Posted on Tuesday, March 9, 2010
2010 Summer Camp for Creative Writers
Grades 4-12, College, and Adults
Click for a downloadable flier .doc
Flier in a .pdf
This is our eleventh year sponsoring Fine Lines creative writing summer camps for students of all ages. Join writers who add clarity and passion to their lives with the written word.
We will have fun with words, learn to play while developing poems-stories-essays, and discover creative corners of our minds that we did not know existed. Metaphorically, we will take our journal under a “shade tree” and talk together about issues that matter. We will swim around important “buoys” in our educational journeys. We will row a boat to a “lighthouse” that shows us our path through the fog. We will take our minds for a “jog” to the library. We will learn to write more, write faster, and write better. More than anything, though, we will create time to dream about our ideas and celebrate the power and beauty of words.
Where: Beveridge Magnet Middle School
When: June 14-18, 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. || Read more »
Tags: Beveridge, Camp, children, david, fun, lighthouse, martin, students, summer, write, writing
Posted in: Camp, Events, News |
Posted on Wednesday, March 3, 2010
“I’m Sorry Mom, but I Couldn’t Help It”
Karen O’Leary
The phrase was invented to thwart Mother Wrath and reduce any hard working mother to putty in her kids’ hands. And, it is guaranteed to send shivers down the spine of even the most seasoned Veteran Mom.
Picture this scene. I’m dedicating my already sore fingers to a mound of fresh vegetables, trying to prepare a truly nutritious and wholesome meal for my family of four. A loud crash echoes from our basement. My heart hammers in my chest as I brake for the stairs, my mind rolling through a list of possible casualties. My foot slips on the carpet, but I manage to right myself before breaking my neck. || Read more »
Tags: candle, daughter, mom, mother, O' Leary, sorry
Posted in: Essays, Read the Journal |
Posted on Sunday, December 20, 2009
A Delicious Warmth
Jazmond Goss
“Our Fine Lines mission is to provide a beacon of hope for the misunderstood, share a global vision of improved literacy, embrace the passion of human diversity, understand the need for clarity in all communication, and create the lives we desire through the written word.
Fine Lines is a national, literary, quarterly journal dedicated to publishing writers of all ages and interests. Led by dedicated volunteers who provide creative oversight, it is an inclusive, nurturing, nonprofit, educational, creative writing community engaged in the thoughtful pursuit of beauty and truth.”
Our Motto: “Write On”
******
A delicious warmth engulfs me as I walk into Julio’s Restaurant from the biting cold outside. The smells of tempting, unidentifiable foods tickle my nose and tantalize my taste buds. A small murmur permeates the room; a burst of laughter breaks out in the back, and I know where my party is sitting. Making my way to the longest table, compiled of several shorter tables strung together, the Fine Lines Special Editors sit close to a window, and several people are reading, eating, or chatting.
Looking up from his papers, David Martin smiles a welcome to me. A few of the ladies at the table look up and smile also, as he extends his hand; I take it in greeting, and he asks me how I’ve been, how I like UNL, and brags to a companion across the table, “She went to Amherst last year,” as I take my seat. I smile, meekly, a little uncomfortable in this new environment. I had never been to one of the Fine Lines Special Editors’ meetings before, despite being an Online Editor for a year.
|| Read more »
Posted in: Essays, Read the Journal |
Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009
by Reverend Charles Stephen
“Above the generations, the lonely prophets rise,
while truth flings dawn and daystar within their slowing eyes.
And other eyes beholding are kindled by that light
and dawn becomes the morning, the darkness put to flight.”
These lines from the hymn, “The Morning Hangs a Signal” with lyrics by William Channing Gannett, 1840-1923, proclaim the glory of the light. There is nothing unusual there; we find ourselves frequently proclaiming the glory of the light, even today, when “We sing, when night is darkest, the day’s returning glow.”
We are much in love with candles, candles of memory, chalices, and holiday lights in our windows. Light is metaphorically a good thing. Images of daylight and its beauty flood our vocabulary. Light is good, and darkness is, well, not so good. Daylight is good, and nighttime is something to get through. || Read more »
Posted in: Essays, Read the Journal |
Posted on Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Cadaver
Elizabeth Baltaro
It was not as scary as we had imagined,
when we opened the metal crypt
that cradled our body, our cadaver.
The first thing I noticed were bright pink nails.
Without stories, clothing, hair, nor jewelry,
the meager remains of a lifetime
were painted on her fingers. || Read more »
Tags: baltaro, cadaver, elizabeth, liz, poem, Poetry
Posted in: Poetry |
Posted on Saturday, October 17, 2009
Beethoven or Baseball?
14.4 Winter 2005
David Martin
When I write at a computer, I often hear instrumental music with a piano leading the melody. I never notice words or lyrics. As I place my fingers on the keyboard, I sense a concert hall and a quiet audience, waiting. I hear a symphony in the background, and I see Ludwig van Beethoven in my mind.
Why music? Why the piano? Why Beethoven? More importantly, why at the computer? After years of wondering, the answer became clear to me one night, as I tied sentences together and coasted into the 3 a.m. darkness. || Read more »
Tags: baseball, beethoven, david, martin, mom, mother, piano
Posted in: Essays |
Posted on Saturday, October 17, 2009
Believe in Small Things
David Martin
16.4 Winter 2007 Fine Lines
(Often, David Martin stuttered in school, because he could think faster than he could talk. Many times, he felt like a slow learner, but he wanted to become a better student. On his own, he figured out that most class situations revolved around reading issues. If he could read better, he thought he would perform at a higher level. He read as much as he could in his room, alone, and when he started getting better grades, he stuttered less. When he learned to process his answers after hearing the teacher’s questions and was allowed time enough to think his thoughts through, he stopped stuttering altogether. He figured this out by learning to enjoy reading.) || Read more »
Tags: david, education, essay, martin
Posted in: Essays |
Fine Lines is entering its eighteenth consecutive year of providing a place
where creative writers can share their written ideas with others. The
journal, therefore, is dedicated to the writing development of all its
members. What started out as a classroom project is now a fifty-state
network of authors who love the written word and have the support of a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Messages from Summer Camp 2009
Messages from 2009 Fine Lines
Creative Writing Summer Campers
“Writing to some people is a joke. To me, it is my life. I have never
been in a place where I have felt so welcome, because of my talent.”
Ellen Garfoot
“I plan to keep on writing, because now, the words just flow in my
head. Before this camp, that did not happen. I think this experience
made me a better writer.” Mandie Livermore
“I enjoyed all the speakers, but I enjoyed most the two boys who played
a guitar and the piano. Their songs sounded like good poems put to
music.” Catie Doran
“This camp was the best experience I have had in a long time, because
not only did I enjoy it, but I could share my writing gift with others.”
Andrea Dai
“I was surprised how many jobs are connected to good writing techniques.”
Taylor Sutherland
|| Read more »
Tags: adair, albeck, bexten, bravo, Camp, claire, comments, d'souza, dai, doran, garfoot, grier, hansen, hollenbeck, horpedahl, lavender, livermore, misek, sloan, summer, sutherlans, venditte, vinchur, white, wogeman, young
Posted in: Camp |
[ No Comments ]