SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE (SFWC)
2022 WRITING CONTEST
ADULT FICTION:
Winner: Sheryl Bize-Boutte, The Burden Keeper
The winning story is the first chapter of my novel in progress, titled The Burden Keeper, and will be published with all of the contest winners and finalists in the SFWC Anthology slated for release in November 2021.
STAY TUNED...
HEY, THIS STUFF IS REALLY HAPPENING!
An excerpt from my novel in progress, "The Burden Keeper," has been selected as a finalist in the San Francisco Writer's Conference 2021 writing contest. The excerpt, along with all of the finalist's entries as well as the winners, will be published in the SFWriter's inaugural anthology, slated for publication in November 2021.
More at: www.sfwriters.org
My short story, "Plateau," has been nominated for "Best of the Net" for 2021 by Synchronized Chaos International Magazine.
Read the story here:
http://synchchaos.com/short-story-from-sheryl-bize-boutte-6/
COMING UP:
OCTOBER 15, 2021: WRITER'S LUNCH-ALL ABOUT BETA READERS
https://www.milibrary.org/events/writers-lunch-all-about-beta-readers-oct-15-2021
NOVEMBER 8, 2021: NO POETRY NO PEACE
PLEASE JOIN ME AT THE MECHANICS INSTITUTE LIBRARY OF SAN FRANCISCO
FOR
NO POETRY NO PEACE
AN M. I. L. POETRY SERIES
ON
NOVEMBER 8, 2021
6:00 PM-7:00 PM
This event is produced in partnership with the San Francisco Writers Conference.
Please register via Eventbrite and the Zoom credentials will be sent to you when you register and a few days prior to the event.
REGISTER HERE: https://www.milibrary.org/events/no-poetry-no-peace-reading-and-celebration-human-expression-and-peace-nov-08-2021#tickets
Join us and a selection of poets – some local, some far flung - to explore how "poetry provides pathways for creative and cathartic human expression and peace." The No Poetry No Peace series happens twice a year and the title comes from a collection written by Sheryl Bize-Boutte and her daughter Dr. Angela Boutte.
About our poets:
Pushcart Prize nominee Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte is an Oakland multidisciplinary writer whose autobiographical and fictional short story collections, along with her lyrical and stunning poetry, artfully succeed in getting across deeper meanings about the politics of race and economics without breaking out of the narrative. Her writing has been variously described as "rich in vivid imagery," "incredible," and "great contributions to literature." Her first novel, Betrayal on the Bayou, was published in June 2020 and a poetry collection she has written with her daughter Dr. Angela M. Boutte, titled No Poetry No Peace, was published in August 2020. She is also a popular literary reader, presenter, storyteller, curator, and emcee for local events.
Mahnaz Badihian is an Iranian/American Poet, painter, and translator whose work has been published in several languages worldwide. Her work has appeared in many literary magazines, including Exiled ink!, International Poetry Magazine, and Marin Poetry Center Anthology. Mahnaz runs the Literary magazine MahMag.org to bring the poetry of the world together. She finished the translation of a book called Spaldings Arise (2014) with Jack Hirschman. Her latest poetry collection is Raven Of Isfahan (2019) and she has edited Plague 2020 an anthology of COVID related art and poetry from around the world. Her new collection of poems, Ask The Wind, will be published by Vagabond Press this year. She is a member of the San Francisco RPB (Revolutionary Poet Brigade).
Dr. Angela M. Boutte is a biochemist, neuroscientist, and avid recreational indoor climber who loves the tranquility and peace found in writing the occasional poem.
Author of three poetry collections, Joan Gelfand’s reviews, stories, essays and poetry have appeared in national and international literary journals and magazines. The recipient of twenty writing awards including the Effie Lee Morris Prize for Poetry and the Cervena Barva Prize for Short Fiction, Joan taught for California Poets in the Schools and currently for The Writing Salon. Joan’s poem, “The Ferlinghetti School of Poetics” was made into a short film that showed in 20 international film festivals. Joan’s debut novel, Extreme was named New Fiction Finalist in the 2020 International Book Awards.
John Rowe has been active in the Bay Area poetry community for 25 years, especially with the Bay Area Poets Coalition, a non-profit, volunteer-run organization. He currently hosts a monthly open poetry reading on Zoom for BAPC. His poems have appeared in numerous small press journals and anthologies, and he has authored several poetry chapbooks including Beyond Perspective (Finishing Line Press). His poems reflect an array of styles and themes, and he has an affinity for writing short-form poems such as 5-line tanka.
Michael Warr is a 2021 San Francisco Artist Grant and 2020 Berkeley Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. His books include Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin (W.W. Norton), The Armageddon of Funk and We Are All The Black Boy. Recognition for his writing and literary activity includes the San Francisco Library Laureate, Creative Work Fund award for his multimedia project Tracing Poetic Memory, PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature, Black Caucus of the American Library Association Award, Gwendolyn Brooks Significant Illinois Poets Award, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. For more see https://michaelwarr-creativework.tumblr.com/
Maw Shein Win’s poetry chapbooks are Ruins of a glittering palace (SPA/Commonwealth Projects) and Score and Bone (Nomadic Press). Invisible Gifts: Poems was published by Manic D Press in 2018. Win is the first poet laureate of El Cerrito, California (2016 - 2018). Her full-length poetry collection Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn) was longlisted for the PEN America Open Book Award, nominated for a Northern California Book Award for Poetry, and longlisted for the California Independent Booksellers Alliance’s Golden Poppy Award for Poetry for 2021.
More here:
REGISTER HERE: https://www.milibrary.org/events/no-poetry-no-peace-reading-and-celebration-human-expression-and-peace-nov-08-2021#tickets
Questions?
Taryn Edwards - 415-393-0103
MY INTERVIEW ABOUT
BETRAYAL ON THE BAYOU
ON LAINEY CAMERON'S
"THE BEST OF WOMEN'S FICTION"
IS LIVE!
LOOK AND LISTEN HERE:
https://www.bestofwomensfiction.com/episodes/sheryl-bize-boutte
WWW.AMAZON.COM/AUTHOR/SHERYLJBIZEBOUTTE
I WILL BE CHATTING WITH AWARD WINNING AUTHOR LAINEY CAMERON
ABOUT MY NOVEL
BETRAYAL ON THE BAYOU
ON HER PODCAST
THE BEST OF WOMEN'S FICTION
SEPTEMBER 3-5 2021
https://www.bestofwomensfiction.com/
HERE IS AN EXCERPT FROM LAINEY'S 5-STAR REVIEW OF BETRAYAL ON THE BAYOU FROM AMAZON AND GOODREADS:
"Set in a race-divided community and full of murder and mayhem, the true spirit of this novel is in how it builds an entire fictional universe set on the Louisiana Bayou.
With the immersive spirit of a fairytale, that universe pulls you in. A tale of women trying to do their best in a time that offered fewer choices and was significantly worse for women of color or mixed race. But this is not a novel drenched in pity; the female characters have agency, and self-awareness, and are well-written and credible."
JOIN US ON THE PODCAST TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THE BOOK, WRITING AND FORMULATING FICTION
AIRING SEPTEMBER 3-5
https://www.bestofwomensfiction.com/
Poetry from Sheryl Bize-Boutte
Published on 07/01/2021 by Synchronized Chaos International Magazine
sIX FINGERs
a love story
He was born with six fingers
on each hand
scalpel applied in a secret room
Precision clean cut no trace
Only a few knew
Cautioned not to reproduce
He was fine with that
A captain of industry
A hellion
A brute
An unrepentant supply of evil
A success
Five remaining fingers
On each hand
Vice grips on all there was to have
They named him man of the year
In his private garden
Of forever green grass
And the blue eye sky
He prospered
She was born with six fingers
on each hand
They tied them off with dirty string
let them fall back into origin
Scars of protruding keloid
Are even darker than her total gold
Everyone knew
Everyone whispered
She was a hellion
A brute
An unrepentant supply of evil
A bad mother
A failed woman
They named her witch
Assigned designations without power to change
Five remaining fingers on each hand
barley clinging
to that thirsty branch
Of the diseased tree
She struggled
They came upon each other one day. It was a chance meeting, another arrangement of the universe. After all, their worlds were separated, divergent, inequivalent yet equally actual.
She was weary yet determined, walking slowly, the sidewalk seeming to grab at her steps as if to stop her progress. This was nothing new. Everything in life seemed to do that to her. Yet she continued.
He was on the same sidewalk, head in the air, walking briskly. Too briskly to notice the woman he was heading toward.
And then they collided. He was beyond angry that she had interfered with his forward progress. No one had ever done that before. No one. He instinctively pushed her to the ground. That was his nature.
She knew she had to protect herself. She knew immediately she was on her own. If she had to fight, that was what she would do. He would not be the first she had to battle. He would not be the last she would best.
She lay there looking up at him, one of her hands shielding her eyes from his blue glare.
And that is when he saw the scar on her hand.
He immediately knew what it was and what it meant.
He reached down to help her up.
She wondered why and did not trust.
Jarring clarity took him to his knees.
He took her hand and ran his fingers across the scar.
She embraced the bond of blue sky and golden sun.
They knew their real names.
Holding hands and rising together to their feet,
Now beyond circumstance
Strength and Hope walked on.
copyright ©2021 by Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte
THE MECHANICS INSTITUTE LIBRARY-SAN FRANCISCO
PRESENTS
From Storyboard to Narrative
with Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte
Saturday, July 17, 2021 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
This event is presented in partnership with the San Francisco Writers Conference
It will take place via Zoom. Please register via Eventbrite and the Zoom credentials will be sent to you a few days before the class starts.
REGISTER NOW:
https://www.milibrary.org/events/storyboard-narrative-jul-17-2021#tickets
MI MEMBERS: $15.00
PUBLIC: $25.00
In this workshop, author Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte will guide you from storyboard creation to story narrative. You will become familiar with the process of storyboarding, how it helps and guides the writer, how Sheryl uses her own unique storyboarding techniques to create narrative for her writing projects, and a fun storyboarding exercise for class participants.
Pushcart Prize nominee Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte is an Oakland multidisciplinary writer whose autobiographical and fictional short story collections, along with her lyrical and stunning poetry, artfully succeed in getting across deeper meanings about the politics of race and economics without breaking out of the narrative. Her writing has been variously described as "rich in vivid imagery," "incredible," and "great contributions to literature." Her first novel, Betrayal on the Bayou, was published in June 2020 and a poetry collection she has written with her daughter Dr. Angela M. Boutte, titled No Poetry No Peace, was published in August 2020. She is also a popular literary reader, presenter, storyteller, curator, and emcee for local events.
For each class, we reserve the right to cancel at any time and issue a full refund. If you are unable to attend your class, please email tedwards@milibrary.org at least 10 days prior to the class to receive a full refund. All fees must be paid at the time of registration.
QUESTIONS? Contact Taryn Edwards, tedwards@milibrary.org
