Call for Poets: Deadline Monday, December 7th

Dear poets!

To celebrate New Hampshire’s poets, state poet laureate Alexandria Peary is conducting a Poetry Census. Alex seeks information on NH residents who’ve published poetry in 2021. She’s hosting a virtual-champagne-popping celebration of poets and their publications the last week of December (TBA).

If you’ve published a poetry book or chapbook or had a poem/poems appear in a literary journal, newspaper, or magazine between January 1-December 31, 2021, email Alex at Balconyofwords@gmail.com

Include the following info: your full name, town of residency, title of your poetry publication, publisher, and publication date by Monday, December 7. She would like to hear about your publications even if you’re not available for the late December celebration.

Alex

Alexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhD

New Hampshire Poet Laureate

@NHPoetLaureate

https://newhampshirepoetlaureate.blogspot.com/

Update: MWG’s November 20th Meeting

Dear members and friends of MWG,

Given concerns about the rising cases of COVID-19 in the Monadnock Region, the MWG Board has added two more safety precautions for the in-person November 20th meeting at the Peterborough Town Library at 9:45 AM. In addition to masks being required inside the library:

  • the meeting will be held in the larger 1833 room on the second floor to allow for social distancing between seating
  • attendees will need to bring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to the meeting

Also, if you wish to attend this meeting by Zoom instead of in person, the Board is planning for that option as well. Details will be provided closer to the meeting date.

We look forward to seeing you!

Reminder: MWG Meeting at PTL this Saturday the 18th

September 18, 2021: Guest Speaker – Celia Rabinowitz

Location: Peterborough Town Library

Our meeting begins at 9:45 and continues to about 11:45. Masks are required at the library.

Family, documents, silence, and history: Writing about ourselves and others

Photo of Celia RabinowitzCelia Rabinowitz is Dean of Mason Library and Interim Director of the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College. Celia has a BA in Classics & Religious Studies from Beloit College, MA in Religious Studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, PhD in Theology from Fordham University, and a MLS from Rutgers University. She joined Keene State College in 2014. Mason Library includes Special Collections and Archives which include collections connected to the Holocaust, New Hampshire poets, the filmmaker Louis de Rochement, and other social justice materials. She participated in the recent trip to China organized by the Monadnock Pastoral Poets & Writers group, has helped organize recent teach-ins on the Keene campus, and is an avid runner.

 

 

Coming in February: Three -Minute Fiction Slam!

Three-Minute Fiction: This popular event is returning in 2021, both to the Monadnock area and state-wide. The NH Writers Project has not yet announced its schedule for a state-wide contest but MWG will sponsor a preliminary round on February 6, 2021.

To enter, you must read an original story via Zoom on February 6, 2021. Of course, it should take no more than three minutes to read. Two judges from outside the MWG will comment on entries and select the best. Look for further details as the date nears.

Winter 2021 Meeting Updates

Due to the continually changing COVID-19 situation, MWG’s monthly meetings for winter and spring of 2021 will be virtual or, if possible, outdoors. Please join our mailing list or check our Facebook page for live updates.

Penning the Pandemic, our anthology of COVID-19 related prose and poetry by authors from around the world, is available now at Toadstool Books in Peterborough and through online booksellers!

Do you know a teen writer? The inaugural George Duncan Essay Contest, open to all high school students living or studying in the Monadnock Region, opened December 1. See details and requirements at https://monadnockwriters.org/publications-2/george-duncan-essay-contest/.

MWG Meeting Updates

General Meetings
The Monadnock Writers’ Group normally meets every month from September through June, 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. The Speaker Series is open to the public and free of charge. Our speakers are instructive and inspirational for writers of all literary forms, genres, and levels of experience.

Fall 2020 – “Writers’ Night In” Zoom meetings. Writers’ Night Out is a custom throughout New Hampshire to provide a monthly social gathering of writers. Our Night Out has suspended in Peterborough and elsewhere due to restrictions of the COVID crisis, but is being revived and revised by MWG under the name Writers’ Night In. We will hold a Zoom meeting on the first Monday of each month, except when it conflicts with a holiday.

Our idea is to have dinner while conversing with other writers in the area. There is no program and no rules on topics – just a social gathering through a Zoom connection. We will begin on October 5 at 6:30 and expect to have the connection open until 8:00. Look for the Zoom address in the October Quill to keep in touch with what writer friends are doing and feel their encouragement on your current project.

Election of MWG Board Members: At our annual meeting in July, the eight Board members for 2020-2021 were voted in. A term lasts two years.  Bill Bryk was voted in as our new Treasurer, and Carl Mabbs-Zeno (Secretary),  Ann Day and Maura MacNeil, we re-elected  to the Board.

George Duncan Essay Contest now closed to submissions. The contest will be back in 2022.

George Duncan Essay Contest

The Monadnock Writers’ Group is pleased to announce a high school essay contest established to honor the memory of George Duncan. George was an award-winning marketing copywriter and author, and an avid writer of political commentary. He served as President of the Monadnock Writers’ Group (MWG) and was a long-time board member.

MWG will award the contest winner a prize of $100.00 and invite the winner and any runner-ups to read their essays at our group meeting in May 2020. The Keene Sentinel’s ELF Magazine and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript will publish the winning essay.

The announcement of the winning essay will be in April 2020.

Eligibility:


The contest is open to students in grades 9 through 12 who attend public, private, and home-schools in the following towns:

Chesterfield, Harrisville, Keene, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson, Westmoreland, Stoddard, Surry, Winchester, Acworth, Alstead, Walpole, Charlestown, Langdon, Fitzwilliam, Gilsum, Richmond, Roxbury, Swanzey, Troy, Sullivan, Antrim, Dublin, Peterborough, Francestown, Greenfield, Hancock, Bennington, Sharon, Temple, Jaffrey, Rindge, Greenville, New Ipswich, Mason, Wilton, Lyndeborough, and Milford

Essay prompt:


Select a political issue that is currently in the news. Write a persuasive, fact-based analysis of the issue using a civil tone. Write it in the style of an op-ed piece.

Submission instructions:

  • Essay length should be at least 500 words and no more than 800 words.
  • Submit your essay to gduncanessay@gmail.com from January 15, 2020 to March 15, 2020.
  • Include your name, school, email address, and your essay in the body of the email.

Judging:


Please note that writers’ names will be removed from essays prior to review by the judges.
MWG member Linda Thomas and Keene State College professor Jeff Halford will judge the essays.

Jeff Halford teaches communication and philosophy at Keene State College. He holds an M.A. in Speech Communication from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Arizona.

Linda Thomas is a freelance writer and editor. She holds an M.Ed. from Rivier College and an M.S. in Technical Writing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

For any questions, please visit http://monadnockwriters.org or email gduncanessay@gmail.com.

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