STORY CIRCLE NETWORK

AUSTIN E-LETTER

Vol. 2 Number 2
February 2001

• Time to Renew Our Commitment

If you're a Story Circle member, it's time to renew your your commitment to your story, to yourself, and to Story Circle. Look for the renewal form in the upcoming February Story Circle Journal and in the mailing we did in mid-January. We rely on your membership support to keep Story Circle alive and growing (we now have 366 members!), so please don't put it off! (You can also renew -and pay for- your membership online, using your credit card. Go to www.storycircle.org and click on "Join SCN".)
 
• New Story Circle Review Site Launches

We're proud to announce the launch of our new book review site (http://www.storycircle.org/BookReviews), which contains reviews of women's memoir, autobiography, biography, fiction, and books on writing and writing and health. The reviews have been written by Story Circle members. Looking for a place to publish an occasional review or develop a full portfolio of book reviews? Check out our Reviewer's Guidelines (http://www.storycircle.org/ReviewersGuidelines.shtml). We hope you'll take advantage of this new opportunity to learn all about your favorite books, as well as publish your writing!
 
• Special Issue of the Story Circle Journal

We published a special issue of the Story Circle Journal in January--our first annual anthology, called True Words from Real Women. Free to new and renewing members, it contains stories by Story Circle members in the United States and Canada. Many thanks to Judy Fettman of Ann Arbor MI for a fine editing job, and congratulations to the women whose stories were selected for publication!
 
• "Stories from the Heart":  National Story Circle Network Conference 2002, February 8-10, Austin, Texas

"When we are seen by the heart we are seen for who we are. We are valued in our uniqueness by those who are able to see us in this way and we become able to know and value ourselves."
~Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom~

Time to put on your thinking caps! Our "Request for Proposals" will be out in March. There will be 18 1 1/2 -hour sessions and 1 2-hour pre-conference session [Participants will pay a small fee for this session so that the presentor can be rewarded financially].

Questions/comments?  Contact Judith Helburn (thehelburns@sbcglobal.net) or check our conference web page (http://www.storycircle.org/Conference).
 

• Internet Chapter

The Internet chapter now has 110 members! We have just formed our 5th Writing eCircle and will soon start a 6th. 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".
 
• Austin OWL-Circle Workshops Available Now

We're delighted to tell you that our Austin OWL-Circle Memoir Project has moved to its second phase, under the direction of Karen Leach, our new coordinator. We will be using the workbook developed, tested, and revised during our grant-funded phase, and expanding our offerings across the Austin area. Each memoir workshop consists of five 2 1/2 hour sessions, over five weeks, led by a trained and experienced facilitator--all for the very low price of $50 for each participant (that's only $10 per session!), plus a $5 materials fee. If you know of a church, women's group, or senior residence that would like to sponsor an OWL-Circle workshop, or a woman who would like to participate in one, please telephone Karen at  512-477-3155 or email her at leachcom@ix.netcom.com. Visit our website for more information: www.owlcircle.com (please note our new address!).
 
• National OWL-Circle Workshop Kits Coming Soon

We're almost ready to invite the rest of the world to participate in our OWL-Circle project. Our field-tested OWL-Circle kits will be ready in a few weeks for distribution nationwide. If you know of individual women, women's groups, or churches outside the Austin area that might be interested in leading or sponsoring a five-week OWL-Circle Memoir Workshop, please send their names and contact information to owlcircle@owlcircle.com or phone 512/454-9833, and we'll send them a brochure and information about purchase. The OWL-Circle kits, including the right to duplicate the workbooks, may be purchased for $150, or $100 if the purchaser is a member of theStory Circle Network. (Remember, the workshop kits are available only to those outside of the Austin area. Locally, Karen Leach will be coordinating the workshops for Story Circle.) Visit our website for more information: www.owlcircle.com (please note our new address!).
 
• Austin Chapter Reading Circles

We're expanding the scope of our Reading Circles to include fiction--fiction by women about women.  Please come and join us the first Tuesday of the month at the Old Quarry Branch of the Austin Public Library.  All Austin Chapter members are welcome to participate free of charge in this new Reading Circle to be led by Penny Appleby.  Go to  http://www.storycircle.org/Reading_Circle/rc3_sched01.html to see suggested list of books for the first six months and to  http://www.storycircle.org/graphics/QUARRY_map.gif to get directions to Old Quarry Branch.  Read Anne Lamott's book "All New People" and join us for the first meeting on March 6 at 11:30 am.  Discussion questions will be posted on the book list (see url above) the week prior to the meeting. If you are interested in joining, please contact Penny Appleby (penny.appleby@sbcglobal.net).
 
• 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:
• Judith Helburn leads the Tuesday mid-day group; contact her via email: writingcircle@storycircle.org or phone: 512-454-7229.
• Daisy Stanley leads the Sunday afternoon group; contact her via email: writingcircle2@storycircle.org or phone: 512-443-9591.
• Carolyn Scheider leads the Wednesday mid-day group; contact her via email: writingcircle3@storycircle.org  or phone: 512-258-8635.
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).
 
• Your Contributions

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 Box 1616, Bertram TX 78605.
 
• Journal Back Issues Available

The Story Circle Journal is a unique, exciting publication that documents women's efforts to tell their personal stories. If you're collecting the Journal, now is the time to make sure your set is complete! To purchase the copies you're missing, go to our website and click on "Buy Story Circle Journals".  You may choose to buy on-line through PayPals, or you can print out the page and send it to us with your check. Either way, this is an important opportunity to catch up on the issues you've missed.

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) in the U.S., $30 in Canada/Mexico, and $36 elsewhere. 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) 2001 by Story Circle Network, Inc.
Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter only in its entirety, including this copyright notice.