Friday, July 22, 2011

Visiting the Chapters of the MWA



Last evening , in the 100 degree heat, I travelled down Rt.15 South to Rt.70 East to Rt.32 into Columbia MD, to the Sunrise Senior Citizen Living Residence, where the Howard County Chapter of the MWA held its August meeting. I don't know exactly why, but I was expecting to be on a panel , presenting in a large room with an audience of senior citizens and MWA members, talking about the experience of having my poems published in the MWA's anthology Life in Me Like Grass on Fire, and comparing that experience to having books of my own poetry published. Not so.

The activity bulletin board at the center had no listing for our panel;turns out that the Chapter meets there , in a small multi-purpose room , rent free, courtesy of the center. Three of us on the panel:Vonnie Winslow Crist, Eric Goodman and I, were joined in a discussion by Danuta Hinc, and about six other members of the Howard County Chapter. I was initially disappointed, but it turned out to be a good and interesting discussion about a variety of aspects of publication, and I enjoyed meeting the other writers.

Now I'm going to check out their blogs and web pages!

In late May, I attended a reading from the anthology at the Carroll County Chapter, held at the Carroll County Arts Center in Westminster - much closer to Emmitsburg. A large room was filled with people, and it was quite a good gathering.

I'm hoping to attend another one of these in Anne Arundel County in August.

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