First Friday

First Friday January 6, YES!!

2012-01-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

I hope to see you all on Friday, January 6, 2012, 6:30 PM, at Woolson House on the Rollins College Campus. First Friday is a constructive feedback group for writers. Writers can have any level of experience from beginner to proficient and much-published, and newcomers are always welcome. You can come to share your work for feedback or simply to listen and offer feedback to others. First Friday is a supportive atmosphere for all writers who wish to share their work. Each writer will have 10 minutes to read their piece and receive comments. Please bring copies (about 20) to share so we can all follow along. I look forward to seeing you there. Best wishes, Kathryn

1st Friday November 4th YES!

2011-10-26T06:23:00.001-07:00

I hope to see you all on Friday, November 4th, 6:30 PM, at Woolson House on the Rollins College Campus. First Friday is a constructive feedback group for writers. Writers can have any level of experience from beginner to proficient and much-published, and newcomers are always welcome. You can come to share your work for feedback or simply to listen and offer feedback to others. Each writer will have 10 minutes to read their piece and receive comments. Please bring copies (about 20) to share so we can all follow along. I look forward to seeing you there. Best wishes, Kathryn

"YES" for First Friday on October 7, 2011

2011-10-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

We will meet on October 7th, 6:30 p.m. as usual, at Woolson House on the Rollins campus. I'll be hosting while Phil Deaver is away. Bring a piece of prose or poetry to share for constructive feedback, and please bring copies for the group, which varies in size up to about 20 people. Each writer will have 10 minutes to read and receive feedback. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Best wishes,

Kathryn

"YES" for First Friday on August 5th

2011-07-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

We will meet on August 5th, 6:30 p.m. as usual, at Woolson House on the Rollins campus. I'll be hosting while Phil Deaver is away. Bring a piece of prose or poetry to share for constructive feedback, and please bring copies for the group, which varies in size up to about 20 people. Each writer will have 10 minutes to read and receive feedback. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Best wishes,

Kathryn

Yes to First Friday Tonight, June 3!!!

2011-06-03T06:13:00.001-07:00

Tonight, same time, same place, Kathryn DiBernardo presiding while Philip recovers from cataract surgery! See you at 6:30!

Yes to First Friday May 6

2011-05-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Come to First Friday on May 6, same time, same Batcave.

The Story Workshop: National Dzanc Day

2011-04-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

Reminder to First Friday-ers that there's no First Friday this month (April).

I wanted to contact you directly to let you know that on April 9 I'm teaching a short fiction workshop at the former Urban Think Bookstore, now called Urban ReThink/Burrow Books. The poster above says a lot but I wanted to tell you the whole deal with the class.

We'll convene at 9 AM and it is basically a writing day. Nine to 2:00 PM. I will give some prompts, and my intent is not that you bring something you're working on but that you come and try to write a story, a new story you never knew you were going to write and then, lo, by 2 PM you're far enough long that you would never want to quit on it. The following Saturday we would "meet" by email, hopefully with the stories revised enough so you're ready for some feedback. We'll figure out how to have small groups trade papers, and we'll discuss issues you ran into as you wrote it.

It costs a mere $30, and all of that goes to the wonderful Dzanc Books, friend of new and emerging writers. Think of it as a contribution to the Indie and Small Press scene. If you're interested in a writing day and seeing if you can get a new story going, please join us. The prompts will be great, the company (you know who you are, writers!) will be greater yet. The over-big poster above tells you how to sign up, and please also email me at Dan81446@gmail.com
if you want to come and also if you are having any trouble registering.

Phil

No First Friday on April Fool's Day

2011-03-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

This is to announce no First Friday in April. We'll meet in May. Meantime be sure to attend some readings, and even do some, for National Poetry Month. It really is spring!

Yes, First Friday on March 4, same time same place yahoo

2011-03-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

Let's get together Friday evening at 6:30 in Woolson House and read each other some of our work! See you then and . . . Spring's in the air, yahoo.

No February First Friday

2011-01-31T19:26:00.000-08:00

This month there will be no First Friday. The AWP conference in Washington, D.C. takes place this week, and I'm traveling there as chairman of the search committee seeking a writer to take my place during the Sabbatical I have coming up. We're going to want to think that through for First Friday also. We have until May to figure it out. Email me if you have ideas. See you in March if not before.

Philip

First Friday Will Meet Jan. 7. Happy New Year

2011-01-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

The plan is for First Friday to meet on Friday night, jan. 7, starting at 6:30. We will meet in Woolson House on the Rollins Campus. Spread the word and see you soon.

Very truly yours,

Philip

Dec. 3, Woolson House on the Rollins campus, 6:30 PM

2010-12-01T20:45:00.001-08:00

Here's official notice, yes there will be First Friday on Dec. 3 at 6:30 in Woolson House on the Rollins campus. Sorry for the last minute change last month. Promise I won't do that this month. All best and see you soon.

Philip

Change of Plan for Friday 11/12/10 -- Kerouac House!! 8 PM !! See below for Details

2010-11-11T12:59:00.000-08:00

Friends, I can't resist doing this. I'm pasting the announcement for the event Friday night at the Kerouac House. We will not meet at Woolson House at 6:30, but instead will join the celebration at the Kerouac House after the successful residency of the New York writer Mona Washington, who will do a final event.

I know it is listed as a fundraiser, and that they ask you to bring something. If you can, it's good, but don't let that stuff chase you off. First Friday and the Kerouac Project are very close in spirit with many of the same members. If you haven't been there, come on over at 8 Friday night.

Sorry for the late notice.

See below for details on the Kerouac House event.

Phil

Kerouac Friends and Faithful-

Please join us for this special Kerouac House Event.

Current Resident, Mona R. Washington bids farewell with an "Orlando premier" of a scene from her original play, "Woolite". The dramatic reading will be directed by John DiDonna featuring actors Dennis Neal and Val Gamble.

Synopsis: What happens when a wife's biggest fear (about her husband's fidelity) doesn't even come close to the reality?

Friday, 11/12/10 at 8 PM (doors open)

Program Starts at 8:30 PM

Q&A and Reception Follows

At the Kerouac House

1418 Clouser Ave., Orlando, FL 32804

As always, donations are appreciated.

For a fundraiser this evening, we will have a selection of handcrafted bracelets by Ilyse Kusnetz available for a donation of $20. These make lovely gifts and all donations directly support the Kerouac Project programs. Thanks Ilyse!

We hope to see you Friday.

Please park on Shady Lane. Bring a snack to share!

Thanks-

The Kerouac Project

First Friday this month will be on Nov. 12 (second Friday)

2010-11-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

First Friday this month will be not on the First Friday but on the second Friday of November. Spread the word, and see you then.

Yes, First Friday on Oct. 1 -- At last!!!!!

2010-09-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

We will have First Friday this coming Friday. We usually have no more that 20 at the meetings, often more like 15. If you're bringing poems, try to bring copies for us. If you're bringing prose and it's more than a couple of pages, don't bother to make copies, just come and read to us. Remember that, prose or poetry, we try to hold the time to 10 minutes per person, give or take -- mostly give, but prose writers sometimes have to choose between reading the whole thing and then getting no comments or reading for a few minutes so there's enough time in ten minutes to have the group give a good discussion and feedback.

The meeting starts at 6:30. If the group is fairly big, we're pretty strict on the time per person. If the group is little, we completely lose control of the time and the meeting usually goes just as long as if there was a big group. Because that's how we roll! See you soon.

First Friday Tonight, August Sixth

2010-08-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

yes, let's try to have FF tonight, same time, same place. sorry for the late notice. it's been a wild summer.

No First Friday for today July 9

2010-07-09T04:43:00.000-07:00

We'll shoot for August. Hope the summer's going well.

Just a note from Ubud, Bali

2010-05-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hello from Indonesia. Word comes that Gracie died yesterday, a very painful thing for me. I can't believe I won't see her again. She was a great one, and she taught me much. We've all had loss and so you know when the doggy dies it seems to all come back. She was a beauty, I'll tell you that.

There will be First Friday in June. I'll be there if I can but it's a long flight. Kathryn will be there if I'm not. I might even get there late. Stay tuned and be sure to check this site before you drive over. Best, Phil

First Friday WILL Meet, 6:30 PM, May 7, Woolson House

2010-05-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

First Friday will meet for May. Same time, same place.

First Friday is OFF for April

2010-04-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Owing to the convergence of Good Friday and First Friday, we will not meet this month. See you in May! It is National Poetry Month, however, so keep your eye on Scribbles and Mad About Words bulletins for events all around the town.

First Friday is ON for the First Friday of March

2010-03-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

Friday, March 5, 2010: First Friday meets in Woolson House, starting at 6:30 PM and running as long as it takes to enjoy the work of everyone who wants to share it.

First Friday is OFF for February

2010-02-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

First Friday will not meet this month. Mysterious forces at work! See you on the First Friday of March!

Plan Ahead: First Friday in January is on the 8th this time

2009-12-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

Owing to the New Years holiday being precisely on Friday Jan. 1, we are moving First Friday to the second Friday for this month only. 2010! Can it possibly be almost 2010??

First Friday will happen on December 4

2009-12-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

See you there, same time, same place. (Which would be 6:30 PM at Woolson House on the Rollins campus.)

No First Friday November 6

2009-11-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

First Friday will not be convened this month. Philip will be at the Florida Literary Arts Coalition conference in St. Augustine on the weekend. See you in December. :-)

First Friday October 2 -- YES

2009-09-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

First Friday will meet in Woolson House this coming Friday, Oct. 2, beginning at 6:30 and going until well after midnight.

Jeanie Thompson Comes to Read, Urban Think!, this coming Fri., Sept. 18, 7 PM

2009-09-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased that Jeanie Thompson is coming to read from her new book The Seasons Bear Us. I had the opportunity to read this manuscript on its way to publication and found it moving, smart, and beautiful all at once. The manuscript became a beautiful and moving book. Jeanie is a poet of national importance, and one of the pleasures of having her here is to introduce her to our formidable community of writers. What better place than the fine literary scene at Urban Think! I hope you get a chance to join us at 7 PM this Friday. Bring friends.

The Cows in Nana’s Hay Field

We are riding back from dinner at Eddie’s, through the valley of many flowers, across
the creek of deliciously bright light and rock-clear laughter.
Eddie has filled us with salmon and yellow tomatoes, and truffles and white wine,
and we have filled him back in turn with poems that tumble out of us
like girls sharing secrets. We have all been happy and we have all been
profoundly alone in our happiness. Now, you and I are talking about what it means
to understand love, all the dimensions of it – the crack in the wall, you call it,
into seeing that a profound love between men and women is possible. It seems like it is
right in front of us and we struggle to pick that gift and offer it for sustenance to the other.
If only we could grab just the right word, the right thought, and arrange it on the plate
of our desire to tell each other, to tell ourselves. That close! Pondering and talking, we turn
into the farm road, past the first gate, and then the second. “On no!” you exclaim
suddenly. “The cows are out!” You had left the gate open, thinking that the cows might not,
but of course they have, gotten into the hay field. Dark shapes, some black, some brown,
some putty are molded into the green breath of the hay. In the deep dusk I might not have seen
them, but you have. When we pull up to the house, you jump out, grab a broom,
and head down the lane toward the field, calling in your strong voice, “Hey, go on, get out,
get outta there, hey, go on, get out!” And I think, what person who thinks
to shoo cows from an acre of hay with a broom, wouldn’t know now to corral any
thought, know exactly how to define something as simple as love?

by
Jeanie Thompson
from The Seasons Bear Us

First Friday Cancelled for Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-03T03:58:00.000-07:00

First Friday will be held in October, but it is off for this month. To our many new members, thanks so much for hopping in, and thanks too to our amazing continuing group of poets and writers. Last month's FF was rich and amazing with new work and a lot of fun. We grow completely by word of mouth, our little unassuming collective of writers urging each other along, practicing persistence in the art and craft and the giving and receiving of plenty of good feedback.

Here's a note also that founding First Friday leader Lezlie Laws and Philip Deaver are conducting a workshop Saturday, Sept. 19, in the Galloway Room at Rollins College. The two of them will continue, in fishbowl style, their 15 year discussion on writing, with accompanying writing prompts, and will bring YOU into the conversation. They will focus on seven challenges we all must confront in doing the work and some ideas on how to confront them. More information, contact Mary de Stefano at maryann@madaboutwords.com.

First Friday ON for August 7

2009-07-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hey all, just to let you know we're on for this coming Friday, August 7. Woolson House, 6:30. Hope you got a chance to check out my rant on Long Pine Limited about 1969. You might disagree with it, but at least it has a nice picture of my mom!

http://longpinelimited.blogspot.com/

See you soon.

pfd

First Friday is ON for June 5

2009-06-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

Spread the word to our friends. First Friday is on for this coming Friday, June 5. Yay. The gathering begins at 6:30 Friday evening and ends . . . well, you know. Before dawn! There is word that Woolson House may be reserved for a special meeting, which will bump us to Orlando Hall, only 25 or 30 steps away. At any rate, I'll be there a little earlier than usual to make sure everybody gets a good seat, so come to the area just outside Woolson, you know where I mean, and we'll scope out the situation and act accordingly. See you soon.

No First Friday on May 1, '09

2009-04-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings my friends, it is a long story how come First Friday is cancelled for this month, but it surely is. It is May Day and the sun promises to shine, and I hope you have a great day and month. Please spread the word, and see you in June. pfd

First Friday, Yes, March 27, Same Time, Same Place

2009-03-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

April's the cruelest month, wrote Eliot, but he'd never been to Buffalo in January. Still, April may be among the busiest months. Hence I've decided to hold First Friday this coming Friday, the 27th of March. The week after that is impossible for me, also the one after that, then comes Good Friday, something different entirely.

Spread the word to the gang! Let's do poetry and prose, same time on the clock, same place on the campus map at Rollins, the Emerald of Winter Park.

First Friday Not Meeting March 6

2009-03-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

Regrettably the host of First Friday, on his first day of Spring Break, will be in an undisclosed location because he's a writer, too! We've learned he can be reached by email at the usual address or Phil@philipfdeaver.com. Sorry for the relatively late notice. Please spread the word so nobody has one of those bleak evenings outside the locked door of our home base, Woolson House!

(signed)
Good Danny

First Friday on Feb. 6 -- YESSSSSSS!

2009-02-04T05:32:00.000-08:00

See you Friday night, Feb. 6, for our first FF meeting of the new dawn! I mean, the new year!

Also, don't forget Winter with the Writers! Please drop by on TONIGHT! at 8PM in the Tiedtke for Derek Walcott, Nobel Prize-winning poet. Come early and enjoy yourself.

Philip

The Walking People

2009-01-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

This is perhaps too early to send out, but I will send a reminder when this book gets released (May 20). The Walking People is the debut novel of Mary Beth Keane, formerly the assistant of agent Chris Calhoun at Sterling Lord Literistic (Chris is Billy's book agent and best friend). I am almost finished reading the advance copy and I have to say I am blown away by the brilliance of the writing, sentence by sentence, word by word, and by the storytelling ability possessed by this young writer. (She's in her thirties.)

I wanted to paste some reviews below, but darn that Amazon and their code that won't allow it. Instead, you can go here to the Amazon page and read about it.

The Walking People is a book I know I will open from time to time just to read a paragraph or two for reminders of how great writing works. Keane's use of even the simplest detail is not without purpose; every word in this novel works.

2009-01-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

Phil --

Thanks to you, I now have a foothold in the 21st century. I wanted to be a "follower" of your new blog, so I learned how to become a blogger myself.

Pretty soon we'll all be selling each other insurance!

Best,

Bob

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, the blog is hoppin'. Thanks to those who weighed in. Tell our fellow FFers who might not have noticed yet. Let's keep going with this in our great new year, '09. The economy sucks, good time to do some writing and reading. The price is right!

Happy New Year.

2008-12-31T13:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Phil, for helping everyone stay in the loop. And we do go way back, that's for sure.

From Waaaay Back

2008-12-31T07:41:00.001-08:00

What a convenient way to catch up with all those who have wandered in and out of Woolson House over the years. I don't ever remember Ginger Magarine going to First Friday, but she must have if Phil said so. I do remember Darlyn's first First Friday. She read a short story. I remember Stacy Barton from a most wondrous poem she wrote that included (or had as its subject) Mary Magdalen-- and look at Stacy now! Published in multiple genres. I've seen Mary Burns in the recent past; she's one of the original FF-ers, and a superb writer. I think I started going in 1998 or 1999 and compared to these people I'm starting to mention now, I'm a FF baby. Where's Susan Martin of "Shamrocks" fame? Susan, are you out there and still writing fab short stories? Where's Sara Schlossman now that WMFE has gone temporarily (we hope) bonkers? Such poetic prowess. Where's Bruce, the retired judge who would, every once in a while, read something that blew us all away? And Brian. Brian, we know you're out there, because we're still getting your emails letting us know whether FF is on or not. And then maybe not on. And then maybe yes it's on again. But we know you're there. ( And we know Phil is the ping-pong ball.) Such happy memories,

INCLUDING

DON'T FORGET

that we HAVE had FOOD and refreshments at least once. Maybe twice. At Christmas. I remember bringing cold, spiked eggnog from ABC and some wine. Three hours is too long to sit at a stretch without some culinary diversion. Even if it's Hershey's kisses. Or geez, a candy cane or a pop tart or something.

Yayyy -- A First Friday Blog!

2008-12-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks for creating this blog and inviting me to post. I hope everyone joins in the fun, and I look forward to seeing what develops here!

The Long-overdue First First Friday Blog!

2008-12-28T06:53:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Who knows if this will work or not, but the idea is to have a central cyber-place to go to that is kind of like Woolson House. I'll get a picture of Woolson and put it at the top of the page, and we'll all know where we are. Between Lezlie Laws and myself, First Friday has existed a long time. Close to 20 years? Not bad for a little group with no formal membership, no dues, nothing formal going for it except, as they say at church, fellowship and, as they don't say at church, tons of writing!

Have you noticed that a lot of entities, not only around town but around the English speaking world, are called "First Friday"?! And I think Seminole CC in Sanford has a "Second Tuesday," founded by our friend Stephen Caldwell Wright and quite possibly being continued now by former First Friday-er Professor Ginger Magarine. Well, have you noticed that the hub of the literary world in Central Florida, the Scribbles newsletter, was invented and founded by hyper-energetic ubiquitous former First Friday-er Darlyn Finch -- I think it was an idea that was really born at First Friday. And do you recall that Poetic Logic on WMFE public radio (before being we hope temporarily halted this year) was hosted by two consecutive long-time First Friday-ers, radio man Ron Cross and the wondrous poet Sara Schlossman? Do you know that Infusion Tea, Naomi Butterfield and Urban Think Bookstore, separately and together, those fabulous Orlando literary scenes, trace to First Friday, and that the new vibrations out of the Kerouac Project trace to Darlyn and Brad Kuhn?

We don't want to overstate First Friday's quiet influence on the writing world in the region, and it is amazing to think of really, if you go to one of our FF sessions and see how pleasantly low key and unpresupposing it all is, the broken down couches, the bust of Shakespeare on the mantel, the dim energy saving lighting, the random seating arrangement, never any refreshments! -- completely informal and friendly, safe for our bad poetry and celebratious of our good stuff and our submission victories. Very low key -- yet it makes real literary thunder. Next thing you know, an important Poet Laureate of the United States LIVES HERE!

What could this blog be used for? I've had a few ideas, since I started writing my own, "Long Pine Limited."

We could use this location for posting the next First Friday, so you don't have to come over to Rollins, park, walk up the sidewalk, look in the window, and see the place is dark. I'll spread the word as usual, through Scribbles and our mailing list and the mysterious Brian Vogel, but I'll also post it here. You should be able to see it in the sidebar right now.

You could post a poem if you want to.

And you could comment on a person's poem if you want.

You could come on here and post a victory (a publication!).

You could come on here and ask questions (someone would try to answer, I'm sure -- you know how we are!).

You've got other ideas for how this could be used. Type it as a comment!

You could just wave hi.

We don't want to make it too formal. The informality and relaxed nature of FF is its hallmark, I hope, but sometimes after a meeting there might be comments, or someone may look up something and follow-up on a discussion. If you miss a night, you might be able to find out here what went on if you're curious. I won't try now to stipulate that we stay positive and try to replicate the mood of our Woolson House get-togethers -- you are the ones who make it what it is there, and who will make this an extension of that. Use your own email connections for your private connections, and let this be an extension of our First Friday community!

Onward!