LIGONIER VALLEY
WRITERS
“Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit” Workshop, September 15
What’s more fun than writing? Getting paid for writing! Jim Busch will lead us in one of his inspiring programs: “Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit.” That’s from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 15, at St. Michael’s of the Valley Church in Rector.
This class will discuss how to turn your creativity and writing skills into dollars and cents. Not only is freelancing a profitable way to spend your time, but it will give you an opportunity to polish your writing skills and build your resumé. We will cover where to sell your work, how to approach potential buyers, and what basic techniques to practice. The class will be interactive and will allow plenty of time for your questions.
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The program is free to LVW members and $5 for nonmembers. St. Michael’s is at 2535 Route 381 in Rector. Please email me (jgallagher@LHTOT.com) by Thursday, September 12, to register.
Jim Busch has written columns for the Tribune Review, Post-Gazette, Valley News Dispatch, and Fox Chapel Herald. He has published a number of articles on Western Pennsylvania people and events. He has given talks all around the country on subjects from creativity to sales skills.
LVW Picnic at Jamison Farm August 11
Ligonier Valley Writers' annual community picnic will be a little different this year. It’s in the summer and it’s at a new locale for us. Sukey and John Jamison have invited LVW to celebrate at their farm.
The picnic is on Sunday, August 11, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Jamison Farm, located at 171 Jamison Lane, Latrobe 15650. If you’re coming from the west, go north on Main St. in Greensburg. Then follow signs for Rt. 119 past Lynch Field on your right. Take 119 to Crabtree. Take the right turn at Apple’s Dance Lab and follow that road for 2.3 miles. Then turn right onto Calvary Hill Cemetery Rd. Drive ½ mile to the Jamison Farm sign. Turn right and drive up the lane. If you get lost, call Sukey at 724-237-3137.
Please do email me at jgallagher@LHTOT.com by Friday, August 9, if you can make it. We want to make sure we bring enough food for everyone. The event is free for LVW members and just $5 for nonmembers. The public is cordially invited. If you like to talk, read, and eat, you'll enjoy the LVW picnic.
Bring a main course, side dish, or dessert if you like, though it’s not required. Join us for good food and good conversation in the scenic Laurel Highlands. You’ll also have a chance to win a raffle prize.
Both LVW members and nonmembers are welcome to read from their own writing after the meal.
Copies of the 2024 edition of the Loyalhanna Review will be available free of charge.
We’ll still hold an event at St. Michael’s in September, but it will be one of Jim Busch’s inspiring workshops: “Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit.”
Loyalhanna Review Publication Party July 20, 2024 (Saturday)
One of the longest-running literary magazines in the Laurel Highlands is celebrating the publication of its 2024 edition, and all of our members and friends, plus the public, are invited.
The Loyalhanna Review publication party will take place on Saturday, July 20, from 7 to 9 p.m.
All of our members and friends, plus the public, are invited.
Please register by Saturday, July 13: Contact Marge Burke at MCB1776@aol.com or (724) 787-4776.
The suggested donation is $15 at the door, but no registered guest will be turned away. Every author and artist who has contributed material to this year’s magazine is comped, since without their hard work and creativity we wouldn’t have this beautiful magazine to share with you. If you’re one of this year’s authors or artists and you can join us, please RSVP to help us make sure we have enough food and drink for all of our celebrants.
Each guest will receive a copy of the new Loyalhanna Review, hot off the presses and crammed full of writing and art that will knock your socks off, most of it created by local talent.
Join us to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and entertainment by Loyalhanna Review authors reading from their work. You’ll have an opportunity to talk with the authors and artists whose work is featured in the magazine.
The party will once again be at the Hempfield Church of Christ, located at 144 Hugh Black Road in Greensburg, PA 15601.
Directions: From Route 30 across from Westmoreland Mall, turn north at Dunkin' Donuts and then bear right onto Donahue Rd. At the WOW Outlet, turn right onto Hugh Black Rd. The church is at the top of the hill on the right.
STUDENT POETRY AWARDS CEREMONY on April 27, 2024
Barnes & Noble, Greensburg PA from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Ligonier Valley Writers’ 33rd annual Student Poetry Contest has found some very talented poets among students in grades 4-12 from schools throughout western Pennsylvania. They will be honored at an awards ceremony on Saturday, April 27, at the Greensburg Barnes & Noble (5155 Route 30) at 4:00 p.m.
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Thirty cash awards will be handed out (first, second, and third prizes in each of nine categories, plus Naccarato Awards for the best of the best in each age group). Many students will read their winning poems aloud. Last year there were more than 50 people in the audience cheering on LVW's student poets.
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Winners will also have their poems published in a booklet and on the LVW website and get invited to be interviewed on SLB Radio in Pittsburgh. Join us at Barnes & Noble to celebrate the next generation of creativity in our region by supporting these talented young people. Read previous years’ winning poems now.
CHRIS RODELL to Give LVW Talk on May 20, 2023
Chris Rodell will give a talk at a Ligonier Valley Writers program on Saturday, May 20, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Adams Memorial Library in Latrobe. “Ten Years, Six Books” is about his career as a book author. The talk is free and open to the public.
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The International Business Times calls Chris "the writer with the heart of a pound puppy and the brain of a free-range chicken." He is the Latrobe-based author of six books, including ones on his screwball friendship with Arnold Palmer, the defiant kindness of Fred Rogers and how colorful living can brighten the whole world. His uproarious, true and inspiring stories of everyday humans being human every day will energize any audience.
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Chris’s Colorful Living Tip No. 991: Open an art gallery with nothing on the walls. Then invite people to enter and be greeted by 40 guys who say nothing but “Hi! I’m Art!”
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Chris is among the world's most widely read freelance writers and the only one who's had articles published on the same day in Playboy, Cooking Light, Esquire, Golf, Sports Illustrated, National Enquirer and the South China Morning Post, a combined readership in excess of 97 million people. In his career Chris has wrestled alligators, raced Ferraris, gone skydiving, lain on beds of nails, and gained 20 pounds in one week on the Elvis diet.
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Adams Memorial Library is at 1112 Ligonier St. in downtown Latrobe. There’s a metered parking lot behind the building. The workshop is free to all. Members of the public are welcome. To register, email me at jgallagher@LHTOT.com.
WORKSHOP: Jim Busch to give workshop on "Personal Journaling" APRIL 15, 2023
Ligonier Valley Writers gather together to discuss the best practices of Journaling.
This workshop on Personal Journaling will be taught by Jim Busch at Ligonier Valley Library from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Jim Busch is recently retired from the newspaper industry. He has a BA in English, concentrating on medieval and renaissance literature, from the University of Pittsburgh. He’s written columns for the Tribune Review, Post-Gazette, Valley News Dispatch, and Fox Chapel Herald. Jim has given talks all around the country on subjects from creativity to sales skills. He has published a number of articles on Western Pennsylvania people and events. He lives in White Oak. Jim is also the president of LVW.
F.J. Hartland | SEPTEMBER 25, 2022
F.J. Hartland Playwriting Workshop September 25
For LVW’s first workshop since Covid began, we managed to snag prize-winning playwright F.J. Hartland. He will teach a workshop on playwriting for Ligonier Valley Writers on Sunday, September 25, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at St. Michael’s of the Valley Church in Rector (2535 Route 381).
This workshop is open to writers in all genres, including those who have never written a play before. It's a perfect opportunity to explore the form—and learn about creating living, breathing characters—in a supportive atmosphere.
The workshop is free to LVW members and $10 to nonmembers. Please register by September 19 by emailing jgallagher@LHTOT.com or calling Judith Gallagher at (724) 593-7294.
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F.J.’s topic is "Less Is More: Writing the Short, Short Play." He says contests and festivals are now looking for plays that are 10 minutes or even shorter, all the way down to one minute. He will show participants how to fit characterization and story into such a small package.
F.J. brings enormous expertise to bear. He has made a record-setting eighteen appearances in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, winning Best Play four times. His play Across a Crowded Room will be performed there next month. He has twice won Samuel French’s Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. His plays have been performed at many theaters in Pittsburgh, New York, and elsewhere.
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His monologue Google It has been selected by Talking Horse Productions (in Missouri) for their Second Annual Monologue Contest. Thirty monologues were chosen from over 150 submissions to be filmed and presented on their website in September. Then one winner will be chosen. Last year his monologue Waning Gibbous was the winner.
PLAYWRIGHT DIRECTOR AND ACTOR F.J. HARTLAND
F.J. recently retired from teaching theater at Saint Francis University. He holds a BA in English from Westminster College and an MFA in playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a professional actor and an award-winning director.
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F.J.’s New Works show Across a Crowded Room will run August 25-28, so you still have time to buy tickets.
Sunday, September 25, from 3-5 p.m.
at St. Michael’s of the Valley Church
(2533 PA-381, Rector, PA 15677)
The workshop is free to LVW members
and $10 to nonmembers.
WORKSHOP: Reading Like a Writer | NOVEMBER 17, 2019
Ligonier Valley Writers to Discuss Reading Like a Writer
“Imagine a chef who hates to eat, an artist who’s never been to a gallery. It’s not credible — neither is a writer who doesn’t read.”
Noteworthy--The Journal Blog
We writers are lucky. No matter where we live, and no matter how old we are or how much money we have, we have access to the greatest writing teachers who have ever lived. We can choose Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway, Louise Erdrich, or Ursula Le Guin as our mentors. All we have to do is pick up a book to learn the secrets of the master wordsmiths.
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On Sunday, November 17, Jim Busch will lead participants in reading like writers. This class will show writers how to maximize the lessons learned from their reading. It will address how to analyze and learn from the techniques used by published authors. Participants will learn how to use reading to improve their own writing and will come away with a deeper appreciation of their favorite authors.
Bring a favorite book, story, or passage that you admire. This enjoyable workshop will make you not only a better writer but a more thoughtful reader.
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The program runs from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at St. Michael’s of the Valley Church in Rector. It is free to LVW members and $5 for nonmembers. St. Michael’s is at 2535 Route 381 in Rector.
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Jim Busch is recently retired from the newspaper industry. He has a BA in English, concentrating on medieval and renaissance literature, from the University of Pittsburgh. He’s written columns for the Tribune Review, Post-Gazette, Valley News Dispatch, and Fox Chapel Herald. Jim has given talks all around the country on subjects from creativity to sales skills. He has published a number of articles on Western Pennsylvania people and events. He lives in White Oak with his wife and proofreader, Glenda. Jim is also the president of LVW.
Community Picnic & Readings | SEPTEMBER 15, 2019
Ligonier Valley Writers to Hold Community Picnic and Readings
Be Part of the Entertainment
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Would you like to share your writing with a supportive audience? Or be in the audience to hear talented local writers read from their work? For an entertaining afternoon of fun, food, and fiction (not to mention nonfiction and poetry), come to Ligonier Valley Writers' annual community picnic.
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It's on Sunday, September 15, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at St. Michael’s of the Valley Episcopal Church in Rector. The event is free for LVW members and just $5 for nonmembers. The public is cordially invited. If you like to talk, read, and eat, you'll enjoy the LVW picnic.
Bring a covered dish or dessert if you like, though it’s not required. Join us for good food and good conversation in the scenic Laurel Highlands. Both LVW members and nonmembers are welcome to read from their own writing after the meal. You’ll also have a chance to win a raffle prize.
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Copies of the 2019 edition of The Loyalhanna Review, one of the longest-running literary magazines in the area, will be available free of charge. The magazine features top-quality essays, short stories, and poems, as well as photos and fine art. Among the offerings this year are Janice McLaughlin's slapstick yet lyrical account of crossing a stream ("River Dance") and Sarah Russell's poem about fishing with her grandfather ("Opening Day, Age 12"). As always, the Review's breathtaking full-color art includes many locally shot photos. The cover photo of a tulip magnolia tree in bloom, by perennial fan favorite Jan Sady, is worthy of framing.
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St. Michael's is located at 2535 Route 381 in Rector, PA 15677 (Ligonier Township): (724) 238-9411. Ligonier Valley Writers is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that has been serving writers and readers throughout western Pennsylvania since 1986.
Loyalhanna Review Publication Party | JULY 13, 2019
One of the longest-running literary magazines in the Laurel Highlands is celebrating the publication of its 2019 edition, and the public is invited. Ligonier Valley Writers has been publishing The Loyalhanna Review continuously since 1991. LVW will host a publication party on Saturday, July 13, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Ligonier (Route 711 South and One Boucher Lane). If you like good writing, art, food, and conversation, you'll have a good time.
Join us to enjoy the museum's exhibits, wine and hors d’oeuvres, and entertainment by Loyalhanna Review authors reading from their work. See this year’s cover and other beautiful artwork suitable for hanging. From a laugh-out-loud essay about chicken tractors to a poem about the music of engines, you'll be entertained and inspired. You’ll have an opportunity to talk with the authors and artists whose work is featured in the magazine.
The suggested donation is $10 at the door, but no one will be turned away. Each guest will receive a copy of the new Loyalhanna Review, hot off the presses and crammed full of writing and art that will knock your socks off, most of it created by local talent. Help us celebrate the literary life of the Laurel Highlands.
Ligonier Valley Writers is an all-volunteer nonprofit group that has been bringing workshops, talks, and publication opportunities to writers and readers throughout southwestern Pennsylvania for more than thirty years. LVW offers events throughout the year, including the flash fiction contest and workshops on the craft of writing.
F.J. Hartland | MAY 5, 2019
The workshop will focus on creating interesting characters. We will discuss how to differentiate characters, creating individual voices, and how character can build conflict.
"Not only do your characters need to be different
from one another, they need to be memorable,"
F.J. explains. "Think of Antigone, Stanley Kowalski, Willy Loman--all memorable characters."
F.J. brings enormous expertise to bear. He has made
a record-setting sixteen appearances in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, winning Best Play four times. In 2018 his play Rust was produced by Things Unseen Theatre in Altoona. Last summer his short play
Santa Secret was one of eight plays selected for the Weathervane Playhouse's 8x10 Festival in Akron. Currently F.J. is an assistant professor of theatre at Saint Francis University. He holds a BA in English
from Westminster College and an MFA in playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a professional actor and an award-winning director.
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Open to writers in all genres, including those who have never written a play before. It's a perfect opportunity
to explore the form--and learn about creating living, breathing characters--in a supportive atmosphere.
AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT F.J. HARTLAND
Sunday, May 5, from 3-5 p.m. at St. Michael’s of the Valley Church
(2533 PA-381, Rector, PA 15677)
The workshop is free to LVW members and $5 to nonmembers.
MEET THE WRITERS: Phantom Detectives at Risk | MARCH 30 & APRIL 28, 2019
Meet the Authors of the Mystery Anthology Phantom Detectives at Risk
The authors of the stories in Phantom Detectives at Risk will be reading from their anthology at two events.
• Saturday, March 30, 2019, 1:00-4:00 p.m. at Craftique Collections (770 East Pittsburgh St. in Greensburg).
• Sunday, April 28, 2019, 6:00-8:00 p.m., at the Sunday Salon at Mt. Pleasant Library (120 S. Church St., Mt. Pleasant).
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The Phantom Detectives are at it again, in even more danger. Lieutenant Manelli is off teaching at the Police Academy, and members of the Sleuths and Serpents writing group have gotten involved in hot cases. With Manelli not there to ride herd on the members, they have to approach the danger with the same creativity they show in writing and solving cold cases. Especially if they are to survive.
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This is the fourth book in a mystery anthology series published by Greensburg Writers' Group as a fundraiser for Ligonier Valley Writers. It contains short stories by local authors Thomas Beck, Marge Burke, Linda Ciletti, Stacy DiPasquale, Dan Ekis, Judith Gallagher, Gretchen Landis, Barb Miller, Mary Ann Mogus, and Ronald J. Shafer, plus a poem by Judith Sturges. The cover art is by Dan Ekis and the cover design by Dan Ekis and Linda Ciletti.
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Each story features characters from a fictional writers’ group, the Sleuths and Serpents, who solve unsolvable cases with help from the unlikeliest corners of the paranormal. Each writer is inspired by a different ghostly sidekick, who abets them in their quest for solutions (though somehow there is still a lot of legwork involved).
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These stories run the gamut from noir to whimsical. You'll be dying to find out how a young woman and her muse, André the Giant, save a bodybuilder from murder and how a hefty cat named Mjolnir rescues his timid owner from a drug dealer.
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The 280-page Phantom Detectives at Risk will be for sale for $15. All donations go toward LVW's programs and publications, especially its annual literary magazine, The Loyalhanna Review, which is distributed free throughout western Pennsylvania. Books by LVW and GWG members are also available for purchase at the Book Nook at Craftique.