Carnegie Center Open Temporarily

The Carnegie Center is open for the morning. We will likely close this afternoon due to poor conditions around the building. We will be closed on Saturday. Young Women Writer's project will be postponed until next week.


Stay safe and warm this weekend!

~warmly~
Katherine

CCLL still CLOSED

The Carnegie Center is CLOSED today.

~warmly~

Katherine

CLOSED

The Carnegie Center is CLOSED Wednesday.

~warmly~

Katherine

CLOSED

The Carnegie Center is closed today.

Stay warm!

Katherine

New Books by Great Writers with David King

Here are some photos from NBGW with David King.


Don't forget to check out our February installment with Mitchell Douglas. Here's the scoop:

Thursday, February 19: MITCHELL DOUGLAS

6:30 pm: Reading and signing of Cooling Board: A Long-Playing Poem

7:30-9:00 pm: Hands-on writing workshop with the author: The Poetry Suite: Narrative Arch, Character, and Conflict in Verse

MITCHELL DOUGLAS Mitchell L. H. Douglas is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). His poetry has appeared in Callaloo, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (University of Georgia Press), Crab Orchard Review, and Zoland Poetry Volume II (Zoland Books) among others. A founding member of the Affrilachian Poets, Cave Canem fellow, and Poetry Editor for PLUCK!: the Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture. Cooling Board: A Long-Playing Poem, is his debut collection. Before its publication by Red Hen Press, Cooling Board was a runner-up for the 2007 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize, a semifinalist for the 2007 Blue Lynx Prize, and a semifinalist for the 2006 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Douglas currently resides in Indianapolis.

We hope to see you there!

~warmly~
Katherine

New Beginning Spanish Class

Want to learn Spanish this season? Check out our new Beginning Spanish Class:

Beginning Spanish

Wednesdays

Feb. 4-March 25

noon-2:00pm

Say ADIOS to communication barriers! Learn how to communicate accurately and politely with your employees, neighbors, clients, and Spanish-speaking friends in Lexington. $80. Textbook $20.

Instructor, Elida Gibson.

Please call for more information or if you are interested in signing up (859.254.4175).

~warmly~
Katherine

MLK Day

The Carnegie Center welcomed 160 people to our annual MLK, Jr. Day Open House celebration, "The Power of Words." We offered a FREE lunch, an opportunity to listen to Dr. King's speeches, community leaders/speakers, workshops and service project opportunities. Here are some photos of the event:


More photos to come!

Happy inauguration day!

~warmly~
Katherine

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Another announcement for all writers!

As you may know, Amazon.com and Penguin Group (USA) recently announced the second annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA), an international competition seeking fresh new writing voices. ABNA is an opportunity for emerging fiction writers to join a community of authors on Amazon.com, showcase their work, and compete for a chance to get published. This competition is a fantastic opportunity for students and alumni of graduate writing programs. In fact, the winner of the inaugural contest, Bill Loehfelm, is an alumnus of the graduate creative writing program at the University of New Orleans. In addition, four other finalists last year secured publishing contracts with Penguin.

One Grand Prize winner will receive a full publishing contract with Penguin including a $25,000 advance. Sue Monk Kidd and Sue Grafton will be writing reviews of the three finalists. Amazon customers will pick the winner from the three finalists. Contest details are listed below, and further information and official rules can be found at www.amazon.com/abna.

• What is the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award?
• The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is an opportunity for emerging fiction writers to join a community of authors on Amazon.com, showcase their work, and compete for a chance to get published. Sponsored in partnership with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award first launched in October 2007 and received more than 5,000 initial entries. In the inaugural contest, Amazon customers voted and named Bill Loehfelm the winner with his novel, Fresh Kills. Several of the other Top 10 finalists also received publishing deals with Penguin.
• What is the grand prize?
• A full publishing contract with Penguin to market and distribute Grand Prize winner's winning manuscript as a published book, including promotion for the published book on Amazon.com and a $25,000 advance.
• How do interested authors enter?
• Contest submission period begins February 2nd, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) and ends February 8th, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time), or when the first 10,000 entries have been received, whichever is earlier. There is no entry fee.
• How do interested authors get more information about the contest?
• Visit www.amazon.com/abna to sign up to receive contest updates, get tips on how to enter, participate on the ABNA message boards as well as find full contest rules.

Pass on the word!

~warmly~
Katherine

Family Fun and Learning Night Planning Night

The Carnegie Center hosted our annual FFLN Planning Night last night. While the parents and guardians helped staff generate ideas for future FFLN, the students worked on a mural for MLK, Jr. Day. Here are some photos of their work.

If you would like to see the complete mural, please join us on MLK Day at 12:30 pm to hear local speakers, video of the "I Have A Dream" speech, interactive hip-hop dance, video and poetry workshops and a FREE lunch. No registration necessary!

Hope to see you then.

~warmly~
Katherine

Legacies 2009 Writing Contest

Call for manuscripts! Here are the contest details:

The Carnegie Center’s Annual Legacies reading for writers over 55 will take place on Tuesday, March 10th at 6:30 p.m. Awards will be offered to the best entries submitted: poems, stories, essays, or memoirs drawn from the writer’s personal history. The cash prize is $100 for first place and $50 for second. In addition, the Legacies Reading awards the Legacies Medallion, donated in memory of Carole Pettit. Entries judged by a qualified panel.

Writers should submit manuscripts up to 1500 Words (about five, typed, double-spaced pages, which may include up to five Poems). There is a $10 reading fee per five-page entry, payable to the Carnegie Center.

Entries should include Name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and date of birth on a cover page, but not on the entry itself. Deadline for submitting an entry is Saturday, February 7th. Entries must be postmarked or received by that date.

Best of luck!

~warmly~
Katherine

Calling All Writers

Attention all writers! The Carnegie Center will be hosting a writing retreat. Here are the details:

Saturday Writing Retreat: In Search of the Center
Saturday Jan 24
10:00 am-4:00 pm

William Stafford said that writing is an important way to satisfy the “needs of your central being.” Prompts will help us write toward our centers. Sharing our work, we’ll deepen our understanding of our own and others’ writing. First we’ll generate and share new work, then we’ll try out revision possibilities. Things to bring: pens/pencils, a notebook or paper, a journal you’ve kept, a piece of work you’ve been trying to revise, brown bag lunch, pillows and blanket (these last two are optional). $100. Leatha Kendrick

Call today if you are interested in signing up! 859.254.4175

~warmly~
Katherine

Spanish for the Workplace

Do you need to speak Spanish at work? Join us for another new class at the Carnegie Center. Here are the details:

*NEW!* Spanish for the Workplace:
Espanol en el Trabajo

Thursdays Feb. 5 to Mar. 19 6:00-7:30 pm

Includes business expressions, letters, conference calls, meetings, and daily expressions in the workplace. Participants will improve communication with Spanish speakers, coworkers, students, or clients. Some basic knowledge of Spanish required. $35 (textbook: $20). Maria Gomez

Call us today to register (859.254.4175) or send us an email (ccll1@carnegieliteracy.org).

~warmly~
Katherine

Brain Power Series

Looking for a fun class for 2009? Try our Brain Power series. Here's the scoop:

Brain Power
Wednesdays
Jan. 7-28
5:30-7:00 pm

Chase away winter blahs! The latest research points out the importance of cross-training your brain to keep mentally sharp! Learn about kakuro, Blink, Set, logic matrix puzzles, Boggle, and tangram. Learn how to increase your memory!

Just $5 each session or $15 for all four sessions. Taught by Elise Mandel

Call today for more information or to get signed up! 859.254.4175

~warmly~
Katherine

Happy New Year

Happy 2009 everyone! We hope that you had a wonderful holiday break. The staff certainly enjoyed a nice respite, but it is always good to be back. As of today, the Carnegie Center is back up and running. We can't wait for classes to begin, and to see all of our student friends. If you have not yet signed up for something this season, please consider doing so. We are offering a lot of new classes!

Check out the Winter 2008 schedule.
Please let us know if you have any questions (859.254.4175 or ccll1@carnegieliteracy.org).

~warmly~
Katherine