Category: PastEvent14

Panel
Monday, November 17, 2014

Written essays have always been a creative way to express views and test the waters for larger pieces. Many have become the framework for much of social communication. Now, with the advent of the digital age, essays have taken on a new and in some ways bolder life. Not only are they published in magazines and compilations, but the essay also lives in blogs and other social media.

Essays can be literary criticism, political manifestos, technical explanations, recollections, and more.

As Aldous Huxley once said, “Like the novel, the (written) essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.”

We will take a lively look at how it has evolved recently and what several very accomplished writers have done with the form.

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, October 27, 2014

Social Networking becomes both easier and more difficult all the time. As soon as you get the hang of it, the rules change. But we are not always privy to the subtle changes that may not be well-publicized. Some changes are obvious, and even then, the way to implement these new rules may not be user-friendly. Algorithms and layout can affect all aspects of the experience.

[To read more, click the title!]

Discussion
Monday, September 29, 2014

“All my life I’ve been a performer – an actress, a singer, a dancer, even a talk show host – but never in the wildest dreams of my first 50 years did I ever imagine I would write something that other people would read. I still can’t quite get over it.”

So writes ADRIENNE BARBEAU on her website, ABarbeau.com. Best known as Bea Arthur’s daughter, Carol, in Norman Lear’s TV series “Maude,” starring in the John Carpenter films “The Fog” and “Escape from New York,” Wes Craven’s “Swamp Thing,” and her creation of Rizzo in the original Broadway production of “Grease,” she has created a versatile career encompassing diverse facets of entertainment and has found success and acclaim as the author of three books.

She has become a best-selling author, a recording artist, and the star of numerous features, films for television, concert performances, musicals and plays. She’s even been a radio show book reviewer and narrates audio books. She’s also written books.

Join us for a lively and unforgettable evening with this multi-talented actress and author.

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, May 19, 2014

There was a poet from Los Angeles
Whose limericks never would scangeles.
When asked just why so
He replied, “I really don’t know –
“Maybe it’s because I always try to cram as many syllables into the last line as I possibly cangeles.”

Well, poets do take license.

Our panel of established and credentialed poets will discuss the poetic form as they use it, their
marketing ideas, and the aesthetic and public opportunities for poets.

Impressive energy is employed as a poem is created, and a similar level of energy and creativity is required to really get the poem seen and marketed.

Our panelists have been through it all, and have won many of the battles in a field that has been described as a minefield.

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, February 24, 2014

In the past decade, primetime TV has transformed itself from what critics once derided as a “vast wasteland” to the long-form equivalent of Oscar-winning movies and indie films.

There’s the edgy stylishness of “CSI,” “ER,” and “Game of Thrones”; the nuance and subtext of “Mad Men,” “Downton Abbey,” and “The Good Wife”; and the machine-gun dialogue of “24,” “Homeland,” and “House of Cards.”

There were decade-definers like “Lost” and “The Sopranos,” and anti-heroes like “House,” “Dexter,” and “The Mentalist.”

But what does it all mean for the people who actually write and create these shows?

How does a writer get a chance to write for today’s TV shows, anyway?

[To read more, click the title!]