STORY CIRCLE NETWORK
AUSTIN E-LETTER
Vol. 2 Number 3
March 2001
STORY CIRCLE NEWS
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Membership Renewals
If you're a Story Circle member, and you haven't yet renewed, you may
have received your last Journal! Look for the renewal form in your February
Story
Circle Journal. We rely on your membership support to keep Story Circle
alive and growing (we now have 388 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".)
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Mailing Address
Just a reminder that our mailing address changed late last year. Our
mailing address is P.O. Box 500127, Austin, TX 78750-0127.
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Writing from Life Workshop
Please join us at our semi-annual Writing from Life workshop, led by
Susan Albert, Carolyn Blankenship, Catherine Cogburn, Susie Flatau, &
Judith Helburn. The workshop will be held on Saturday, May 19th and Sunday,
May 20th, at the LCRA Complex (3700 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin, TX 78703).
Cost is $75. Susan Albert will lead an additional 3-hour session on Sunday
afternoon for those who are interested in facilitating Story Circles (reading
and writing circles) and OWL-Circle Memoir Groups. 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 or call 454-9833 for more details.
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"Stories from the Heart":
National Story Circle Network Conference 2002, February 8-10, Austin, Texas
Time to put on your thinking caps! Our "Call for Presenters" will be
out in March. There will be 18 1 1/2 -hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday
and 1 2-hour pre-conference session on Friday [Participants will pay a
small fee for this session so that the presentor can be rewarded financially].
See the web page for details.
We have lots of work for volunteers and would love to have your help
in creating and conducting this unique conference. Questions/comments/offers
of help? Contact Judith Helburn (thehelburns@sbcglobal.net)
or see our conference web page (http://www.storycircle.org/Conference
- and while you're there, check out our new conference logo, courtesy of
Lisa Belli).
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Internet
Chapter
The Internet chapter now has 95 members! We have just formed our 6th
Writing eCircle and will soon start a 7th. If you're a Story Circle member
and would like to join our cyber-circle, click on Internet
Chapter. If you're not a member but are interested in joining the Network,
check out the Story Circle web site (www.storycircle.org).
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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.
If you would like to facilitate one of these groups let Karen know of your
interest. Facilitators are paid, but their greatest reward is in helping
women to explore their lives. Visit our website for more information:
www.owlcircle.com
(please note our new address!).
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National OWL-Circle Workshop Kits
Coming Soon
We're ready to invite the rest of the world to participate in our Older
Women's Legacy Circle project. Our field-tested OWL-Circle kits will be
ready in early March 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!).
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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 are posted on the book list (see url above). If you
are interested in joining, please contact Penny Appleby (penny.appleby@sbcglobal.net).
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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:
For more information, visit the
Austin
Chapter Writing Circles web page.
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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).
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Your Contributions
Share your life. If you are a member of the Story Circle
Network, please share your story with us. Check the Journal for details,
or click on http://www.storycircle.org/WritersGuidelines.shtml.
Share your love. We offer free memberships to women in
prison and reduced-rate memberships to women in need. If you would like
to help these women find their voices and share their stories, go here:
http://www.storycircle.org/Donations
and then click on "Our Sugar Bowl." (You don't have to be a member to contribute
to this important program.)
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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.
E-LETTERS
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
WHO WE ARE AND HOW TO JOIN US
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
Story Circle Network
P.O. Box 500127
Austin, TX 78750-0127
(or follow the directions after filling out the online form and PAY online!)
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.