STORY CIRCLE NETWORK

AUSTIN E-LETTER

Vol. 1 Number 10
October 2000

 
• Writing Contest Winners

Last month we told you about the winners of the "Carol W. Landherr Life-Writing Competition". We inadvertently left out the FIRST PRIZE WINNER'S name! We apologize for our mistake, and invite you to read "Mrs. Backus", written by Mary Faith Pankin of Arlington, VA: go to our website (www.storycircle.org) and click on "Writing Contest: Winners" - or go there directly via http://www.storycircle.org/Contests/winners_2000.shtml.
 
• Austin Events: Upcoming Programs
• Writing from Life Workshop, led by Susan Albert, Catherine Cogburn, Judith Helburn, Donna Remmert, and Natalie Thomas. Friday October 6th, 7-9pm and Saturday October 7th, 8:30am-4:30pm, LCRA (3700 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin, TX 78703). Cost is $75. For more information, please go to our website and click on Writing from Life Workshop. Please register soon - space is limited! You can use our online registration form (and even pay online!) or call 454-9833 for more details.

 
• Story Circle Network benefit booksigning. Wednesday, October 11th, 7-9pm, LCRA Colorado Room (3700 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin, TX 78703). Join us as Susan Albert talks about and signs her latest China Bayles herbal mystery, Mistletoe Man. We hope to see you there!
• "Stories from the Heart":  National Story Circle Network Conference 2002, February 8-10, Austin, Texas

October is the month for picking the hotel in Austin. And in February 2001 we will actively plan the program. We need committee chairwomen, members, people to contribute before, and during.  Tentative session titles are welcome at any time. Session leaders receive a discount. Volunteers might too. If you are interested in participating in this planning, let Judith Helburn know (thehelburns@sbcglobal.net) and she will get back to you  to help you pick a way to be involved. e-mail ideas are always welcome.
 
• Internet Chapter

The Internet Chapter continues to grow, with 5 new members this month, bringing the total membership up to 70! Marie if you are interested, please enroll soon! We'd love to have you join our internet chapter! If you're not already a member but are interested in joining the Network, check out the Story Circle web site (www.storycircle.org). To learn more about the Internet Chapter (or to join!), click on "Internet Chapter".
 
• OWL Project

The OWL project is winding down, with two workshops being wrapped up soon.  We have been able to offer the workshop to over 450 women in the Austin and Dallas areas, and have field-tested and revised the facilitator's manual and workbook.  Our next goal is to finalize the last revision, and market the materials to women across the nation so that these workshops can be offered in as many locations as possible. If you are interested in learning more about the program and how to set up workshops in your area, please contact us at 512/454-9833, or visit our website, www.owlcircle.com, for more detailed information about our project, and our current workshop schedule.  To receive a newsletter containing stories from the workshops, please fill out our online form, or call 512/454-9833, or email us at owlcircle@owlcircle.com.

Part-time position available: Director of Older Women's Legacy Circle Program. Organize workshops in the Austin area through new and established contacts, market and promote the workshops to area women, train facilitators, and administer the program. Compensation dependent upon income generated from the program. Experience in teaching/training, administration, and marketing desired, and involvement in the senior community a plus. Contact: Catherine Cogburn, 512/454-9833 or owlcircle@owlcircle.com.
 

• Austin Chapter Reading Circles

The evening reading circle has a new home: Faith Lutheran Church, Room 208/209, 6600 Woodrow Ave. Also, please note that there are several spaces left in the Evening Reading Circle.  If you are interested in joining, please contact Susan Albert (susanalbert@storycircle.org).
 
• Austin Chapter Writing Circles

Interested in meeting with other women to write and share stories? Please join one of our Austin Chapter Writing Circles for support, encouragement, and ideas for life-writing topics. The Circles meet monthly:
• Katherine Benbow and Judith Helburn lead the Tuesday mid-day group; contact them via email: writingcircle@storycircle.org or phone: 512-472-3502 or 512-454-7229.
• Daisy Stanley and Patricia Fiske lead the Sunday afternoon group; contact them via email: writingcircle2@storycircle.org or phone: 512-443-9591 or 512-326-8835.
• A new writing circle, led by Carolyn Scheider, started on Sept. 27. The circle meets from 12:00-1:30 on the 4th Wednesday of each month at the Spicewood Springs library. Please contact Carolyn (carjos7@aol.com) if you are interested in joining this circle.
For more information, visit the Austin Chapter Writing Circles web page.
 
• Start your own Reading or Writing Circle

We encourage you to volunteer to start your own writing circle or reading circle. We need more of these!  If you are interested, please email Susan (susanalbert@storycircle.org).  She will get volunteers together and do a few how-to-do-it sessions in early fall.
 
• SCN office is moving!

We're moving to a P.O. box on November 1st - how will we ever fit all our furniture into it? Ack! :)  Our phone number (512-454-9833) will stay the same. Our email address is storycircle@storycircle.org. Our mailing address is all that will change; we'll let you know (and we'll update the website) when we have our P.O. box number.
 
• Speakers Bureau

We are continuing to build our new Speakers Bureau (http://www.storycircle.org/SpeakersBureau), a listing of Story Circle members who are available to speak to your group on a variety of topics dealing with women, writing, women's issues, women's health, etc. If you are a member of the Story Circle Network and you are interested in joining our list of speakers, please email the office (storycircle@storycircle.org).

If you are a member of the Story Circle Network, please think about how you can contribute to the Journal. You could send us your story for publication in True Words from Real Women, but we also welcome your contributions of women's quotations, brief book reviews, and life-writing tips and ideas. Please note that we are also looking for contributors to our Journaling Page and Writing for Health section. Our Writers' Guidelines are now available on our website: http://www.storycircle.org/WritersGuidelines.shtml. Please email your contributions and ideas to susanalbert@storycircle.org or mail them to The Story Circle Journal, PO Drawer M, Bertram TX 78605.

Are you signed up for the National Story Circle e-Letter?

We are now publishing two monthly e-Letters. The National e-letter brings you writing tips, quotes, and book reviews, while the Austin-area e-Letter brings you news about Story Circle events and activities in the Austin, TX area. To subscribe to the National e-Letter, either go to http://SCN_eLetter_National.listbot.com and enter your email address, or send email to SCN_eLetter_National-subscribe@listbot.com

The Story Circle Network is an organization made up of women who want to explore their lives and their souls through life-writing -- writing that focuses on our personal experience, through memoirs and autobiographies, in diaries and journals, in personal essays, in poetry. The Network is chartered as a 501c(3) organization. Your dues and other contributions are tax-deductible. As a non-profit, we welcome your gifts to support our work. Please be generous!

Annual membership is $24 (prorated at $2/month). Members receive four issues of the Story Circle Journal, a 16-page quarterly filled with writing ideas, members' writing, interviews, articles, and book reviews. To join, fill out our on-line form (click on "Join SCN" on the Story Circle website) and send a check to

NOTE: If you received this email from a friend and would like to join our Austin mailing list, either go to http://SCN_eLetter_Austin.listbot.com and enter your email address, or send email to SCN_eLetter_Austin-subscribe@listbot.com

Compiled and edited by Peggy Moody
pmoody@pobox.com
(We're sending this in HTML. If you're missing some links, email us and we'll tell you how to access the information.)

Copyright (c) 2000 by Story Circle Network, Inc.
Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter only in its entirety, including this copyright notice.