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• LINDA CRUISE taught a 6-week, memoir-writing course at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, in Williston, Vermont. The course, "Creative Nonfiction Basics:  Memoir & Personal Essay," filled its enrollment within a week and had a waiting list. See above box for details about future course offerings.

• Check out LINDA CRUISE's recent article, "Successful Opener for The Art of Action Exhibit," which reported on the arts event in her hometown, as part of the Vermont Arts Council project, for which Linda edited the exhibition catalog.  Here's the article link. 
• CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT recently was named Adjunct Faculty at Baker College, Auburn Hills, Michigan. She is currently teaching Comp 101. Also, she was recently named newest editor for Soaring, Spalding University's alumni newsletter.
  
• MEG HEIMAN is currently teaching two, online courses for Kaplan University, in addition to her on-campus teaching, at Vermillion Community College, in Ely, Minnesota.
  
• WCN is proud to be a part of the Vermont Arts Council's efforts in producing the 80pp catalog, which will accompany the upcoming "The Art of Action" traveling-art exhibit.  The project features the work of 10 commissioned artists and will tour 24 Vermont communities, starting Sept. 4, 2009 through July 2010.  This includes a special exhibit in Washington, DC, at the Capitol Building's Rotunda. The exhibition's final stage will involve a silent auction,at Burlington's Waterfront (Performing Arts Center), in an effort to sell the more than 100 pieces of art, which make up the exhibit. The hope is that this will become a self-sustaining arts project, with annual auction funds going toward each subsequent year's project. For more details about The Art of Action project, please visit the VT Arts Council's website by clicking here.
• LINDA CRUISE spoke on 9/1/09, to the New England PEN Chapter, on the subject of  "Online Social Networking & Free Online Marketing Ops."  It was well-received by an enthusiastic audience, followed by a delicious luncheon, thanks to hostess Harriett Riggs.
• LINDA CRUISE's article,"Mini-courses Offer Big Dividends," was published in Spalding University's alumni newsletter, Soaring, and her The Art of Action:  Shaping Vermont's Future Through Art is at the presses this week.
• In July, LINDA CRUISE attended a talk given by Julia Alvarez, best-selling author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Yo.  Her latest book, Return to Sender, which is set in Alvarez's adopted "home" state of Vermont, deals with today's complex issue of illegal immigration and the many sociocultural and economic challenges migrant farming families face. To read more about the event, go to Linda's blog, "A Vermont P.O.V." at:   http://linda-cruise.blogspot.com/.
• MEG HEIMAN recently completed a course in web design and is now taking a digital-photography course.
  
• Last month, LINDA CRUISE finished teaching her 6-week, memoir-writing course at the Richmond Free Library, in Richmond, Vermont. Here are what some of her students had to say about their course experiences:

 

        “The course was a great chance to learn writing techniques, practice our writing skills, and access valuable

              sources and reading materials, all while exploring ourselves, which is inherent to writing.”

 “Lectures had great quotations.”

 

 “It was very inspirational and useful to listen to other students’ writing!”

 

 “The combination of lecture and in-class writing assignments was great, and feedback on my writing was very helpful.”

 

 “I liked the length of the class, not too long to be overwhelming, but long enough to be  challenging and a real learning experience.”

         “Your love for writing and your enthusiasm are very inspirational. Your direct, extroverted and fun style helped me to write without being scared of making mistakes. Thanks!” 

• As follow-up to an initial storytelling presentation, LINDA CRUISE attended a special "Public Reading" session, hosted by the 5th-grade "Navigator Team" classes at Camel's Hump Middle School, in Richmond, Vermont. The students shared their own imaginative tales--the result of Linda's writing prompt, given during her first visit, which challenged each student to apply newly-learned techniques while crafting a story from a randomly-selected character, setting, and conflict. By developing crafting skills, these students now know good stories don't just happen. Unleashed creativity isn't enough to produce good stories; writers also need to master manipulating the many essential elements, so that they can turn a situation into a well-constructed story.

• May proved to be a very busy month for all of WCN's partners. MEG HEIMAN wrapped up another semester's final exams and grades at Vermillion Community College, as LINDA CRUISE began teaching her 6-week memoir-writing course (mentioned above). Meanwhile, both CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT and Linda prepared for and attended another successful, 10-day Spring Residency at Spalding University's MFA in Writing Program, in Louisville, KY, basically, an experience comparable to "writers' bootcamp."

  So, here's a recap:

  • CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT and LINDA CRUISE attended the recent Spring Residency at Spalding University's MFA in Writing Program. Cristina and Linda both participated in separate fiction workshops--Cristina as a graduating student and Linda as a Post-Graduate Residency Assistant--and gave public readings, at two, different venues. As part of her graduation requirements, Cristina presented an engaging lecture about the important role of ethnicity in shaping the identity of individual writers; whereas, Linda, as part of her PGRA duties, participated in a "Post-MFA Life" Panel, along with the two other PGRAs, benefiting the MFA graduating students (of which Cristina was among). The residency was amazing, as always, culminating in a special MFA in Writing graduation ceremony. Having been previously nominated by her fellow classmates, Cristina had the distinct honor of presenting the Spring 2009 Class Address to the large crowd, consisting of the graduating class, all fellow students, faculty, alumni, administrators and program staff, as well as plenty of family and friends, many of whom traveled great distances to be there for the event. And she did not disappoint.  Cristina wowed the audience with her inspirational testimonial about her courageous fight against cancer during her time in the program; and so, not surprisingly, she was given a standing ovation.  So, well done, Cristina!
  • In May, MEG HEIMAN recently attended the International Reading Association Annual Conference, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• LINDA CRUISE attended April's League of Vermont Writers' Spring Conference, on "Professional Development," which was held at the historic Hotel Coolidge, in White River Junction, Vermont. Linda headed up a MFA Panel Discussion, with fellow Vermont writers, Ellie Bryant & Tamara Smith. The panel participants discussed various MFA program options, available to students, comparing the traditional model with the newer, more-flexible brief-residency model. The Conference also included two presentations about "Networking for Writers" and "Grant-Proposal Writing."

• CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT wrote a feature story on Michigan poet Josie Kearns’s recent release of two new poetry collections,Theory of Everything and Alphabet of the Ocean. Trapani-Scott also attended a lecture, given by poet Reginald Gibbons at the University of Michigan, on March 12th.  In addition, she spoke to eighth-grade journalism students at Clinton Middle School about what it’s like to be a reporter for a community newspaper. Her blog post about the visit can be read at http://www.tecumsehherald.com/node/1660.