LIGONIER VALLEY
WRITERS
Flash Fiction Contest Readings & Presentation
Saturday, November 2 at 2:00 p.m.
You are cordially invited to a performance of the six stories that won Ligonier Valley Writers' nineteenth annual Flash Fiction Contest. The readings will take place on Saturday, November 2 starting at 2:00 p.m. at Ligonier Valley Library.
The event is free and open to the public.
In addition to the readings, final judge, Damian Dressick, will give a talk about what flash fiction is and how to write it. Then he’ll read some of his published flash stories. Damian is a much-published author who has also taught writing at Pitt and other universities. CLASH Books published a collection of his flash fiction called Fables of the Deconstruction, and his microfiction was included in W.W. Norton’s anthology New Micro.
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Damian is also the author of 40 Patchtown, a novel set during the 1922 coal miners' strike in Windber. Karen Spears Zacharias, author of Mother of Rain, called him “a talented and thoughtful writer, the freshest voice to come out of Appalachia since Wiley Cash arrived on the literary scene."
“Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit” Workshop, September 15
What’s more fun than writing? Getting paid for writing! Jim Busch will lead us in one of his inspiring programs: “Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit.” That’s from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 15, at St. Michael’s of the Valley Church in Rector.
This class will discuss how to turn your creativity and writing skills into dollars and cents. Not only is freelancing a profitable way to spend your time, but it will give you an opportunity to polish your writing skills and build your resumé. We will cover where to sell your work, how to approach potential buyers, and what basic techniques to practice. The class will be interactive and will allow plenty of time for your questions.
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The program is free to LVW members and $5 for nonmembers. St. Michael’s is at 2535 Route 381 in Rector. Please email me (jgallagher@LHTOT.com) by Thursday, September 12, to register.
Jim Busch has written columns for the Tribune Review, Post-Gazette, Valley News Dispatch, and Fox Chapel Herald. He has published a number of articles on Western Pennsylvania people and events. He has given talks all around the country on subjects from creativity to sales skills.
LVW Picnic at Jamison Farm August 11
Ligonier Valley Writers' annual community picnic will be a little different this year. It’s in the summer and it’s at a new locale for us. Sukey and John Jamison have invited LVW to celebrate at their farm.
The picnic is on Sunday, August 11, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Jamison Farm, located at 171 Jamison Lane, Latrobe 15650. If you’re coming from the west, go north on Main St. in Greensburg. Then follow signs for Rt. 119 past Lynch Field on your right. Take 119 to Crabtree. Take the right turn at Apple’s Dance Lab and follow that road for 2.3 miles. Then turn right onto Calvary Hill Cemetery Rd. Drive ½ mile to the Jamison Farm sign. Turn right and drive up the lane. If you get lost, call Sukey at 724-237-3137.
Please do email me at jgallagher@LHTOT.com by Friday, August 9, if you can make it. We want to make sure we bring enough food for everyone. The event is free for LVW members and just $5 for nonmembers. The public is cordially invited. If you like to talk, read, and eat, you'll enjoy the LVW picnic.
Bring a main course, side dish, or dessert if you like, though it’s not required. Join us for good food and good conversation in the scenic Laurel Highlands. You’ll also have a chance to win a raffle prize.
Both LVW members and nonmembers are welcome to read from their own writing after the meal.
Copies of the 2024 edition of the Loyalhanna Review will be available free of charge.
We’ll still hold an event at St. Michael’s in September, but it will be one of Jim Busch’s inspiring workshops: “Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit.”
Loyalhanna Review Publication Party July 20, 2024 (Saturday)
One of the longest-running literary magazines in the Laurel Highlands is celebrating the publication of its 2024 edition, and all of our members and friends, plus the public, are invited.
The Loyalhanna Review publication party will take place on Saturday, July 20, from 7 to 9 p.m.
All of our members and friends, plus the public, are invited.
Please register by Saturday, July 13: Contact Marge Burke at MCB1776@aol.com or (724) 787-4776.
The suggested donation is $15 at the door, but no registered guest will be turned away. Every author and artist who has contributed material to this year’s magazine is comped, since without their hard work and creativity we wouldn’t have this beautiful magazine to share with you. If you’re one of this year’s authors or artists and you can join us, please RSVP to help us make sure we have enough food and drink for all of our celebrants.
Each guest will receive a copy of the new Loyalhanna Review, hot off the presses and crammed full of writing and art that will knock your socks off, most of it created by local talent.
Join us to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and entertainment by Loyalhanna Review authors reading from their work. You’ll have an opportunity to talk with the authors and artists whose work is featured in the magazine.
The party will once again be at the Hempfield Church of Christ, located at 144 Hugh Black Road in Greensburg, PA 15601.
Directions: From Route 30 across from Westmoreland Mall, turn north at Dunkin' Donuts and then bear right onto Donahue Rd. At the WOW Outlet, turn right onto Hugh Black Rd. The church is at the top of the hill on the right.
STUDENT POETRY AWARDS CEREMONY on April 27, 2024
Barnes & Noble, Greensburg PA from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Ligonier Valley Writers’ 33rd annual Student Poetry Contest has found some very talented poets among students in grades 4-12 from schools throughout western Pennsylvania. They will be honored at an awards ceremony on Saturday, April 27, at the Greensburg Barnes & Noble (5155 Route 30) at 4:00 p.m.
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Thirty cash awards will be handed out (first, second, and third prizes in each of nine categories, plus Naccarato Awards for the best of the best in each age group). Many students will read their winning poems aloud. Last year there were more than 50 people in the audience cheering on LVW's student poets.
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Winners will also have their poems published in a booklet and on the LVW website and get invited to be interviewed on SLB Radio in Pittsburgh. Join us at Barnes & Noble to celebrate the next generation of creativity in our region by supporting these talented young people. Read previous years’ winning poems now.
CHRIS RODELL to Give LVW Talk on May 20, 2023
Chris Rodell will give a talk at a Ligonier Valley Writers program on Saturday, May 20, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Adams Memorial Library in Latrobe. “Ten Years, Six Books” is about his career as a book author. The talk is free and open to the public.
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The International Business Times calls Chris "the writer with the heart of a pound puppy and the brain of a free-range chicken." He is the Latrobe-based author of six books, including ones on his screwball friendship with Arnold Palmer, the defiant kindness of Fred Rogers and how colorful living can brighten the whole world. His uproarious, true and inspiring stories of everyday humans being human every day will energize any audience.
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Chris’s Colorful Living Tip No. 991: Open an art gallery with nothing on the walls. Then invite people to enter and be greeted by 40 guys who say nothing but “Hi! I’m Art!”
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Chris is among the world's most widely read freelance writers and the only one who's had articles published on the same day in Playboy, Cooking Light, Esquire, Golf, Sports Illustrated, National Enquirer and the South China Morning Post, a combined readership in excess of 97 million people. In his career Chris has wrestled alligators, raced Ferraris, gone skydiving, lain on beds of nails, and gained 20 pounds in one week on the Elvis diet.
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Adams Memorial Library is at 1112 Ligonier St. in downtown Latrobe. There’s a metered parking lot behind the building. The workshop is free to all. Members of the public are welcome. To register, email me at jgallagher@LHTOT.com.
WORKSHOP: Jim Busch to give workshop on "Personal Journaling" APRIL 15, 2023
Ligonier Valley Writers gather together to discuss the best practices of Journaling.
This workshop on Personal Journaling will be taught by Jim Busch at Ligonier Valley Library from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Jim Busch is recently retired from the newspaper industry. He has a BA in English, concentrating on medieval and renaissance literature, from the University of Pittsburgh. He’s written columns for the Tribune Review, Post-Gazette, Valley News Dispatch, and Fox Chapel Herald. Jim has given talks all around the country on subjects from creativity to sales skills. He has published a number of articles on Western Pennsylvania people and events. He lives in White Oak. Jim is also the president of LVW.
F.J. Hartland | SEPTEMBER 25, 2022
F.J. Hartland Playwriting Workshop September 25
For LVW’s first workshop since Covid began, we managed to snag prize-winning playwright F.J. Hartland. He will teach a workshop on playwriting for Ligonier Valley Writers on Sunday, September 25, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at St. Michael’s of the Valley Church in Rector (2535 Route 381).
This workshop is open to writers in all genres, including those who have never written a play before. It's a perfect opportunity to explore the form—and learn about creating living, breathing characters—in a supportive atmosphere.
The workshop is free to LVW members and $10 to nonmembers. Please register by September 19 by emailing jgallagher@LHTOT.com or calling Judith Gallagher at (724) 593-7294.
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F.J.’s topic is "Less Is More: Writing the Short, Short Play." He says contests and festivals are now looking for plays that are 10 minutes or even shorter, all the way down to one minute. He will show participants how to fit characterization and story into such a small package.
F.J. brings enormous expertise to bear. He has made a record-setting eighteen appearances in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, winning Best Play four times. His play Across a Crowded Room will be performed there next month. He has twice won Samuel French’s Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. His plays have been performed at many theaters in Pittsburgh, New York, and elsewhere.
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His monologue Google It has been selected by Talking Horse Productions (in Missouri) for their Second Annual Monologue Contest. Thirty monologues were chosen from over 150 submissions to be filmed and presented on their website in September. Then one winner will be chosen. Last year his monologue Waning Gibbous was the winner.
PLAYWRIGHT DIRECTOR AND ACTOR F.J. HARTLAND
F.J. recently retired from teaching theater at Saint Francis University. He holds a BA in English from Westminster College and an MFA in playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a professional actor and an award-winning director.
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F.J.’s New Works show Across a Crowded Room will run August 25-28, so you still have time to buy tickets.