Summer 2011 Catalogue

summer literary festivalConnections: Coming Together

july 8-24, 2011

gemini ink 20112summer catalogue

¡ s a l u d o s ! Now swarthy Summer, by rude health embrowned, Precedence takes of rosy fingered Spring; And laughing Joy, with wild flowers prank’d, and crown’d, A wild and giddy thing….

John Clare

Rude health and laughing joy indeed! We wish that kind of summer for our city, our world, our family, friends and neighbors, and for you as we race into another heatedly inspired Gemini Ink summer literary festival. We’ll crown you with wildflowers galore, from ekphrastic explorations based in Chinese poetics led by renowned visiting poet Arthur Sze to writing family heirlooms coached by prolific Texas writer Jan Seale. Visiting Diné (Navajo) poet Orlando White will encourage students to express all the worlds that make up their experience, and award-winning fiction writers Christine Granados and Tim Z. Hernandez will mine the art of story from chisme to performance. Our wildflower creative writing camps for kids will be led by beloved writer/teachers Donna Peacock and Trey Moore, and there’ll be private appointments with veteran book editor and publisher Lucy Chambers, formerly of New York, now in Houston. What else? Readings and conversations with writers and each other, dramatic readers theater, another showing of a POV documentary from PBS, a community talk on neighborhoods, and much, much more – all built around this summer’s theme, Connections: Coming Together. Has there ever been a better time or a greater need to connect? If you’re a reader, a writer, a dreamer, a thinker, a word fanatic of any stripe – join us at the festival! And speaking of connections and coming together, check out our website for writing from our Writers in Communities (WIC) outreach program. WIC encourages focused reading, writing, and exchange at all skill levels in elementary schools, justice settings, senior centers, and more. We believe that honoring one’s own story leads to the stories of others – that literacy takes its strongest root through literature.

Rosemary Catacalos Executive | Artistic Director

Gemini Ink, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, is extremely grateful for contributions from avid readers and writers, as well as grants from the George W. Brackenridge Foundation, Brown Foundation, City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs, Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation, Edouard Foundation, Frost National Bank, theFund, Guerra • DeBerry • Coody Marketing and Communications, H-E-B, King William Association, Albert and Bessie Mae Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, Ruth Lang Charitable Fund and Beulah M. and Felix J. Katz Memorial Trust of the San Antonio Area Foundation, Lifshutz Foundation, Martin Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Rackspace Foundation, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, San Antonio Express-News, Shield-Ayres Foundation, Smothers Foundation, Jack and Doris Smothers and Mary Ann Smothers Bruni Memorial Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, and Wayne Wright Lawyers.

a b o u t G e m i n i I n kGemini Ink nurtures writers and readers and builds community through literature and the related arts. At Gemini Ink we believe human story in all its diverse and complicated forms and genres — from poetry and fiction to memoir and oral tradition — is essential to developing compassion and rich-ness in both individual and community life. We encourage focused reading, writing, and exchange at every level, from elementary school student to incarcerated youth and from polished professional to the elder who has always wanted to record her family stories.

Cover art: Title; Five birds [on branch]. Creator: Donat, Joseph, 1874-1924, artist. Date Published: 1948. From Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

3gemini ink 2011 summer catalogue

s u m m e r 2 0 1 1 s c h e d u l e

Dates Classes & Events Page

Wednesday, May 18 Summer Registration Begins page 22

Friday, June 3 First Friday Open Mic page 15

Friday, July 8 Festival Reading page 15

Saturday, July 9 Poetry / Sze page 5 Fiction / Granados page 4 Sunday, July 10 Multi-Genre / Chambers page 7 Private Consultations/Chambers page 7

Monday, July 11 Young Writers Camp (ages 13-18) Moore & Peacock* page 9

Thursday, July 14 POV Film Screening page 15


Saturday, July 16 Poetry / White page 5 Memoir / Seale page 6

Sunday, July 17 Lifelong Learning / Ingham page 8 Community Talk page 15

Monday, July 18 Young Writers Camp (ages 8-12) page 9 Moore & Peacock*

Thursday, July 21 2 To Watch page 23


Saturday, July 23 Poetry / Lambeth page 6 Fiction / Hernandez page 4

Sunday, July 24 Lifelong Learning / Griest page 8 Young Writers Camp Reading page 15 Dramatic Readers Theater page 20 Summer Festival Ends Friday, August 5 First Friday Staff Reading page 15

Note: Classes are shown here by genre and instructor(s). See page listings for detailed class descriptions and registration deadlines. *Multi-session courses are shown with an asterisk.


About Our Classes Are you interested in music, photography, theater, science, or philosophy? Are you a teacher searching for ideas to use in the classroom? Are you a business professional wanting to polish your communication skills? Do you enjoy books and good conversation? Maybe you’ve always wanted to be a writer, but you’re not sure how to get started. Or you’re a writer whose work needs more attention. The University Without Walls program offers a wide range of classes and workshops for anyone with an inquisitive mind. Whether you’re curious about ideas or deeply committed to the craft of writing, you’ll find the literary camaraderie you’re looking for at Gemini Ink. Our faculty members have extensive credentials and are committed to teaching. At the heart of our classes are creative, intelligent, and talented students like you. Join our community and make Gemini Ink part of your life. Course LevelsBeginner: Writers or readers who are new to the course subject and/or design.Intermediate: Writers or readers who have background knowledge of the course subject, will complete required readings, and will actively participate in class discussion. These writers have had working practice with this aspect of craft and have participated in at least one writing workshop (either with Gemini Ink or elsewhere); they are comfortable with in-class writing exercises.I n t e r m e d i a t e / A d v a n c e d : Intermediate level requirements, plus a knowledge of all technical and formal aspects pertinent to this class. Participants are experienced in critical analysis. Writers have a history of practical experience in this area, have participated in several writing workshops, and are probably researching the publication process (and have a realistic understanding of its demands). A d v a n c e d : I n t e r m e d i a t e /Advanced requirements, plus extensive knowledge of this course subject. Each participant is something of an expert in this field. Each writer has attained a professional level, that is, writing has become an integral part of her/his routine and her/his work is of publication quality.

Course levels are self-selected.

classesFICTION

#1 Create ConflictLevel: IntermediateInstructor: Christine GranadosIf you want to write a good story, tell good chisme, or deliver a good joke, you must first build tension. This conflict is what keeps people interested and wondering how your story will end. Through a series of writing exercises, liter-ary analysis, and critique sessions, you will learn how to make your own stories come alive. In this class, we’ll analyze short stories filled with ten-sion and write conflict-filled scenes, as well as critique each other’s in-class works. Please read Anton Chekhov’s Enemies, Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour and Dagoberto Gilb’s Uncle Rock before coming to class. Bring a notebook and pen or pencil. Date: Saturday, July 9, 9am-4pm (1-hour lunch break) Limit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 6CPE Credits: 7 Language ArtsFee: $100 Discounted Fee: $90

#2 Kill the Ones You Love: Turning Real Lives into Fiction Level: IntermediateInstructor: Tim Z. HernandezWhat does it mean to remain true to the ones we write about? How do we approach our charac-ters and their situations with dispassion when we hold such deep connections and often personal relationships with them? Must we sacrifice them in order to write reality? And if they are still alive, what do we owe them? If you are grappling with these tough questions, this workshop is for you. We will engage in lively discussion about the pro-cess of letting go in order to bring components together. Participants must submit, no later than July 15th, five pages or less of a project they are working on. Be prepared to share openly. Date: Saturday, July 23, 10am-3pm (1-hour lunch break)Limit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 20CPE Credits: 5 Language ArtsFee: $90 Discounted Fee: $80


How to Register A registration form appears on page 22. Please mail the completed form to Gemini Ink at 513 S. Presa, San Antonio, TX 78205, along with your class tuition and registration fee. You may also register by visiting our website at www.geminiink.org, calling us at 210.734.9673 (877.734.9673, toll-free), or visiting our office at the above address.

Registration Fee Be sure to include the $10 registration fee in your total. The fee is required each time you enroll for classes and helps cover expenses like registration staffing, classroom maintenance, handouts, flyers, mailings, and supplies. If you are taking several classes, register for them all at once to avoid paying multiple registration fees!

Credit Card Payments Gemini Ink accepts Discover, VISA, and MasterCard payments for class tuition or contributions. For more information, please call the office at 210.734.9673.

Registration and Payment Policies Registration and payment should be made as soon as possible. Class size is limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis. After the published deadline, we accept registrations on a space-available basis. We will charge a $10 processing fee for any returned check.

Class Cancellations Gemini Ink reserves the right to cancel or reschedule courses to adjust for enrollment. If it is necessary to cancel a course, all registered participants will be informed immediately and will be extended the opportunity to transfer to another course. If participants enrolled in a canceled class do not wish to transfer, a full refund will be made.

Discounts on Class Tuition! The class fee reflects our existing 10% discount. An additional 5% deduction is offered to educators, seniors (65+), and students. Refer five friends to any University Without Walls class or combination of classes, and we’ll waive your tuition for one class or workshop. Some restrictions apply. Call the office at 210.734.9673 for details.

POETRY

#3 Language of CommunitiesLevel: AllInstructor: Orlando WhiteIn his essay “Converging Wor[l]ds” poet Sher-win Bitsui states, “Poetry in its essence has no boundaries and can bridge divergent worlds.” In this poetry-writing workshop we will explore how various languages of inner and outer com-munities inform poetic sensibilities. This course will encourage students to contemplate and express the unobvious and unexpected within their lingual and environing space. Students will create different modes of writing via cultural milieu, urban and pastoral landscapes, dialectal vocabularies, social and political venues, and commercial culture. Authors we will read include: Layli Long Soldier, dg nanouk okpik, Natanya Pulley, Sherwin Bitsui, and Santee Frazier.Date: Saturday, July 16, 10am-2pm (1-hour lunch break)Limit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 13CPE Credits: 3 Language ArtsFee: $75 Discounted Fee: $65

#4 Spokes to a Hub: Converging ConnectionsLevel: AllInstructor: Arthur SzeAssemblage art and Chinese poetry are the hub in this “chariot wheel of poetry” class. We will create our own poems, or spokes, by using those two art forms as sources of inspiration. From Joseph Cornell’s juxtaposition of objects to the modernization of Chinese poetics in Chinese Writers on Writing, this class combines ekphras-tic poetry and evocative responsiveness. We’ll make meaningful connections, and generate insightful work.Date: Saturday, July 9, 9am-2pm(1-hour lunch break)Limit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 6CPE Credits: 5 Language ArtsFee: $90 Discounted Fee: $80


#5 Writing Of Affliction / Writing As AfflictionLevel: AllInstructor: Laurie LambethBritish poet Sean O’Brien has stated that poetry is more of an “affliction” than a career, an “imaginative necessity,” inescapable, chronic, fraught with dry spells and fevers of productivity. Afflicted by this writing bug and needing to write from their experience, poets writing about illness and pain must further strive to represent illness in language, rising above simple self-expression into the realm of art. In this workshop we will discuss connections between these two kinds of affliction in poetry, read representative poems across history to our contemporary moment, and engage in writing exercises to help participants hone their craft. Date: Saturday, July 23, 10am-3pm(1-hour lunch break)Limit:15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 20CPE Credits: 5 Language ArtsFee: $90 Discounted Fee: $80

MEMOIR

#6 Written HeirloomLevel: AllInstructor: Jan SealeThis workshop is designed to help you write the family stories that you know need to be pre-served. The emphasis will be twofold: telling family stories in an interesting way and organizing the stories into a unified whole. We’ll study examples of different methods such as character sketches, anecdotes, dialogues, and interviews. Also, we’ll tackle challenges such as how to write about colorful characters or what to do when one’s account differs from that of a sibling. We’ll discuss ways of organizing the collection and how to go about getting it into a permanent final form.Date: Saturday, July 16, 10am-4pm(1-hour lunch break)Limit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 13CPE Credits: 5 Language ArtsFee: $90 Discounted Fee: $80

Withdrawals A student may withdraw from a Gemini Ink workshop at any time. The student must notify the office at least 5 business days prior to the first date of the workshop to be eligible for full tuition refunds, minus a $25 withdrawal fee. Alternately, tuition transfers to another class are available within the same semester.

Withdrawal notifications not made within 5 business days of the workshop are not eligible for tuition refunds, but students may transfer tuition to another class within the same semester, minus a $25 late withdrawal fee and/or faculty cost.

Withdrawal notifications made the day of the workshop or after the workshop has begun are not eligible for refunds or transfers of any kind.

Transfer of tuition across semesters is not possible. Failure to attend sessions or verbal notification to instructor will not be regarded as official notice of withdrawal.

Refunds will be processed within 14 business days. Refund checks must be cashed within 90 days of the check date. Otherwise, we will have to charge for any stop-payment costs we incur.

Special Info Occasionally classes will be photographed or videotaped. Please notify the instructor if you wish to be excluded. Adult classes are open to high school students by permission of the instructor only. On occasion, classes may deviate from the published course descriptions.

Volunteering. Do the Write Thing. Work toward a free class! We offer lots of opportunities and a variety of work to do. To learn more, please call 210.734.9673 and pitch in!

Be good to the earth... Please recycle!

Paper-free people may receive all catalogue information online at

our website www.geminiink.org


Credit for Teachers Gemini Ink is registered with the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) as a provider of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) activities for standard certificate renewal for teachers. CPE credits are listed next to each course description. Credit should be requested at the time of registration. Certificates will be mailed within 7 days of course completion.

Business and Professional Managers If you are looking for an exciting continuing education experience for your valued employees, a Gemini Ink class is ideal. University Without Walls class offerings begin on page 4. For writing instruction in the workplace, contact the Writers in Communities program director at our office. Whether held at our site or yours, our classes will enrich your employees’ lives on and off the job.

Course Texts Most course texts and faculty books can be purchased at the Gemini Ink office during business hours (call for availability), or at The Twig Book Shop, 200 E. Grayson, Ste. 124, 1.800.SAYTWIG. The Twig donates 20% of our in-office book sales to Gemini Ink.www.thetwig.indiebound.com

Manuscript Submissions For courses requiring advance manuscripts, please e-mail an attachment to [email protected]. Manuscripts must have at least one-inch margins, be in an easily legible font, adhere to the instructor’s specified length limitations, and, if fiction, be double-spaced. Please note that Gemini Ink is unable to reformat manuscripts that don’t meet these guidelines. Include your instructor’s name, along with your name and contact information. The email should indicate “manuscript” and class number in the subject line. Manuscripts will be circulated electronically for advance critique. Please bring one hard copy to class. Manuscripts submitted after the published deadline will be distributed in class and discussed only at the instructor’s discretion.

MULTI-GENRE

#7 Writing Vs Publishing: Get in the Editor’s HeadLevel: Intermediate and aboveInstructor: Lucy ChambersWriters want to introduce their ideas to the broadest market possible but often resent the idea of the publisher’s commercial values affecting their work. The distance between the author’s head and the marketplace is vast; the journey can be an easy progression of collaborative understanding or it can be a painful, unproductive experience. Objective clarity about the manuscript is often the most difficult aspect of the publication process for authors. In this class we will discuss the points of view and goals of the author, the editor and the publishing house, how each interacts with the others, and how authors can utilize the resources that currently exist in the world of publishing. We’ll also discuss the variety of publishing outlets and marketplaces, what constitutes viability in various markets, and how to discuss your work with decision-makers in publishing so that your final product remains close to your original vision.Date: Sunday, July 10, 9am - 10:30amLimit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, June 15Fee: $50 Discounted Fee: $45

#8 Private Appointments with EditorLevel: Intermediate and AboveEditor: Lucy ChambersSubmit a proposal that explains the viability of your manuscript and 25 pages, double-spaced, of sample writing by June 15. We will meet for 30 minutes and discuss both your pitch and your prose from the point of view of the editor or agent trying to decide if they want to take you on as an author. Note: poetry not eligible.Date: Sunday, July 10, 11:30am-8pmLimit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, June 15Fee: $50 Discounted Fee: $45


Thank You We are grateful to our many Gemini Ink donors and funders who make it possible to keep your tuition affordable.

Interested in Teaching? Proposals for classes are invited! Generally, we require that our faculty have significant publishing and teaching experience. Please send a sample course outline, résumé/curriculum vitae, and (if possible) a copy of a recent book. Direct your materials to [email protected], or, to teach in community settings, send to [email protected].

Plans in the MakingParents! If your children are interested in classes/workshops for young writers, please call our office at 210.734.9673 to get on our planning list. When we have ten potential students, we’ll try to put a workshop together, depending on instructor availability and compatible ages in the group.

Where to Find Us Unless otherwise noted, events take place in our bright green building at 513 S. Presa in Southtown/King William. If you are coming from 35&10, exit Durango Blvd. East. Drive to S. Presa and turn right. We are on your right. From 37/281, exit Durango Blvd. West. Drive to the stoplight at S. Alamo and turn left; take the next right on S. Presa. We are on your left almost at the end of the block.

Parking Parking for classes and events at our facility is available in front of the building, along the street, and across the street in the lot marked “Gemini Ink.” In the interest of being good neighbors, we ask that you not park in the El Mirador restaurant lot next door.

Accessibility Gemini Ink provides parking for the physically challenged in front of the building, which is wheelchair accessible. Office Hours Monday - Friday, 9 am - 5 pm; closed on all major holidays.

LIFELONG LEARNING

#9 Giving Life to Your StoriesLevel: AllInstructor: Donna InghamThe oral tradition dates back to the time of pre-historic caves and campfires and has progressed to include modern-day storytelling on front porches, around dining tables, and even in con-cert halls. It is a basic means of communication and, at its best, can be considered an art form. Like Mark Twain, for example, writers today can bring their stories off the printed page and into the ears of listeners with dramatic results. How? That’s what this class is all about: discovering through discussion and exercises how to shape, learn (not memorize), and present written stories orally.Date: Sunday, July 17, 10am-3pm(1-hour lunch break)Limit: 15 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 13CPE Credits: 4 Language ArtsFee: $65 Discounted Fee: $55

#10 Travel Writing 101Level: AllInstructor: Stephanie GriestWant a dateline from Zanzibar? Learn how in this workshop, which covers the full spectrum of travel writing – from blogs to magazine articles to books – as well as basic craft elements, such as description, dialogue, and character development. We’ll share tips on how to travel overseas on somebody else’s budget, including press trips, grants, scholarships, and work-gigs as a teacher or “grammar gypsy.” The class will conclude with a business overview, including how and where to sell and promote your work. Date: Sunday, July 24, 9am-1pmLimit: 15 participantsRegistration Deadline: Wednesday, July 20CPE Credits: 3 Language ArtsFee: $65 Discounted Fee: $55


Gift Shop Our inventory includes books by current and previous Gemini Ink faculty; signed, limited edition prints, handmade chapbooks of the works of Gemini award winners, and gift certificates for University Without Walls classes and workshops. We also stock the literary journal, Rain Taxi, which is free for the taking.

Lending Library Gemini Ink has an eclectic array of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and how-to-write books, as well as literary journals that are available to borrow. Please stop by and check out our titles.

Facilities Rental The Gemini Ink conference room is available for $20/hour, while the large meeting room is available for a $30/hour rental fee. Please call the office for details.

StaffRosemary Catacalos Executive | Artistic DirectorRachel Christilles* Financial OfficerErika Nadeau Morgan Director, University Without WallsAnisa Onofre Director, Writers in Communities Evelyn Reyes Managing DirectorMichael Swellander Director, CommunicationsCarolene Zehner Registrar | Operations ManagerLindsey Clepper*Assistant, Writers in Communities*part-timeOpen Writers VolunteersDario Beniquez Facilitator, Open Writing Workshop Jim Dawes Facilitator, Open Writing WorkshopRoland Huff Facilitator, Open Writing WorkshopOffice VolunteerGretchen Zehner-VazquezConsultantsGloria Pins Arecchi CPABett Butler & Pamela Dean Kenny Dramatic Readers TheaterLouis Fincias, Information TechnologyInternMaria Tariq

YOUNG WRITERS CAMP

“Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads.” Herman Melville

A Thousand Invisible ThreadsInstructors: Trey Moore and Donna Peacock

All things connect. In a playful and supportive environment, students and instructors, together, will explore the possibilities and connections among the arts as one creative experience. Myth, music, art, story-telling, poetry, sharing: a coming together while encouraging and celebrating the individual voices of young writers. Finally, on July 24th, all camp participants are invited to share their work in a public reading at Gemini Ink.

#11 Session I (ages 13 – 18)Dates: Monday – Friday, July 11 – July 15, 10:30am - 1:30pmLimit: 20 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: July 6Required Materials: Bring your favorite writing tools and a sack lunchFee: $160 Discounted Fee: $145

#12 Session II (ages 8 – 12)Date: Monday – Friday, July 18 – July 22, 10:30am - 1:30pmLimit: 20 ParticipantsRegistration Deadline: July 13Required Materials: Bring your favorite writing tools and a sack lunchFee: $160 Discounted Fee: $145

Public Reading: Sunday, July 24, 2pmFor Sessions I and II


Gemini Ink Board of Directors

Mallory Belt Ahl Public Finance, Frost BankMarian Aitches Senior Lecturer in History, University of Texas at San AntonioRosemary Catacalos (Ex officio), Executive | Artistic Director, WriterTess Coody Partner, Guerra . DeBerry Coody Marketing & Communications, WriterEusebio Díaz Program Director, Baptist Health Foundation of San AntonioWilliam A. Dupont, AIA San Antonio Conservation Society Endowed Professor of Architecture, University of Texas at San AntonioJulie Hasdorff Attorney, Hasdorff & Convery, PCJames Heidelberg Attorney, Escamilla & Poneck, Inc.María Luisa Holmgreen on leaveLee Robinson Attorney WriterJosie Seeligson Freelance writer, Photographer and Tree FarmerAïssatou Sidimé Communications specialist, Business Financial Group

National Advisory BoardDorothy Allison San FranciscoRobert Boswell HoustonSandra Cisneros San AntonioKaty Flato San AntonioRobert Flynn San AntonioErnest J. Gaines LouisianaEdward Hirsch New YorkTony Hoagland HoustonPhillip Lopate New YorkTerry McMillan CaliforniaW.S. Merwin HawaiiAntonya Nelson HoustonNaomi Shihab Nye San AntonioGregory Orr CharlottesvilleCarolyn Osborn AustinMartha Rhodes New YorkRichard Russo MaineJohn Phillip Santos San AntonioEllen Bryant Voigt VermontChuck Wachtel New York Marion Winik Pennsylvania

U W W f a c u l t y e x c e r p t sLooking Back on the Muckleshoot Reservation from Galisteo Street, Santa Fe

The bow of a Muckleshoot canoe, blessed with eagle feather and sprig of yellow cedar, is launched into a bay. A girl watches her mother fry venison slabs on a skillet— drops of blood sizzle, evaporate. Becausea neighbor feeds them, they eat wordlessly;the silence breaks when she occasionally gags, reaches into her throat, pulls out hair.Gone is the father, riled, arguing with his boss, who drove to the shooting range after work;gone the accountant who embezzled funds, displayed a pickup, and proclaimed a winningflush at the casino. You donate chicken soupand clothes but never learn if they arrive at the south end of the city. Your small acts are sandpiper tracks in wet sand.Newspapers, plastic containers, beer bottlesfill the bins along this sloping one-way street.

Arthur Szefrom The Ginkgo Light

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Imperative

Break a sentence; use letters for teeth.In a word missing a letter, place a tooth.Flick a period off the page with a fingernail.Press on the black dot; smear into a comma.Separate a skeleton into verbs and subjects.Until ink comes out, pinch a letter.Use letters shaped like bones; connect a word.In the sockets of a skull, put commas.Push a verb to push a noun off the page.Until it softens, rub bone against paper.Boil the skeleton of a sentence into ink.Suck the marrow out of a letter.Grind up a piece of bone; make calcium ink.For paper, soak skin in bleach.Erase a letter until it looks like a tooth.Amputate one letter to fix another.Pull a punctuation mark from a sentence.At end of sentence, remove the tiny black skull. Crack a sentence; let the ink drain.Dip a bone into ink; leave it to dry.Take a bone and lay it before a verb.Shake punctuation off the page.Scrape the paper from a letter.To erase a sentence, remove your tongue.Bleach paper then put on face.Use commas to connect bones.Extract the ink from a sentence.Rinse a letter in bleach; wring it out.With the edges of paper, skin yourself;bathe in bleach until flesh slides off;get out and lie down like a sentence.

Orlando White from Bone Light

Rochelle was obsessed. Because all those ridiculous magazines never listed mariachis or dollar dances, she decided her wedding was going to have a string quartet, no bajo, horns, or anything, no dollar dance, and it was go-ing to be in October. It was going to be a bland affair, outside in a tent, like the weddings up North in the “elegance of autumn” that she read about in the thick glossy pages of the magazines. I wasn’t going to tell her there is no “elegance” to autumn in El Paso. Autumn is either “scramble a huevo on the hood of your car hot,” or wind so strong the sand it blows stings your face and arms.

Christine Granadosfrom The Bride


Lucy Chambers began her career in the Junior Literary Guild, before becoming an editor in Doubleday & Com-pany’s general trade division. In addition, Chambers has worked as a book designer, a literary agent, an English teacher and a bookstore clerk. She became a partner in Bright Sky Press in 2008. As Editorial Director at Bright Sky, Chambers brings a broad understanding of books and writ-ing into every project. After determining a project’s editorial needs, she edits, rewrites or hires appropriate editorial tal-ent and oversees the process. Bright Sky’s editorial capa-

bilities range from conceptualizing to providing a writer or a ghost-writer, and from structural edits to copy edits and final proofs. Chambers’ goal is to maximize authors’ ability to express their message in books that exemplify their visions and voices and convey them to the broadest market possible.

Stephanie Elizondo Griest has mingled with the Russian Mafia, polished Chinese propaganda, and belly danced with Cuban rumba queens. These adventures inspired her award-winning memoirs Around the Bloc: My Life in Mos-cow, Beijing, and Havana; Mexican Enough: My Life Be-tween the Borderlines; and the guidebook 100 Places Every Woman Should Go. As a National Correspondent for The Odyssey, she once drove 45,000 miles across America in a Honda Hatchback named Bertha. She has won a Hodder Fellowship to Princeton, a Richard Margolis Award for Social Justice Reporting, and a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Gold Prize. Visit her website at www.mexicanenough.com.

Open Writing WorkshopJoin this peer-driven workshop facilitated by longtime Gemini Ink volunteers Dario Beniquez, Jim Dawes and Roland Huff. Share your writing and get feedback on works-in-progress in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. The workshop is held from 6:30 - 8:30 pm on the last Monday of every month at Gemini Ink, 513 S. Presa. This summer’s Open Writing Workshops dates: May 30, June 27, July 25, and August 29. Bring 6 - 10 copies of your work to share! Free and open to all writers!

s u m m e r 2 0 1 1 f a c u l t y

Christine Granados was born and raised in El Paso. Her collection of short stories, Brides and Sinners in El Chuco, was published in 2006 by the University of Arizona Press. She has been a Spur Award finalist and winner of the Al-fredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation Award from the Ma-condo Foundation. Christine’s fiction and nonfiction has appeared in the Evergreen Review, Callaloo, NPR’s Latino USA, Texas Observer, El Andar, and others. Her work has been included in several college textbooks and antholo-gies, including Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina

and Latino Writing. She received a BA in Communications from U.T. El Paso and an MFA in creative writing from Texas State University. Granados has worked as an editor at Moderna and Hispanic magazines for several years, and as a journal-ist for the El Paso Times, Austin American-Statesman, Rockdale Reporter, and People Magazine. She currently teaches at the University of Houston-Victoria.


Tim Z. Hernandez is an award-winning writer and performer originally from California. His debut book of poetry, Skin Tax (Heyday Books, 2004) received the American Book Award and the Zora Neal Hurston Award in 2006. His novel, Breathing, In Dust (Texas Tech University Press, 2010) was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and hailed by book critic Alan Cheuse. He is a frequent visiting author at major universities, including: UTEP, Stanford, and UC Riverside. His performances have been featured across the U.S. in venues such as The Getty Center in Los Angeles, Dixon Experimental Theater in New York City,

and Stanford University. He currently lives in Colorado with his wife and children.

Laurie Clements Lambeth is the author of Veil and Burn (University of Illinois Press, 2008), which was selected by Maxine Kumin for the 2006 National Poetry Series. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in Cra-zyhorse, Seneca Review, The Paris Review, American Letters and Commentary, Mid-American Review, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA and a PhD from the Uni-versity of Houston, where she teaches part-time. She has also taught creative writing at The Methodist Hospital and Inprint Houston. She is currently at work on a mem-oir, and on her second collection of poems, Bright Pane.

A retired English professor turned storyteller and author, Donna Ingham has over 30 years of teaching experi-ence and has four books to her credit, so far. Her books reflect her interest in Texana with titles such as Tales with a Texas Twist, You Know You’re in Texas When, 1,001 Greatest Things Ever Said About Texas, and Mys-teries and Legends of Texas. She has two new Texas-themed books coming out in the fall of 2011. In addition, she is an award-winning storyteller who performs at fes-tivals, conferences, schools, libraries, and other venues.

Trey Moore holds an MFA from Texas State University. He teaches poetry in elementary, middle, and high schools, homeless shelters, drug courts, libraries and juvenile de-tention centers. Founder and director of the New Ground, an environmental arts action group, this citizen journal-ism/art project serves communities in need. He has be-gun collecting stories and oral interviews from men and women in the coalfields of Eastern Kentucky. Recent re-cipient of a Prague Summer Program scholarship and San Antonio Artist of the Month, his book, Some Will Play the Cello, is a finalist for the Bob Bush Memorial Award for first book of poetry. His website is www.treymoore.org.

I N M E M O R I A M

JOHN HAINES b.1924 ERNESTO SÁBATO b.1911IAKAVOS KAMBANELIS b.1922 CLAUDE STANUSH b.1918VICTOR MARTINEZ b.1954 JANINE POMMY VEGA b.1942REYNOLDS PRICE b.1933 LANFORD WILSON b.1937GONZALO ROJAS b.1917 HISAYE YAMAMOTO b.1921


Orlando White is originally from Tólikan, Arizona. He is Diné of the Naaneesht’ézhi Tábaahí and born for the Naakai Diné’e. He holds a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and an MFA from Brown University. His poems have appeared in The Florida Review, The Kenyon Review, Omnidawn: Poetry Feature Blog, Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics, Superstition Review, and elsewhere. He has taught at Brown University, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and The Art Center Design College. He teaches at Diné College and lives in Tsaile, Arizona. Bone Light (Red Hen Press, 2009) is his first book.

Jan Seale, from McAllen, has coached hundreds of people in writing their memoirs, both locally and nationally at conferences such as Ghost Ranch, New Mexico and Elderhostel. Her work includes six poetry volumes, a collection of short stories, a book of essays, a textbook, a biography, and ten children’s books, with short works appearing in such publications as Texas Monthly, The Yale Review, and Writer’s Digest. She was awarded an NEA fellowship. Seale has served on the Speakers’ Bureau of Humanities Texas, speaking on “Passing the Light: How Family Stories Shape Our Lives.”

Arthur Sze is the author of eight books of poetry, including The Ginkgo Light (2009), Quipu (2005), The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970-1998, and is also the editor of Chinese Writers on Writing (2010). He is the recipient of numer-ous awards, including a PEN Southwest Book Award, a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award, a Guggen-heim Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Award, and two NEA Creative Writing fellowships. He has conducted residen-cies at Brown University, Washington University, and the University of Utah. Professor emeritus at the Institute of American Indian Arts, he lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Donna Peacock is the author of two published non-fiction works, as well as both original and adapted material for children’s theatre productions. She was the first Director of Creative Writing at the North East School of the Arts, where she designed and implemented what was then the nation’s only high school four-year creative writing program. Cited for excellence and outstanding innova-tion in teaching of Humanities by the Texas Committee for the Humanities, she is also a memoirist, writing work-shop presenter, and creative writing curriculum designer.


PBS POV Documentary SeriesJoin us and SAY Sí as we view Off and Running, “an American coming-of-age story shaped by the new realities of an increasingly diverse American population, especially as those realities affect family life.”

Thursday, July 14 at 7pmSAY Sí

1518 S. AlamoSan Antonio, TX 78204

Free and Open to the Public

Community Talk

Featured panelists include Richard Reed of the River Road Neighborhood Association, Maria Watson of the King William Neighborhood Association, Jerrilene Keys of the Denver Heights Neighborhood Association, and journalist Angel Covarrubias. This summer’s Community Talk will explore the importance of neighborhood and how the connections we make strengthen our community.

Sunday, July 17 at 4:30pmGemini Ink

513 S. PresaFree and Open to the Public

w e w e l c o m e y o u t o g e t i n s p i r e d !Summer Reading Series

Friday, June 3, 6:30pm at Gemini Ink, 513 S. PresaOpen Mic - Call 734.9673 to register. Limited spaces available!

Friday, July 8, 6:30pm at Gemini Ink, 513 S. PresaChristine Granados andArthur Sze

Friday, July 15, 6:30pm at Gemini Ink, 513 S. PresaJan Seale and Orlando White

Friday, July 22, 6:30pm at Gemini Ink, 513 S. PresaTim Z. Hernandez and Laurie Lambeth

Sunday, July 24, 2pm at Gemini Ink, 513 S. Presa2011 Young Writers Camp Reading

Friday, August 5, 6:30pmat Gemini Ink, 513 S. PresaStaff Reading



w r i t e r s i n c o m m u n i t i e shelping people tell their stories

Our outreach program, Writers in Communities (WIC), sends professional writers into diverse community settings to work alongside students of all ages, needs, interests and abilities. WIC writing workshops, always free to participants, are offered in schools, juvenile justice settings, neighborhood community centers, and care facilities, among other venues. WIC writers-in-residence help students create dynamic writing projects, often reflecting their own lives, that celebrate, challenge, inspire and enlighten. Most WIC residencies culminate in the publication of an anthology of participants’ work and a celebratory community reading. The WIC program has expanded by more than 700% since the close of CY/FY 2002. This work builds the critical thinking, reading, writing, and verbal skills essential to a healthy and economically thriving populace.

Writers in Schools

Part two of the 2010-2011 collaboration with Rackspace and Northeast ISD continued this spring with White Middle School students in a six-week after-school creative writing workshop (the first part of the workshop was in collaboration with Krueger Middle School last fall). Some 15 students wrote about their neighborhood and lives, and their work is currently being produced on broadsides to be displayed by Windcrest and King William district merchants. An anthology of the combined work, with illustrations by Carolina G. Flores and Regina Moya, will be printed at the end of the school year.WIC teamed up with Bonham Academy’s after-school programming for the My Part of Town poetry project. Fourth and fifth grade students met with poet Trey Moore twice a week to write about their neighborhood, homes, and families. The broadsides will be displayed on walking tours in the King William and Deco districts this summer.Harlandale ISD funded a creative writing workshop for twelve teachers in their district to discuss creative teaching approaches in the classroom with poet Trey Moore.Writers in Juvenile Justice Settings

Our new partnership with the Texas Youth Commission and Austin ISD extends WIC’s outreach. This spring, veteran facilitator Grady Hillman ran a 12-week workshop at Turman Halfway House for a group of male youths. An anthology of their writings will be published this summer. Writing and Non-Violence were the focus for the writing workshop at the Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center where columnist Cary Clack and Trey Moore worked with incarcerated youth this spring. An anthology will be published this summer.WIC returned to AMIkids WINGS TEXAS (fka Wings For Life, Inc.) to work with a group of incarcerated teen mothers on a Storybook project. Regina Moya facilitated.

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RecentWriters in Communities

AnthologiesOpen Voices (Spring 2011); a book of writings by residents at the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter of Bexar County, with illustrations by Regina Moya.

Beauty Is… (Spring 2011); a small book of poems that ponder beauty, by third through fifth grade girls from Gilbert Elementary.

Neighborhood Odes (Spring 2011); a collection of 107 broadside displaying the poems of fourth and fifth graders from San Antonio ISD.

My Part of Town (Spring 2011); a book and broadsides illustrating ideas about neighborhood and community by students from both Krueger and White Middle schools in the Northeast ISD.

My Part of Town (Spring 2011); broadsides from Bonham Academy; third and fifth graders focus on neighborhood and community.

Writers in Communities Funders/Partners

Austin Independent School DistrictBattered Women and Children’s ShelterBexar County Juvenile Probation Dept.George W. Brackenridge FoundationDrug Court 386thHarlandale Independent School DistrictKing William AssociationNorth East Independent School DistrictAlice Kleberg Reynolds FoundationRackspace FoundationSan Antonio Independent School DistrictTexas Commission on the ArtsTexas Youth CommissionTurman Halfway HouseWayne Wright Injury Lawyers

Visit our Facebook page

(www.facebook.com/

writersincommunities) for

more student writings and WIC

news.

Opportunity for Professional Writers

If you have a published book (or the equivalent), have experience teaching creative writing in community settings, and want to help bring creative writing, reading, storytelling, and thinking to diverse communities, we want to meet you. E-mail your resume or CV and three pages of writing samples to [email protected]

Coming up this summer Participants of Judge Laura Parker’s 386th Drug Court take part in EyesOPEN, a writing workshop that culminates in the production of a group mural to be displayed at the Bexar County Juvenile Court.

Middle and high school students in the Harlandale ISD Summer Writing Camp reflect on Texas and local history while studying the art of column writing with San Antonio Express News columnist Cary Clack. An anthology of the work will be published in August.

Residents of Turman Halfway House in Austin participate in Poetry in Life—a course on creative writing and communication. While studying elements of poetry and communication skills, students learn to connect poetry to their own lives. Austin writer Benet Magnuson facilitates this workshop.

WIC excerptsOpen Voices

I wanted to see you riding waves and cresting swells in the ocean.

To see your face searching foamy ocean waters for that faraway land.

I wanted to give you the real ocean, like the shiny blue one painted on the globe.

I wanted to see you cast your line into the real ocean you put your fin-ger on.

From “The Real Ocean” by Phyllis, The Battered Women and Children’s Shelter


U W W f a c u l t y e x c e r p t sSYMPTOMS It seems to have a predilection for females. —on MS, from Multiple Sclerosis: A Guide for Patients and their Families

I’ll try to tell you how it feels: girdlemy grandmother wore, tight-laced corsetworn by her mother in Wales, but it seldom slipsfrom my ribcage. No hooks or laces, only

spaces of remission, then relapse,a trip to the ancient clothes again:crinolines, skirts grazing ankles, long satin embroidered sleeves that rub and pull

naked skin, saying, now and then you musttry to feel through this, and this. All that fabricwound around torso, legs, the dressesand sheets binding to keep me in

bed. The cure is rest, they tell me. Dizzy,drunk when I haven’t drunk, I’m drawnto the wall to prop me. I’ve been known to sporta cane, per the fashion, to smooth the gait.

Fix my mouth in a loose pout when speecheludes its muscles, tired, stiff as the garments that hold me. On occasion, they’ll fallto reveal this body, a window of cellophane

wrapping my limbs, a ring for each finger.

Laurie Clements Lambethfrom Veil and Burn

“Why do people fight wars?” I ask myself. The answer I get is freedom, land rights, and hate… I think there is no solution to wars, and sometimes people cannot get along.

From “A Common Thing,” David Patterson, 5th grade

I praise the lake where I go every summer,where I swim in the lightblue water.

I bow to the tiny aqua fish that swims into my hands.

Beyond, jet skis splash above the slimy, gooeyfish.

From Neighborhood Odes, Faith Betancourt, 5th Grade

more WIC excerpts...


She had a way with her hands. They were always in motion. Like birds in constant flight. Her hands had picked grapes and pruned vines, pulled weeds and gripped handles. Were burnt on many a comal and wooden stove. Had pulled triggers and been rattled by hunting rifles. They had simultaneously been used to plant gar-dens and slap the disrespect out of any child. Back in the early forties, her hands were used to shield rocks thrown from the white boys of her South Texas youth. And then in the sixties used again for the same purpose, in the fields of California and Wyoming. By the time the eighties rolled around, her hands had accumulated callous-leather at least an inch thick from fingertip to palm. But even with all this my grandmother still managed to take care of us. When my father split and didn’t tell a soul where he was going, she took mom and me in. Most days, when mom worked, I stayed home with Grandma, sedated by mara-thons of M.A.S.H. and The Guiding Light. Sometimes we would file through her boxes of clothes and trinkets that she was preparing for a yard sale, other times we ended up pulling weeds in her tomato garden, or doing the laundry in a large tin bucket in the front yard. Always with a cigarette dangling from her lips. Some-times the ash would get so long it would break off and scatter up in the breeze. Otherwise she usually kept the ashes in a can, and when it was filled about halfway she would have me knead them into the soil of her tomatoes. In a separate can is where she tossed all the cigarette butts. When she had a good collection of them she’d boil them in a large pot, and the entire house would fill with a stink that usually took weeks to settle. When the concoction cooled she would take out the butts and fill a spray-bottle with it and use it as a pesticide for her garden. And she never used an ashtray, because that would be too easy. Instead, she dropped ashes right in the palm of her hand, until they gathered into a small mound. Then, she would tell me to open my mouth and feed them to me. “It will clean you out,” she promised. I had no reason to doubt her. She was forever working her limpias on me. To heal me before any bit of darkness could settle in and take hold.

Tim Z. Hernandezfrom Breathing, In Dust

A National Storytelling Network

Year-of-the-Regions EventJuly 8-10

The 2011 TSA conference will be held in the heart of

historic San Antonio.

“Sustaining the Flame:Stories Fuel Life and Learning”

A Conference on Burnout Prevention

Featuring Bill Harley and Elizabeth Ellis

www.tejasstorytelling.com

Sponsored in part by Gemini Ink


The Demanding Gaze: Mexican Post-Revolutionary Art and its Impact in the U.S.

Based on poems, stories, art criticism, songs, and anecdotes from just after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) to the present day, this readers theater produc-tion will trace Mexican art’s development of a strong social conscience and how this creative strategy became the foundation of progressive art making in the U.S., from the WPA to the Chicano Movement. The production complements the Witte’s exhibition, Miradas, one of the Bank of America’s international art collections.

Sunday, July 24, 4 PMWitte Museum3801 Broadway

San Antonio 78209


Dramatic Readers Theater

Javier Chavira (Mexican, 1971-)El guerrero (The Warrior), 2004, Acrylic and crayon on paper. Provided by Bank of America Art in our Communities™ program


YES, I SUPPORT READING AND WRITING FOR ALL!

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r e g i s t r a t i o n f o r mFirst day to register for summer 2011: Wednesday, May 18You can also register online at www.geminiink.org

Please review our registration and payment policies on page 5 as well as our updated

class withdrawal policy on page 6.

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In response to the economic downturn, Gemini Ink will continue extending a 10% discount to everyone who registers. This discount is already reflected in the catalogue listing. An additional 5% discount is offered to students, educators, and seniors. (No additional discounts for Young Writers Camp.)

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Mail to: Gemini Ink, 513 S. Presa, San Antonio, TX 78205.Credit Card registrations may also be faxed (210.737.0688), phoned in (210.734.9673), or paid online (www.geminiink.org).


2 to Watch

BenJudson

JustinBoyd

Artpace and Gemini Ink team up again to bring two local artists together for a discussion on how their unique perspectives intersect.

Thursday, July 21, 6:30pm at Gemini Ink, 513 S. Presafree and open to the public

Justin Boyd is an artist and DJ who received his BFA from The University of Texas at San Antonio and completed his MFA at The California Institute of the Arts. He has exhibited in several solo shows and has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including Arthouse Texas where he was a finalist for the 2007 prize. In addition to teaching full time in the New Media Department at UTSA, Justin also hosts a weekly radio show on KRTU 91.7 FM

Ben Judson is a writer, artist, and web developer. His poetry has been published in the Texas Observer and several literary journals. Ben has shown text-based artworks at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, Unit B (Gallery), Trouser House and other galleries, including a solo show at FLIGHT Gallery in 2008. His essays and criticism have been pub-lished in Art Lies, Glasstire, and Signal to Noise, and he currently writes a column on city planning and urban development for website Plaza de Armas.

gemini ink 513 south presasan antonio, tx 78205telephone 210.734.9673www.geminiink.org

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INKstravaganza2011

Thursday, September 22

Save the Date!

Documents

Summer 2011 Catalogue