FIT Words

A New Day: Readings by Iranian and Afghan American Writers

2010-04-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

Join writers Naheed Elyasi, Sedika Mojadidi, Zohra Saed and Sahar Muradi–along with Aphrodite Désirée Navab and Dena Afrasiabi for readings and conversation.

Presented by the English & Speech Department and FIT Words: The Club for Writers

	Tuesday, April 27, 2010
	5:00pm - 7:00pm
	Fashion Institute of Technology (Cafeteria)
	7th Avenue & W 27th St
	New York, NY

Naheed Elyasi fled Afghanistan in 1982, three years after the Soviet invasion. Her family walked across the mountains into Pakistan, where they lived for one year before being accepted as refugees to the United States. Naheed grew up in North Carolina, where she studied Communications and Public Relations. After completing her degree at East Carolina University, she moved to Atlanta, where she studied Fashion Design. Her love for fashion brought her to New York in 1999, where she worked as an assistant designer at Maggy London and in the production department at Marc Jacobs. She eventually left fashion to pursue a career in not for profit, and joined School of Hope, an organization that raised funds for schools in Afghanistan. Naheed is currently the Director of Communications at the Council for Economic Education, and a contributing writer for Zeba Magazine.

Sahar Muradi was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. She and her family emigrated to the United States when she was three years old. She grew up in New York and Florida. Sahar received her B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Hampshire College, and her M.P.A. in Interntional Development from New York University. Sahar has written extensively about her family experiences, as well as reported on current events in Afghanistan. Her writing has been featured in literary magazines, newspapers, as well as read on public radio. In 2003, Sahar returned to her native Kabul to work for two years. She helped coordinate a donor conference with the Foreign Ministry, as well as managed a small grant program for civil society development. She is currently a Program and Trek Coordinator for the international organization, buildOn. She lives in Brooklyn. She is co-editor of the first Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature (University of Arkansas Press, Fall 2010).

Zohra Saed received her MFA at Brooklyn College. Her poetry and essays have been published in numerous anthologies and journals. Most recently in Gallerie International Journal: Afghanistan Ed. Bina Sarkar (India: 2009); The Crab Orchard Review (Summer/Fall 2009); and in Speaking for Herself: Asian Women’s Writings (Penguin India Books: 2009). She has performed as part of the cast of the legendary theater director Ping Chong’s Undesirable Elements in 2000 and in 2007, where the ensemble caste performed at the first National Asian American Theater Festival. She is co-editor of the first Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature (University of Arkansas Press, Fall 2010).

Dena Afrasiabi was born in Shiraz, Iran (city of poets, wine and flowers). When she was two, the Iranian government imposed oppressive changes after the 1979 revolution, and her family fled to the U.S. in search of freedom. Finally settling in Chico, California, she grew up listening to her parents and their friends tell colorful stories about their lives back home. She received her B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles, and continued to write while working as a music librarian at Yahoo! in Santa Monica, California.

Aphrodite Désirée Navab is an Iranian Greek American artist and writer based in New York City (b. 1971, Iran). She uses visual art and writing to investigate transnational issues in art, education, cultural and women’s studies. The world premiere of her solo show, She Speaks Greek Farsi was in Athens, Greece before it traveled to Soho20 Chelsea. Navab’s creative nonfiction and fiction are published or forthcoming in Let Me Tell You Where I've Been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora, POWWOW: Charting the Fault Lines in the American Experience, Short Fiction from Then to Now, and other anthologies. She is currently writing Call Her Rudabeh, a novel about the sexual awakening of an Iranian American woman.

Contact: Amy_Lemmon@fitnyc.edu
Jean_Amato@fitnyc.edu, ZohraSaed@gmail.com

Brendan Constantine 4/15

2010-04-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

FIT Words Presents Poet Brendan Constantine

Thursday, April 15 from 1-2 in The Writing Studio, C612

Los Angeles native Brendan Constantine is the author of Letters to Guns (Red Hen Press, 2009), and his poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Los Angeles Review, Artlife, The Cortland Review, RUNES and LA Times Best-seller The Underground Guide To Los Angeles. He is the creator of Industrial Poetry, a workshop for adults and teens struggling with writer's block, and is currently poet in residence at Loyola Marymount University Extension, the Windward School in west Los Angeles and the Idyllwild Arts Summer Youth Writing program in Idyllwild California. He also offers classes at foster homes, hospitals, elder care centers and shelters for the homeless.

Check out his website: BrendanConstantine.com

For more information, email amy_lemmon@fitnyc.edu or cassandra_kohilakis@fitnyc.edu

Fall Guest Speakers

2009-10-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

FIT Words invites you to attend our fall 2009 guest speaker events

Roddy Lumsden
Author of Mischief Night - New & Selected Poems and Third Wish Wasted
Tuesday, November 3
1-2pm
Poetry reading, Q&A, and writing activity

Patricia Horvath
Featured in Shenandoah, Cream City Review, Puerto del Sol and Iron Horse Literary Review, and author of All the Difference
Monday, November 16

6-7pm

Fiction reading and Q&A

Sharon Dolin
Author of four books of poetry including Burn and Dodge and Realm of the Possible
Thursday, December 3
1-2 pm
Poetry reading, Q&A, and writing activity

All events will be held in the Writing Studio, room C612

ALL STUDENTS AND FACULTY ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!

Author bios

2009-10-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

FIT Words - Guest Speakers - Fall 2009

Roddy Lumsden
Roddy Lumsden has published five books of poetry, most recently Mischief Night - New & Selected Poems (Bloodaxe, 2004) and Third Wish Wasted (Bloodaxe, 2009). Originally from Scotland, he lives in London where he is a Core Tutor for the Poetry School. He has done editing work on several prize-winning poetry collections and for the up-and-coming small press tall-lighthouse, for whom he edits the Pilot series of chapbooks by Britain and Ireland's best younger poets. Identity Parade, his major anthology of recent UK / Irish poetry is due in 2010. An Eric Gregory Award winner and former Vice Chair of the Poetry Society of Great Britain, he has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and several other awards and prizes and was awarded an International Fellowship at the Banff Center in Ontario in 2001.

Patricia Horvath
Patti Horvath’s essays and short fiction have appeared in numerous literary magazines, among them Shenandoah, Cream City Review, Puerto del Sol and Iron Horse Literary Review. She is the recipient of a 2007 Fellowship in Nonfiction Literature from the New York Foundation for the Arts for her memoir, All the Difference, which explores issues of disability and self-identity. Since 2001 she has served as a fiction editor at The Massachusetts Review. She lives in New York City and teaches creative writing at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY.

Sharon Dolin
Sharon Dolin’s fourth book, Burn and Dodge (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008) won the AWP Donald Hall Prize in Poetry. Her other books include and Realm of the Possible (Four Way Books, 2004), Serious Pink (Marsh Hawk Press, 2003), and Heart Work (Sheep Meadow Press, 1995). She is Writer-in-Residence at Eugene Lang College, The New School. She also teaches at the Unterberg Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y and directs The Center for Book Arts Annual Letterpress Poetry Chapbook Competition. Her website may be found at: http://www.sharondolin.com.

Heirloom Recipe Contest

2009-10-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Two $100 prizes

-most creative written presentation

-most creative visual presentation

Two prizes of $100 each will be awarded to the written project and visual project that best incorporate a family recipe as inspiration to explore themes of family, tradition, culture, and heritage.

Please email submission to Tattfoo Tan at info@tattfoo.com

Entries will be accepted until October 31, 2009.

All entries will be posted to FIT's Heirloom Recipe blog:

http://fitsheirloomrecipes.wordpress.com/

The two contest winners will be announced in November

Sponsored by the Diversity Committee Grant

Club Carnival

2009-09-14T13:48:00.001-07:00

Please stop by our table at the Club Carnival this Thursday, September 17 from 12-2 p.m. We will have more information about the club, copies of our anthology, and some special treats :)

See you there!

programming for 2009-10!

2009-05-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

Here are some possible guest speakers for next academic year. Check out their websites and let me know which ones you would like to see here on campus!

Taylor Mali, performance poet and teacher
YouTube performance here.

Workshop: From Page to Stage 101 with Taylor Mali
The skills involved in writing a good poem are not identical to the skills required to perform a poem well, and the world is split between people who would rather hear a terrible performance of a brilliant poem and those who would rather hear a brilliant performance. Period. So let's say you've written a brilliant poem. Now what? Four-time National Poetry Slam Champion Taylor Mali has some tips, tricks, and techniques that will help you make your poems go in one ear of your audience. . . and stay there.

Terri Witek, poet and author of The Shipwreck Dress
Read some of her poems (including two "kimono" poems in a form she invented) here.

Sharon Dolin, poet and author of Burn and Dodge (winner of AWP award) and Serious Pink (poems about paintings)

Wyn Cooper, poet and songwriter
Best known as author of the poem "Fun," which was adapted by Sheryl Crow for her hit song "All I Wanna Do," Cooper teaches workshops in poetry and songwriting.

Brendan Constantine, page and stage poet
YouTube performance here.

Roddy Lumsden, British poet
Click here to see "Flowers4Kate," a project involving Kate Moss.
(Will be visiting NYC late October/early November)

Alumni Panel: Careers in Writing

Sasha Soyfer, Public Relations Coordinator, Bloomingdale’s
Allison Goran, Assistant Editor, Editorial Projects, Travel and Leisure

Other suggestions? Let me know!

we want YOU to read your poetry or prose!

2009-04-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here's your chance to share your writing with your fellow students. The club is sponsoring an Open Reading on Tuesday, April 28 from 5-6:30 pm in the Writing Studio (yes, we are basically taking over the place for the entire day!!).

If you're interested in reading, email me or Cassie and we'll put you on the list. Bring a poem, a short (3-5 minute) piece of prose, or monologue--anything you have written yourself! Please encourage your friends and classmates to join us, too. Writers can also sign up at the beginning of the reading, if necessary.

Hope to see you there!

poetry performers 4/28/09 in the Writing Studio!

2009-04-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

We have a great event coming up next Tuesday, April 28. The English & Speech department is sponsoring a reading/performance by Regie Cabico, Guillermo Castro, Anyssa Kim, and Madeline Millan from 12-1, and from 1-2 the club is sponsoring a Q&A Talkback with the poets.
Here's a YouTube clip of Regie on Def Poetry Jam!

LUCY KNISLEY LIVE!!!

2009-04-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

Don't miss our next club-sponsored event! Tell your friends!
Meet Author-Illustrator LUCY KNISLEY
Tuesday, April 14 1-2pm

Our club room: D504(just outside Library entrance)

Lucy Knisley’s graphic memoir, French Milk, was published in 2007 by Simon & Schuster. She is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago currently pursuing an MFA at the Center for Cartoon Studies While completing her BFA at the School of the Art Institute, she was comics editor for the award-winning student publication F News Magazine.

2009-03-18T15:23:00.001-07:00

ATTENTION STUDENT WRITERS!
Showcase Your Work
With Two Special Events
At The Writing Studio, Room C612

Tuesday, March 24, 1-2 pm
IN YOUR OWN VOICE: PERFORMING POETRY AND PROSE
A FREE Workshop with David Yezzi
Learn how to:
• Choose the right pieces for the event and audience.
• Use your voice, expressions, and gestures to help listeners appreciate your work.
• Project an air of confidence as a performer.
• Time your performance just right.
Bring a poem or selection of prose for this hands-on workshop.

David Yezzi is the author of the poetry collections The Hidden Model and Azores, and is the executive editor of The New Criterion. He served as director of the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center from 2001-2005, and has taught at the West Chester University Poetry Conference and at Stanford University.

Tuesday, April 28, 5-6:30 pm
OPEN POETRY AND PROSE READING:
A CELEBRATION OF STUDENT WRITERS

Present your creative writing with other FIT students in a fun, relaxed setting.
No experience necessary. Special gifts for all readers!

To sign up for a 3-5 minute time slot, stop by the Writing Studio
or email Amy_Lemmon@fitnyc.edu.

Presented by FIT Words: The Club for Writers with support from the Writing Studio

I'm reading/signing my book at FIT Bookstore Tuesday, March 17!!!

2009-03-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Saint Nobody by Amy Lemmon
Reading and Book Signing
Tuesday, March 17
5-6:30pm
FIT Barnes & Noble Bookstore
I'd love to see you there!

complete attention

2009-02-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a great little piece I read to my Creative Imagination class this morning. We're thinking about the experience of "flow" and what gets us into that sort of a state. The poet and visual artist Fanny Howe describes the spiritual aspect of such things:

The quest for a condition that exists in two separate states is what confuses people. The person looking for "me" (a fixed identity) is also the same person looking for (a vapory word) "God." This split search can only be folded into one in the process of working on something--whether it is writing, digging, planting, painting, teaching--with a wholeheartedness that qualifies as complete attention. In such a state, you find yourself depending on chance or grace to supply you with the focus to complete what you are doing. Your work is practical, but your relationship to it is illogical in the range of its possible errors and failures. You align yourself with something behind and ahead and above you that is geometric in nature; you lean on its assistance, realizing the inadequacy of your words.

--Fanny Howe, "The Future Is Like Magic: A Notebook" (Poetry March 2009.

Busy week!

2009-02-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 22
Community service at the Community Word Project
42 Broadway, NY, NY 10004
Help stuff envelopes for CWP's annual event!
11 am - 1 pm
Meet in front of C Building at 10:20 am

Tuesday, Feb. 24
Flea market meeting
5 - 6:30 pm
7th Floor, A Building - SVCS

Wednesday, Feb. 25
Fundraiser - Bake sale!
11 am - 2 pm
D Building lobby

Thursday, Feb. 26
Flea market
Look for our table during common hour, 1 - 2 pm
Between A and B Buildings

Hope to see you there!

Love Your Library Week!

2009-02-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

Love Your Library Week is February 9-13, 2009. Please show your support for our advisor, Amy Lemmon, who will be reading some of her poems on Tuesday, February 10th, from 12:30-1:30 in the Graduate Reading Room (E423). For a full list of activities, click here.

Our first meeting of the semester will take place immediately following at 1:30 p.m.

2008-11-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

Writing exercise with Professor Amy Lemmon
Professor Lemmon conducted a writing exercise today on etymology. We visited the reference section of the library (on the fourth floor) and randomly chose six words out of the many volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary. We wrote down the different roots of the word, definitions, etc. to later use in a poem. Professor Lemmon used etymology in her poem “Deciding on Quandary.” (Please email her if you would like a copy.) She recommended we try writing a sestina with the six words we each chose. Click here for information on how to write a sestina, or try this sestina generator. Post your results to the blog!

Community service
I will be stopping by Student Life later this week to pick up some community service forms. If you’re interested in helping out, email me and I will send you a copy.

Guest speaker Lee Gutkind on November 11
“The Godfather behind Creative nonfiction,” Lee Gutkind, will be coming to FIT next week. He will be speaking to the club on Tuesday, November 11 from 1-2 in room D504. If you would like more information, visit his website. Please come prepared with a few questions for either him or the genre of creative nonfiction. Hope to see you all there!

2008-10-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

Bake Sale

Tuesday, October 28th

12-2pm

D-buliding lobby

Meeting 10/16

2008-10-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

Highlights from today's meeting:

Bake Sale - October 28th from 12-2 in the D lobby
-Halloween theme!
-We need volunteers to bake and to work the table from 12-1 or 1-2
Community Service
-Community Word Project on a Saturday in December
-Email me if interested in doing an individual service
Campus Blood Drive - November 13th from 10am-7pm in the Great Hall
-Make sure to sign in!
Job Fair 2008 - October 21st from 11am-2:30pm in the Great Hall
Open Mic for Substance Abuse Awareness Week - October 21st from 6-8pm in the 5th Floor Lounge
-$50 gift cards raffled to all participants
-Email ashley_maine@fitnyc.edu if interested
Possible field trips
-Bowery Poetry Club slam for college students in December
-louderARTS slams on Mondays at 7pm

We ended the meeting today with a writing workshop. Thanks to all of those who brought/sent work!

First meeting 9/23

2008-09-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome, members new and old!

I just wanted to restate some of the things we went over at our first meeting today.

We started off with a short writing activity about the origin of our names. After, we went around the room and introduced ourselves and the genres of writing we like.
FIT Words uses the following points system:

Attending a meeting - 5
Suggestions - 5
Attending a guest speaker - 10
Baking/preparing for an event - 10
Helping out at an event - 10
Participating in community service - 15
Holding an officer position - 40

We communicate mostly through email, but please check this blog for re-caps and event notices.
Our club will schedule a bake sale as our fundraiser at some point during the semester.
We discussed a few possible community service ideas and listed the breast cancer or Light the Night walks, or helping at the Community Word Project (if available). If you have any other ideas, please let us know.
The floor was opened for possible guest speakers, activities, and events. Almost all members showed a strong interest in poetry and a few were interested in screenwriting. Colin Gilbert (myspace.com/colinrgilbert) was also recommended and may be in NY in November. Thanks for the great feedback!

Our next meeting will most likely be a writing workshop, so start thinking of a piece you would like to bring in. I will let you know as soon as we pick a date.

See you soon,

-CK

two full green hours--TONIGHT!

2008-09-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

In case you're in NYC and looking for something to do...

You’re Invited to a Poetry Book Party

Come Celebrate This Full Green Hour: An Anthology by the One O’Clock Poets

GUILLERMO CASTRO
AMY LEMMON
KATRINKA MOORE
JOAN LAURI POOLE
ELIZABETH POREBA
SARAH STERN

Thursday, September 18, 2008

7:00-9:00 p.m.

Teachers and Writers Collaborative
520 Eighth Avenue (between 36th and 37th Streets), Suite 2020, New York City
For directions please visit: www.twc.org/events.

This Full Green Hour, published by Sonopo Press, will be available for purchase.
Light refreshments will be served.

***

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THIS FULL GREEN HOUR

“The poems of Castro, Lemmon, Moore, Poole, Poreba, and Stern riff off one another most delightfully through subject matter and syntax. These Magnificent Six have accomplished something amazing—a dynamic and tangential conversation through poems, each voice intelligent, nuanced, distinct.”
—Denise Duhamel

“A disarmingly playful spirit of generous camaraderie is at the heart of this anthology. Boldly, it intersperses the work of six distinctive poets in such a way that we not only get to know the individual voices, but are also let in on their poetic conversation…. This hour is indeed a full one.”
—Elaine Equi

“These six poets lead the reader to moments of delicious tension and exhilarating discoveries.”
—Scott Hightower

Welcome back!

2008-09-16T20:22:00.001-07:00

So far, the club has attended two Student Council meetings over the past two weeks. Important highlights are included below.

Student Council meeting notes – September 9, 2008

· As a reminder, one representative from the club must be present at each meeting or our budget will be reduced.
· Nominations for different committees were discussed and will be voted on next week. If you're interested in any of the student/faculty committees, email me for a complete list and contact info ASAP.
· There's a SVCS volunteer expo Thursday, September 11 from 12-2 between A&B buildings. If you're around on this day, please stop by for a few minutes and pick up some info for the club so we're not scrambling at the last minute for our mandatory community service.
· Flea markets will be discussed more next week but the first will be 9/25. Three clubs will be chosen at random to be included. Cross your fingers for the next round!
· Finally, the Club Carnival is next Thursday, 9/18 from 12-2 between A&B buildings. Please let me know if you'll be around at all on that day, even if it’s not the whole time.

Student Council meeting notes – September 16, 2008

· There is a Club Contract that needs to be signed and returned to FITSA by Friday, September 26, 2008 or funds will be frozen. The club keeps the pink copy and the yellow and white copies can be placed in Victoria Columb/Secretary of the Executive Board’s mailbox in Student Life
· Words was not included in the flea market drawing for this semester.
· Membership cards were given out and need to be presented at student council meetings for attendance.
· The new FITSA website is fitsanyc.com
· There is a Breast Cancer walk on October 19th. If the club is interested in this as a possible community service activity, see Deborah in Student Life. Four club members must participate.

Assignments

2008-05-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

I hope you all enjoyed our guest speaker today, Ada Limon. We got to hear about her job at GQ and a little bit of her poetry (including some new stuff).

And because you don't have enough going on right now with finals and projects, I'm assigning you homework. Well, Ada assigned it, but I think we should all attempt both of these. (I'll be nice and not give you a due date.)

1. Do a letter poem (or essay)
Pick someone that you've never met but want to reach - a deceased family member, famous person - and write them a letter. Within it you have to do three things:
1.) use the lyrics of a song
2.) use one word or phrase from another language
3.) give the writer (yourself) a nickname so that it's not you
Ada said she did this one twice and got completely different poems out of it.

2. Find a piece of writing in a voice completely unlike your own. Ada assigned this for her MFA students at Columbia and people brought in medical papers and NY Times financial pages. Then, try to mimic everything about that writing - the grammar, language, etc.

Let us know what you come up with!

Also, thank you to everyone who donated cans. Nisha or I will drop them off next Wednesday at City Harvest.

City Harvest Food Drive

2008-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

For our community service project this semester, FIT Words will be doing a canned food drive for City Harvest.

They're in need of instant formula, baby food, pasta, rice, whole grain cereal, canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned beans, canned protein (like tuna), and canned or carton long shelf-life milk products, but anything you can donate will be greatly appreciated.

Please bring these items with you on Thursday, May 8 from 1-2pm in D504.

Thanks for helping out!

2008-05-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

FIT Words

The Club for Writers
PRESENTS

Scott Hightower

Poet and Nonfiction Writer

"Finding the Heart of your Writing: A Workshop"
Thursday, May 15, 1-2pm
English and Speech Department Conference Room

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/925

For more information email Amy_Lemmon@fitnyc.edu

2008-05-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

FIT Words

The Club for Writers
PRESENTS

Ada Limón

Poet and Copy Director of GQ Magazine

"Poetry and Publishing: Balancing Creativity and Commerce"
Thursday, May 8, 1-2pm
Location: Room D504

Visit her website: http://adalimon.blogspot.com/

For more information email Amy_Lemmon@fitnyc.edu

Guest speakers for May

2008-05-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everyone who attended Carly Sachs' reading today.
A quick recap for those of you who couldn't make it:
She encouraged us to write for about five minutes about a difficult subject (a theme in both of her books). I think we all had different responses to what we wrote. Our "homework" is to revisit this piece and play with cut-ups, spacing, and fragmentation, devices she uses and are particularly helpful in dealing with these types of topics.
She then read poetry from her book, the steam sequence, and from the anthology she edited, the why and later, both of which were very moving. She was kind enough to give each of us a copy of these books.

Next week, Ada Limon will be speaking from 1-2 in D504 (right outside the library).

The following week, May 15th, Scott Hightower will be visiting from 1-2 in the English and Speech conference room in B602.

Stay tuned for information about our very last-minute community service project for the semester.

xx
CK

our Writer-in-Residence!!

2008-04-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to present two campus-wide events by fabulous poet and novelist Kim Addonizio!

Poetry Reading: Tuesday, April 8, 1-2 p.m.

Fiction Reading: Thursday, April 10, 5-6 p.m.
Location: The Lounge, A Building 5th Floor

Visit Kim's website for a preview of her work.
Her books will be for sale at the readings, too!

There will also be a special workshop just for club members (including new members--care to join us?) on Thursday, April 10 from 1-2 p.m. in Room D504 (our club room).

SEE YOU THERE!

2008-03-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Professor Lemmon's poems were featured on the webzine No Tell Motel.

Here's the link to the site:
http://notellmotel.org/

Welcome back!

2008-02-29T09:36:00.000-08:00

We have a lot of great things planned for this semester and I'm so excited to get started!

One of the things we mentioned at the last meeting was communication. We have a club page on the MyFIT website. To access it, log in to MyFIT and click the "groups" logo on the upper-right side of the page. You can either search for the club by name or find it listed under the Group Index/Artistic. The group is public and you should have no trouble joining (we even had some people join that I didn't know about!)

Let me know if you have any problems..

-CK

Springing Into Spring: Let's get started!

2008-02-21T12:00:00.001-08:00

Our first club meeting of the semester is Thursday, February 28, from 1-2 p.m. in Room D504.

We'll be finalizing the new officers and making plans for the semester.

Please email Prof. Lemmon to confirm whether or not you will be joining us!

Looking WAY ahead: The 2008 AWP Conference

2007-09-12T07:02:00.001-07:00

One of the great activities we can take advantage of in 2008 occurs right during the first week of class! The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) is holding their annual convention here in NYC from Jan. 30-Feb. 2! Click here for the conference web page, which has links to the preliminary schedule of events. There will also be panel presentations, readings, and discussions throughout the day.
The English & Speech Department is signing up for an affiliate membership with AWP, so that means FIT students can attend the entire conference (including all events, day and evening)for a discounted rate of $35 each. Active members who participate in fund-raising and community service will be able to go as a field trip paid for by the club!

Calling All Officers!

2007-09-07T05:38:00.001-07:00

Just to let you know that I sent an email to all officers with some important info to get things going for the semester.

Great news! Helen He has completed the design and layout of the club anthology, Catharsis, and copies will be ready on September 19, in time for the Club Carnival! It looks great and, of course, contains wonderful words. All members will get multiple copies to distribute to friends and family.

Welcome Back!

2007-08-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! It's Fall 2007 already. Where did the summer go?
I wanted to make sure everyone knows that I am on sabbatical this semester to work on a book project. I'll be back at FIT in January, but in the meantime Prof. Mark Goldblatt of Educational Skills has generously agreed to be Acting Faculty Advisor. If you need to get in touch with him, his email is Mark_Goldblatt@fitnyc.edu.

President Celeste will be keeping everyone informed of the goings-on, which will include a table at the Club Carnival (Sept. 20), several special guest speakers, community service, and fund-raising. Another very exciting development is the distribution of the 2007 club anthology, Catharsis. It will be available no later than Sept. 20, and there will be plenty of copies to spread around!

I wish you a wonderful semester and look forward to working with you again in 2008!
--Prof. A. L.

West Chester Poetry Conference

2007-06-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys!
I'm here at the West Chester Poetry Conference in Pennsylvania...it's a great experience! Go to the website for more info. See you soon!

Club Dinner!!!

2007-05-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

The FIT Words Club dinner was on Thursday May 17th at Room Service. This totally cool all purple Asian Fusion restaurant.

http://www.roomservicerestaurant.com/

It was a really great year with all of you. The devotion to literature and the club has made it fun for me. I hope it was fun for you all as well. I know graduated and am no longer a part of the club in a sense but please keep me on the e-mail list. It's nice to know the speakers that will be visiting the club each semester. Keep the club together and going!!!

I'll miss FIT Words!!!

Publications!!! and Publishing!!!

2007-05-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Due to finishing final projects as an outgoing senior at FIT. I am very sorry for not being able to keep up w/ the blog after the start of May.

__________________________________________

Charles Salzberg
May 3rd
1-2pm
Binsky's II

He was very informative in the way writing is also translated into Journalism. Journalism is a separate entity. In such a way that most of Charles Salzberg's career is made out of his way of utilizing the magazine industry by interviewing various people in many career choices.

He also broke down the types of articles and demographics of some magazines he brought in to help us know the consumer of each magazine. For instance NY Magazine which I took a kin to. I knew well but I was proven wrong at the last minute that the demographic is 20-30 somethings both men and women. But the test was guessing the advertisement on the back of the magazine and I was thinking more in terms of a women's point of view. So I thought it was cosmetics but you had to think in terms of what both sexes would be interested in. That in fact turned out to be Jose Cuervo. How funny? But in retrospect yes after working 20-30 somethings they always want to drink or party. I don't know why I didn't know that. I drink and read that magazine ritually too. I've failed my magazine. hahaha.

The discussion moved onwards to delve into the matter of ways to get published in journalism and how to decisively engage in an interview. It's interesting to me that when you're interviewing a celebrity on anything new they are doing that they want to promote you always have to have a follow up question that is not only something to further explain a point you're trying to make but something awkwardly interesting to ask them to write about to the magazine's audience.

Afterwards those of us who wanted a consulation on our writing works were able to get one on one discussions with Charles Salzberg. I was so happy that Charles Salzberg liked my excerpts of my manuscript I'm trying to get published. He was very helpful and offered his help by e-mail. It's so nice to have that contact. I hope everyone else who was able to get help from Charles Salzberg has gotten the constructive criticism they wanted.

________________________________________________________

Kate Gale
May 10th
1-2pm
Binsky's II

Kate Gale spoke this time on the matter of publication and how the publishing industry works. She touched on new elements. For instance I didn't know the various levels of the publishing industry in terms of small presses, university presses, other presses such as Penguin. Kate Gale represents Red Hen Press an independent press or a small press. Meaning they are non profit and work just the same as any other press but they don't get any money from any author's books published. They solely rely on government grants. This in very interesting to me.

She said Independent Presses are great in that way for authors but she said not to rule out the other presses as well. University Presses are like small presses but they have money to back them up because they are part of a school. But other presses get profit from their author's books that sell. Only a percentage negotiated between the author and the publisher.

She also mentioned that a great way for writers trying to get published is to go to writing forums. It could be just to get yourself known to the publishing world by signing up for an open mic night at a poetry cafe. Or going to next years AWP event being held in NYC. Of all places!! AWP stands for The Association of Writers and Writing Programs. It will be so fun to go to all the publishers presses to get in touch with prospective editors and pick up literature on each publisher. These are all both really great ways to convey who you are and what you have to say to the writing industry.

Description of yourself to the publishers needs to be concise as well. She described your query letter in the format of "you", "it" and "them". This means describe yourself in the first paragraph. The second paragraph describing the manuscript or poetry collection, etc. The final paragraph how you feel your work you're trying to get published through them fits their mission statement. I know after hearing this I have to work on my query letter. What struck me the most fascinating was that someone that's a mix in ethnicity or religion or gender or sexual orientation has a better chance of getting published because they stand out among the other writers. I guess I have some luck working for me?

She also gave us her business card if we wanted to contact her on any matters regarding the publishing process. She's very nice and also hilarious with her stories. She's always fun to have at FIT to speak.

Thursday May 10th!!!

2007-05-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hi!!

We have our final guest speaker coming to FIT. Kate Gale from Red Hen Press will be here again. She was here last spring and spoke with Mark E. Cull both on the board of directors at Red Hen Press. They were very knowledgeable in speaking about the publishing world.

Thursday May 10th
Kate Gale
1-2pm
Binsky's II (6th floor A building)
http://www.redhen.org/
Bio of Kate Gale:
http://www.redhen.org/kategale.asp

Hope to see you there!!

Pres.

Bake Sale ROCKED! Charles Salzberg, too!

2007-05-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that Abby just handed me a receipt for the amount raised today in our Bake Sale: $120.46!!!! (We'll see what that comes out to after we pay people back for supplies...) Thanks to our fabulous bakers Celeste, Cassie, Steph, and Abby (who baked more brownies this afternoon when we ran out) and to Pam for the Godiva chocolates. And to those of you who ran the tables--Celeste, Justine, Steph, Cassie (2 hours!!), Pam, Michelle (also 2 hours!!), and Abby--a huge THANK YOU!

I can't wait to hear your reports about the workshop and conferences with Charles Salzberg. I was disappointed to miss it, but I do know that he really enjoyed being here.

rock on!

FIT Events in April

2007-04-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

To summarize a successful month for FIT Words, we have to include two very promising guest speakers.

On April 19th, Corie Feiner spoke to our club about poetry and the process of getting poetry published. She is the poetry editor at Bellevue Literary Review. Her stories on how she became a poet were just as interesting as the poetry pieces she read to us.

It's quite different to have poems read out loud as opposed to for print only. She described her process in writing a poem for a reading. Her poems ranged from anything from NYC life to a rather hilarious poem on pimples. It was really wonderful to see the spectrum of poetry that is performed. My favorite was "Subway Pastoral", what a classic.

On April 26th, Bill Coyle read from his chap book, The God of This World to His Prophet, each poem within the collection was written in various forms. Of these forms were sestina, sonnets and other well structured poems. Each poem gave us a sense of how many ways one can convey a theme. I was especially intrigued by a poem in which he translated from Swedish to English. Translating can be hard for any language but when he was describing the way to keep the form written in Swedish and translate it into English it's hard to keep within the parameters. But as far as translating Håkan Sandell's poems I wanted to see what the Swedish version was too.

Overall our club highly enjoyed both events and welcome them back again. It was so nice to see different poets speak about their paths through poetry. Seeing how poetry can be conveyed in various forms was a definate plus for everyone who shared this interest as much as I did.

Pres.

FIT Words Anthology

2007-04-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!!!

The club has been working to get the Anthology started. All production criteria is being sorted out as we speak but......We need submissions of any kind. You know your best work in any genre of writing whether it be poetry, short fiction, etc. If you want to see what types of material we want in the anthology check out any literary magazine and you'll see what they publish.

Only what's much cooler is that it's our work in the anthology. It's quite an accomplishment in it's self. Please submit to Prof. Lemmon or myself any documents pertaining to what you want in the anthology.

Okay, with that said we are planning to have the anthology due out in the fall. So keep your writing going and we'll have a surprise in the fall when the anthology is out.

Pres.

April Speakers are coming to FIT!!!!

2007-04-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

ICON!!!

2007-04-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Poetry Writers!!!

ICON def. needs your poetry. Pls. send your works asap if you want to get published!!!!

They are located in A bldg 7th floor in student life office. You can sign a form there to release your poetry there or Prof. Lemmon has release forms in her office. Either way you should get your poetry published!!! It's a great way to get your works noticed!!

So go now!! and send some in!!!

Michael Hyde reading

2007-03-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

On Thursday March 29th FIT Words had a fellow FIT professor from the English department speak to our club. Our club met at Binsky's II on the 6th floor in the A building.

Michael Hyde read one of his short stories from his short story collection "What Are You Afraid Of?" to get a sense of what a short story is composed of. Afterwards we asked questions pertaining to writing and then did a writing exercise on how to compose a fictionalized character. This helped us because the short story Michael Hyde read to us was from the narrative of a young girl which is a fictionalized character with certain traits to explore within the short story the character is part of.

The exercise got our minds working on as to compose a fictionalized character. We also brainstormed as a group on each others characters. Our characters we even further developed by thinking in a psychological sense.

We were given a picture each at the end for us to use in any way we wanted alongside our new fictionalized character.

Bio:Michael Hyde’s debut short story collection What Are You Afraid Of? won the 2005 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and M.F.A. in Writing from Columbia University, where he was a Teaching and Writing Fellow. His stories have appeared in The Best American Mystery Stories, Bloom, Ontario Review, and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Recipient of a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship in fiction from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and a Fundación Valparaíso artist grant, he currently lives in New York City. Access his website at
http://www.michaelhyde.org/

National Poetry Month!!!

2007-03-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hey Poetry Affionados!!!

Remember when we created "Random Word" poems.....well if you would like to display them in a display case that will be celebrating National Poetry Month and FIT Words and want to contribute your poem by all means do so.

In addition you can also contribute your Visual Poetry written on bias tape with the theme of Bias that we created when Denise Duhamel spoke about how Visual Poetry was used and some of her visual poetry works.

Please send all queries to either me or Prof. Lemmon.

Thanks.

Pres.

Reading

2007-03-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

Michael Hyde

Thursday March 29th
1-2pm
Binsky's II

He will be doing a reading of his works in Binsky's II on the 6th floor. Located near the elevators and on the same floor as the internship center in A building.

Hope to see you there.

Pres.

readings at union square

2007-03-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

Hey!!!

Just to let you know....not only can you pick up schedules of readings at local bookstores but you can also find them on the web.

see the following links:
Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writers_cds2.asp?z=y&PID=12211&z=y&cds2Pid=1302&linkid=726995
**Upstairs at the square events at barnes and noble in union square

Borders
http://www.bordersstores.com/mystores/mystores.jsp
click my stores, put in a zip code and then the events show up and you can even select "see more events" on any location that shows up.

I think the web is more utilized than going to the book stores themselves and picking up a monthly calendar event schedule. But now you see there are an abundance of events.

Visual Poetry

2007-03-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!!!

Denise Duhamel spoke to our club today about some of her own poetry but this time with a focus on "visual poetry". She showed us some rather creative approaches to presenting poetry on objects such as a window blind and type writer, among other interesting objects that it seems almost like art in way. Something that could be displayed in an art gallery. But Denise Duhamel said that she had to think about bridging both the visual poetry and art aspect.

All of the people present at the event were able to create their own visual poetry. We made a list of ten items that we thought were "Bias" and then wrote them on...bias tape....hmmm.....only our school would sell such a thing to which conversely use for a medium to create visual poetry and not the standard use that most of us would consider as fashion students. It was quite creative.

It was so nice to also have Denise Duhamel visit again. She was at the school last spring and that was equally as fun.

Pres.

If you're interested...

2007-03-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

From this week's Village Voice:

Friday 03.16
[Reading]
LADY'S NIGHT
East Village poetry scene still thrives
Bowery Poetry Club has defied the odds of survival (gentrification of the East Village was already well under way) but it's also managed to build a thriving community of poets and performers. Tonight's Bowery Women Salon Reading features some of the 76 contributors to the new anthology Bowery Women, which contains poems by those who have left their makr on the club over the last five years. Fay Chiang, Cynthia Kraman, Amy Ouzoonian, Marjorie Tesser, and others share their work.
At 7, Penington Friends House, 215 East 15th Street, 212-673-1730, free

Quiet getaway

2007-03-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

I know I'm up late finding yet more interesting things for the club as Pres. but I don't know, I just find that New York Magazine's latest issue on the Best of practically everything NY-ish came out recently and......

There's this really cool art gallery/ book-like-library place not too faraway from the school that they highlighted. I thought I'd just share the review and post the links.

Best Store to Hear an Author
192 Books
192 Tenth Ave., 212-255-4022
With an atmosphere that’s more home library than bookstore, this airy shop provides a welcome reprieve from the big-box feel of the city’s larger chains, making it an excellent, cozy place to catch a reading by your favorite author-of-the-moment. The readings are free but require reservations because of limited space, so bibliophiles in attendance are assured an experience free of the jostling and neck-craning that accompany most such events. They’re also a great deal, as most of the authors are A-listers (Jane Smiley, Salman Rushdie, John Ashbery, to name a recent few) whom fans pay big money to see at venues like the New York Public Library or the 92nd Street Y—meaning attendees can pick up one of the gorgeous art books the store’s famous for without feeling a bit of spender’s remorse.

http://nymag.com/listings/stores/192_books/index.html

It looks totally interesting and seems to have artsy related books there!

Official Website:
http://www.192books.com/

Denise Duhamel at FIT

2007-03-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!!!

With all the midterms and budgets due and all else in between. I hope you're coping with all of it and hopefully by next Wednesday you can all join the club for yet another guest speaker.

Denise Duhamel
Speaking on Visual Poetry
Wednesday March 21st
1-2pm
The Pizza Lounge*
*Located on the 5th floor of the A building right outside the elevators. You can't miss it!!

Links you should read:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/33
http://www.rocksaltplum.com/RSPWinter2005/DeniseDuhamelInterview.html

Hope to all see you there!!

Pres.

If you're interested...

2007-03-08T17:38:00.000-08:00

From this week's Village Voice:

"Brooklyn's Lit Up"
Waxing poeting in Williamsburg
The folks behind the weekly Burning Chair literary series at the Fall Cafe in Carroll Gardens host today's Brooklyn Poetry Bazaar, a full afternoon of readings and music, in celebration of the borough's thriving independent-media community. Featured guests include Anna Moschovakis, an editor and designer at Ugly Duckling Press and author of I Have Not Been Able to Get Through to Everyone; Anselem Berrigan, director of the St. Mark's Poetry Project; Ann Lauterbach, author of If in Time: Selected Poems 1975-2000; and Jess Mynes, author of Birds, for Example.
Sunday March 11
From 2:30 to 7, Galapagos Art Space, 70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn, 718-782-5188, $5

Mark Goldblatt

2007-03-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

March 8th the club had Mark Goldblatt speak to our club on various topics. He was very knowledgeable on the fact that if we were to send short stories or poems out to literary magazines some are respectable while others can put a price on their published editions and might not be worth sending any material to. Though he said the newest thing to come up in literary form is online literary publications. This is good in terms of if you wanted to say that you've been published the web page with your piece will be up always not like print literary magazines which after an edition is over it might be hard to find the edition.

In another note to this he also mentioned that if you have your own website exhibiting your work that can also help your resume and you can be referenced to the website. This is a more modern approach to exposing your writings to prospective publishing places.

He spoke about this topic after reading a piece he wrote about killing a cockroach in NYC and it was satirical images which was very visual. I liked the story in the length he read for us. But he told us the reality of writing a long piece and then seeing if it could get published in print form and he said that when it was published it was only approximately 500 words where as the version he read to us was close to 4 pages in length. So he said that print form might not be such a good way of getting published in the electronic and internet world. This is true.

Mark Goldblatt is also the author of the book entitled "Africa Speaks" which I read up on and was intrigued to hear about how the topic for his book was thought up. He wrote in a different voice which was that of an African American man. See link http://markgoldblatt.com/ The topic for the book is very controversial but it takes a lot to write about something so daring. Definately check this book out!!!

If you want to buy his book check out http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781579620899&itm=4

It was really great to kick off the club with our first guest speaker and we appreciated the insight Mark Goldblatt shared with the club. :)

Pres.

News for Thursday March 8th

2007-03-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

First off I'd like to address some events happening this week.

Mark Goldblatt
Thursday March 8th
1-2pm
Binsky's II (located A building 6th floor through the doors next to the elevators, it's a big open space where we can have a good enough space to discuss things. It's ideal for this event.)

Mark Goldblatt is a novelist, columnist and book reviewer as well as a professor at FIT.
His controversial first novel, Africa Speaks, was published in 2002 by Permanent Press, but he is perhaps best known as a political commentator. He has written hundreds of opinion columns for a combination of the New York Times, the New York Post, USA Today, the Daily News, Newsday, National Review Online and the American Spectator Online. Several of these essays have been anthologized in standard college textbooks, Across Cultures and Negotiations, and many more have been posted on popular web sites and blogs such as Arts and Letters Daily, Jewish World Review and Free Republic. He has been a guest on the Catherine Crier Show on Court TV and done dozens of radio interviews for stations across the country and in England. His integrity has been called into question by the Village Voice - which should count for something.

Secondly, Sorry the Thursday March 8th evening event with Kurt Anderson is cancelled. Due to insufficient ticket sales. Just thought anyone who signed up for tickets for the event should know.

Also ICON is still taking submissions of poems, you can submit your work in Room A713, or you can bring them to Prof. Lemmon and fill out a release form. Either way you can submit your poems and sign a release form.

But the beginning first few minutes of the meeting this Thursday we, we will approve the minutes from the first meeting and distribute copies of the revised club constitution. Then, our guest speaker Prof. Mark Goldblatt will read a short excerpt from his work and talk about his experience as a writer. He’ll be able to answer our questions, too!”

Hope to see you all there this Thursday!!!!

Pres.

ICON needs submissons

2007-03-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

ICON Alert!!!

They need submissions in poetry for the magazine asap!!! Pls. drop off your poems to ICON on the 7th floor Student Life room. The office is way in the back of the room. There is a short cut if you go past the elevators to your left you can also get to the office. Either way works.

When you submit poetry you have to sign release forms. They should give you a form in order to submit. Almost a contract of sorts.

I submitted way back in December and was one of the first to submit. But now that FIT Words Club has members interested in many literary forms not only poetry. I encourage you to submit any piece to ICON because any exposure in writing is very well a start.

You gotta get your poetry out yo!!!

Any questions: contact me or Prof. Lemmon

We can give you e-mails of who to contact in ICON.

Molly Peacock Reading!!

2007-02-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

Reading Between A and B

cordially invites you to hear new work and comments about poetry and literary friendship from

MOLLY PEACOCK

PHILLIS LEVIN

CYNTHIA CRUZ

This is Molly Peacock's only New York reading this spring.

Reading Between A and B

Monday, March 5, 7:30 PM

11th Street Bar

510 East 11th Street

(between Avenues A and B)

Nearest Subways: Union Square Station. 4,5,6,N,R,L

Admission is always FREE

--
* * * * * * * * * *
www.mollypeacock.org

****Molly Peacock spoke to the club last spring and we also went to see her one woman show which was so spectacular. When she came to the school she preformed some of her poetry from her book Cornucopia which I loved and immediately bought!! She is such a wonderful and funny person. *****

Finalized events in March and April

2007-02-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday, March 8, 1-2 p.m. Binsky’s II
Event: Guest speaker, Prof. and prose writer Mark Goldblatt

Wednesday, March 21, 1-2 p.m. D504
Event: Guest speaker, poet Denise Duhamel
Media: projector for computer (powerpoint)

Thursday, April 26, 1-2 p.m. Binsky’s II
Event: Guest speaker, poet Bill Coyle

**Binsky’s II is located on the 6th floor in the A building through the double doors by the elevator. It’s a big hall where there will be tables set up for us to sit as a group for discussion.

Tickets anyone?

2007-02-26T12:08:00.001-08:00

If you want to go see Kurt Anderson speak please stop by the English Dept and there will be a list you can sign to get tickets for the event.

Prof. Lemmon will be out Wed-Sunday at the AWP conference in Atlanta:

http://www.awpwriter.org:16080/conference/2007awpconf.php

She will leave a sheet on her office door, so anyone can stop by anytime between 9-5 or you can e-mail Prof. Lemmon if you are going so she can put you on the list.

Events for Next semester!! Ideas!!!

2007-02-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd follow up Pam's posts with a reminder that our budget request is due March 15 (if you mentioned it earlier and I missed it I do appologize for double posting.) Anything you can think of that you'd like us to plan, bringing people to FIT, field trips, even overnight trips, etc, let any of the club officers know as soon as possible, so we can get the ball rolling and request money to make our dreams happen!

Thanks to Professor Lemmon for the wonderful writing prompt exercise today! Tons of fun and looking forward to others like it in the future! Thanks to everyone who came and if you couldn't make it, see you next time!

Peace and love everyone! .... .... ~_^

Book your calendarios

2007-02-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

Writers and Poets coming to FIT in March:

March 8th
Kurt Anderson
6:30pm -8pm
Media, Politics & "Heyday"

co-founder of Spy, host of WNYC's Studio 360, columnist and former editor-in-chief of New York magazine, at a conversation about media, politics and his just-published second novel, "Heyday," set in the boisterous America of the 19th century, a portrait of a country coming of age.

Interviewed by David Carr, New York Times "Media Equation" columnist and the "Carpetbagger" blogger on nytimes.com.

The club has been given 10 tickets ($25 value). Sign-up sheet will be available in the meeting 2/22. List of attendees must be confirmed by email Thursday, March 1. Tickets can be picked up Monday or Tuesday, March 5 or 6, in Prof. Lemmon’s office (B602).
For more information on Andersen, visit his website: http://kurtandersen.com/

Also on March 8th Mark Goldblatt will be speaking in Binsky's II (though not definate on room and time)

March 21 Denise Duhamel room tba 1-2pm

March 22nd or 29th Michael Hyde room and time and actual date tba

***Not Coming March 29th Lee Guttkind

Meeting 2/22

2007-02-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

Here's the run down of today's meeting......

We need volunteers to go to the mandatory meeting and bring back information on what we need to do for these events.

The International Festival is coming up soon. We still need some ideas on what to present to others and represent our club. Any ideas are welcome.

International Festival: March 29th need table reserved in Great Hall
Mandatory Meeting: February 27th 1-2pm rm A721
Ideas thought of from today's meeting is a Literature Translation

This Flea Market/ Fundraiser is a long way from now but it's best to plan ahead.

Flea Market/ Fundraiser: May 3rd table reserved b/w A and B bldgs
Mandatory Meeting: April 19th 5-7pm rm A718
We thought of selling something promoting our club along with our favorite and most successful item.....bake sale!!! So if you can bake double double fudge brownies or a handed down recipe keep that in the back of your mind. It sold quite well last semester.

National Poerty Month in April

For this month the library wants to have a banner made promoting National Poetry Month along with promoting FIT Words Club.

They will produce a banner for us and make the display. But I just thought you'd all like to know we are more and more exposing our club to the FIT community. The banner will say: “FIT Words: The Club for Writers Celebrates National Poetry Month”

Anyone who writes poetry can contribute poems to the display.

Love Your Library Week Feb 12-16th

2007-02-21T17:53:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted anything about the wonderful reading the club participated in. It happened to also be Valentine's Day and so we all read from books in the library on the theme of love in general.

It was a good event we had many people there. Everyone who participated contributed so much just to read a poem or two.

Prof. Lemmon and I read poems that we wrote. Since it was a very emotional day some of us cried during poems.

But it all payed off in the end because we further exposed the club to many people present at the event.

Good Work Everyone!!!!

I will have more info. tomorrow on other events anyone can participate in as the semester goes on.

Pres.

Creative Thinking

2007-02-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

Hey!!!

Tomorrow is our second FIT Words Club meeting.

D504 1-2pm

Bring ideas along with inspiration for the writing workshop.

See you there!!!

Pres.

Barnes and Noble events at Union Sq. for Feb.

2007-02-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

Barnes and Noble events at 8th street and B'way

2007-02-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

Updates for Feb 14th

2007-02-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Some points to go over to keep the psyche running....

W27 the school newspaper is sending a reporter to the Love Your Library poetry reading event on Valentines day from 5-6pm when all selected club members performing poetry in any form present their works in the first poetry reading!!! Isn't that just so cool that we're getting more exposure to the school through W27!! Hope you can all stop by and listen or perform your pieces. Note: those of you who are performing, I know some of you who picked out poetry to read from the library is a good thing but if you want to share some of your poetry that pertains to the subject of Valentines day by all means bring them. I dug some of my poetry out to share.

Bill Coyle will be at the school on April 26th time and room tba. Here is a link to some info. on this poet.
http://billcoyle.com/index.html
http://www.poemtree.com/Coyle.htm

Denise Duhamel will be at the school on March 21st 1-2pm the room tba. btw, she spoke at the school last spring and was really reallly funny. Both her poems and personality match. Here is a link to some of her poems and bio.
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/33

Reminder:
This Thursday Feb 15th from 12-1pm is an officers meeting. This is for treasurer, secretary, student council reps, pres. and advisor. Meeting in either the english dept. conference rm, cafeteria or another place to discuss things.

Pls. volunteer to put up fliers. Hopefully you all got my e-mail about putting them up. It takes only 5 mins. Everythings there for you in the folder. It would mean a lot to put them up because that's how students see that we are a club. That's how many of you came to the first meeting.

Another interesting thing that we can use our funds for are:

Subscriptions to Poets & Writers and perhaps other literary magazines
We can get them with a possible discount because we're from a school. Any publications you have in mind pls. share.

Writing-related books, such as The Portable MFA in Creative Writing, which includes a chapter on magazine writing by Charles Salzberg (http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Creative-Writing-Writers-Workshop/dp/1582973504/sr=8-1/qid=1171205842/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7434599-1809661?ie=UTF8&s=books) , Heather Sellers’ Page after Page (http://www.amazon.com/Page-After-Discover-confidence-passion/dp/1582973121/sr=1-1/qid=1171207377/ref=sr_1_1/002-7434599-1809661?ie=UTF8&s=books), and Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird (http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016/sr=1-1/qid=1171207443/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7434599-1809661?ie=UTF8&s=books). We could order them through the FIT bookstore in multiple copies. You probably have other books you would recommend from your own reading.
If there are any books you think the club should know about we can get them.

Special writing-related materials (journal notebooks, etc.)

REMINDER FOR ALL CLUB MEMBERS:
Wed. Feb 14th Valentines Day
Love Your Library
Poetry Reading
5-6pm
**I know you have poems picked out from the library but if anyone wants to share some of their own material that would be great. This way you can practice on speaking your poetry.

&

Thurs Feb 22nd
2nd club meeting
D504
1-2pm
**Pls. bring ideas.

Thankx.
Pres Pam

February 22 Meeting: Requests and Suggestions?

2007-02-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone--as you know, our next meeting is when I'm available to you as a resource. So... what would you like to do? Here are some possibilities, but maybe you have more ideas:

Workshop: Everyone emails me 1 poem or short prose piece; I can make copies for the group and we'll talk about it together
Q&A: How do you get published? How do you write when you don't feel like writing? How do you know when a piece of writing is really good? etc. etc.
Writing on the spot: Hands-on exercises will get you to produce a piece of writing on the spot, and we can share the results.

To cast a vote or make a request, post a comment to this posting (rather than a new blog posting). Let's hear what you want!

Community Word Project (Feb 10th)

2007-02-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

The community service in which the members of FIT Words Club was a success and we fulfilled the requirements for the club.

Since the club was formed we've been working with The Community Word Project doing various invitation preparations for the annual banquet to benefit inner city kids with sharing the art world in many forms. It's a big asset to be able to express one's self through many forms of art particularly writing.

This is where the club helped out the most in. I felt that being president of FIT Words Club to see what the other members wanted to get out of the club and also share stories of interest. It's definitely been of much help to have members from many majors with a similarity in writing in general.

I hope that the club will offer as much attention to writing in any form to us as a group. Along with the valuable connections our advisor has in bringing various writers to speak at our college.

Thank you so much to our advisor, Prof. Lemmon in sharing and forming the club. The Community Word Project is also a great connection we have and we are helping out the community in and around which our college surrounds.

Thank you to to the members who helped out today. It is very much appreciated on my part and also from Prof. Lemmon's part that we did reach out to students who want to write.

I'm sure we will have a wonderful and fun filled semester with all the events planned and will be happening quicker than we think.

I still think Robert De Niro would be great for the community word project. Hahaha.

Pres. Pam ":D

Map to Community Word Project

2007-02-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

This will help you get to our community service location on Saturday, February 10!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=42+broadway+new+york+ny&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=17&ll=40.705953,-74.012961&spn=0.003286,0.01075&iwloc=addr

Welcome to FIT Words!

2007-02-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

This is the blog for FIT Words: The Club for Writers at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Here's where club members will connect online, post upcoming events, reviews, etc. etc. Come on board!

CLUB MEMBERS: If you want to join the blog, email me and I'll have Blogger send you an invitation to become an author of this blog.