STORY CIRCLE NETWORK

AUSTIN E-LETTER

Vol. 3 Number 1
January 2002

• Austin Chapter Meeting: Jan. 20th

Please join us at our upcoming Chapter meeting: Sunday, January 20th, from 2-4:30pm at the  LCRA Colorado Room (3700 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin, TX 78703). Donna Remmert's writing circle will read from their memoirs, and Susan Albert will talk briefly about the Austin Reading Circle.
 
• Holiday Party Photos!

Our annual Story Circle holiday party was so much fun! You can see some photos of us here:  http://www.storycircle.org/AustinChapter/20011209.html
 
• "Stories from the Heart":  National Story Circle Network Memoir Conference 2002, February 8-10, Austin, Texas

Our program is now online: go to the main Conference website (http://www.storycircle.org/Conference) and click on "Program". Want to know how to publish your work? We have a session on that. Want to put your story in scrapbook form? We have that. How about putting it to music or some art form? Yep, we have that too. Want  to know other forms in which to expand your creativity? That, too. Or do you want to write to heal, to tell your story, just get started... ? We have all that and more.

To register for the conference, please use our online registration form: go to the conference web page (www.storycircle.org/Conference) and click on "Registration". You can also email us (storycircle@storycircle.org) or write to us (Story Circle Network, P.O. Box 500127, Austin, TX 78750-0127) for a brochure. Hotel info: Holiday Inn on Town Lake in Austin, TX. Please see www.storycircle.org/Conference for all the details.

Questions/comments/offers of help?  Contact Judith Helburn (thehelburns@sbcglobal.net) or see our conference web page (www.storycircle.org/Conference.
 

• PBS Documentary: Life Stories

"Life Stories", a PBS documentary featuring autobiography workshops for older people, is scheduled for showing Monday 1/14, 10 p.m. These workshops, part of the SHARE YOUR LIFE STORY program, were conducted over the past five years at the University of Texas Medical Branch by historian Thomas Cole and gerontologist Kate de Medeiros.   Here's some more info: http://klru.worldpost.com/publicarea/ViewProgram.asp?VsnID=97545
 
• Barnes & Noble Book Group

A new book group is starting at the Westlake Barnes & Noble: the Storyteller's Book Group, focusing on oral storytelling and led by professional storyteller Elida Bonet. The group will read books that deal with the art of folklore and storytelling, and they will meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM. The first meeting will be Tuesday, January 22, at 7:00 PM, and the title for discussion will be The Way of the Storyteller by Ruth Sawyer. For more information, contact Jo Virgil, Community Relations Manager at 328-3652 or CRM2757@bn.com.
 
• Internet Chapter

The Internet chapter now has 181 members! We have 11 very active Writing eCircles, and a Reading eCircle. 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).
 
• Austin OWL-Circle Workshops Available Now

Our Austin OWL-Circle Memoir Project is now under the direction of Pat Flathouse. 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.

We're starting a program with St. John Newman Catholic Church soon. More details will be available in the next eLetter.

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 contact Pat at  512-347-7687 or pflat@austin.rr.com. If you would like to facilitate one of these groups let Pat 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.
 

• National OWL-Circle Workshops

The OWL program continues to grow with sales of the facilitator's manual and workbook. If you have an interest in offering the program in your area, please let us know. (Remember, the workshop kits are available only to those outside of the Austin area. Locally, Pat Flathouse will now be coordinating the workshops for Story Circle.) Visit our website for more information: www.owlcircle.com.
 
• Austin Chapter Reading Circle

The Austin Chapter Reading Circle meets monthly to read and discuss women's memoirs, autobiographies, and journals.  You can read the Reading Circle discussion questions for the January book (Beyond the Sky & the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan by Jamie Zeppa) on the Noon Reading Circle's book list. In February, we'll be reading Simple Gifts, by June Sprigg. Our Internet Chapter Reading e-Circle is reading Miriam's Kitchen: a Memoir by Elizabeth Ehrlich.
 
• 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:
• Carolyn Blankenship leads the South-Central Austin Writing Circle. It meets at the Senior Activity Center (3911 Manchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78704) on the 1st Tuesday of every month from 7:30-9pm. Contact Carolyn Blankenship via email: or phone: 512-443-5222. (Note: This circle is closed to new members through March, 2002.)
• Susie Flatau leads the Southwest Austin Writing Circle. It meets at the Serranos in Oak Hill (6510 W. Hwy. 290, Austin, TX 78735) on the 3rd Tuesday of every month from 7-8:30pm. Contact Susie Flatau via email: susie@wordsbysusie.com or phone: 512-288-4614.
• Judith Helburn leads the Fourth Tuesday mid-day group. It meets at the Yarborough Branch Library from 11:30-1. Contact Judith via email: thehelburns@sbcglobal.net or phone: 512-454-7229. (Note: This circle is closed to new members until further notice.) This month's topic: "Fun: is what was fun then fun now, and other grown-up considerations".
• Carolyn Scheider leads the Spicewood Springs Writing Circle. It meets at the Spicewood Springs Branch Library on the 3rd Thursday of every month from 12:15-2pm. Contact Carolyn via email: carjos7@aol.com 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

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 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: 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.)
 

• Story Circle T-Shirts Now Available!

Life is not complete without your Story Circle t-shirt. Your purchase helps the SCN do its work to educate others about the importance of women's stories. Buy one or two for yourself, and several more for gifts!
• Fruit of the Loom "Heavy Cotton" (100% cotton)
• Beige with purple printing
• Logo on front, motto on back:
• “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.”—Muriel Rukeyser
• Available in medium, large, 1X, 2X, & 3X
• $16 (shipping/handling and tax included)
Use our online form to order yours today (and to see photos of the front and back of the shirt), and pay online (via PayPals) or send your check for $16 (specify size) to
Story Circle Network
P.O. Box 500127
Austin TX 78750-0127
 
• 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://groups.yahoo.com/group/StoryCircleNetwork/join and enter your email address, or send email to StoryCircleNetwork-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Many women sign up for this newsletter but haven't yet become members of the Story Circle Network. If you're one of these women, we invite you to join us and support our efforts to honor and celebrate women's stories. 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 in the U.S., $30 in Canada/Mexico, and $36 elsewhere. Members receive four issues of the Story Circle Journal, a 16-24 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://groups.yahoo.com/group/StoryCircleNetworkAustin/join and enter your email address, or send email to StoryCircleNetworkAustin-subscribe@yahoogroups.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) 2002 by Story Circle Network, Inc.
Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter only in its entirety, including this copyright notice.