Georgia Writers Association's January Event
Please join Georgia Writers Association for our January 27th literary event from 12-2 at the KSU Center, Room 300.
GWA Board Panel, Readings, and Q & A
Come meet some of Georgia Writers Association’s Board Members during our January 27th literary event. Listen to readings from Ann Hite, Renea Winchester, Nancy Stephan, Komal Mathew, Valerie Smith, Lora Mirza, and JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp. Readings will include fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Bring your questions on writing and publishing! We will hold a panel discussion and Q & A after the readings.
GWA Board of Directors Members In Panel
JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp, President
JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp is a Lecturer at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, and her poetry has appeared in Gargoyle Magazine, Public.Republic.net, and Bigger Than They Appear: Anthology of Short Poems. She serves as President on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Writers Association and facilitates GWA’s poetry writing workshops. JoAnn is a regular contributor for the poetry blog, Poetry Matters http://readwritepoetry.blogspot.com/
Valerie Smith, Secretary
Valerie Smith is a poet and creative nonfiction writer currently completing the Master of Arts in Professional Writing program at Kennesaw State University. Her poems have appeared in South85 Journal, BlazeVOX15, and Exit 271: Your Georgia Writers Resource. She is currently preparing for May 2018 graduation with a book-length poetry manuscript tentatively titled, Imprimatur.
Lora Mirza
After growing up in the seaside town of Marblehead, Massachusetts, Lora Mirza graduated from Brown University, worked for Doubleday, met her future husband on the steps of the New York Public Library, and married Usman in Pakistan. They have two sons. Lora holds master’s degrees in library science and in teaching English. She served as children’s librarian at the Chicago Public Library, and, in Atlanta, worked for Georgia Perimeter College, now part of Georgia State University, from 1989, retiring as professor, library services, and associate director of the Dunwoody Campus Library in July 2016. Lora Mirza and historian Paul Hudson have collaborated on articles for the Georgia Historical Quarterly and the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Their book Atlanta’s Stone Mountain: A Multicultural History (Charleston: History Press, 2011), received the 2012 Lilla M. Hawes Award for best local Georgia history book published the previous year.
Nancy Stephan
Nancy enjoys writing both poetry and prose. Her work has been published online and in print. Her first book, The Truth About Butterflies, was published in June 2011 in both paperback and Kindle eBook and was the winner for Memoir, Georgia Author of the Year in 2012. Nancy has earned a B.S. in Speech Communication, M.A. in Professional Writing with concentrations in poetry and applied writing, and holds graduate certification in Ethics. She graduated Cum Laude from Kennesaw State University and was inducted into Lambda Pi Eta, the Golden Key International Honor Society, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Nancy was born in Gary, Indiana, and currently resides in Atlanta.
Renea Winchester
Renea Winchester is an award-winning author who leads writing workshops in North Carolina and Georgia. She is a member of the Appalachian Writers Association, Atlanta Writers Club, Georgia Writers Association, and the North Carolina Writers’ Network. Renea is passionate about literacy and a fierce supporter of libraries. There were no bookstores in her home town, which is why she purposes to help Independent Bookstores survive during this electronic age. She supports the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), and encourages booksellers throughout the South to join this group. She has a longstanding reputation for helping emerging authors and has judged many writing contests, including the Georgia Author of the Year Award. She offers individual critique sessions, editing services, and blurbs. Renea edits manuscripts up to 80,000 words. She does not read graphic content, erotica, science fiction, or young adult novels. Southern Fiction preferred. Email her for pricing.
Ann Hite
Ann Hite‘s debut novel Ghost On Black Mountain was a Townsend Prize Finalist and winner for First Novel, Georgia Author of the Year in 2012. Her personal essays and short stories have been published in numerous national anthologies. The Storycatcher, her second Black Mountain novel, will be released by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster on September 10th. Lowcountry Spirit, an eBook novella, will be available from Pocket Star, also an imprint of Simon & Schuster, on August 13th. Ann is an admitted book junkie with a library of over a thousand books. She lives in Smyrna, Georgia, with her husband and daughter, where she allows her Appalachian characters to dictate their stories.
Komal Mathew
Komal Mathew received an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The New Republic, The Southern Review, Atlanta Review, Third Coast, Narrative, Prairie Schooner, and others. Her poetry collection, Dressing for Diwali, has also been a finalist for the National Poetry Series Open Competition, the Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award, and a semifinalist for the Alice James Books’ Beatrice Hawley Award. She is the co-founding editor of Josephine Quarterly and the owner/editor of Three Revisions.
Free workshop for GWA Members, KSU faculty, staff, and students. $10 admission for general public.
GWA Members can Log In and view the discount code HERE.