News & Events

2013 Brattleboro Literary Festival

A 3-day celebration of those who read books, those who write books, and of the books themselves. See below for a schedule of Write Action events or click here for the full festival schedule.

The festival dates are October 4-6, 2013 with associated events on October 2-3, 2013.

Write Action Events

Haiku Workshop - Saturday, Oct 5, 9-12 River Gallery School
A new festival event will take place at the River Gallery School, a collaboration with Write Action. There will be an October 5th Haiku Workshop in the morning from 9-12 with poet Jacqueline Gens guiding you in exploring modern versions of this ancient form. Then RGS faculty and friends will set up free art stations in the afternoon so people can drop in and explore transforming words into images using various modalities – letterset, collage, brushpainting, calligraphy, or a combination of your own invention.

Jacqueline Gens is a poet and papermaker who has worked with poets for over thirty years from the Jack Kerouac School at Naropa to the New England College MFA program in poetry she co-founded in 2002. $25 fee

CDA (Center for Digital Art at Cotton Mill) - Words and Video- Thursday, Oct. 3, 7-8:30
Juried in collaboration between the Center for Digital Art, the Brattleboro Literary Festival and Write Action, the fourth annual Words and Video Exhibition will be held on Thursday, October 3rd at the Center for Digital Art in the Cotton Mill. The Exhibition is a collection of work by nine established and emerging video artists and filmmakers who have taken inspiration from words to create a visual response.

Created in collaboration with writers, or inspired by a literary source, the works exhibited by these artists explore the relationship between written language, text, literature and visual representation.

Two of the pieces were based on work by two different local writers, Lissa Weinmann and Genna Nethercott, while other works are inspired by Samuel Beckett, Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) and Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Nonfiction served as the inspiration for New York filmmaker Jessica Oreck’s short film “Venus,” which juxtaposes a narration from a scientific text describing the gaseous, violent surface of the titular planet against abstract images of beachgoers soaking up a tan. More abstract interpretations of the exhibition theme can be seen in works like “Mauvais Garçon, Bad Boy,” a piece made by the experimental filmmaker Walter Ungerer, based on transcriptions of conversations he had with three friends over coffee and wine. Films will be shown once from 7:30pm – 9pm. The presentation is free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. Refreshments will be served.

Channeling T P James - Sunday, Oct 6, 11-12 (Library)
Can you “Write Like the Dickens”? : The T. P. James Writing Contest celebrates both the writings of Charles Dickens, and the audacity of T. P. James, Brattleboro’s own self professed “spirit pen of Dickens”. Dickens had died before he could complete “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, and his readers were left with a strong desire for an ending. The “complete” version of Edwin Drood was published by James on Halloween in 1873, and over 30,000 copies were sold.

At the Brooks memorial library, contestants will attempt to complete the next scene in the T. P. James / Charles Dickens novel, “The Adventure of Bockley Wickleheap”. The partial text of this second novel was discovered this year by Jeanne Walsh and Rolf Parker – Houghton. Two hundered and fifty dollars ($250) will be awarded to the most convincing short chapter written by hand during this event. Tom Ragle, poet and past president of Marlboro College will select the final winner of this event. For more information go to www.universityofbrattleboro.com

Spotlight Readings - Saturday, Oct. 5, 12:15-1:15; Sunday, Oct 6 1:30-2:30
Ten-minute sampling from their latest book -- readings by local authors who have published a book in the past year. This year's line-up: (Saturday) Verandah Porche, Tom Ragle, Ken Hebson and Naima Wade; (Sunday) Barbara Benoit, Bruce Hasselbach, Sparrow Hart, and Toni Ortner. The authors will sign their books which will be for sale after the readings.

Open Reading - Saturday, Oct. 5th 7-9
Brattleboro Literary Festival attendees are invited to read at the annual BLF Open Reading hosted by Write Action at the River Garden from 7-9 p.m. Those interested should stop by to sign up at 6:30. Readers will have a 7-minute time slot and will read in the order of sign-up. Guests of honor will be the winners of the annual Write Action poetry and prose contest who are invited to read their winning pieces to open the event.

Literary Festival Cafe - River Garden Saturday and Sunday 10-5
An annual fundraiser for Write Action: Coffee, bagels, pastries, cider, apples, cheese and crackers, and more! By donation. Also open during the Open Reading on Saturday evening.

2013 Write Action 8th ANNUAL
LITERARY CONTEST  - “A DIFFERENT WORLD”

WRITE ACTION announces its 8th Annual Poetry and Prose Writing Contest.  The theme this year is “A Different World,” interpreted as broadly as one wishes. Entries in poetry and prose will each be judged anonymously by a panel of published authors. 

The FIRST PLACE winners in both categories will be awarded $100 and the SECOND and THIRD PLACE winners $50 each. 

Youth category for ages 18 and under will award a first-place winner in poetry and prose, and honorable mentions in each category.  The winners will be awarded a $25 gift certificate.

All entries must be postmarked by June 30th, 2013

Writers may submit up to 3 prose pieces (first one is free, $5 for each additional), and/or 3 one-page poems (first poem is free, $5 for each additional).  There are no fees for the Youth Category.

How To Enter

• Entries that do not conform to the guidelines will be disqualified.
• Mail FOUR (4) typed hard copies to Write Action Contest, P.O. Box 822, Brattleboro, VT 05302 (Postmarked no later than 6/30/13)
• To qualify, each entry must be submitted as four hard copies; Prose items will be limited to 1500 words (please double-space); 
• Poems are limited to one page (may be single-spaced). No more than one poem to a page, each to be judged separately.  
• The author’s name should not appear in any form on the text pages, but only on one cover page for all poetry and one cover page for all prose submissions, with phone number, email address, and postal address also included on cover page only, for anonymous judging. 
• Youth entries: indicate on cover page “Youth Entry.”
  

Words & Images: A Collaboration Between Writers and Artists

The Windham Art Gallery is pleased to present Words & Images: A Collaboration curated by Stuart Copans, a WAG Artist, and Arlene Distler, a representative of Write Action--who received a grant from the Crosby Foundation, which will provide support, in part, for the exhibit. Words & Images represents a collaboration between writers and artists that will include poems, excerpts from short stories and a children's book along with paintings, photographs, a treasure hunt, and a room-sized installation down the street from the gallery at an artist's studio. This exhibition represents a four-month process in which artists and writers met, teamed up, and created unique collaborations. Several of the participants are member-artists from WAG, with many of the other artists and all of the writers being guests invited from the community. The exhibition will be on display from Friday, June 1 through Sunday, July 1, with an opening reception on Friday, June 1, from 5-8 PM, during Gallery Walk.

• Read the Words & Images press release.

Third Annual Write Action Literary Contest

Deadline: July 1, 2007

It’s time for the Third Annual Write Action Literary Contest. The theme this year is DOORS. Prose writers and poets are invited to submit their work. Entries will be expected to reflect the writer’s reaction or response to the theme word DOORS, whether literal or figurative, actual or metaphorical.

First prize winners will be published in the Brattleboro Reformer, and winners will also have a chance to read their work at an open reading at the Brattleboro Literary Festival, 2007.

A single prose entry should be no more than 1500 words, and a single poetry entry no more than one page (single spaced). Three top winners will be chosen in each category, by a distinguished panel of local judges. First prize in each category is a $50 gift certificate; 2nd and 3rd place runners-up will receive $25 gift certificates.

Please submit entries by the July 1, 2007 deadline. Winners will be announced at the Write Action Picnic, and in the Brattleboro Reformer, in August.

Here’s how to enter: Send a manuscript with a cover; put your name, address, email address and phone number on the cover; do not put any identifying information on any of the pages of your manuscript. The first entry is free; up to two more entries in each category may be submitted for a $5 entry fee per submission, checks to Write Action. Mail to: Write Action, PO Box 822, Brattleboro, VT 05302. If you have any questions, please call 254-7755. Entries must be postmarked by July 1st, 2007.

Write Action is a non-profit organization formed to strengthen a community of writers in Brattleboro and the surrounding area; and to nurture, encourage, and promote the literary arts in the community at large.