Seniors Storytelling Day will tell a wonderful story to you!

"The Best Day of My Life So Far...
Seniors Storytelling Day"

Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 2:00 PM

The Parkway Central Library *
The Free Library of Philadelphia

FREE

Inspired by her relationship with her grandmother, Benita Cooper started a a weekly storytelling and writing class at Philadelphia Senior Center. This class, The Best Day of My Life (So Far), is now a vibrant, multimedia storytelling project where older adults connect and share their stories with younger generations.

What happens when Philadelphia seniors open up by sharing stories from their lives? On Seniors’ Storytelling Day, be ready to smile, laugh and even cry as our city’s seniors take the stage to read stories that they have written, and answer questions from the audience.

Enjoy this video and get a taste of what to expect on Sunday:



And yes, The Best Day of My Life So Far...Storytelling Day has a Facebook Page!

(Can't see the video? Go to Artful Aging and enjoy!)

*The Parkway Central Library
1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway)
No tickets required. For info call: 215-567-4341.

Are you a writer who needs a Push to Publish? Read on . . .

Philadelphia Stories

presents

Fourth Annual Push to Publish Seminar:

Strategies to Get Your Work in Print and Online

at Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Keynote speaker Paul Lisicky

Writers--young and old, experienced and novice--looking to get your work in print and online, here's a one-day workshop for you! You will

• Speed date with the editors: Meet real editors and agents who will review your specific work.
• Learn how to increase your chances of getting published.
• Discuss new writing trends with professionals in the community.
• Get great marketing and networking tips to break into the competitive world of publishing.

Offered as a premium event this year, Spend a Day With a Literary Agent Workshop is Friday, October 15, 11-4. Learn how to effectively pitch agents in this workshop. Space is limited, so reserve your ticket now.

Saturday, October 16 Schedule

9:00 Registration and Breakfast

10:00 Keynote Speaker: Paul Lisicky is the author of Lawnboy, Famous Builder, and the forthcoming books The Burning House (2011) and Unbuilt Projects (2012).

11:15 Speed Dating with the Editors: Spend 10 minutes with the editor or agent of your choice to get personalized critiques of your work!

1:15 Breakout Session I

• A: Promote Your Work Without Spending a Fortune
• B. Tapping into the Creative Nonfication Craze
• C: Finding a Home for Your Short Story

2:30 Breakout Session II

• A: Marketing: Selling Yourself
• B: Fiction: Writing for Children and Young Adults
• C: The Joys of Small Presses

3:45 Breakout Session III

• A: Meet the Agents and Editors
• B: How to Succeed in Submissions
• C. Traditional, Self-publish, or ePublish? That is the 21st Century Question

Click HERE for more details about the program.

Click HERE to read the bios of all participating agents, editors, and panelists.

Fee: $75 (Students, Seniors $65) includes Breakfast, Lunch, and one Speed-date Pass. Additional Speed-date passes can be purchased for $5 each. (No more than 3 total recommended.) [50% off for Rosemont students, faculty, and alumni -- must provide valid proof of affiliation at registration]
Any questions, please email christine@philadelphiastories.org

Push to Publish is sponsored by Philadelphia Stories magazine, the nonprofit literary magazine and companion website that publishes literary fiction, poetry, essays, and art from the tri-state area and provides it to the general public free of charge. All proceeds from the workshop will go directly toward keeping the magazine in print, in color, and free.

Fiction, Art and Poetry--Oh, My!

Thanks, Tyme Gallery for the "heads up" about an opportunity to submit fiction, poetry, essays, artwork and even cartoons for publication. Philadelphia Stories, the free nonprofit literary magazine that publishes local writers and artists, needs art for the summer issue (including the cover). What a terrific opportunity for writers and artists to share your work. If interested, follow this link for submission guidelines.

Philadelphia Stories is a non profit literary magazine that publishes the finest literary fiction, poetry and art from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware and distributes free of charge to a wide demographic throughout the region. Their mission is to develop a community of writers, artists and readers through the magazine, and through education programs, such as writer’s workshops, reading series, and other affordable professional development programs for emerging writers and artists.

If you have any questions, go ahead and email Publisher/Managing Editor Christine Weiser. In the meantime, check out past Philadelphia Stories issues. And, if you need brush up on your writing, check out Philadelphia Stories Blog writing tips posts.

P.S.  Read this interview with Christine Weiser and find out that she is not only a professional writer and editor, but also bass player and singer for the Philly indie band, The Tights. You can read an excerpt of her first novel Broad Street here.

Benita Cooper & Her Senior Storytellers Use Art to Create Change...

Benita Cooper has just received her first grant! Her project The Best Day of My Life (So Far) began only months ago with two core media: the classroom and the web. With The Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant two new components can be added to this multi-media storytelling project. Now performance and video can be added to the classroom and the web in the form of a blog.

Receiving this grant gives Benita the opportunity to develop Seniors Storytelling Day. This will happen in Philadelphia, in a public venue, with teens and older adutls on stage together telling stories to a physical audience.

This blog is the digital window into a weekly storytelling and writing class at Philadelphia Senior Center, a proud member of the New Courtland Network. We meet every Thursday from 1-2pm...The seniors are so full of life; their stories are so full of grace, wisdom and humor. This blog won't capture the seniors' every word, but at the minimum we hope their voices come through.

In June 2006, Benita Cooper, an architect in Philadelphia, called her grandma in Seattle for the first time in her life… just to talk. They haven’t stopped talking since. Inspired by the stories that her grandma tells her over the phone, Benita began the class and blog in September 2009.

Creative Arts & Aging Network was fortunate to have Benita as one of our panelists for our May 20th Event--The Arts for All Ages:  A Creative Conversation. Congratulations, Benita, to you and all your older adult writers!

Read more about Benita Cooper and her project The Best Day of My Life (So Far) here and here.  And you can follow The Best Day of My Life (So Far) on both Facebook and Twitter.

MindAlert Live Web Seminar Series--FREE!

The American Society on Aging (ASA), with funding from MetLife Foundation, is offering a FREE MindAlert web seminar series. Whether you are in the Aging field or the Arts, be sure to mark your calendar for these three upcoming web seminars:

May 27, 2010 at 1:00 PM EDT

Build Community and Health through Storytelling and the Performing Arts

presented by Stuart Kandell, PhD

The performing arts help elders connect with one another and improve their overall health. Using the Stagebridge model, you will learn simple techniques for employing storytelling and improvisation with groups of elders, recognize the elements of creating/expanding performing arts programming in elder settings, and be inspired.

June 3, 2010 at 1:00 PM EDT

Guided Autobiography: Enriching Lives and Enhancing Mental in the Second Half of Life

presented by Cheryl Svennson, PhD

Life review techniques assist middle-aged and older persons move through transitions in the later stages of life. Learn how you can adapt techniques such as memory priming questions based on the common themes of life to fit various venues and diverse populations.

June 10, 2010 at 1:00 PM EDT

Memory Action Program (MAP)

presented by Robin Lea West, PhD

Design your community’s roadmap to memory improvement based on the highly successful, evidence-based methods designed at the Everyday Memory Clinic. Discover the key elements of any successful memory training program and how to implement training in your own community.

Memoirs: Making Sense of a Life

Linda L. Riley has written a nice article for Philadelphia Corporation for Aging’s (PCA) Milestones e-news, Memoirs: making sense of life about Jerry Waxler.

"Jerry Waxler is passionate about memoir writing. Not just his – yours."

Sponsored by the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference, Waxler will be presenting the FREE program Find the Story in Your life: Four Steps to Translate Memories into Memoirs on Sunday, April 25, 2010, 2:00 –3:30 P.M. at Fishtown Airways, 200 E. Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19125

 You can find some great articles and really helpful writer's information on Waxler's website, his blog, and on his Memory Writer's Network, such as:

• Types and examples of memoirs
• Find story elements in your (ordinary) life
• Frequently asked questions about published memoirs
• The birth of an adult storyteller

Writing samples: Parker 75
Photo by churl

AARP is Looking for Older Artists to Interview

Freelance writer Jamie Katz is looking for outstanding American artists to interview for a feature article in AARP—The Magazine, Not just any outstanding American artist though. Katz is looking for older artists who have discovered their creativity after reaching age 50 (or later) and who have gone on to become recognized and accomplished practitioners.  In other words, people who have entered the arts as an encore career and whose work has now earned some recognition through gallery shows, published work, awards, accolades, performances in serious venues—as opposed to being very talented amateurs and hobbyists.

Katz is interested in the arts, broadly defined—music, writing, painting, sculpture, dance, theater, performance art, digital art, folk crafts, and so on. And she is especially interested in people with a compelling personal story.

She is not looking for lifelong artists who only earned recognition late in their career.  Katz is looking for folks who only became serious artists later in life.  Folks who typically had another occupation altogether before that point: a waitress-turned choreographer, a soldier-turned-clarinetist, an accountant-turned–Off-Broadway actor...

If you know someone who has become an accomplished artist (performer, dancer, musicisian, etc.) after age 50  (or you are that someone!), please send a brief description with contact information to Jamie Katz  at jamiekatz44@gmail.com by Sunday, March 7.