By Anne K. Kaler
So you thought that we were celebrating and/or napping over the holidays . . . but here is an update of our most recent accomplishments at Pearl S. Buck Writing Center.
The Writing Center Press is proud to announce the publication of two important books this November, both memoirs/autobiographies worth reading: Continue reading “2020 Update on Guild and Writing Center Press”
Secrets – one of the first things we learn as children.
The concept of secrets starts with toddlers being shushed by parents for commenting on someone’s weight or color or disability. They get shushed again for repeating something Mommy or Daddy said. “Don’t tell, don’t say that to Daddy, Mommy, neighbors or doctors.”
As we get older, secrets become more complicated and seemingly more necessary in our lives. We even keep secrets from ourselves by refusing to discuss or cope or change. Yet, we hate secrets too. We struggle to decide which ones to keep and which ones to tell. We bemoan this universal human tendency while we embrace the need for it. We excuse the white lies and feel guilty about bigger ones. We all have secrets we don’t want others to know, private and hidden knowledge filled with power. The secrets might amaze or embarrass, betray, shock or harm. We simply don’t know.
So, what do we do?
Recently, our teenage grandson came into my kitchen just as I finished an edit on a poem. Impulsively, I asked if he’d like to read it. Being both polite and kind, he said he would. The poem describes an incident from my childhood which, through the alchemy of writing, was transformed into something new.
“Did this happen to you?” he asked. “Is it real?”
Then, we talked about prose and poetry being a release for emotions, a release for the demons we all carry or a release for secrets we can’t otherwise share. Those things can be put into words on a page where it may touch a chord in a reader. Through the alchemy of writing, I took an incident and made it new, gave it a different life in a poem. He connected to that and I saw the understanding as it began to show on his face.
Like any art, writing allows you to take a thought or emotion and create something new, something that may or may not have anything to do with the original inspiration. We mine our lives for those nuggets we find useful and transform them into art, music, prose, and poetry. My grandson understood that and likened it to his favorite movies and the stories they tell. Since he enjoys art and music, I suggested he try it himself and one day he may.
Often, writing exposes a deeper truth and the secrets that are kept there. In the act of writing, we may reveal something to ourselves, thoughts or feelings we didn’t know we had. From this, we can learn what themes our life follows and what problems occur the most. That is why writing journals is so useful and why bibliotherapy – the use of poetry or prose to explore feelings — works. We literally see ourselves in words.
Conversely, writing hides secrets in plots or images, which wait to be found by the reader. That is why mysteries are so popular – we don’t know something, so we need clues to help us find the secret. There’s a reason Law and Order was so popular for so many years. We like knowing secrets, even those of fictional characters. It gives us satisfaction.
Biographies and memoirs reveal the secrets of someone’s life, which can be endlessly fascinating. Even self-help books reveal secrets – Learn to cook creatively! Be a better person! Learn the secret of weight loss!
We chose Secrets as a theme for this issue of the journal because there is something deeply human about them, something that brings out emotions of every sort. It is universally interesting and it inspires all kinds of writing. We have a little bit of everything in this issue, a variety well worth exploring.
So, come – visit our secrets.
Susan E. Wagner
Editor, PSB Literary Journal
(Click title to read selection.
Author’s biography at end of contribution)
A Poem by Susan E. Wagner
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A Sea of a Thousand Shalt Nots
A Memoir by Meredith Betz
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A Novel Excerpt by Melissa Triol
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A Poem by Elizabeth Esris
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Secrets – A Play in Four Scenes
A Play by David H. Werrett
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A Poem by Anne K. Kaler, PSBVA
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A Memoir by Linda C. Wisniewski
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Secrets Beyond the Windowsills
A Poem by John A. McCabe
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An Essay by Susan E. Wagner
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In the Garden of the Lost and Found
A Short Story by Meredith Betz
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A Memoir by Fred W. Donaldson
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A Poem by Elizabeth Esris
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A Short Story by Paul Sullivan
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A Mystery by Ann Nonymous
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A Short Story by Bob McCrillis
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A Poem by David H. Werrett
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A Short Story by Susan E. Wagner
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Nevada’s Light Brigade: A Top Secret Clearance
A Novel Excerpt by John A. McCabe
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A Short Story by Paul Teese
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A Memoir by Ronald Scott Price
Need help telling your own life’s story by structuring work you’ve already written, Linda Wisniewski’s Advanced class in Memoir Writing is designed to fit your needs.
Register here or on the PSBI.org website where courses can be found under the Education tab at the top of the home page. See Linda’s biography at the end of this blog with a link to her website. Continue reading “Sign Up For Advanced Memoir Classes”
Need help telling your own life’s story? Whether you’re just beginning the process or need help structuring work you’ve already written, Linda Wisniewski’s Beginners or Advanced classes in Memoir Writing are designed to fit your needs.
Linda’s courses in the past have built up such demand, she is offering two courses this year. Register here or on the PSBI.org website where courses can be found under the Education tab at the top of the home page. See Linda’s biography at the end of this blog with a link to her website.
Memoir Writing Class for Beginners – Six weeks
Wednesdays: April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1 and May 8 2019
1-3pm Cultural Center, 2nd Floor
$150 fee for 6 classes
Course Description:
Have you been thinking about writing your memoir but don’t know where to start?
Join us for a six-week class that will cover all the basics of modern memoir writing and answer all your questions. Learn to write about people, place, work, loss and more.
Each week’s informative lecture and writing practice with gentle, constructive feedback will give you a solid foundation to put your memories on the page for your family, for publication, or for your own good health.
Advanced Memoir Writing Class –
1st Wednesday of the month for 6 months
Wednesdays: June 5, July 3, August 7,
September 4, October 2, and November 6
1-3pm Cultural Center, 2nd floor
$150 fee for 6 classes
Course Description:
If you have some of your memoirs on paper and are ready to learn how to organize them, expand what is significant, and deepen their meaning, this is the class for you.
Within the monthly format of lecture, discussion, in-class writing and constructive feedback, we will cover theme, character arc, dialogue, and more.
Plus, you will be enrolled in our private online Google group, where you can submit your own writing, respond to your classmates’ work, and discuss class readings provided by the instructor.
Linda C. Wisniewski is a former librarian who shares an empty nest in Doylestown with her retired scientist husband. Linda teaches memoir workshops and speaks on the healing power of writing throughout the Philadelphia area. Her work focuses on memoir and personal essays and has been published in literary magazines and anthologies. Linda’s memoir, Off Kilter: A Woman’s Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother and Her Polish Heritage was published by Pearlsong Press. Her unpublished novel based on the life of a 19th century ancestor was a finalist for the 2015 Eludia Award. Her website is https://lindawis.com/.
There are 20 contributions to this Fall issue of the 2018 Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal. The theme of this issue is Transformation. Submissions include essays, memoirs, poems, short stories, and an excerpt from a novel.
Our thanks to authors Dr. Anne K. Kaler, Sandra Carey Cody, David H. Werrett, Jane Bleam, Paul Teese, Joseph A. Vitella, John McCabe, Susan E. Wagner, Joel Mendez, Kat Cerruti, Meredith Betz, Linda Wisniewski, Archana Kokroo, and Bob McCrillis.
Anne K. Kaler, PhD
Professor of English Emerita
Gwynedd Mercy University
(Click title to read selection. Author’s biography at end of contribution)
An Essay by Anne K. Kaler, PSBVA
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A Short Story by Sandra Carey Cody
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A Poem by David H. Werrett
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A Memoir by Jane Bleam
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A Short Story by Paul Teese
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An Excerpt from a Novel
by Joseph A. Vitella
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A Short Story by John McCabe
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The Woman Who Bound Pain to Her Bones
A Poem by Susan E. Wagner
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A Short Story by Joel Mendez
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A Poem by John McCabe
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A Short Story by Susan E. Wagner
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Mary Gertrude and the Alligator
A Short Story by Anne K. Kaler
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A Memoir by Jane Bleam
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A Memoir by Kat CerRuti
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A Memoir by Meredith Betz
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A Short Story by Linda Wisniewski
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A Short Story by Archana Kokroo
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A Short Story by Bob McCrillis
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A Short Story by David H. Werrett
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A Short Story by Meredith Betz
By Linda Donaldson
Nearly every attendee to our October Writers Guild meeting brought writing selections to share. All told there were 11 different authors’ works read aloud, and some brought two works. Such a rich array of literary work kept us well past the two hour mark.
We welcomed a new member Archana Kokroo whose first poems proved conclusively that she has much to offer. Other member who contributed were: Melissa Triol, Jane Bleam, Dave Werrett, John McCabe, Bob McCrillis, Paul Teese, Meredith Betz, Kat Cerutti, Joe Vitella and Linda Donaldson. Continue reading “October Guild Meeting Notes Plus Sneak Peek”
By Linda Donaldson
Cindy Louden opened our August Writers Guild meeting opened with a preview of the 2019 Writing Center’s classes with final dates to be announced.
Linda Wisniewski will offer a Beginner’s Memoir series of classes for six weeks in May and June. She will then offer Advanced Memoir classes monthly from June through October.
Pam Varkony, author, speaker and last year’s recipient of the Pearl S. Buck Woman of the Year award, will teach two classes next year: one on essays, op-eds and exposes, and the other on marketing your writing through web and social media. Pam plans to offer each of these two topics at three different times – morning, afternoon and evening – June and July.
Writers Guild meetings will be held next year at 1pm to 3pm on the third Sunday of the month from March through October. Continue reading “Guild Notes, 2019 Class Preview and BookFest”
There are 16 contributions to this Spring 2017 Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal. The theme of this issue is birth, rebirth and renewal. Submissions include essays, memoirs, poems, short stories, flash fiction and an excerpt from a novel.
Our thanks to authors, Anne K. Kaler, Bob McCrillis, Lois Guarino Hazel, Susan Wagner, Meredith Betz, Fred W. Donaldson, Linda C. Wisniewski, Jennifer Yuan, John McCabe, Carol Kretovich, and Judith Wrase Nygard.
(Click title to read selection. Author’s biography at end of contribution)
ESSAY BY ANNE K. KALER, PSBVA
SHORT STORY BY BOB McCRILLIS
SHORT STORY BY LOIS GUARINO HAZEL
EXCERPT FROM A NOVEL BY ANNE K. KALER PSBVA
POEM BY SUSAN WAGNER
MEMOIR BY MEREDITH BETZ
ESSAY BY FRED W. DONALDSON
SHORT STORY BY LINDA C. WISNIEWSKI
MEMOIR BY LOIS GUARINO HAZEL
SHORT STORY BY JENNIFER YUAN
SHORT STORY BY JOHN McCABE
POEM BY SUSAN WAGNER
MEMOIR BY Carol Kretovich
POEM BY JUDITH WRASE NYGARD
MEMOIR BY MEREDITH BETZ
FLASH FICTION BY JOHN McCABE
by Linda C. Wisniewski
I’ve been teaching memoir writing classes for adults for twelve years, and as time goes by, I have found it necessary to keep reading and learning, if only to stay one step ahead of my students. Some of them have been with me for three or four years, and I want to give them fresh, new material, so I have to create it from resources I access outside my own experience. My own writing teacher has been covering much of the same ground for the seven years I have studied with her, but each class and its accompanying handout offers more for me to practice and absorb, and I know she is still learning too. Continue reading “What the Teacher Learned”
