CALENDAR

This workshop series is designed to generate new work from creative prompts.  Writers are not required to bring any work with them.  Writers of all levels - including those "dreaming" of writing - are invited to participate.  The atmosphere will support and encourage writers to explore their "authentic" voices."  The series will be led by Julie Maloney, director of Women Reading Aloud.  Workshop is limited to 10 members.  The series is modeled after the Amherst Writers and Artists Method.  Julie Maloney is the first writer to bring this method to the area.  She brings a wealth of teaching experience to all WRA workshops.  Headquartered in Morris County, NJ, she is the leading facilitator of this writing method.

To register, call (973) 927-6354 or e-mail: julie@womenreadingaloud.org

This workshop series will accommodate those writers who are available in the mornings.  (See above for format.) 

To register, call (973) 927-6354 or e-mail: julie@womenreadingaloud.org

One Saturday a month will be devoted to those engaged in a work-in-progress. Whether you are writing a novel, poetry chapbook, memoir or non-fiction, a group limited to 8 writers will listen and offer feedback. Come away from your desk and be part of a guided critique group. Present a question or writing dilemma and leave with a fresh approach. Unsure about character or plot development? Find suggestions in this unique peer group. Dig out your manuscript from the bottom drawer and review with fresh eyes. Re-affirm where you’re going. Feel good about getting back to work on a project founded on blood, sweat and tears. Embark on mainstream publishing or self-publish.  Make a commitment to your manuscript.

Pre-register now by contacting Julie Maloney at: julie@womenreadingaloud.org

We're thrilled to host this program to support and promote writers and to open this venue to readers everywhere...

WRA, in conjunction with the Bernardsville Public Library, will host internationally acclaimed and award-winning poet, Dorianne Laux.  As the recipient of two Best American Poetry Prizes, a Pushcart Prize, two fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship, her work is widely anthologized.  It has appeared in the Best of APR, The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Poetry and The Best of the Net.  In 2001, she was invited by late poet Stanley Kunitz to read at the Library of Congress. Her poems have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Korean, Romanian, Dutch, Afrikaans and Brazilian Portuguese. Dorianne Laux teaches poetry in the MFA program at North Carolina State University.

WOMEN READING ALOUD is excited to announce our WRITING AND YOGA program each season.  Director of WRA, Julie Maloney, and certified yoga teacher and massage therapist, Jonnie Lester, will weave their work into a day's devotion to writing, breathing into language, meditation, chanting and improvisation. Open to all interested in storytelling and the discovery of language, as well as those who desire a time to reflect and heal in a safe atmosphere. Yoga tools are available for physical comfort.  Chairs are available for those who need them during the writing and reading aloud time.  Throughout the day, we will engage in gentle restorative poses.  Light lunch will be available at the break.  Be part of a gentle "kula" to nurture the spirit.  Listen to the clear sound of the singing bowl as you rest in shavasana. Read your work aloud in a graceful environment following the Amherst Writers and Artists Method.

To register, contact: julie@womenreadingaloud.org

REGISTRATION BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER

Thirteen full-day conferences have been held since 2003. Writers come together and share their work aloud in small groups, facilitated by a seasoned writer. Silent feedback sheets are distributed in each group to ensure the writer leaves with concrete feedback from her group. Published authors have the opportunity to promote book sales. A scrumptious lunch is served and a guest author — always a delight — spends the afternoon sharing her writing experience and taking questions from the audience.

Past Speakers include:

WOMEN READING ALOUD will host a Writer’s Weekend Retreat devoted to women writers who are looking for time to write in a nurturing environment.  Writers will stay at The Beacon House in exquisite accommodations. (www.beaconhouseinn.com) Each writer will enjoy her own private room and private bath.  Just one block from the ocean, the atmosphere captures casual elegance.  Begin the day with a walk on the beach.  Discover your authentic voice through writing workshops modeled after the Amherst Writers and Artists Method.  This method allows writers to flourish at every stage of the creative journey. Read testimonials from our sold-out New Jersey Shore retreats.

WORKSHOPS:  Led by Julie Maloney and Jacqueline Sheehan

JULIE MALONEY... is founder/director of WOMEN READING ALOUD.  Julie leads writing workshops throughout the year, gives readings, and speaks to "Writing As A Life Tool" in a variety of venues.  She leads a Writing to Heal Series she developed for the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Morristown Memorial Hospital in NJ.  She comes to the writing world after an extensive career as dancer, choreographer and artistic director of her own company.  Her book of poems, Private Landscape, has been published by Arseya Publishing. Julie is a former columnist for SilkPurse Women featuring Women in the Arts.  She is working on her first novel. This June, Julie returned from leading a writer's retreat in Greece. Visit: www.mangopress.net.

JACQUELINE SHEEHAN... is a best-selling novelist, psychologist, and facilitator of international writing retreats.  Her novels, Truth, Lost and Found and Now and Then have experienced widespread success.  Jacqueline's fourth novel will be published in April, 2012.  She is the editor of Women Writing in Prison, a compilation of seven years of writing workshops with incarcerated women.  Jacqueline leads writing workshops in her hometown of Florence, MA as well as through Patchwork Farm, Writers in Progress, and Grub Street in Boston. She is the recipient of a writer's residential fellowship at Horthenden Castle in Scotland.  Visit: www.jacquelinesheehan.com.  

To ensure an intimate atmosphere, this retreat will be limited to 20 writers.  All participants will have the opportunity to write in 5 workshops.  This is a perfect time to discover new material, as well as to continue with an ongoing writing project.  Curl up on the wraparound porch and listen to the waves.  WRA invites you to write, relax, and breathe in a weekend devoted to your writer's self. Come and be part of the writing "kula," the WRA writing community.

Includes: All workshops (5), materials, meals - 5 meals (Dinner open on Sat. night), private bedroom and bathroom (2 nights), all taxes and gratuities.  "Welcome Dinner" on Friday evening.  Check-in: Friday - 3 PM.  Check-out: Sunday - 3PM.  

COST: $685 – with $100 non-refundable deposit by Dec. 31, 2011

COST: $735 – with $100 non-refundable deposit after Dec. 31, 2011

BALANCE DUE - MARCH 1, 2012

                                          CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION FORM. REGISTRATION BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER.