August 2024 News
August events, July challenge results, and more.
The SWW Prez Says…
It is hard to believe 2024 is more than half over! Many SWW members were busy as bees participating in this year’s short story and poetry writing contest. It was difficult to select the finalists from the hundreds of entries we received. Luckily, we are blessed to have talented members assisting contest chair Judy Castleberry, as well as the help of members from the New Mexico State Poetry Society and the New Mexico arm of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Thank you so much to those groups!
We’re working on two anthologies that will be available in time for holiday gift giving. Mosaic Voices will contain the winning entries of this year’s writing contest and the 2024 Sage Anthology committee is in the final stages of setting up the first of three books featuring the poetry, stories, and writing information published in the Sage newsletter over the past five years.
Keep an eye on the SWW website. Webmaster Kat Wagoner is updating our format so it works better with cell phones and tablets. It will be evolving over the next month or so. Let us know what you think!
Have you been to our Facebook Pages lately? SWW has two. One is the SouthWest Writers Community Group where our members can post information on their writing progress for all the world to see. The other one is our SouthWest Writers organization page that contains information posted by the SWW office.
SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 12th for the SWW Annual Meeting, awards presentation, and pitch-in luncheon! See you there!
Rose Marie Kern, President
Upcoming SWW Events
You can find information about upcoming events on the SWW website here. Here’s what’s on tap this month.
Saturday, August 10: Meeting presentation (in-person or zoom) from 10 a.m. until noon. Writing in Series: Getting the Most out of an Idea will be presented by BR Kingsolver. More information here.
Saturday, August 10: Workshop (in-person or zoom) from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m. Do You Need a Publisher? will be presented by BR Kingsolver. More information here and register here.
Wednesday, August 28: Meeting presentation (zoom only) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. How Jack Canfield Came to Write the Foreword for Legal Protection will be presented by Léonie Rosenstiel. More information here.
July’s Writing Challenge - The Results
Last month we challenged you to send us a poem or short story under 1,000 words that used only four vowels. A tough one! See contributions from Rachel Bate, Amelia Greco-Welden, and Helen Jack on the SWW Website here.
August’s Writing Challenge for SWW Members
The monthly challenge is a terrific opportunity to write and submit short pieces based on a prompt. Entries we select for publication will appear on the SouthWest Writers Sage Challenge webpage and will be eligible for inclusion in upcoming anthologies. For more information and our submission guidelines, click here. Email your entry in MS Word or TXT format to info@swwriters.com by August 20, 2024.
August’s writing challenge: Body in Motion
In honor of the Olympics, write a piece no longer than 1,000 words that celebrates the performance of the human body in motion.
Let’s Learn From Each Other
We’re excited to share your sage perspectives about how to hone our craft, cultivate a fruitful writing life, or work with publishers and vendors.
Check out this thought-provoking piece from member Sherri Burr about sources of inspiration.
Have you checked out the SWW blog lately? You’ll find author interviews, news, and member updates. Great stuff! Check out the blog here.
If you’ve recently written and posted a piece on your blog, website, Facebook Page, or other social media platform that fits this section, email Lisa a link to the piece along with a two-sentence introduction to sage@swwriters.com.
Regional and Online Literary Happenings
We can draw ideas and energy from others. Community is so important and we’re thrilled you’re a member of the SWW literary community. Are you looking for additional genre-specific writing connections? We recently shared information about a couple of sister literary organizations on the SWW blog here.
Email sage@swwriters.com with links to anything you think we should share with Sage subscribers.
Welcome to SouthWest Writers!
The following writers joined/re-joined our community in July. We hope to see you at one of our events in person or online. Write on!
Cornelia Allen, Michael Andryc, Kristine Fambrough, Barbara Garvey, Gary Lucero, Angus Macpherson, and Sandra Mayne.
If you’re not yet a member, learn more about the benefits here.
We have resources for writers across our platforms and additional content on our members-only section of the website. Visit our website, ask to join our Facebook Group, check out our blog, see what we’re saying on X (Twitter), check out the session recordings on our YouTube channel, or find our page on Goodreads.