Thursday, August 29, 2019

2019 EFFIE LEE MORRIS LECTURE SERIES

The 2019 Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series Celebrates Women Writers


Join the San Francisco Public Library Main Children’s Center this fall as we present two lectures celebrating the voices of two gifted female authors and honoring the work of Effie Lee Morris (1921 – 2009), the first coordinator of children’s services at SFPL.
Ms. Morris, a tireless champion for diversity in children’s literature and in children’s lives, was the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, and a co-founder of the SF chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.
On Thursday, September 5, Renee Watson, the Coretta Scott King Award-winning author of the young adult novel Piecing Me Together, and of the new middle grade novel Some Places More Than Others, will deliver the 23rd Effie Lee Morris Lecture.
On Wednesday, October 2, 2019, F. Isabel Campoy, the International Latino Children’s Book Award-winning author of the picture book Maybe Something Beautiful, and the Spanish-language translator of Mo Willems’ “Elephant and Piggie” books, will deliver the 24th Effie Lee Morris Lecture.
Both lectures will start at 6 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium, and will be followed by book-signings with the authors. The events are free and open to the public of all ages.
The Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series is presented with the generous support of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and the SF chapter of the Women’s National Book Association. This annual lecture honors the work of the late Effie Lee Morris by celebrating the work of writers and illustrators for children whose work exemplifies the causes she championed: inclusivity, diversity, and the rights of all children to read, learn, and create. Ms. Morris was the first coordinator of children’s services at SFPL, the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, and a founder of the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA).
About the Lecturers:
Renee Watson is the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor award for her young adult novel Piecing Me Together. Her other acclaimed books include the picture books Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, and A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, about the time Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Her new book for middle grade readers, Some Places More than Others, will be published in September 2019.
Renee is also an activist and teacher who helps young people deal with personal and societal trauma. She has served as a writer in residence in schools and community centers nationwide. She launched the #LangstonsLegacyCampaign in 2016, purchasing poet Langston Hughes’ historic Harlem brownstone with the goal of developing it into a collective artists’ space.
Renee Watson
Learn more about Renee here: http://www.reneewatson.net/about
In the second lecture in this year’s series, we will welcome author and educator F. Isabel Campoy on Wednesday, October 2.
The Effie Lee Morris Lecture series is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 415-557-4554 or see their website.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

ORDER NOW TO READ MY LATEST SHORT STORY "UNCLE MARTIN"

twisted

MY STORY, "UNCLE MARTIN" IS PUBLISHED IN "FRAGILE"
(MEDUSA'S LAUGH PRESS)

NOMINATED AS "BEST OF THE NET FOR 2018"
BY
SYNCHRONIZED CHAOS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE


Fragile is an anthology comprised of works that express some motif of fragility. It can appear in a variety of ways: the vulnerability of the strong, a balance on the precipice of destruction, the ephemeral nature of bonds, a moment that nearly breaks you, and the like. However, being fragile doesn’t have to mean breaking; it can alternatively lead to growth, rebuilding, moving beyond.
Publication Date: July 2019
Edition size: 200
Dimensions: 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"
Binding: Hardcover Case
Paper: Loop Smooth-Snow 70lb
Cover: Paper printed with a custom design
ISBN: 978-0-9984865-4-3
Price: $15.00
Add to cart

HOPE TO SEE YOU FOR LUNCH ON 8/16!

Author Lunch – A Novel Plan: The Art of Outlining Your Fiction


Author Lunch, Mechanics Institute Library
Friday, August 16, 2019, 12:00 Noon
57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94104 
4th Floor, Chess Room (Free to Public, refreshments available)

What are the secrets to success for novels? At least one of them is structure and our esteemed WNBA-SF member authors will share the approaches that have garnered them bestseller status, awards and rave reviews. Learn what role planning and research play and how to make your scenes, settings, and characters realistic and compulsively readable from beginning to end. The Women’s National Book Association’s San Francisco Chapter is thrilled to present three examplar writers for in-depth explanations of the strategies that inform their craft.
A Novel Plan will be moderated by WNBA-SF President Brenda Knight. There will be Q&A followed by book signings; bring your notebooks and plenty of questions!
Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte is an Oakland multidisciplinary writer whose works artfully succeed in getting across deeper meanings about life and the politics of race and economics without breaking out of the narrative, with Oakland often serving as the backdrop for her touching and often hilarious works. Her first book, A Dollar Five-Stories From A Baby Boomer’s Ongoing Journey (2014) has been described as “ rich in vivid imagery”, and “incredible.” Her second book, All That and More’s Wedding (2016), a collection of fictional mystery/crime short stories, is praised as “imaginative with colorful and likeable characters that draw you in to each story and leave you wanting more.”  Her latest book, Running for the 2:10 (2017), a follow-on to A Dollar Five, delves deeper into her coming of age in Oakland and the embedded issues of race and skin color with one reviewer calling it “… a great contribution to literature.” Her fictional story, “Uncle Martin” will be published by Medusa’s Laugh Press Summer 2019. She currently has a novel in progress titled “Betrayal on the Bayou,” slated for publication in early 2020. She is also a contributor to award winning author Kate Farrell’s upcoming book “Story Power,” an anthology on how writers build and create their stories.
Mary Mackey
Mary Mackey is The New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels, including The Earthsong Series—four novels which describe how the peaceful Goddess-worshiping people of Prehistoric Europe fought off patriarchal nomad invaders (The Village of Bones, The Year The Horses Came, The Horses at the Gate, and The Fires of Spring). Mary’s novels have been praised by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Pat Conroy, Thomas Moore, Marija Gimbutas, Maxine Hong Kingston, Marge Piercy, and Theodore Roszak for their historical accuracy, inventiveness, literary grace, vividness, and storytelling magic. They have made The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller Lists, been translated into twelve foreign languages and sold over a million and a half copies. Mary has also written eight collections of poetry including The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams: New and Selected Poems 1974 to 2018, winner of the 2019 Eric Hoffer Award for Best Book Published by a Small Press and a 2018 CIIS Women’s Spirituality Book Award. An earlier collection of Mary’s poetry, Sugar Zone, won the 2012 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence. At marymackey.com, you can get the latest news about Mary’s books and public appearances, sample her work, sign up for her newsletter, and get writing advice. You can also find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @MMackeyAuthor.

Martha Conway’s latest novel, The Underground River, was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. She is also the author of Thieving Forest, which won the North American Book Award in Historical Fiction, and Sugarland, which was named one of Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2016. Martha’s short fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, The Quarterly, Carolina Quarterly, and other publications. She has reviewed fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Iowa Review, and is a recipient of a California Arts Council fellowship in Creative Writing. In addition to writing, Martha is an instructor of creative writing at Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program and UC Berkeley Extension. She received her BA from Vassar College in History and English, and her MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Born and raised in Ohio, she now lives in San Francisco with her family, where the fog reminds her of lake-effect cloud cover in Cleveland. Martha tweets ten-minute prompts every weekday on twitter (#10minprompt) via @marthamconway.