Centennial Celebration
OCTOBER 28: The WNBA turns 100! Several members attended the Centennial Celebration in New York City on Saturday, October 28th. There will be information and pictures forthcoming to share all the wonderful events that were attended!
For more information visit: https://www.wnba-centennial.org/the-wnba-turns-100
3 Amazing Authors at the 3rd Annual Author Event
The WNBA Philly’s 3rd Annual Author Event was a huge success!
It featured Caroline Leavitt, Cruel, Beautiful World (Algonquin Books); Pam Jenoff, The Orphan’s Tale (Mira Books/ HarperCollins; and Anne Edelstein, Lifesaving for Beginners (Red Hen Press).
The event was hosted at Towne Center Books and Cafe, a local, independent bookstore in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to the event.
Pictures of the authors and book store below (courtesy of Elizabeth Mosteller).
Story Jam
“A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”
September 14, 2017 – 6:30 pm
Trying a new venue for our latest Story Jam (the Coventry Mall, in the open meeting space), we were charmed, moved, and inspired by 5 authors who courageously read their original stories while 12 lucky listeners watched and listened with delight. Written using the prompt, “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words,” and/or using a picture as inspiration (many used our work from our Painting Event in August), these five women shared their thoughts about the world, moments from their lives, and pictures from their own mind’s eye.
Thank you to all who participated and attended!
SEPT 8 – 10
HIPPOCAMP CREATIVE NON-FICTION CONFERENCE
Reminder: WNBA President Rae Theodore and member Patty Kline-Capaldo presented at Hippocamp, a creative nonfiction conference held in Lancaster from September 8-10.
Hippocamp is sponsored by Hippocampus Magazine. You can find more information about the conference at http://hippocamp2017.hippocampusmagazine.com/.
What’s more fun than a group of writers getting together to share their stories? A group of writers creating a painting which will generate more stories!
On Thursday, August 10, 2017, a group of ten brave souls met at the colorful art gallery in Royersford, Pennsylvania, called Painting With a Twist. The venue is intended to allow groups of people to try their hand at painting while enjoying snacks, wine and each other. An artist instructor gives step-by-step guidance to recreate the theme painting. Their motto is to create “fun” art, not “fine” art.
This evening’s painting was selected with the intention to garner stories. Titled “United,” it was a creepy display of black and white trees lining the two sides of the canvas, joining together with snakelike vines in the middle into a twisty clump of black and white and gray, with green leaves spotting the edges with hope. Amy, our instructor, calmed our painting fears while she meticulously described the brush strokes and techniques to proceed with our artwork.
We had a blast and managed to gather some funds towards the WNBA as well. The paintings (or any painting we choose) are intended to be used as a story prompt for our September Story Jam.
Won’t you join us? Sharing stories are an integral part of sharing our lives. Hope to see you there on September 14, 2017 from 7-9 p.m. at the Coventry Mall. Perhaps one of the stories will be titled “United.”
Our centennial celebration kick-off event, “Bookwomen Speak” was held at Towne Center Books in Collegeville on Sunday, May 21st, 2017. Beth Kephart, critically acclaimed, prize-winning local author of 21 books, graciously accepted our chapter’s invitation to speak.
The crowd of approximately 50 attendees was treated to multiple, threaded readings by Ms. Kephart, followed by a lively, insightful discussion on her process, inspiration and future projects. Truly an event to move and motivate our chapter and potential members.
Thanks so very much, Beth!
And special thanks to our very own Ann Marie Meehan for moderating.
The gavel has been passed!
Please help us welcome our new officers:
Rae Theodore – President
Carli Ducko – Vice-President
Britt Berry – Secretary
Dee Kindt – Treasurer
Shelley Douglas – Outreach Chair
Kim Lehman – Newsletter & Communications Chair
Sharon Hajj – Membership Chair
Thursday, March 23rd, was our most recent and most excellent Story Jam at Red Robin in Providence Town Center, Collegeville. What an inspiring night! 11 brave souls read their pieces on the topic of “Resist” to a most captive audience.
Their stories demonstrated the strength of our unity, the women’s movement, and the power of love.
A big thank you to all who came out to support our courageous authors!
February 23, 2017 – Members-Only Potluck & Book Swap at Stickman Brews, Royersford
What a fantastic potluck get-together at the Stickman Brews in Royersford! At this members-only event, we enjoyed good eats, good beer, and had some engaging and delightful conversations.
We even got some work done. Look for upcoming events in March, April, and May! There are lots of opportunities that may interest you, and we would love to see you!
On December 10th and 11th, we had our Gift Wrap Table set up at the Towne Book Center & Cafe! Several volunteers gave of their time to help us wrap customers’ purchases for the ones they love during the delightful holiday season. In addition to wrapping gifts, we sold many of our beautiful, hand-stamped and decorated Christmas Gift Tags made by some of our own members to raise money for Unicef. After all was said and done, and adding to funds raised during October by some generous children who went trick-or-treating, we were able to donate $161.00 to Unicef! We are always very proud of our members’ efforts! Way to go, Greater Philadelphia WNBA!
“We wanted to try a variety of activities this year. We packed in a ton of great events to meet the needs and interests of our diverse membership,” said Elizabeth Mosteller, Greater Philadelphia Chapter President.
October 12th kicked off NRGM celebrations with a “Two Day Book Bonanza” as publishers from Penguin Books, Random House, and Simon & Schuster presented local readers with a sneak peak into new and exciting fiction and non-fiction releases anticipated for winter 2016/17. Books from new and popular authors such as Jodi Picoult, Paulo Coelho, and Bruce Springsteen got local readers excited to hibernate and read all winter!
Fellow WNBA member and National Reading Group Chair, Kim Lehman was one of the attendees at the event. “The publishers shared so many books, books I had not heard of before,” Lehman said. “It allowed for a great opportunity to discover new reads, ask questions, and get a kick-start on holiday shopping.”
The following night, October 13th, the literary fun continued as three up-and-coming authors (Barbara J. Taylor, Michelle Brafman, and Clare Beams) shared their newly released books with a large crowd of guests.
Over thirty excited readers turned up to meet the authors, discuss the books, and get personally autographed copies of Bertrand Court, We Show What We Have Learned, and All Waiting Is Long.
Mosteller could not have been happier with the turnout. “Since this is our sophomore year as a chapter, we were able to apply all we learned the first time around to make it a great event. We are incredibly thankful for the terrific team that came together to host these wonderful writers!”
October 23rd, we held a Spooktacular Kids’ Event at our host Bookstore, Towne Book Center and Café, where children participated in activities that ranged from a scavenger hunt to face-painting, snacks, a story, and a craft. This event was in support of the United Nation’s global initiative to promote literacy and help children in need. Trick or Treat collection boxes were distributed to support UNICEF.
“The kids had a great time making crafts, getting their faces painted, and competing in a scavenger hunt,” said Lehman of the children’s event. “So many parents told us they were looking forward to doing it again next year.”
That seemed to be the consensus from all participants over the month. It’s the best compliment we could have received!
National Reading Group Month concluded on October 27th with a Halloween themed Story Jam, which allowed local writers the opportunity to share and read their scary stories in an open forum. From tainted candy to hauntings to overbearing mother-in-laws, our Story Jam had it all!
We are already looking forward to next year’s NRGM events!! Thank you to everyone who came out to support the WNBA-Greater Philadelphia, NRGM and UNICEF.
September 19th at 7:00 p.m. was our Fall Kickoff Membership Mixer at Towne Book Center and Café to celebrate our 1st birthday AND the beginning of our exciting 2nd year! After an an informative talk, “Take a Walk on the Tech Side” that included an introduction to our own (new) Vice-President, Kim Lehman’s website, www.mybooketlist.com, we also shared many details about our upcoming events. REMEMBER … It’s membership renewal time, so please join us for our 2nd year by sending a check or paying right from this website under Become A Member. You may already be a member, and that’s ok! Be sure to check out Become A Member for more details on how to continue your journey with this incredible organization! We can hardly wait for all the fun events to commence! ~ You are always welcome to bring a friend and help us grow our membership in year two!
Thursday, July 21st, 2016 at 6:30-8:30
at Brewed Awakening Cafe,
306 Main Street, Royersford, PA
Put a little POP in your Thursday night with our “Love & Rockets” Story Jam.
Prompt: “Love & Rockets” (Write about love. Write about rockets. Write about Love and Rockets. Whatever moves you. Original works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry. 1,200 word max.)
Come out and read in your best story voice or take a seat, put up your feet and support our local writers. We’ll have cake to celebrate. Writers will receive a small gift as thanks for their participation.
Questions? Contact Rae at rae.r.theodore@gmail.com to register to read or for more information.
Annual Membership Meeting (Our First!)
April 21 @ 7 pm at the Towne Book Center
If you are already a member of our illustrious organization, or have some interest in joining and would like to meet the board and our fantastic group of women, please join us for a fun night of sharing information, discussing events for the months to come, and learning more about member benefits and what you want from WN BA Greater Philadelphia.
“Get Published” with Joan Gelfand
April 25 @ 7 pm at the Towne Book Center
We are lucky to have writer, editor, coach and current National Development Chair for the National WNBA visiting Philadelphia for this event.
She will be presenting a workshop on the four C’s of publishing – Craft, Commitment, Community and Confidence.” Do you dream of becoming a published author? Flummoxed on where to start? Frustrated by rejection? Or, just trying to get on track to finish your writing project? The talk will be followed by a short reading, and book signing.
FREE to members / open to the public with a cost of $25
Please RSVP at 610-454-0640
Summer Reads with PK and Publisher
May 11 @ 7 pm at the Towne Book Center
PK Sindwani, owner of the Towne Book Center, will be presenting some summer reads along with a discussion and some suggestions from local publishers.
Connect!