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Well Versed: Literary Works 2010  will soon be available.

The Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writers’ Guild has sponsorship opportunities for the 2010 edition of our literary publication, Well Versed. The literary publication features original essays, short stories, and fiction written by local authors. Submissions are judged for prizes in Prose and Poetry categories, and a selection process determines which entries will be included in the publication.

Sponsorship levels are:
Benefactor - $300 or more
Guild Club Member - $200 - $299
Chapter Club Member - $100 - $199
Author’s Club - $50 - $99
Reader’s Club - $25 - $49

All sponsors will be posted on the website. If received before March 15, they also will be published in Well Versed. Benefactor, Guild Club, and Chapter Club will receive a free copy of the Well Versed edition sponsored and be recognized at our Write Direction Conference.

CCMWG has served the writers of central Missouri for more than 50 years. The chapter sponsors a variety of activities and meetings throughout the year to provide writers both the encouragement to keep writing and the opportunity to perfect their craft.

If you would like to become a sponsor, please contact our Managing Editor at wellversed2010 at gmail.com (replace at with @) A sponsor agreement can be found here.



Our writers' guild now meets monthly. Check the Meetings page for a list of meeting dates.



Click Here to read the Vox article on Well Versed.



Read the CCMWG The Write Stuff January '10, Issue 1
Read the CCMWG The Write Stuff October '09, Issue 4
Read the CCMWG The Write Stuff July '09, Issue 3



Well Versed 2008 Winners and Other News
Well Versed 2009 Winners and Other News



Judges Name Well Versed 2010 Contest Winners

Our judges for Well Versed 2010 follow. We are grateful to them for giving their time and effort to aid us in publishing an outstanding anthology. Longer biographies are available in Well Versed. A big “Thank You” goes to:

Richard W. Jennings, Prose—Fiction

Richard W. Jennings writes novels for young adults and middle-readers and short stories and personal essays for senior adults. He shares his sunlit home in Kansas with three fat brown dachshunds—Milton, Tommy and Danny—and a young Octopus bimaculoides named Sandy.

Kenneth (Fog) Gilbert, Poetry

Ken “fog” Gilbert also known as jacob erin-cilberto resides in Carbondale, Illinois where he teaches at John A. Logan and Shawnee Community colleges in Southern Illinois. He also teaches poetry workshops for Heartland Writers Guild, Southern Illinois Writers Guild and Union County Writers Guild.

Susan Satterfield, Prose—Nonfiction

Susan is an English Instructor at MCC-Longview in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, where she is founder and has been the coordinator for the MCC-Longview Literary Festival the past two years. She lives in Lee’s Summit with her extended family including four dogs, four cats, and assorted fish.

We are pleased to announce the winners of our contest for Well Versed 2010. Thank you to all who entered. Congratulations to those selected for honor.

Poetry

Editor’s Picks:

Martin Turner, “Afternews”
C. B. O’Brien, “The Sculptor”

Honorable Mentions:

J. M. Brandt, “Become Uneven”
C. B. O’Brien, “The Wall”
Martin Turner, “Rural Route”

Fiction

Editor’s Pick:

Linda Fisher, “The Road Trip.”

Honorable Mentions:

Linda Fisher, “The Storm of Last Chance”
Teresa Parker, “The Splinter”
Lar Glendal Wallace, “The Lesson”

Nonfiction

Editor’s Picks:

Cate Richard, “Gifts From the Sea”
Ida Bettis Fogle, “Deena.”

Honorable Mentions:

Barri Bumgarner, “Memoir in Montage”
Lori Galaske, “The Flying Truck”
C. B. O’Brien, “The Ring”

Other Contributors

Evelyn Aholt, "For a Moment"

Larry W. Allen

"For Mary"
"D. C. Tail"

Edgar Bailey, "October in Chains"

Al Beck, "Spring Haiku"

J. M. Brandt

"Optimism Doesn’t Equal Failure"
"Red Sand"
"Sword Swallower"

Carol Gorski Buckels

"Christmas, Two Years Later"
"When Answers Come"

Carol Buening

"Life Cycles"
"Night Wrap"
"Wilderness Woman"
"The White Elephants"

Barri L. Bumgarner, "Premature Calls"

Jimmy Capps

"Grandpa’s Dog"
"The Elevator"

James H. Coffman

"Movie Star"
"Happy Days Drugstore"

Jan L. Coffman, Photographs

Catherine Daily, "The Cup"

Elizabeth Davis, "The One That Got Away"

Linda Fisher, "Ladies Night"

Grace Fogle, "Unicorn Hunting"

Ida Bettis Fogle, "At the Flea Market"

Lori Galaske

"Spring Break—Vacation"
"The Shepherds"

Svetlana Grobman, "Diary of a Russian Immigrant"

Sharon Kinney Hansen

"Ode for Helen Stephens"
"Sonnet"
"Veritas Odium Parit"

Debra Hardin, "7th Sense"

C. B. O’Brien

"Phu Bai Romance 1967"
"The End of Mimsy"
"God and Free Will"

Debbie Parker

"Simple Beauty"
"Labels"
"Neighbor"
"Pie Safe"

Teresa Parker, "Falling"

Von Pittman

"A Hazard to Navigation"
"Temp Work"

Eva Ridenour, "Blooming"

William Samuels, "A Blonde Artist Who Died Young"

Veronica Strega

"Hecate’s Moon"
"Blue Corn Girl’s Lullaby"
"Before Me"
"Lovers on the Grass"
"Nearest Approach"

Swiftwalker, "Morning Touch"

Cathy Thogmorton

"Anam Cara"
"Rest Home"

Martin Turner, "Causation"

Lar Glendal Wallace

"Welfare Queen"
"I Have Traveled to Harlem"
"Moving Day"

Steve Whisnant

"Confessions of a Young Drunk"
"War on Drugs"
"Zoom a Zoom and a Boom Boom"

Shirley Smith Wilbert, "Wisdom in Petunias"

C. A. Young

"Pipe"
"The Irony is That We Are All Hungry"



HoneysuckleEva Ridenour, writing under the pen name of Elizabeth Butler has released her eighth romance novel, Honeysuckle, published by The Wild Rose Press of Adams Basin, NY in both e-book and paperback formats.  This is a bootlegging story placed in Southern, Illinois starting in 1929.  An Illinois native, she was inspired by stories her mother and aunt told of growing up and becoming adults during this period of American history. 
 
Eva has been writing for many years and has published articles in magazines such as Boys' Life, Grit, Family MotorCoaching, Persimmon Hill, Rural Missouri and religious publications.  Her novel Libby was the 2004 first place winner of the Walter  Williams Major Work Award, the highest honor given by the Missouri Writers' Guild.  Her hometown history, Amazing Arcola:  The Little Town that Could--And Did! received honorable mention for the same award in 2005.  More recently, she's been writing poetry and her works have appears in The Mid-America Poetry Review and Well Versed.  Her poem, "Five Rocks on a Table" was selected for first place in the Columbia Chapter poetry contest for their 2009 issue by Missouri Poet Laureate, Walter Bargen.  She is past treasurer of the Missouri Writers' Guild and past president of the Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild. 
 
The Today Show Reported Today that for readers seeking a relief from the economic downtimes and a story with a happy ending, romance is leading the way to happier times, give one a try. 
 
Here's a short blurb from the back of Elizabeth Butler's book, Honeysuckle:  Seth Bridges has come to Lofgren, Illinois for one purpose, to determine who is instrumental in the bootlegging operation in the area.  An an undercover Bureau agent, his disguise as an itinerant preacher does not seem appropriate, but everyone assures him this is the best way to disguise himself.  One his way to minister to a dying man, he asks directions from Aurora Long, a local farm girl.  Aurora has big plans for her life, and they don't include getting involved with a preacher, dispite his good looks.  However, their mutual attraction is instant, and can't be ignored. 
 
The following is a list of all eight of her books listed in order of published: The Colonel's Widow, Trailboss, J.D.'s Rustler, Master of the Night, Calico Queen, Libby, Blue Light Special and Yellow Brick Road Collide, Honeysuckle. To learn more about Elizabeth Butler's other books, go to her web site:  www.geocities.com/eridenou   or www.TheWildRosePress.com



Congratulations Von Pittman for having an essay included in Bylines 2009.

Bylines 2009, edited by CCMWG member Sylvia Forbes, is available and includes an essay by CCMWG member Von Pittman this year. This year's Bylines features Mark Twain's desk on the cover, and includes Twain quotes and Twain-related photos inside.

As usual, Bylines includes goal setting tips, monthly office task lists, a list of online writing resources, a list of helpful books on writing, a submission tracker, expenses trackers, and extra pages for conference and other notes. We've updated our author birthdays, as well as our "literary holidays" lists. Bylines has become the essential tool for every writer, a handy way to keep track of deadlines, meetings, writing conferences, and your writing accomplishments.

New in Bylines 2009 is a listing of over 50 literary festivals in the United States and Canada. Book lovers and authors will enjoy finding new places to go to share their love of books. Also included are 53 NEW essays, by writers in 29 states and 5 foreign countries (China, Tasmania, Ireland, Great Britain, Canada).

Bylines makes a great gift for yourself, to inspire your writer friends. We've kept the same price for six years, still at $13.95. Visit www.bylinescalendar.com or www.amazon.com to order, or contact Sylvia at 660-248-3455.

Bylines is currently accepting submissions for Bylines 2010. Deadline is February 1st.

 



Please send any submissions to the news page to the webmaster.