Dear writers,

As we enter our second month of shelter-in-place here in Michigan, I want you to know that we miss seeing you at our Bay and Saginaw Community Writing Centers! As you already know, we’ve started to offer online consultations for your writing projects via email. This means you can send in any piece of writing (a resume, a poem or short story, a section of your novel-in-progress) and get feedback from one of our writing tutors sent back to you. I admit, it’s not as nice as having a face-to-face conversation with each of you, but it’s still a way to connect – and keep writing!

Also, I wanted to remind you of two amazing writing contests we have going on right now – that come with cash prizes! First, our “Saginaw, I Believe” Poetry Postcard contest is now accepting submissions online! Write a short poem (20 lines or less) about Saginaw, and submit it here: http://svsu.edu/ccw/writingcontests/

Second, our “Start with Art – Write” Contest is a cool collaboration with the Saginaw Art Museum. Visit this site to view a piece of art from their collection, and write a short story or poem based on the artwork. Detailed submission guidelines, along with the submission link, can be found here: https://www.saginawartmuseum.org/event/startwithart-write/

Both contest deadlines are April 30 – so start writing today!

We hope to see you again this summer, and we’ll certainly keep you posted as soon as we know when we are able to re-open. In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Helen Raica-Klotz, SCWC/BCWC Co-Director

We are extremely excited to be partnering with the Saginaw Art Museum to offer a new writing opportunity this coming month!

This is a fun opportunity to spark your creativity while being able to explore the Saginaw Art Museum from the comfort of your own home! Simply visit the Museum's website, choose a piece that inspires you, and start writing!

Specific submission guidelines can be found at https://www.saginawartmuseum.org/event/startwithart-write/

P.S. This contest runs from March 30th until April 30th, and we are offering CASH prizes!

As many of you may know, SVSU has cancelled all face-to-face instruction on its campus for the remainder of the semester, effective March 16th, due to the coronavirus. Unfortunately, this also means that we will have to temporarily close both the Saginaw and Bay Community Writing Centers through the end of the semester, therefore cancelling all of our upcoming consultations and workshops. We hope to resume our work again in May/June for our summer semester.

We are very sorry for this inconvenience, but we value the health and safety of this community, and we feel at this time that cancelling upcoming one-on-one consultations and workshops is the best course of action.

We will continue to update you regarding the state of the Community Writing Centers, and will continue to let you know about writing opportunities as they become available. For any community writers wishing to receive feedback on their writing pieces during this time, we are offering limited online hours where you can email a draft to scwc@svsu.edu and a SCWC consultant will offer you feedback on your writing piece. We please ask that you limit writing submissions to a maximum of 15 pages and that you allow approximately one week to receive feedback on your piece.

In the meantime, please keep writing and continue to watch our website saginawcommunitywc.weebly.com. Please feel free to contact us at scwc@svsu.edu with any additional questions you may have.

It was standing room only with over 100 attendees last night at the Saginaw Art Museum to celebrate the 3rd annual edition of Still Life! It was a wonderful night of inspiring poetry and powerful performances as community members shared their pieces with the audience!

A special shout out goes to Ben and Sebastian for emceeing the event, and for the three winners of our poetry slam: Train, Flow-it, and Serena! We loved hearing attendees share their poems about life, Saginaw, love, and family - it truly was a showcase of the diverse and wonderful talent in the community.

Wasn't able to make it to the release party but still want a copy of Still Life 2019? Copies will be available at the SVSU Writing Center, the Saginaw Community Writing Center, and the Bay Community Writing Center! (An online version will also be available within the coming weeks)

Just a reminder that we are already accepting submissions for the 2020 edition of Still Life!

Hello everyone!

My name is Elizabeth Kennedy and I'm very excited to be taking on the Community Writing Center Coordinator position! I've worked as a tutor at Saginaw Valley State University's Writing Center since September 2018, and more recently I have been co-facilitating a creative writing workshop for inmates at the Saginaw Correctional Facility. While I'm new to the Community Writing Centers, I'm eager to meet all of you and invest myself more fully in the Saginaw community!

I'm a writer myself, and am currently majoring in Professional & Technical Writing at Saginaw Valley State University, with the hopes of working as a professional grant writer for a nonprofit organization after graduation. That being said, I'm very enthusiastic about writing for a purpose, and hope to use my skills to support my passion for advocacy and social justice in my local community.

I'm looking forward to this new experience, the amazing individuals I'll get to meet, and, most importantly, the writing projects I will get to workshop with you!

Elizabeth Kennedy
Community Writing Center Coordinator