GWG News In Brief

A New Meeting Place for the GWG
Come one, come all! The Greenbelt Writers Group will meet at the Greenbelt Community Center in the Multipurpose room on Friday May 17 at 7:30. This will be our first time at the Community Center. The Multipurpose room will offer us a larger and more visible meeting space. Please come and show your support of the GWG -- bring your friends, relatives, and neighbors. We need to show the city that there is much support for a writers group in the city of Greenbelt. If all goes well, we soon will be recognized as a Greenbelt contribution group (see article by Dorothy Sucher below), which will allow us to continue meeting at the community center. Look for direction signs to the Multipurpose room at the entrances of the community center. At the time of this writing, we also are scheduled to meet at the community center on June 21.

Our New Co-Chairs
 Sue Jordan and Guillermo Olivos have graciously agreed to serve as GWG co-chairs for 1996. They succeed Marsha Barrett, who served as chair for our first year of existence. Hats off to Marsha for all the work she did to help get us established. Marsha will continue to serve on the steering committee. Membership in the steering committee is now open to all GWG members.

Author Series to Begin in Fall
In November, the GWG will inaugurate an ongoing series of public readings/book signings featuring the authors of recent books, to be followed by a reception with refreshments, in the Large Meeting Room of the Greenbelt Library. The Prince George's County Library will be co-sponsoring these events and hopefully, also, the Friends of the Greenbelt Library. We expect to offer three such public readings next winter, in November, January, and March. If we can work out the logistics, each author will be asked to meet with a group of students from Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS) to provide inspiration, role modeling, and encouragement to persevere with their studies in creative writing. We have discussed some possibilities with Dr. Joy Pohl, chair of the English department at ERHS. It is hoped the Author Series eventually will become a monthly event during the academic year. The chair is Dorothy Sucher.

Writers Benefit Ball
Let's put the "FUN" in FUND-RAISER! Plans are afoot to hold a Writers Benefit Ball next Halloween to underwrite some of our GWG activities. We hope to be able to hold it in the Multi-purpose Room at the Community Center, which can hold 100 people. GWG co-chair Guillermo Olivos has volunteered to head the committee for this event and needs help planning such things as refreshments, decorations, entertainment, music, costumes, theme, etc. Remember -- creativity is what the GWG is all about! If we twist the arms of relatives and friends, we'll sell a heckuva lot of tickets. This could become the annual "in" thing in Greenbelt! Contact Olivos at 345-0215.

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Genius Loci:
GWG To Publish Anthology
In its first year of existence, the Greenbelt Writers Group has done much to foster and provide an outlet for creative and analytical writing in Greenbelt. We now plan to collect and preserve examples of our members' work in a GWG anthology, which will be published in late August. Robert Levine, a GWG member since its inception, has volunteered to edit the anthology. Levine says the anthology will "give testimony to the community -- and beyond -- of our wealth of talent, as well as enrich the community's cultural life." Levine envisions an anthology consisting of ten to fifteen pieces in a variety of genres: poetry, short stories, personal essays, analytical essays, memoirs, and others. Levine is accepting written submissions from GWG members ONLY. Prose pieces must be typed and double-spaced. Submit a maximum of 10 pages of double-spaced prose OR two pages of single-spaced poetry (that is, as many poems as can fit on two sheets of paper, single-spaced) OR a combination of five double-spaced pages of prose and one single-spaced page of poetry. Excerpts from longer works are welcome, but please indicate they are excerpts. Previously published work will not be accepted. Levine is also soliciting pen and ink drawings from local artists for the anthology. Deadline: June 7. The GWG will acquire first-time rights to the works published in the anthology; the copyright will revert back to the authors after publication. For additional information, call Robert Levine at 474-2809 [or email him: walden@wam.umd.edu ] Mail submissions to him at: 26E Ridge Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20770.

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GWG May Become City Contribution Group by Dorothy Sucher
 Is GWG an official Greenbelt City Contribution Group yet? After several months of negotiating, including our having appeared before the Greenbelt City Council, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) and the Arts Advisory Committee (AAC), the answer is: "Almost, but not quite." PRAB and AAC have recommended in our favor, after which the City Council's approval is, we're told, usually a certainty. But we won't get the final, definitive word on this matter until the city's annual budget process is complete, probably in June. We are asking the city for $100 and, more important, shared use of the Multipurpose Room in the Community Center, free of charge, so that we can start a Greenbelt Writing Center. The Multipurpose Room is a large room on the second floor opposite the cable TV studio (it is not the small Media Room we've used for steering committee meetings). We are requesting use of the larger room one Friday evening a month, as well as weekly on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 to 5 and Wednesdays from 6 to 10 p.m. The presence of GWG at the Community Center should strengthen our fledging organization and promote innovative, creative projects because of the opportunity for exchange of ideas with the visual and performing artists, the cable TV group, the News Review, the museum people, the New Deal Cafe, and others now in residence at the Center. And our presence there should further enrich the dynamic, cultural mix that is making the building an exciting place. Mayor Antoinette "Toni" Bram and Councilmembers J. Davis, Edward Putens, Rodney Roberts, and Thomas X. White were very supportive, as was Recreation Director Hank Irving, when we appeared at a budget hearing on April 25. The Councilmembers asked many questions, especially about ways we might make a contribution to children. They also wanted to know about fundraising plans (see "Writers Benefit Ball"). Due to budget constraints, it is possible our request will be turned down. However, at this writing, our prospects seem excellent.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!Hot Tips!!!!!!!!!!!

WE'RE ON THE WEB!
Thanks to GWG members Jenifer Kirin and Jeremy Warner, we're now on the Internet! Visit the GWG Home Page at this address: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~kirin/gwg.html The GWG Home Page will feature general information on GWG as well as copies of the GWG Newsletter. Bookmark it today!

REVIEWERS NEEDED
The Greenbelt News Review is seeking people to write reviews of local and cultural events. Gain writing experience while sampling the local cultural arts scene. Interested? Call Elaine Skolnik at 493-8336.

GWG CLASSIFIEDS

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GWG READINGS/MEETINGS
OUR NEXT TWO READINGS/MEETINGS ARE SCHEDULED FOR MAY 17 AND JUNE 21 at the Community Center. More details about the rest of the year's meetings in the next issue. Open readings/meetings are held once a month at 7:30 p.m., with reader sign-up beginning at 7:15. Meetings of GWG members follow the readings. The public is invited to attend any of the open readings. However, those who regularly attend the readings and others interested in the future of the GWG are urged to become members.

Greenbelt Writers Group
Co-Chairs: Sue Jordan and Guillermo Olivos
Planning Coordinator: Dorothy Sucher Treasurer: Charles Braun
Recording Secretary: Andrew Nitz
Newsletter/Librarian: Beth Blevins
Publicity: Robert Levine
Webmistress: Jenifer Kirin
Mailings: Mary Moien

If you have an item for the newsletter, please send it to B. Blevins by email: beblevins@aol.com or by mail (P.O. Box 221, Greenbelt, MD 20768) or, in a pinch, call her at 345-5879. If you have general questions about the GWG, please call Sue Jordan (474-2896) or Guillermo Olivos (345-0215).

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