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May WOK Honors Dinner 2023

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May Honors Dinner – Members and Guests Only

It’s time to ramp up for our May Honors Dinner.  Unlike our “teaching” meetings, this meeting is a dinner, a social opportunity, and a time to honor those who have met certain goals.

Peggy Connelly Scholarship Presentation
Robert C. Hargreaves Achievement Award
Writers of Kern Active Member Pinning

If you have been traditionally published (or become so before the meeting) you will be honored with the Robert Hargreaves award.  You will receive a plaque to take home and your name will also be added to the perpetual plaque with all former recipients.  Please let us know asap if you have qualified for that honor.

If you have any questions, you can reach out to Sandy Moffett at [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

There will be opportunity bags/baskets and time to share your latest writing (five minutes each).  There may be games…and there will be a writing prompt if you would like to participate.

We look forward to seeing all of our members and their special guests.

Saturday May 20, 2023

Members $20 and Guests $20

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:00 p.m.

Hodel’s Country Dining

5917 Knudsen Drive

Bakersfield, CA 93308

(From Hwy. 99, exit Olive Dr. West. Turn right at Knudsen Dr.)

Reserve Your Seat Now!

7 February 2021 | Registration Deadline for the 2021 Annual Dan McGuire Blog Challenge

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by Srey Khoy

What: Our annual Blog Challenge for our writing community honoring our dear friend, and prolific blogger, Dan McGuire.

Who: Anyone can participate (membership in Writers of Kern not required)

When: Start posting Monday, Feb. 8. Final posts by Sunday, May 9.

Why: To develop a habit of regular writing and sharing it with a like-minded community of writers.

Where: Your personal blog online

The Fine Print: (Requirements to finish and be recognized at WOK Honors, our annual awards and recognition dinner. To be held this year on May 15th):

  • To participate, please email: [email protected] with your name and blog web address by Feb 7, 2021.
  • Write 26 posts in 13 weeks
    • Subject/theme is up to you
    • We suggest two posts per week, but there is no minimum or maximum, just so all 26 posts are completed by the end date.
  • Leave 2 comments/week on other participants’ blogs
    • Each participant will be given a list of the other participants’ blogs for easy access
  • Though not required, we prefer you share a link to your blog posts on the Writers of Kern Facebook Group page (link below). It makes it easier to everyone to read and leave comments.
  • After publishing all 26 posts, please email [email protected] to confirm you’ve completed the challenge.
    • Note: Pace yourself. While it seems simple, many will start, while not everyone will finish and that’s okay. We celebrate everyone who starts!

If you do not have a blog, now is the time to start one! This video will help: https://youtu.be/5n-ZpBo7cHI

19 December 2020 | WOK Annual Winter Meeting | Members Only – BYOB (Bring Your Own Brunch)

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the WOK Year!

by Sandy Moffett ~ Membership Chair

December 19th is our members only event.  While we cannot have a hand to hand or toe to toe meeting, we can have a face to face meeting on Zoom.  We will start at our regular time (9:15 am) and we will have a BYOB; bring your own brunch; whatever that might be to enjoy during our time together.  Registration to this event will fill up fast, so be on the look-out for the Eventbrite link coming to your email soon.   Remember, this is a FREE meeting for our members.

We will have a fun writing contest with a monetary prize donated by one of our members.  We will also announce the winners of the Fall Writing Contest, and the 1st place winner’s story will be read to us by our own Dennis Vanderwerff.  Remember how delightful Nelson Varon’s piece was last year? 

The event will be recorded, but it won’t be near as fun without your smiling face present.

One last reminder.  If you know of someone who didn’t renew their membership for some reason, starting January 1st, they can get a half year membership for $42.50, which includes $22.50 for the half year and $20 to reinstate the insurance coverage with the CWC.   That membership will be good until June 30th, and then renewals will be the normal price of $45.00 for a full fiscal year.  

Blessings to you all.
Sandy

The Ready-Set-Go of Open Mic Mondays

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Do you want to become more involved with Writers of Kern and your fellow writers? Want to find a welcoming place to read and share your work?  Beginning Monday, October 5th WOK members are invited to participate in Open Mic Mondays over Zoom.

Open Mics offer a friendly environment of like-minded people for you to share your work with, but you are also welcome to just come and listen to others read.

You may be nervous about reading your work. You may even be thinking, Hey, I’m a writer, not a performer! Daunting or not, public speaking is an important skill for a successful writer. You want to be ready when your award-winning poems and short stories are published or your break-through novel or screenplay is optioned for a film.

So plan ahead for Open Mic Mondays with these steps:

  1. Choose your material. Search your files and find something that:
    • Represents you and your writing well
    • Lends itself to being read aloud
    • Can be read in the allotted time
  2. Take time to prepare your material.
    • Print out your selection. Double space. Use a 14pt. (or larger) font so you can see it easily. Number the pages, but do not staple them together.
    • Read through aloud two or three times. Notice where you stumble, and notice where you want to emphasize or change your inflection. Highlight or use a BOLD font  for those areas before you reprint the page.
    • Check to see if you need to polish anything in your piece.  Do you need to: add or delete a word or two? Rewrite a sentence for clarity?
  3. Rehearse.
    • Read aloud to yourself. Read aloud to your mirror. Read aloud to your pet. Read aloud to another person.
    • Record yourself reading aloud.
    • Check your timing and cut where necessary.
  4. Show up on the first Monday of the month for Open Mic.
    • Be sure to Register for the event each month.
    • The flip side of nervousness is excitement. Feel the nervousness, but transform it into the energy you put into your reading.
    • Be proud of yourself for taking this step in moving your writing career forward.

Writers of Kern is dedicated to assisting writers of all levels in meeting their writing goals, and we’re proud offer Open Mic Mondays for our members.   You can go directly to the Eventbrite site to register by clicking HERE. You must register to attend.

We hope to see you there—as a reader or as part of the welcoming audience.

If you have further questions, contact us by email at [email protected]

Open Mic Mondays for WOK Members

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Tired of reading your writing aloud to your tabby, your parakeet, or your goldfish? Writers of Kern has a solution for that! WOK Members, bring your poems, fiction, essay, short story, or creative nonfiction (including memoir) to Open Mic Mondays over Zoom!

When: 7:00-8:15 pm, Monday, October 5, November 2, and December 7, 2020.

How it works:

  1. Open Mic Mondays, for readers and the audience, is a Members-Only event.
  2. All attendees must register beforehand on a private Eventbrite listing, to receive the link.
  3. Participants/readers may read 3 poems or for 5 minutes for any genre. Time limits will be strictly observed.
  4. Those who wish to read will sign up once admitted to the meeting. Those who wish to listen will sit back and enjoy.

An Open Mic is a fun event, where writers can showcase their work. There’s no pressure to read, but those who do become encouraged, build confidence, and hone their presentation skills—good practice for those future book tours and readings! 

Take this opportunity to support and connect with fellow WOK members while performing your work before a live audience on Zoom.

Watch your email for more information and details about how you can experience Open Mic Mondays!

~ Annis Cassells