Spring Writes Literary Festival

May 3 to May 6, 2018

Click here for our 2018 Sizzle Reel

Thanks to everyone who attended this year's festival - it was a great success!

About Spring Writes Literary Festival

The Community Arts Partnership’s (CAP) Spring Writes Literary Festival takes place in downtown Ithaca annually during the first weekend in May and features over 45 (!) literary themed events over four days. Events include panels and workshops geared towards emerging and established writers - and events such as readings, performances, play readings, performances and fun stuff that are also of interest to the general public.  Now in its 9^th year, the Festival has evolved into an amazing slate of events.  Check it out! 

CAP organized the first Spring Writes Festival in 2009 at the request of New York State Council on the Arts. Staff at NYSCA knew that there was a wealth of writers in our region, but no formal writing organization to apply to NYSCA for funding. The resulting festival retains its original mission to celebrate and showcase local (Finger Lakes Region) writers. 

Schedule of Events - scroll down or download

* Program: pages 1-8 (first half of program) HERE
* Program: pages 9-18 (second half of program HERE
* Writer Bios and Websites HERE  
One Cancellation (sorry!!): Sunday, May 6th, 1:00 to 2:00: Performance: Rumi and Hafez Sung by Jay Leeming and Friends

Support the Festival - buy a button

$5 minimum. Online here, at 3 locations, or at any of the festival events! 
* While the festival is free, we ask that our fans and audiences support this amazing event with a $5 (minimum) button purchase. (Maximum is whatever you like!)
* Button income helps pay participating Literary Festival artists.
* Buttons are currently for sale at Buffalo Street Books (DeWitt Mall), the Downtown Visitor Center (Center Ithaca, 171 The Commons) or the Tompkins County Visitor Center (904 E. Shore Drive).
* If purchasing/supporting online, we'll contact you through e-mail. (Thank you!)

Button Wearer Incentives from May 3 to May 6!
Discounts at Buffalo Street Books, Kilpatrick's Restaurant and Bar, Autumn Leaves Used Books, Cinemapolis, Home Green Home, and Sunny Days local and regional gifts. The list is HERE.

Day 1: Thursday, May 3

5:30 - 6:30pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Reading/Performance: My Wedding Performance Piece    
Yvonne Fisher will perform her funny and poignant reading about a gay wedding that may or may not happen. She uses stories, slam, theatrical melodrama, rap, and songs in an experimental, current, vital, and playful journey toward cosmic bliss. There will be backup singers and even cake!


7:00 - 9:00pm @ Casita de Polaris, 1201 N. Tioga Street ($5 cover at the door)
Performance: Seven Minutes in Heaven: A Spin-the-Bottle of the Arts
Seven writers, seven musicians, and seven actors mixing it up, for seven minutes at a time! Hosted by writer, musician and educator Mary B. Lorson. All proceeds will benefit the Spring Writes Literary Festival! Casita de Polaris is located at the north end of Tioga, about a mile from downtown, and is the only location that is not near the Ithaca Commons.

Day 2: Friday, May 4

3:00 - 4:00 @ Tompkins County Public Library (Thaler/Howell room, adjacent to Children’s area)
Workshop: Children’s Poetry Workshop
An interactive workshop for children in grades 2 through 5 led by Robert Danberg, coordinator of Campus-Wide Writing Support at Binghamton University.


3:00 - 4:30 pm @ CAP ArtSpace, Center Ithaca
Workshop: Hauntings: Writing Ghosts in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction
In this workshop led by Nancy Holzner, you don't have to believe in ghosts to be haunted. Ghosts give the writer a way to examine how the past affects the present and to talk about the things we carry with us, wanted or unwanted. Explore how to tell a good ghost story. We'll look at examples of hauntings in numerous genres, including horror, romance, memoir, and essays, to see why they’re effective. And we'll begin our own ghost stories in response to a prompt, with a chance to share them. What haunts you? Dare your ghost to show its face.


3:30 - 4:30pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Reading: Long Ago and Far Away: Stories From a Bronx Childhood
Tompkins County Poet Laureate Zee Zahava will share humorous stories from her early life.


4:00 - 5:30pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Ezra Cornell Reading Room
Reading: Poetry Open Mic (registration starts at 3:30)
As a part of Spring Writes Festival, local poets will have the opportunity to showcase their work during a free open mic event.  This event is open to poets of all ages and experience levels.  Poetry should focus on “Identity,” which is this year’s theme for our annual ‘Poem in Your Pocket Day’ event. Registration for poets to read their work begins at 3:30pm in front of the Ezra Cornell Reading Room.  Reading begins at 4:00pm


5:00 - 7:00pm @ Lot 10 Lounge, 2^nd floor
Workshop: Trampoline Storytelling Workshop
This workshop, organized by the fabulous Mickie Quinn, is for people who wish to become better storytellers and will be led by local storytellers, who are Trampoline experts. (Trampoline is a monthly storytelling event featuring some of Ithaca's top authors and raconteurs!!)  Participants will work in pairs and in groups to share and receive feedback on their story and presentation. Participants will be invited to tell their story in front of an audience the following week at the May Trampoline event. (Facebook.com/trampolineithaca)


5:00 - 8:00pm @ CAP ArtSpace, Center Ithaca
Gallery Night in Downtown Ithaca: “Counting” at the CAP ArtSpace
“Counting” is a product of a close collaboration between visual artist Patricia Brown and poet Lisa Harris. Harris's poems are a series of meditations on the numbers 0-12. Brown’s drawings and paintings, created while a dancing model moved to the poems, expand and explore words coming to life. “Counting” is the first chapter in the book Traveling Through Glass, Cayuga Lake Books’ first poetry and art publication. (see Saturday 1:00pm for a poetry reading and artist talk by Lisa and Patricia.)  For full gallery night information, visit gallerynightithaca.com.


5:00 - 8:00pm @ Commons Spot, 2^nd floor, 136 ¾ the Commons
Exhibit: Buen Vivir: Living Naturally Through a Latinx Lens Exhibit
This Spring, CULTURA Ithaca is embarking on a visual, poetic exploration of the social and natural environments around us. Speaking through photos, imagining earthscapes, planting seeds of knowledge and food. Our photo poetry exhibit features work from three encounters: a documentary style collaboration by young artists, an installation garden poetry piece at the Ithaca Community Gardens, and an interactive live “social media wall” where participants can “update” their status to our wall with instant portraits.


5:00 - 8:00pm @ The Ink Shop & Printmaking Center
Exhibit/Demonstration: The Poetics of Printing & the Printing of Poetry
Visit the Ink Shop for the May opening reception of “Broadsides from the Wells Book Arts” Visiting Writer Series.  During the opening, Richard Kegler, Director Wells Book Arts Center, plans to do a demo of printing with moveable type made from his own 3D printed typeface. (ink-shop.org)


8:00 - 10:00pm @ the State Theatre 
Don’t Look Back: The Moth in Ithaca
This isn’t a Spring Writes event, but how cool is it that this is happening during the festival!
"The Moth" has presented over 20,000 stories to standing-room-only crowds worldwide and has ongoing programs in over 25 cities. These shows are renowned for the great range of human experience they showcase. Each starts with a theme and the storytellers explore it – often in unexpected ways. Since each story is true and every voice is authentic, the shows dance between documentary and theater, creating a unique, intimate and often enlightening experience for the audience. Be the next to see and hear these stories. (Buy tickets at www.stateofithaca.com)

Day 3: Saturday, May 5

10:00am - 5:00pm @ Comic for Collectors @ 205 N. Aurora Street
Free Comic Book Day Learn more at ComicsForCollectors.com


10:00 - 11:30am @ Tompkins County Public Library, Ezra Cornell Reading Room
Reading: Open Mic for Prose (registration starts at 9:30pm)
As a part of Spring Writes Festival, local prose writers will have the opportunity to showcase their work during a free open mic event.  This event is open to prose writers of all ages and experience levels.  Registration for authors to read their work begins at 9:30am in front of the Ezra Cornell Reading Room.  Reading beings at 10am.


10:00 - 11:00am @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room East
Workshop: Connecting Creatively through Writing
A hands-on-pen workshop led by Ellen Schmidt. Specifically designed writing exercises will illustrate how helpful and surprising insights about ourselves and others can come to us through writing. Enjoy short writes in a kind, supportive climate.


10:00 - 11:00am @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner West
Performance: Senior Troupe of Lifelong performing stories from their lives; Ancestors
The Senior Citizen Theatre Troupe of Lifelong has been performing for more than 19 years, telling stories from their lives. The troupe presents Living History theatre as choral theatre. As with a choir, the theatre has soloists, the person telling their story, and a chorus that adds sound and movement to the narrative. The troupe is directed by Sue Perlgut. Members are Emily Johnson, April Peres, Carol Santucci, Michael Schaff, Jean Senegar, Deirdre Silverman, Mark Silverman, Sandy Stein, Paula Twomey, Fran Welch. (closetohomeproductions.com/senior-theater-troupe)
 

10:30 - 11:45am @ Buffalo Street Books
Workshop: Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy
Guided exercises will lead participants in creating new work and/or continuing a manuscript already begun, whether it be a short story, a collection of stories, a novella, a novel, or a collection of poems. The emphasis will be on world building and character development, channeling knowledge and imagination into writing with significance and resonance. Directed by Katharyn Machan Howd.


10:30 - 12:00pm @ Cinemapolis, Screen 3
Performance: The Vagina Dialogues: Tales of Wombs, Woes and Spiritual Awakenings
Michelle Courtney Berry and Sarah Jefferis: Join these two sly witted actors and award-winning writers as they dish with dismay and delight about relationships, heartbreak, love, labor, motherhood, and vulnerability. The give-and-take banter between these funny and poignant authors is both a performance on the body and a meditative study on women in search of meaning as they respond to daily headlines of all kinds of madness against women. Since it promises to be a wild and hilarious ride with mature content, we ask that you not bring your kiddos.


11:00 - 12:30pm @ Cinemapolis, Screen 1
Screening/Panel: The Wish Horse: From Script to Screen    
A screening of the locally-produced short film The Wish Horse by Lisa Ford, followed by a Q&A discussion about the process of writing the script, the "script-to-screen" process, and how writers use fiction (in this case a fictional film) to explore social issues. Panelists are Lisa Ford (writer/director), Gary Ford (producer), Zack Ford (producer), Pierce Rasmussen (actor). 


11:30am - 12:30pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room East
Panel: The Literary Magazine Labyrinth: Mapping, Planning, and Getting Started
Literary magazines are where many writers find their first publications, and they've long been seen as proving grounds for discovering one's voice, building relationships, and finding peers within writing communities. How does one choose among them? How do submissions work, and what does one write in a cover letter? Are submission fees worth it, and what does a writer do once they receive a rejection or acceptance? Three multi-genre writers with dozens of lit mag publications among them – Heather Bartlett, Angie Pelekidis, and Barrett Bowlin – will show how to get started and what to look out for when sending out your poems, stories, and essays to digital and print journals.

11:00am - 2:00pm  @ Tompkins County Public Library
Event/Exhibit: Publisher Tables
Stop by to meet and chat with representatives from regional publishers about their books, authors, and submissions guidelines.  Books also available for sale. Publishers on hand are: Stillwater Magazine (Ithaca College), Whiskey Tit, Wells College Press, Harpur Palate Literary Magazine (Binghamton University), Tiger Bark Press (Rochester), Stone Canoe (Syracuse), Bluff & Vine Literary Review (Keuka).

11:30 - 12:45pm @ Tompkins County Public Library Borg Warner Room West
Reading: Ithaca College Writing Students' Senior Project Showcase
Senior Writing majors from Ithaca College read excerpts from their final projects, which are works pursued independently while still under the guidance of professor mentors. The event will cut across genres, including pieces from poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Please come and support us before we are launched into the literary universe!


12:00 - 1:00pm @ Cinemapolis, Screen 2
Workshop: Songwriting (Lyrics) Workshop
Local musician, workshop leader, recording artist, and “powerhouse singer” (Ithaca Journal) Elbonee (SingTrece) Stevenson will lead a workshop about songwriting, including getting into a flow state, exploring lyrics from different and multiple points of view, and 3 golden rules for writing. She’ll break down the different parts or anatomy of a song, and cover setting words to music. The workshop also includes: creating different lyric structure variation, brainstorming techniques, writing from titles, the chorus, the hook….Bring something to write on!


12:15 - 1:15pm @ Cinemapolis, Screen 3
Performance: Endtimes Family Radio Hour
“The Endtimes Family Radio Show” will be a live, radio-play style fictional episode. Five actors, and a live sound effects crew will present an original, scripted, and staged live radio show for families trying to survive the apocalypse.  Practical tips; investigation; family drama.  Suitable for ages 8 through zombie.  Melanie C.G. Hamilton, Charles P. Hamilton, Clio M.W. Hamilton, Colette R.C.G. Hamilton & Peter Bakjia.


12:15 - 1:30pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Workshop: What Can Writers Learn From Linguists?  
Jacob M. Appel’s lecture/workshop addresses transforming regional, ethnic, cultural, and class-based language patterns into pitch-perfect dialogue. He will discuss using dialect and regional voice patterns (syntax/diction) to enhance one's prose.


1:00 - 2:00pm @ CAP ArtSpace in Center Ithaca, next to Visitor Center
Reading: Traveling Through Glass: A collaboration with poet Lisa Harris and artist Patricia Brown
Traveling Through Glass, by poet Lisa Harris and artist Patricia Brown, published in 2017, is Cayuga Lake Books’ first poetry and art publication. The poems for “Counting,” chapter 1, are a series of meditations on the numbers 0-12. Patricia Brown’s drawings and paintings, created while a dancing model moved to the poems, expand and explore words coming to life.  Harris will give a reading while participants view the artwork which will be on display at the CAP ArtSpace during the Spring Writes Festival.  Brown will give an artist talk about the process of making these works. The program will conclude a Q and A on the nature of this collaboration."


1:15 - 2:30pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room West
Panel: Telling Stories of...: The Narrative Impulse in Nonfiction
For some, a story in nonfiction is solely the province of memoir. But for nonfiction writers whose subject matter explores ideas, events, phenomena and historical experience, story is often where the author finds her subject, and the subject finds its audience. In this panel, writers will discuss how the impulse to narrative shapes these writers' craft and work, and the distinct challenges and features of narratives in nonfiction. Robert Danberg moderates a discussion with nonfiction authors Aaron Sachs, Amy Reading, and Rachel Dickinson, and questions from the audience.


1:30 - 3:00pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room East
Workshop: Stand Up Comedy Writing Workshop
Local comedian and producer Kenneth McLaurin is facilitating this workshop. His motto is “Life's a joke, let's find the funny.”  For 9 years he has been living those words and “finding the funny” with audiences throughout the East Coast  He’ll cover the following topics: Stand-Up comedy writing, Set Up & Punch, Writing Styles/Techniques, Editing - Creating your set list, Stage presence, Practice  Bring, Pen, Paper, and your ideas!  See you there!


1:45 - 3:00pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Reading: Prose, Recent Work by Four Authors
Angie Pelekidis, Jacob M. Appel, Aimee Lehmann, Sorayya Khan.


3:00 - 4:00pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner West
Reading: Writers from Stone Canoe #12
Published by the YMCA's Downtown Writers Center in Syracuse, Stone Canoe is the only literary journal dedicated to artists and writers with ties to Upstate NY.  Several contributors from this year's issue (#12) will share work from the journal as part of this group reading, including David Guaspari, Brenna Fitzgerald, Barrett Bowlin and Cynthia Robinson.


3:30 - 4:30pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room East
Workshop: Reject Rejection: How to stay motivated to write and submit
Every writer encounters rejection, whether from readers, agents, publishers, or literary journals. Writers who succeed figure out ways to cope, or even use rejection as a motivating tool. But how? In this workshop, two experienced writers (Alison Fromme and Melanie Lefkowitz) will share specific attitudes and actions to deal with rejection in a productive way, drawing on real experiences from famous writers, colleagues, the audience, and their own lives. Far from being a downer, this session will aim for humor and usefulness, and encourage audience participation. Each participant will leave the session with a specific action plan for how they can deal with future rejections.


3:30 to 4:45pm @ The History Center
Reading: Poetry, Recent work by four authors
Heather Bartlett, Ellie Rogers, Robert Danberg, and Jack Hopper


3:30 - 5:00pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Panel: Who Cares About the Past? Transforming Personal Experience into Art 
Hosted by the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts and moderated by Ithaca College Writing professor Christine Kitano. Panelists will read from their work and discuss strategies for translating the lived experience onto the page. Whether you’re writing poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, the writer’s aim is to make personal and private experiences — and the cultural tension around them — accessible to a reader. This is a concern for all writers, but especially for writers who write from marginalized histories. How much can you expect your reader to know? What are your obligations to reality, and what are your obligations to the imagination? Panelists include: poet Santee Frazier from Syracuse; Saltonstall poet alumna Devon Moore (’15); and incoming 2018 Saltonstall fiction Fellow and Cornell MFA graduate, Leo Ríos.  (More info: saltonstall.org)


7:00 - 9:00pm @ Lot 10 Lounge
Literary Jeopardy with Master of Ceremonies Bob Proehl and Host Jennifer Savran Kelly
Relax and enjoy a cocktail as you watch four teams of contestants face off for their literary dignity in front of the iconic blue screen. Ithaca novelist Bob Proehl will assume the role of Alex Trebek, and our fearless contestants will include staff from Cornell University Press (Meegan Dermody, James McCaffrey, William O’Dell Wehling), professors from Ithaca College (Jack Wang, Jaime Warburton, Jacob White), and booksellers from Buffalo Street Books (Joe Brogdon, Lisa Swayze, Chris Klim) and poets (Cheryl Quimba, Kina Viola, Marty Cain).


7:00-9:00pm @ Sacred Root Kava Bar
Reading: A Blues for Nina Part II:” Open Mic and Poetry Reading
This reading is the second part of a project called "A Blues for Nina" which began with a workshop led by Tierra Labrada, Nia Nunn and Nydia Blas. It focuses on the historical, political and cultural importance of written and spoken word poetry in the Black community. Highlighting Black women and femme writers, the project allowed attendees to come away with a more diverse arsenal of prose, equipped for this second half of the project. This is an open mic, and an invitation to the whole community to share their original work, or the work of another poet. There will be some structured readings built in to the event, which will elevate women of color writers, and will be performed by women of color. This project is sponsored by Southside Community Center and The Empowerment Project.

Day 4: Sunday, May 6

11:00am to 12:00pm @ Community School of Music and Arts, Main Floor
Reading: Local Screenplays in Progress
A panel of talented actors reading a scene or two (about ten minutes or so) of a script in progress from several screenplays in progress from members of the local community, including Chris Holmes, Jennifer Savran Kelly, Becky Lane, Mary Lorson, Kathryn Henion, and Kenneth McLaurin.


11:00am to 12:00pm @ Community School of Music and Arts, Lower Level
Panel: Writing the OTHER in Drama and Performance
A panel discussion will be interspersed with readings of excerpts from new plays by Saviana Stanescu and Judy Tate, to be produced by the Civic Ensemble in Ithaca for their summer season: Civic Acts: New Plays Toward The Beloved Community. Panelists include: Playwrights Judy Tate and Saviana Stanescu, Godfrey Simmons (artistic director of the Civic Ensemble), and other Civic Ensemble artists and scholars.


11:00am to 12:00pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Workshop: Diving into the Center: Writing Memoir
Leslie Daniels’ workshop will immerse you in the memoir writing process. Don't know how to get started? Stuck in the middle? Wondering what you are allowed to say? Wondering if anyone would care? Wondering how it all hangs together? At the center of the memoir is the character of you. (Maybe you didn't even think you were a character!) Participants will do writing exercises designed to generate rich material and to light up the who of your story.


12:30 - 1:30pm @ Community School of Music and Arts, Lower Level
Panel: Beyond the Page: Creating Characters with Lives of Their Own
Members of the Strictly Genre critique group will hold a panel discussion on the art of characterization. Come learn how we create rich, well-rounded characters in a variety of genres including Science Fiction and Fantasy, Romance, and Historical Crime. We will explore ways to look beyond physical description to create compelling characters with believable motivations using writing techniques such as showing characterization through dialogue, using backstory to inform a character’s motivations, revealing a character’s inner thoughts through their body language, and more.  Panelists will include Jackie Swift (moderator), SF/Fantasy writer; Gigi Vernon; Historical Crime writer; Doreen Alsen: Romance writer; and E.C. Barrett: SF/Fantasy writer


12:30 - 1:30pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Reading: Exploding on the Linoleum: Poetry and Prose by LACS students
LACS juniors and seniors will share their poetry and prose exploring identity, family, relationships and self. The work is not appropriate for children or curmudgeonly adults. (LACS, the Lehman Alternative Community School, is a public middle and high school located on West Hill. It has been part of the Ithaca scene since the mid-70s. Personal expression through writing, art, activism and more is a fundamental part of our pedagogy.) Students are Indigo Kane, Bailey Lyons, Anna Gallegos, Enzo Saccuccimorano, Clio Hamilton, Emma Sheiman, Fiona Marks Tily, Laurel Moore.


TIME CHANGE: 1:10pm to 2:40pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room East
The library opens its doors at 1:00pm. (this was previously listed as starting at 12:30) 
Workshop: Thinking Cinematically: A Screenwriting Workshop
Learning to think cinematically can be a useful tool for writers of prose and poetry as well as screenwriters. In this workshop with Elisabeth Nonas, screenplay excerpts and corresponding film clips will illustrate the particular challenges facing the screenwriter, not just the need to write economically, but also to create visual equivalents for moods and the relationships between characters. Participants will be introduced to the basics of screenplay, formatting, and structure through writing exercises.


THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED - sorry! 
1:00 - 2:00pm @ Community School of Music and Arts, Main Floor
Performance: Rumi and Hafez Sung by Jay Leeming and Friends
A reading and performance of poems by the Persian poets Rumi and Hafez, set to music and performed by poet Jay Leeming and friends. The poems will be presented in their original languages as well as in translation, and will also include "Caedmon's Hymn" (in Anglo-Saxon) and fragments of Heraclitus (in Ancient Greek). Audience participation is encouraged. 


2:00 - 3:00pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Reading: Love, justice, and extremism in Bangladesh
Raad Rahman, a Bangladeshi novelist, journalist, and essayist, is a writer-in-residence with Ithaca City of Asylum. Raad wants to enable others who tell stories about human rights abuses regarding their sexuality. She will read from her second novel, Privilege, which tells the story of two teenage friends pitted against each other by a high-profile terrorist attack. The novel explores love, justice, and growing extremism in Bangladesh's southernmost large city of Chittagong. An interview-format discussion follows the reading. (IthacaCityofAsylum.com)


2:00 - 3:15pm @ Community School of Music and Arts, Lower Level
Reading: Poetry, Healing, and Medicine with contributors from The Healing Muse 
Finger Lakes poets and writers read their work, some of which has appeared in The Healing Muse journal, some of which is from other journals and books. Time for questions afterward, a good opportunity for people to share their journeys in and out of wellness, illness, and medicine. Panelists include Bruce Bennett, Katharyn Howd Machan, Tish Pearlman and Deirdre Neilen (moderator)


2:00 - 3:30pm @ Cinemapolis
Screening of film California Typewriter ($9, or $6 with Spring Writes Button)
California Typewriter is a documentary portrait of artists, writers, and collectors who remain steadfastly loyal to the typewriter as a tool and muse, featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, David McCullough, Sam Shepard, and others. It also movingly documents the struggles of California Typewriter, one of the last standing repair shops in America dedicated to keeping the aging machines clicking. In the process, the film delivers a thought-provoking meditation on the changing dynamic between humans and machines, and encourages us to consider our own relationship with technology, old and new, as the digital age’s emphasis on speed and convenience redefines who’s serving whom, human or machine?


2:15 - 3:15pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room East
Workshop: Revisions without Fear
A hands-on writing workshop focused on revision with author Ellen Hartman. Revision is an essential step for all writers, but it can be challenging. So
me authors don't know how to revise effectively; others are paralyzed with fear. What does it mean if an editor says a scene feels flat? What strategies work best to increase conflict in a plot? In this workshop, Hartman will help participants confront their mental barriers about revision and offer concrete tips to fix a range of common issues. Participants will learn from the examples provided, have an opportunity to experiment with exercises, and come away with new confidence to make their work shine.


2:30 - 3:30pm @ Community School of Music and Arts, Main Floor
Performance: Amusing the Muses: Staged Readings of New Short Plays about the Arts
Plays about the arts are being written and performed by Wolf’s Mouth specifically for Spring Writes and responding to the request for events that bring different storytelling communities, genres, and approaches into conversation with one another. (wolfsmouth.wixsite.com/wolfsmouth). Mature audiences.


3:30 - 4:30pm @ Tompkins County Public Library, Borg Warner Room East
Workshop: Ways to Break into the Children's Writing Market
This workshop with author Jodie Mangor will cover a number of money-making avenues in the field of children's writing with an emphasis on nonfiction. Topics will include work-for-hire (WFH) books, what they are and how to land contracts; trade books and how they differ from WFH; fiction vs. nonfiction markets; writing for children's magazines; writing for audio production; the ins and outs of flat fees, advances, and contracts; whether or not you need an agent; and last but not least, tips on how to make your children's nonfiction writing come alive to hook readers.


3:30 - 5:00pm @ Buffalo Street Books
Panel/Reading: Poetry in a Time of Crisis:  Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology
In a time of environmental and social crisis, poets are staging an intervention. Come celebrate the ground-breaking Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (University of Georgia Press), in a reading and discussion with editor Melissa Tuckey and contributor Mukoma Wa Ngugi. Ghost Fishing is the first anthology to focus solely on poetry with an eco-justice bent. A culturally diverse collection entering a field where nature poetry anthologies have historically lacked diversity, this book presents a rich terrain of contemporary environmental poetry with roots in many cultural traditions. A discussion follows the reading and the book will be for sale for those who want signed copies.


5:00 - 6:30pm @ Argos Warehouse (416 E. State Street, located next door (to the right) of the Argos Inn. See more below about parking.)
Reading: Storytime for Grownups
For this combination story time and craft talk, Ithaca authors Leslie Daniels and Bob Proehl read aloud the work of favorite Finger Lakes writers. And because school isn't quite out, they will discuss why they have chosen each piece, emphasizing what makes it work for them. Enjoy being read to while relaxing with a fest-inspired beverage at Argos Inn's beautiful next-door event space, the Argos Warehouse.

The Warehouse is a block from the Ithaca Commons. There are a few parking spaces at the Warehouse. There are an additional 16 parking spots available for Warehouse attendees at the True Insurance lot on Seneca Way (down the hill a bit) after 5:0pm. There is a handicap parking spot available right by the front door of the Warehouse, and a handicap assessable entrance.