Interview with the Awesome Ladies of NE x NW

Wow. I am so grateful to the Elizabeth and Jessica, the ladies who run the cool, funky blog, NE x NW for this interview focusing on my ebook, Come to Our Show. I love their blog, which focuses on creating your own individual sense of style. The Ladies have a great energy and their blog is both creative  and informative. So, I am honored to be featured on it and to have had a chance to discuss my project, which is close to my heart.

You can check out my interview here and pick up some style tips as well!

One Year Anniversary of “Come to Our Show!” More Than 10,000 views

So, a year ago, I posted Come to Our Show: Punk Show Flyers from D.C. to Down Under, a free ebook of punk show flyers on the site. At the time, though I was very proud of the love and long hours of scanning that I had put into it, I thought it would probably only reach about 100 – 200 nostalgic punk rockers who had once read my ‘zine in the ’90s or had stumbled across the blog during a Google search for old Black Flag flyers.

Well, it took off almost immediately and has been shared via Facebook, Twitter, punk message boards, ‘zine reviews, blogs, and word-of-mouth.

To date, Come to Our Show has been downloaded more than 10,500 times! I’ve seen it shared by members of the bands that inspired the book in the first place (amazing), record labels, and true fans of the music. And it’s been reviewed in at least five languages (English, French, Japanese, Russian and Spanish).

Thanks to all of you who have read it, shared it and printed out your favorite flyers!

I am no longer updating the DC Scorpiongirl blog but I keep the site active for people who want to download the book. So, please continue to spread the word to anyone who would be interested. I’d love to keep these flyers in circulation.

Thanks!

–Willona

Free Poetry Workshop at GW with Bruce Snider. Apply!

The George Washington University:  Jenny McKean Moore Free Community Workshop

When: Thursdays, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m; January 24 – April 26, 2013

Led by Bruce Snider

Take part in a semester-long poetry workshop! To apply, you do not need academic qualifications or publications.  The class will include some readings and writing exercises, but will mainly be a roundtable critique of work submitted by class members.  There are no fees to participate in the class, but you will be responsible for making enough copies of your poems for all fifteen participants.  Students at Consortium schools (including GWU) are not eligible.

Bruce Snider is the Jenny McKean Moore Writer in Washington for 2012-2013. He is the author of two collections of poetry, Paradise, Indiana and The Year We Studied Women.

To apply, please submit a letter of interest and a 5-10 page sample of your writing. Make sure you include your name, address, home and work telephone numbers, and email address.  If you wish to have your sample returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Applications must be received at the following address by close of business on Monday,  January 14, 2013.

JMM Poetry Workshop
Department of English
The George Washington University
801 22^nd Street, NW (Suite 760)
Washington, DC20052

 

The Great Convergence: Three-Day Music and History Event at the Pyramids of Giza

The Great Convergence is a three day event taking place at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt followed by a five day Nile cruise to various ancient sites over the Winter Solstice, Dec 20-Dec 28, 2012. The gathering produced by The Do LaB and TGC will feature top electronic music producers and DJ’s from the west coast’s music scene including Beats Antique, Apparat, Random Rab, Bluetech, Gaudi, Govinda, Desert Dwellers, David Starfire, DJ Dragonfly, Imagika, plus Moontribe DJs: Treavor, Brad, and Dela.

There will also be panels and workshops with various experts including Carmen Boulter of The Pyramid Code, Philip Coppens of Ancient Aliens, and Daniel Pinchbeck, author and founder of Evolver/Reality Sandwich, among other Egyptologists to discuss the mysteries of the pyramids and the prophecies of our times.

Wanna go? Win a free trip here!

I am digging the Great Convergence playlist too. Listen here.

 

Place Called Home: A Writing Workshop

When: Saturday, December 8, 2012

Time: 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Where: Source, 1835 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC (located near the U Street Metro)

Cost: $49

Register here.

The post-revolutionary Iran of Marjane Satrapi’s memoir, Persepolis, the Harlem jazz clubs of Langston Hughes’ poetry, and Sandra Cisneros’ house on Mango Street exemplify how “place” can evolve as a character in non-fiction, poetry, or fiction. Through vivid descriptions of place–and the people in them– readers can become explorers, discovering new worlds and customs.

Learn how to capture readers’ imaginations and stimulate their curiosity with authentic descriptions of place in this creative non-fiction writing workshop. Through guided writing exercises, you will explore the spaces that you call “home,” and practice techniques that will add depth to your memoir, fiction, and poetry.

From your hometown to the adopted city that you love, from the little town you discovered on vacation to your mother’s homeland, there are many spots that you might claim as your home. Home is a place, a memory, a feeling. In this workshop, you will travel to the spaces you know best and discover just what it is that makes a place special.

This workshop is open to writers of all levels and backgrounds. Never taken a workshop before? Join us.

Register for the workshop here.

About Willona

The workshop will be led by Willona M. Sloan, who is a writer and editor from a lovely suburban community in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.  She has written about D.C. arts and culture for several magazines, including Northern Virginia, DC, and The University of Virginia magazine. She received a 2013 Artist Fellowship award from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Willona wrote about her hometown, Reston, for the  Washington Post, and she compiled the popular ebook Come to Our Show: Punk Show Flyers from D.C. to Down Under to showcase flyers from D.C., the city she now calls home.

Write.Drink.Read: A Writer’s Happy Hour on Oct. 16

Hello literary folks — It’s time to celebrate the words that we create at another Write.Drink.Read. writing happy hour!

Join us for drinks, snacks and writing prompts on Tues., Oct. 16, from 6:30-8 PM at Science Club (1136 19th St, NW, Washington, DC). We will be writing new work, laughing and having a good time.

Please pass this on to anyone who would be interested. And as always, RSVPs are required because space is limited.To RSVP, email Willona at creativegeniusdc@gmail.com.

Can’t make it this time but you want to hear about the next event? Send me an email!

(Writing Workshop) Literary Mixtape: Remix the Classics

Literary Mixtape: Remix the Classics

Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 5:30 pm through 7:00 pm

Instructor:Willona Sloan

Location: National Portrait Gallery Kogod Courtyard (800 F NW)

You know how DJs do it: take a classic hit, sample it, mix it, and update it for a new audience. Writers can make remixes too. In this workshop, you will create new writing by putting your spin on a classic literary work. Each participant will receive a poem or a short story that you can rearrange, rewrite, re-verse. Sample the lines you like, reimagine the setting, reframe the story, recast the characters. Remix it!

No experience is necessary. Just come with an open mind and a writing instrument or computer.

Registeration is free. Go to Knowledge Commons DC to register here.

Put Yourself into Your Art

I want to write the way Juliet Simms sings. I want to squeeze every ounce of pain, and hurt, and sadness and fear into each and every line and turn it into something beautiful and wild and inspirational–whatever it does to me in the process. I want to write words that can be felt.

For most of the second season of “The Voice,” I enjoyed the show but I couldn’t quite latch on to particular singers. They were all talented but I found that their quick performances weren’t that memorable. That is, until it came down to do or die time. That’s when Jermaine really turned it up, and Juliet Simms–who was my front runner for most of the show– gave everything to live to die another day.

She had two minutes to beat out Jamar, who is an incredibly passionate, soulful singer. She put everything she had into this song. Not just her performance of the song but into understanding it, conveying it, making it her own and giving it back to the audience.

I want to write like that.

(Writing Workshop) Literary Mixtape: Remix the Classics

When: Tue., Jun. 19, 2012 at 5:30 pm through 7:00 pm

Location: National Portrait Gallery Kogod Courtyard (800 F NW)

You know how DJs do it: take a classic hit, sample it, mix it, and update it for a new audience. Writers can make remixes too. In this workshop, you will create new writing by putting your spin on a classic literary work. Each participant will receive a poem or a short story that you can rearrange, rewrite, re-verse. Sample the lines you like, reimagine the setting, reframe the story, recast the characters. Remix it!

No experience is necessary. Just come with an open mind and a writing instrument or computer.

This is a Knowledge Commons course, get more info here.

Classic Video: Genesis – “I Know What I Like”

I have always liked Peter Gabriel. And, I have also always liked Phil Collins, which to me equals Genesis. Now, I’m not talking about “Invincible Touch” and I am certainly not referring to “Sussudio” because THAT is not OK. (And, yes, I know that’s off of No Jacket Required but seriously, let’s never talk about it). What I am talking about is crisp melodies, complex drumming, and some catchy songwriting that warms your heart.

A few years I ago, watching an episode of “Behind the Music,” I felt like the circle of my world was finally complete when I learned that Peter Gabriel had not only once fronted Genesis but that there was a whole wealth of old ass records for me to mine.

Recently, I tried having the argument — classic Genesis is amazing; their geniuses–with my friend but he’s not buying it and doesn’t believe that they were every more than sugary and pleasant. That’s fine. Even at their most basic level, Genesis has always been a band that works its way into your consciousness and stays with you all day. I’m cool with that.

But I know the truth.