his native Bolivia during the summer of 1980 is shattered by a brutal coup. Teaming up with his former girlfriend, a politically-involved journalist, in the search for the ‘disappeared’ priest who mentored them both, he steps into a dangerous web of drug barons and former Nazis.

Kathleen Ripley Leo had two poems, "Railroad Tracks" and "Dam on Middle Rouge" in the Summer edition of the MacGuffin.

Martha Bennett Stiles was the Kentucky Jamestowne Society's annual speaker on account, due to the recent reissue of her novel One Among the Indians, which is about the Jamestown Colony.

Bob Tell's poem, "Seeds," placed fifth out of 4,291 entries in this year's Writer's Digest poetry contest. It was printed in the August 2007 issue.

Pearl Kastran Ahnen's play, "Stuffed Grape Leaves and Pot Roast," was one of 10 selected to be performed on a state level at the Michigan Community Theatre Festival held in late March 2007, in South Haven.  

Virginia Law Burns' latest book, Bold Women in Michigan History, was nominated for the best of 2007 in the children/young adult category by the Great Lakes Book Award Committee. Burns will also be providing entries about Michigan heroines for a special publication by Groliers Encyclopedia. "What a thrill to write for the type of book I used to spend hours, as a child, browsing," says Burns.

Robin Gaines Franks had a short story, "Among the Missing", in a 2007 issue of the Porcupine Literary  Arts magazine.

Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli signed with Minneapolis-based publisher Mystery Ink to publish a series of mysteries set in Northern Michigan. The first of these books, Dead Dancing Women, will be out in the fall of 2008.  The second, Dead Floating Lovers, is slated for release in spring of 2009.

 

Writers at Work