SLO NightWriters general meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at The PG&E Education Center, 6588 Ontario Road, San Luis Obispo, CA, just off Highway 101 at the San Luis Bay Drive exit, 7 - 9 pm. Members and guests are welcome to attend. Our Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Program is described below. We hope that you'll join us.
SLO NightWriters Presents:
Christine Neilson, Mary Anne Anderson
& V I V A C E
The following description was written by Program Director Judy Salamacha.
Christine Neilson is a journalist, published poet, travel writer and editor of the literary magazine V i V A C E (pronounced vē vä'chee), which focuses primarily on literary and visual art not always found in mainstream magazines.
Launched in 2009, V I V A C E 3 publishes later this month, and the fourth edition is due out in the fall. Residing in Cambria, Neilson has many occasions to get to know literary writers on the Central Coast, and on many occasions has featured them in V I V A C E, including Charles Duncan, Emma Duncan, Glenna Luschei, Jim Hayes, Diane Kosarko, Corbin Went, Tom Wilmer and R. M. Zurkan.
Poet/song writer Mary Anne Anderson will visit SLO NightWriters with Christine and share some of her poems that will be featured in the journal.
Christine shared her Editor's Message, which I note is a bit biography, a bit descriptive of the artistry to be shared and all about the musings of a poet in love with the written word. She writes, "Mainstream, downstream, upstream. Where were V I V A C E 3’s creative types located? What themes flow across these upcoming pages?
"Succinct theme synopsis: On a Flight to Nowhere there are layovers in India, Oman, Paris, England, Maui, Nantucket and the French Quarter because I Love Motels and had An Epiphany of a Travel Journalist while listening to Jazz in the Kitchen. The Lake Goddess conjures up an Earthquake, Wind Tunnel, and an Ascent up a mountain before you can get Back in the Argument and ponder why The Great American Philosopher Goes Fishing.Take a deep breath, but don’t swallow any salt water before reading a seaman’s account of being Saved by Sabu.
"Sabu. He didn’t save me. I was rescued by academia in 1979; plucked out of the secretarial pool after rocking the boat as an AFL-CIO union organizer on a University of California campus. I became an undergrad with a ticket to ride: a scholarship to the Robert Frost Poetry Workshop held in Franconia, New Hampshire.
"Upon arrival at the Poetry Workshop, a New Yorker identified me as a fish out of water. 'Do you know the difference between yogurt and California?' He smirked. 'Yogurt has culture.'"
"Well, that took me over the edge, sprinting into the woods behind Frost's historical cabin. Meandering tearfully over the trails surrounded by white birch in a clearing a Frost poetic line captured attention: Two roads diverged in a wood and I -- I took the one less traveled.
"Over the past three decades, I have taken the road less traveled, stopping at intersections frequented by artists, poets and writers: Glenna Luschei, Jim Hayes and Charles Duncan."
Don’t you think it is time SLO NightWriters get to know Christine Neilson just a little bit better? Christine’s vivacity of spirit is mixed with a quirky wit and an insatiable curiosity as a self-proclaimed villager. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature/Creative Writing and has been a published poet and journalist since 1979.
As a Central Coast journalist since 1985, her interview credits include politicians Leon Panetta (currently U.S. Secretary of Defense, former CIA Director, Secretary of State and California US Congressman) and California Governor Jerry Brown (former Attorney General and Presidential candidate. She was the first photojournalist allowed access in 1988 into the world's largest institution for the criminally insane, Atascadero State Hospital, resulting in a six-part feature series. She was a theatre critic and feature writer for Santa Barbara News Press, Santa Maria Times, New Times, The Tribune, Atascadero News and the former Sun Bulletin and Beach Gazette.
Christine's travel reporting has taken her throughout Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Switzerland, Jamaica and the United States. In addition, she continues to be a theatre critic and reviewer of art, music and a multitude of other venues.
And her poetry has appeared in national publications including literary journals Chinquapin, Quarry West and Kayak.
As well, please be aware that many of our members who have published books will have those books available at the meeting for your reading -- and purchasing -- pleasure!
DRIVING DIRECTIONS TO THE PG&E CENTER:
1. Heading South on 101: Take San Luis Bay Drive exit (#196); turn right at stop sign, then the first left onto Ontario. It’s a quick left, because Ontario is a frontage road, so keep an eye out. As usual in California, signage isn’t as good as it could be. The PG&E Center is on the right about 1/4 mile from the turn.
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2. Heading North on 101: Take San Luis Bay Drive exit (#196); turn left at the stop sign and go across the bridge over the highway. Just after bridge ends, after the southbound entrance to the 101, turn left onto Ontario, the frontage road. You’ll find PG&E on the right just a little way down the road. Huge parking lot with lots of lighting.
