Press Release: An Evening with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

The National Writers Series Presents: An Evening With Karla Cornejo Villavicencio on Thursday, April 8 As the nation’s collective attention begins to turn once again to issues of immigration reform, there’s no better time to join the National Writers Series 2021 Spring season for a conversation with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, author of The Undocumented Americans. […]
Author Next Door: Scott Craig

National Writers Series starts weekly podcasts with world-famous authors

Everyone’s favorite non-profit organization dedicated to connecting world-famous authors with the community is going digital!
The National Writers Series of Traverse City is now bringing the discussions to a podcast every week.
The podcast will feature a wide variety of guest authors and guest hosts, most of whom appeared live at the City Opera House in downtown Traverse City.
It is available for immediate download on a variety of platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and PocketCasts.
Author Next Door Spotlight: Tricia Frey

Tricia Frey encourages new writers to “sit down and write.”
By Grace Meyer
While there are a lot of dog books out there, this is one of the best. -The BookLife Prize 2021.
Tricia Frey’s memoir River Love: The True Story of a Wayward Sheltie, a Woman, and a Magical Place Called Rivershire, explores redemption, love, and being enough—just as you are. The 249-page novel also carries a powerful message about the life-altering possibilities that occur when one welcomes a rescue pet into their home and heart.
On the Boardman River, just south of Traverse City, lies a place dubbed Rivershire by its residents. Frey came to Rivershire after buying a home that she envisioned as a vacation spot and an investment opportunity for both her and her sister, Sandra. One day in 2006, Frey noticed movement outside her window and discovered a dog standing in her backyard. As soon as they made eye contact through the window, the dog “took off like a shot to the neighboring property.”
The dog, whom Frey named Sheldon, kept coming back to her property where Frey and her sister transformed a shed into a warm shelter for him and fed him daily. The building supplies for the shed took a bit of haggling from Frey and her sister with a store clerk, who was won over by their story of Sheldon. Even with the shed and daily meals, Sheldon remained timid, skittish, and frightened; it took two years before he even let Frey touch him and six more months before he came into her home.
After being Frey’s dog for quite some time, she discovered during a visit to the veterinarian that Sheldon had both an enlarged heart and a microchip.
National Writers Series announces new leadership

New leadership is coming for the Traverse City National Writers Series.
The non-profit was created in 2010 by bestselling author Doug Stanton and his wife Anne.
NWS Announces New Executive Director

The Traverse City National Writers Series is coming under new leadership, with Executive Director Anne Stanton stepping down effective February 1 and Jillian Manning taking the helm as the new executive director for the organization.
National Writers Series Classes Help Students Develop Cooking & Writing Skills

Young people the world over often dream of getting published and two upcoming National Writers Series classes will get them closer to the thrill of seeing their work in print. Jillian and Craig Manning will team up to teach kids, ages 11–18, how to write a children’s book (with an adult class planned for this summer). They’ll also teach young people about writing for a magazine, from crafting the pitch to writing an actual draft.
NWS is also partnering with Great Start and 5toONE to offer an international cooking class with Deanna Cook. The price of admission is Cook’s cookbook: Cooking Class Global Feast (say that three times fast).
National Writers Series: TC journalist turns chance encounter into four-legged love story

Martha Teichner knew she had a story after a trip to the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City.
It wouldn’t be a story for the Traverse City local’s usual job as a correspondent with “CBS Sunday Morning.”
NWS Hosts Activist and Author Albert Woodfox

Political activist and award-winning author Albert Woodfox joins Traverse City’s National Writers Series on Thursday, December 3, beginning at 7 p.m. to discuss his debut biography, “Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement.”
National Writers Series Presents Playwright Larissa FastHorse

The journey has only just begun for indigenous playwright Larissa FastHorse.