Hi, Alison!
I took the personal essay/memoir class with you last spring. I wanted to let you know that I just found out yesterday that I won 2nd place in the Memoirs, Ink writing contest! How crazy is that?! I submitted a piece that I wrote while taking your class --- the one on loving baseball, twisted up with my husband's cancer diagnosis. I can't quite believe it!
Thanks to Kathleen McClung and you, I feel like I have a decent foundation in the elements of memoir writing. Without confidence gained in your class and Kathleen's, there's no way that it would have ever occurred to me to submit anything. Heck, I didn't even know that there IS such a thing as writing contests!
Anyway --- thanks much! I'll send you the link to the piece once I've signed the paperwork and written up a blurb. Thank you for your help and support!
Sue Granzella
Today I got another email about Sue's news, this time from teacher Kathleen McClung. I love that both our teachers cared enough about a student's success to send the news on to me, so that I could give Sue some additional praise. . . and also, hopefully, inspire other students to take a chance and submit their work to a contest or publication, just as Sue did.
Kathleen's email:
Writing Salon student Sue Granzella won 2nd Prize (and a substantial cash award) in the annual Memoirs Ink Contest for her funny and touching short memoir, "A Great Love." She thanks us Writing Salon teachers and attaches the link at the bottom of her jubilant email below. Might be a nice WS blog post?
Hi, friends and family!
I'm a 52-year-old who's as enthused as a third-grader! Some of you know that I started taking a writing class a year ago, after a road-trip encounter with a Massachusetts artist who inspired me. I've so enjoyed delving a bit more into writing! It's been great for me, and a relief for a few of you who'd previously had to wade through emails with me telling stories about clogged bathtubs, third-grade vomiting sprees, etc. Now I have another outlet!
Anyway - I had a goal this summer of trying to submit a bit of my writing somewhere. I sent a piece I call "A Great Love" to a writing contest for "memoir"/personal essay-type writing, and, shockingly, I got a call last week that I'd won second place with it! As I explained to the kids in my class when I told them during writing instruction (I'd called the woman back at recess), I'm just excited that someone besides me liked my writing! This statement was delivered to them in this exchange:
- Kid: "Do you get any money for winning?"
- Me: "Yes, but I don't care about the money! I'm just excited that someone thought my writing is good!"
- Kid #2: "How much money do you get?"
- Me: "I'm not going to say."
- Kid #3: "So it's A MILLION DOLLARS??!!!"
We obviously have some work to do in math class with estimating, number sense, etc.
I sent this piece to a few of you when I was drafting it, but here it is in finished form. Please feel free to forward it to anyone who might enjoy it!! It's meant to be out there now. I also recommend reading the 1st- and 3rd-place stories! After reading them, I'm even more shocked and humbled that mine was one of the three selected. Geez. They're terrific stories, with superb writing. (There's an honorable mention, too, but it's not up yet.) First place is a beautiful piece about a beloved father, and third place is a very funny (R-rated) piece that takes place at the circus.
For anyone who loves writing and lives in the Bay Area --- I HIGHLY recommend The Writing Salon, where I've been taking writing classes. Check it out. I took classes with Kathleen McClung, and with Alison Luterman. Let me know if you sign up for a class!!
Here's the link to it. Please forward to any and all! Thanks for reading!! Sue
Thank you so much, Jane! I really have learned so much from both Kathleen and Alison, and am grateful for the exciting growth that I'm experiencing because of the Writing Salon. I look forward to starting a new class in a couple of weeks. Thanks for posting my news!
Posted by: sue granzella | Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 09:59 PM