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Unpublished Writers Day gathering offers workshops, seminars

Annual gathering Sunday in Vancouver aimed at ambitious writers who want to improve and get published

By Scott Hewitt, Columbian staff writer
Published: January 27, 2017, 6:02am

When he started writing original stories at age 11, Christopher Luna tried mimicking horror maestro Stephen King and expert mind-bender Rod Serling. Later on, it was “grownup” novelist John Irving. Then he tried writing like beat poet Allen Ginsberg — who started out trying to write like Walt Whitman. The poetry of Ginsberg lead directly to the novels of Jack Keroac, who wanted to write like some combination of James Joyce, American outlaw and the Buddha.

All creative writers start out absorbing and, yes, mimicking the voices who came before them. But because writing is essentially a solitary and sometimes lonely pursuit, all writers also crave the community of fellow writers in the here and now — for stimulation, for education, for support and encouragement.

“You feel like there’s this big mysterious world or whole group of people who have information you don’t have, who know something you don’t know,” Luna remembered about his early days of scribbling away. “You know where you want to go, but you don’t know how to get there.”

When he fell in love with poetry in his late teens and early 20s, Luna also fell in love with building literary community. He spent about a year reading his fledgling verse in every live situation he could find — and rubbing elbows with fellow poets, artists, musicians.

If you go

• What: National Unpublished Writers' Day, featuring sessions on writing and publishing by Celeste Gurevich, Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, Scambly Schott, Nancy Flynn, Tracy Manaster and A. Molotkov.

• When: 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

• Where: Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver

• Cost: Free.

Professional Writers Series

Sessions all begin at 7 p.m.:
  • Feb. 9, memoirs and essays with Martha Grover and Michael Heald.
  • Feb. 23, literary podcasts with David Naimon and Benjamin Parzybok.
  • March 9, biographies with Peter Ames Carlin.
  •  March 23, "Activist poetry" with Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner.
  • April 6: "One writer's path" with Margaret Malone.
Where: 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., Vancouver.
Cost: Free.

He was a little surprised to discover, along with lots of love and friendship, some competitive spirit, too. “Poets sometimes keep things really close to their vest,” he said. “There’s no money in poetry and not much recognition to go around. In my 20s, I was frustrated because there were people who were really helpful, but I did encounter people who were not helpful at all.

“I decided I wanted to be the kind of guy people could come to,” he said.

Luna is now Clark County’s premier promoter of literary community, from writing workshops in local schools to a C-Tran program that posts poetry in buses to “Ghost Town Poetry,” a busy open-microphone reading series.

So Luna also seemed like the right guy to inherit “National Unpublished Writers Day,” an annual gathering of writers that was started a few years ago by John Barber, a faculty member at Washington State University Vancouver. The point of National Unpublished Writers Day, of course, is to help beginning writers vault past that “Un-.”

“Getting published … feels mysterious and impossible at first. Tons of rejections” are par for the course, he said. Luna, who has been published plenty of times by now, still gets plenty of rejections, too, he said. “It never gets easier. It never stops hurting your feelings.”

Being part of a community of writers who can relate and help is invaluable, he said.

National Unpublished Writers Day is a free series of workshops and seminars set for the Vancouver Community Library this Sunday afternoon. Writers who have successfully erased “Un-” from their status — including Celeste Gurevich, Toni Partington, Scambly Schott, Nancy Flynn, Tracy Manaster, A. Molotkov and Luna himself — will offer a writing workshop, a panel on publishing and other literary topics, such as live-performance tips and “finding your tribe.”

Literary stars at WSUV

Meanwhile, Washington State University Vancouver will offer something similar and longer. Eight literary stars from the Portland area will discuss their craft on a succession of first and third Thursday nights, now through April 6, in a series of “Professional Writers” presentations. Prizewinning local writers including Martha Grover, Michael Heald, David Naimon, Benjamin Parzybok, Peter Ames Carlin, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner and Margaret Malone will talk about the genres they work in — memoirs, essays, biographies, poetry, even interviews for podcasts — and their careers in writing.

All the above literary opportunities are free and open to the public.

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