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Written by Chris Andonian & updated not-so-recently by Ryck The Cincinnati Writers Project was created in the fall of 1987 with a primary objective to bring together talented writers, to create a network for us. The idea of the group blossomed from a conversation between two of its founders. Jeff Hillard recalls Dallas Wiebe saying to him, "Let's meet at my house. We'll get six or seven writers together and see what we can do." Since its conception, the CWP has branched into fiction, poetry, and non-fiction critique groups. Over the years, the CWP gathered at many locations including an antiquarian bookstore in Clifton called Keller's Books, a classroom in the EPA Building, a coffee house in Clifton, the former building of F&W Publications, the Literacy Center in Price Hill, and the Carnegie Arts Center in Covington, Kentucky. CWP membership meetings were once held monthly and featured local authors with publishing experience. A few of the earliest include Randy McNutt (of the Enquirer), Richard Hague, Carol Laque, and Austin Wright. Before establishment of the critique groups, the CWP sponsored fiction and poetry workshops where local writers came in a couple Saturdays to help critique manuscripts. Instructors included Dallas Wiebe (fiction), Kevin Walzer (poetry), Lori Jareo (nonfiction, feature writing), Austin Wright (fiction), Carol Laque (poetry), Richard Hague (poetry), John Aber (fiction) and Maureen McHugh (fiction). The CWP's success was only possible due to leadership with a vision. Past presidents have been Judy Mills 1987-88, Tina Jones 1988-89, Mark Kissling 1989-90, Jeff Hillard 1990-92, '94 to '96, and '99 to 2000, Garland Black 1992-94, and Dallas Wiebe 1996-99. Serving from 2000 to 2002, Amy Purcell has been indispensable to the organization, being the first to push our presence onto the Internet. Ryck Neube held the post from 2002 to 2006, despite his constant efforts to impeach himself. Mary Fitzpatrick currently serves as president. One of the unsung heroes of our organization is Dallas Wiebe who, in addition to serving as president, was the CWP treasurer through most of the 90’s. When he assumed that thankless office, our bank account contained pennies. At the end of his tenure, our non-profit organization was on sound financial ground, despite us having never received a single grant, public or private. Clearly, the fact that the CWP exists today is due to Dallas. For this and a myriad of other reasons, in 2003, Dallas was honored with the Skyblue the Badass Award for service above and beyond the call of duty to our outfit. The award is named after one of Dallas’ legendary characters, a further tribute to the man who saved us. We present the Skyblue during our October membership parties held at the Bronte Bistro. Other recipients have been Carl Morris--the finest line editor and backbone of the fiction critique group for a decade--in 2002 and Jeff Hillard in 2004. The fiction critique group started in 1990, meeting at various places, such as Arnold's, Kaldi's, and Ward Six/Foley's in Cincinnati, York Street Cafe in Newport, Pelican's Reef, and Jack Quinn's in Covington, and currently at Lenhart's in Cincinnati. The fiction group is considered by many to be an important workshop in the Cincinnati area. Over the years, its members have published over a hundred short stories, many in national markets after input from the group. In 2002, the group put out an anthology of short stories called Feral Parakeets and Other Stories. Critique from the fiction group has helped several novelists launch their careers, including Pax Riddle, Corson Hirschfeld, Jack Kerley, and Valerie Taylor. In 2005, the first all-CWP anthology was published. Someone Has to Die sported short stories, essays, poems, and even a play. Wanting a non-academic, community-based poetry group, Carol Laque started the CWP's poetry critique group in the late 1980's. Professor Laque, tenured at UC and currently teaching at Xavier, has published ten collections of poetry and has received the Post Corbett Award. The group first met in the community room at JosephBeth Bookstore in Rookwood, went through eight other locations, then finally settling at the current location in The Lodge. With the public library and newspapers spreading the word, people of all ages, occupations, and skill levels joined. Jason Haap made several video and audio recordings of the group's poetry readings that were aired on a public access channel and the radio. In addition to the readings, the group stays active by having members attend out-of-state writing conferences and by publishing group anthologies. So far, two anthologies have been published through Circumference Press. The group has helped several members publish books including Carol Laque, Jason Haap, Dick Gordon, Dori Van Luit, Victor Velez, and Jerry Judge. In 2004, the group published the collection Maze From the Median, edited by Peter White. They plan to publish another in 2006. Many members greatly appreciate the honesty and sometimes the harshness of the critiques. Everyone likes a pat on the back, but that has never improved a story. Honest critique is often the roughest, but it can make a better story...if you have the courage to swallow your ego and learn. A few tips from CWP word warrior, Carl Morris: "Strive to be your own worst critic. If you are truly a writer, you will write. Nothing will stop you. If you can be discouraged by criticism--rather than learning from it--you were never a writer in the first place." Carl is a true Skyblue. Don’t get him started on contractions. [Site Map] [Latest News] [History of CWP] [Writing Group Protocol] [Rough Draft] [Our Mission] [Officers] [Who's Published] [Join CWP] [Critique Groups] [Opportunities] [Writing Tips] [Links] Yep, we're under construction. But give us a break. We're writers not web monkeys. We hope to have this whole shebang revamped by the end of summer, 2008. Stop back, or shoot us an email if you're interested in learning more. Last updated by Tgroh, September 5, 2008 |
