Waterline Writers welcomes new creative directors Oct. 21
On Sunday, Oct. 21, Waterline Writers will feature authors Caroline Johnson, Patrick Parks, Lenora Murphy, and Christine Swanberg at 7 p.m. at Water Street Studios, 160 S. Water St. in Batavia.
This will be the first event with James Joseph and Cathy Borders as creative directors. Anne Veague and Kevin Moriarity have stepped down and passed the torch onto Borders and Jospeh to continue building the Waterline Writers community.
Four authors will be featured on Sunday.
• Caroline Johnson has two poetry chapbooks, "Where the Street Ends" and "My Mother's Artwork." In 2012, she won first place in the Chicago Tribune's Printers Row Poetry Contest and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She has more than 70 poems in print, is past president and current webmaster of Poets and Patrons of Chicago, and is a facilitator for the Illinois State Poetry Society. Her full-length poetry manuscript, "The Caregiver," is forthcoming from Holy Cow! Press in May 2018.
• Patrick Parks has had fiction published in a variety of journals, including The Chattahoochee Review, The Beloit Fiction Journal, Clockwatch Review, Farmer's Market, B City, and had a story in the anthology, "The Breast." In addition, he was editor of "Black Dirt," a literary journal, edited "Sarajevo: An Anthology for Bosnian Relief," and wrote reviews for Literary Magazine Review. Recipient of two Illinois Arts Council awards, he is a graduate of the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop. "Tucumcari" is his first novel. To learn more, visit Park's website at www.patrick-parks.com.
• Lenora Murphy is an English student at Northern Illinois University specializing in creative writing and teacher licensure. She has been published in the Paragon, Horizons, Towers, and Quail Bell Magazine. Her writing consists of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Lenora's first stage production titled "Pieces of Harper's Heart" debuted in 2015 which Murphy also cast and directed. Her most recent nonfiction publication can be found in Quail Bell Literary Magazine's August issue titled "Beauty Mark." Visit www.quailbellmagazine.com.
• Christine Swanberg has published hundreds of poems in journals and anthologies such as "Earth Blessings," "Garden Blessings," "Gratitude Prayers," and "Back to Joy." Recent books include" Who Walks Among The Trees With Charity" (Wind, 2005), "The Alleluia Tree" (Puddin'head Press, 2012) and "Wild Fruition" (Puddin'head Press, 2017). A community poet interviewed by Poet's Market 2008, she has won many poetry awards and grants such as the Rockford Mayor's Award for Community Impact, YWCA Award for the Arts, and the WomanSpace Womanspirit Award.
Admission is $5or $3 for students. You'll have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of any of our authors' published works, wine or beer ($5), hand-tooled pens from Wooden Writers, and custom hand-constructed journals from Tieri Ton. They also offer food from The Market at Gaetano's.
Everyone is welcome! Writers may bring a 5-minute piece to share at the 8:30 p.m. open mic.
Waterline Writers meets at 7 p.m. on the third Sunday, October to May, in the art gallery. To be considered as a featured writer for the 2018-19 season, follow submission guidelines at WaterlineWriters.org, contact James Joseph and Cathy Borders at submissions@waterlinewriters.org, or find Waterline Writers on Facebook or Twitter.