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Co-Directors
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Kathie Isaac-Luke |
Kathie Isaac-Luke's poetry collection,
Chrysalides, was recently published by Dragonfly Press.
Editor of caesura, the journal of Poetry Center San Jose for
five years, she is a freelance writer for the Union Democrat.
Kathie's short story, "The Collection," was nominated for a 2010
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Ginger Bennett Griffin |
Ginger Bennett Griffin, helped coordinate
this conference for many years. She was part of our lives and is
greatly missed.
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Pam Mundale |
Pam Mundale writes short stories and novels.
She is shopping her debut novel and working on the second.
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Faculty | |
Alex Espinoza
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Alex Espinoza
Alex Espinoza was born in Tijuana, Mexico and earned an MFA from UC-Irvine’s Program in Writing. His first novel, Still Water Saints was published by Random House in 2007 and was released simultaneously in Spanish under the title Los santos
de Agua Mansa, California. The book was named a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Still Water Saints was called a “stunning debut” by Los Angeles Magazine and “elegantly crafted” by the Washington Post. His second novel,
The Five Acts of Diego León, was also published by Random House in 2013. Of the book, author Sandra Cisneros wrote, “The Five Acts of Diego León breaks greater silences—taboos of race and sexuality, of reinvention and assimilation—in
a fantasy called Hollywoodland.” Alex has written for the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Salon, Huizache, The Southern California Review, the American Book Review, and NPR’s All Things Considered. A board member of Cal Humanities, a
non-profit that promotes the humanities in California, Alex serves on the staff of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and is also an associate professor of English and creative writing at Fresno State. His awards include the Margaret Bridgman fellowship
in fiction from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, a 2014 fellowship in prose by the National Endowment for the Arts and a 2014 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for The Five Acts of Diego León.
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Mary Volmer
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Mary VolmerMary Volmer is the author of Crown of Dust (Soho Press, 2010). She was the recipient of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to the University of Wales, and a Chester Aaron and an Agnes Butler Scholarship
in creative writing at Saint Mary’s College, California. Mary has been awarded fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center and Hedgebrook. Her non-fiction has appeared in Full Court Press, Women’s Basketball Magazine and NPR’s “This I Believe”
series. Her short fiction has most recently appeared in the Farallon Review. Look out for her second novel, Reliance (Soho Press), in 2016. Her workshop will be Out Of The Woods: Tools for Revising and Finishing Abandoned or Unsuccessful
Stories.
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Kevin Arnold
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Kevin Arnold
Kevin Arnold is a poet, teacher, and fiction writer from Portola Valley, Ca. He has published in forty literary magazines and a book of poems. He’s been featured three times on YourDailyPoem.com, with another forthcoming in 2015.
He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Jose State University, 2007. He served as President, Poetry Center San Jose, 2000-2012. He’s published in Slippery Elm, Fresh Hot Bread, Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate, and Fault Line in the last six months. Based
on a story extracted from one of his novels, the San Francisco / Peninsula California Writer’s Club named him Writer of the Year, 2014-2015.
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Gillian Bagwell
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Gillian BagwellGillian Bagwell is the author of three acclaimed historical novels: The Darling Strumpet, based on the life of Nell Gwynn, seventeenth-century actress and mistress of Charles II; The September Queen, the story
of Jane Lane, who risked her life to help the young Charles II escape after the Battle of Worcester; and Venus in Winter, which covers the first forty years of the life of the formidable four-times widowed Tudor dynast Bess of Hardwick. Gillian lives in Berkeley,
California, and is at work on her fourth novel. She’s pleased to be returning to the Gold Rush Writers’ Conference for a third time.
Gillian began her professional life in theatre, first as an actress and later as a director and producer, and she now coaches writers on giving effective public readings. She also offers all levels of editing, specializing in historical fiction and romance.
Please visit Gillian’s website, www.gillianbagwell.com, for links to her research blogs, articles, and more on her books and upcoming events.
Visit Gillian's website, http://www.gillianbagwell.com/,
for further information about her books and upcoming events, and
links to her blogs, articles, and videos of sites in Nell Gwynn's
London.
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Helen Bonner
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Helen BonnerHelen Bonner, PhD, is
founder of Starthistle Press. Her novel, Cry
Dance, is the winner of a 2012 Sharp Writ Book Award in the coveted general fiction category. In 2013, her sci-fi novel Dolphin Papers was a finalist for the prestigious Eric Hoffer award. Her two
memoirs, Laid Daughter and First Love
Last, are becoming classics. MsDemeanors, a novel of the seventies, came out in 2013 to great reviews and her current project, non fiction, will be called Send Me Your Poor.
Dr. Bonner taught creative writing at Ohio University and
Minnesota State U. Her short story, Roadside
Trinity, won several Best Short Story awards, and her
screenplay on Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin has been
optioned.
Her website is: http://www.hbonnerbooks.com/
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Kathy Boyd-Fellure
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Kathy Boyd-FellureKathy Boyd Fellure Wendy Lawton of Books & Such Literary Management represents Kathy’s novel trilogy ~ On the Water’s Edge. The first book, The Language of the Lake, is currently being shopped. The second book,
Lake Cottage Book Haven is completed and the third, Azure Shores, is a WIP at 30,000 words. Kathy writes contemporary stories with pivotal historical backgrounds in a unique lyrical voice, and with a literary bent.
Kathy hosts a monthly Cable show ~ Authors, Writers, Books & Beyond, on TSPN TV on Channels 5 & 7 in Jackson, California, and YouTube. She is the Founder/Director of Amador Fiction Writer’s Critique Group that meets weekly at Clark’s Corner in Ione, CA,
and offers an annual literary read with a guest reader and musician, & an art and photography exhibit.
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Lou Gonzalez
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Lou GonzalezLou Gonzalez writes technical books and novels. To publish his technical book, Creating Your eBook, he combined his engineering & programming degrees, and his experience in computer design, with his work
in converting manuscripts into Kindle & Nook eBooks. In addition, Lou teaches creative writing, lectures about novel structure and eBooks, and for the last nine years has been the moderator for a Barnes & Noble writing workshop. For his Eric Sandoval mystery
novels, he draws on his ethnic background in the Mexican-American community in Los Angeles to present the challenges and opportunities that America offers to all its citizens. His novels center on accomplishment, danger, drug lords, and political corruption
in Los Angeles.
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Luisa Giulianetti
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Luisa GiulianettiLuisa Giulianetti, a Bay Area native, received her Master's Degree from UC San Diego. Her graduate work was in 20th Century African American literature. She is an Assistant Director at the UC Berkeley Student
Learning Center, teaches composition, and works one-on-one with students, helping to develop their writerly voices. She is published in The Tule Review, The Sun, The Owl (currently the Santa Clara Review), and the Lily Literary Review
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Kathie Isaac-Luke
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Kathie Isaac-LukeKathie Isaac-Luke was editor of
caesura, the journal of Poetry Center San Jose, for five
years. Her poetry collection, Chrysalides, published by Dragonfly Press, was selected as runner-up at the 2014 Los Angeles Book Festival. Kathie's short story, "The
Collection," was recently published by the Dragonfly Press Ezine, DNA, and was nominated for a 2015 Pushcart prize. She is a
freelance writer for the Union Democrat newspaper in Sonora.
She has two poems in the new anthology, Wine, Cheese and Chocolate published by Manzanita Writers Press.
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Indigo Moor
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Indigo MoorIndigo Moor is a poet, playwright, and author currently residing in Sacramento, CA. His second book of poetry, Through the Stonecutter’s Window, won Northwestern University Press’s Cave Canem prize. His
first book, Tap-Root, was published as part of Main Street Rag’s Editor’s Select Poetry Series.
Three of his short plays, Harvest, Shuffling, and The Red and Yellow Quartet debuted at the 60 Million Plus Theatre’s Spring Playwright’s festival. His full-length stageplay, Live! at the Excelsior, was a finalist for the Images Theatre
Playwright Award and is being made into a full length film.
A graduate of the Stonecoast MFA Program—where he studied poetry, fiction, and scriptwriting—Indigo is also a graduate member of the Artist's Residency Institute for Teaching Artists and former Vice President of the Sacramento Poetry Center. Winner of the 2005
Vesle Fenstermaker Prize for Emerging Writers and the 2008 Jack Kerouac Poetry contest, a few of Indigo's other honors include: 2009 Pushcart Prize nominee and finalist finishes for the T.S. Eliot Prize, Crab Orchard First Book Prize, Saturnalia First Book
Award, Naomi Long Madgett Book Award, and WordWorks Prize.
Indigo’s works have appeared in Missouri Review, Arkansas Review, Suisun Valley Review, Xavier Review, LA Review, Mochila Review, Boston University’s The Comment, the Pushcart Prize nominated Out of the Blue
Artists Unite, Poetry Now, Black Nature: Four Centuries of African-American Nature Poetry, Cave Canem Anthologies VIII and IX, The Ringing Ear, the NCPS 2006 Anthology, Blue Moon Literary & Arts Review, Breathe 101:
Contemporary Odes, and Gathering Ground and many others.
Indigo teaches workshops throughout the Bay area and the greater Sacramento Valley region.
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Monika Rose
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Monika RoseMonika Rose, at home in the foothills of Calaveras County, founded Manzanita Writers Press, a nonprofit literary publisher. She is published in several anthologies and literary magazines, and her book of poems
River by the Glass, by GlenHill Publications, is available from Amazon and Small Press Distribution as a print and eBook. She has edited anthologies such as the recently released A Taste of Literary Elegance: Wine, Cheese & Chocolate book,
and the previous collection of the ongoing Manzanita series of literary prose and poetry, Wild Edges. With a Masters Degree in English, she teaches courses in writing and literature at Delta College as an Adjunct Associate Professor.
Contact her at www.manzapress.com or at her web site www.monikarosewriter.com ~ you can also email her at mrose209@gmail.com.
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Pam Mundale
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Pam MundalePam Mundale (Pam S. Dunn) has a B.A. in Creative Writing and a Masters in Library Science. She writes novels and short stories. Her short story "Who Reads Anymore" won the second place prize for short fiction and
is featured in Manzanita Press's A Taste of Literary Elegance: Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate. Pam is shopping her debut novel, Price Hill, set in 1970s Cincinnati. Her second novel Once Upon a Blue Moon, merging witchcraft,
Lost Boys, and surfing in Santa Cruz, is in progress.
Visit Pam's website, www.pamsdunn.com or Follow Pam on Twitter,
for further information about her books and upcoming events.
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Lucy Sanna
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Lucy Sanna
Lucy Sanna In June 2015, HarperCollins will launch Lucy Sanna’s debut novel, THE CHERRY HARVEST. As a result of previous works, Lucy has been featured on national television and radio, including CBS, NBC, NPR, and FOX, as well as in
national press such as Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Examiner, and Playboy Magazine. Along the way, Lucy received a month-long fellowship at Vermont Studio Center and was invited to Bread Loaf in Sicily. She serves on the Strategic Planning Committee for
the National Kidney Foundation's annual San Francisco Authors Luncheon, founded by Amy Tan and Ann Getty. Lucy previously served on the Board of the California Writers Club, San Francisco Peninsula Branch. Lucy's website: www.lucysanna.com
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Amy Smith
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Amy SmithAmy Elizabeth Smith, originally from
Pennsylvania, teaches creative and professional writing at the
University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Her recent memoir,
All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey
with Jane, recounts a year traveling in six Latin American
countries learning Spanish and holding reading groups on Jane
Austen; it was praised by Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus. She is currently at work on a mystery series set in Buenos Aires.
You can visit her website at allroadsleadtoausten.com.
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Dawn Spinella
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Dawn SpinellaDawn Spinella transitioned into the film industry after a tour of duty in the US Army. After earning her SAG card, she explored directing and producing and finally decided to tackle screenwriting. Attending
the UCLA MFA Screenwriting program has been a long-time goal, and the experience has changed her life.
During her time at UCLA, her feature and television writing was recognized by a variety of industry including, winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting competition, the UCLA Theater, Film and Television FilmLab and by the Humanitas Student Fellowship in
Dramatic Television writing. Dawn is also a recipient of the UCLA Four Sisters and Carl David Memorial Fellowship awards.
While at UCLA, Dawn had the privilege of studying with Bobby Moresco, Wolfgang Petersen, Dustin Lance Black, and Paula Wagner, to name a few. Currently Dawn is working on a feature adaptation of an Oscar-nominated short documentary. Although Dawn enjoys all
genres, she is drawn to historical bio-pics and films with strong social commentaries.
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Sandy Towle
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Sandy TowleSandy Towle (Ralph Sanborn) attributes much of his novels’ setting selections and character development to years of international travel and meeting hundreds of interesting people. He has lived in the New York, Chicago,
and San Francisco metropolitan areas, as well as northern Quebec, Canada and Paris, France. After a marketing career, writing the ultimate in creative fiction (corporate annual reports and expense accounts), he decided to write the Caleb Frost action thriller
series. Two books, China Red dealing with motorcycle gangs and drug smuggling and The Assassins’ Game, focusing on the capture of a war criminal guilty of perpetrating World War II atrocities and human trafficking, are available
upon request at booksellers and from the usual websites. The third book in the series, The Falcon’s Talon, will be published in 2016—he hopes. He strives to offer fast-paced, page-turning reading entertainment. Caleb Frost’s exploits tend toward
the nitty-gritty of the underbelly of political and criminal activity—violence is not unknown in the Caleb Frost series. He is, after all, an assassin.
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Jennifer Tristano
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Jennifer TristanoJennifer Tristano's many years in software programming have given her a powerful insight into the technology behind eBooks. That combined with her love of writing, and her teaching the art and craft of writing
allow her to translate the technical eBook information into terms that any writer can understand and utilize. Jennifer, along with Lou Gonzalez, is a co-facilitator of writing workshops at her local Barnes & Noble bookstore. There she presents specific writing
techniques and offers advice on how to improve story presentation and characters. In addition, she presents writing & eBook mechanization techniques at conferences and writing events. Jennifer is in the final rewrite of her first Fantasy novel.
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| CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Friday, May 1st
- 6:00 p.m. Registration and poolside picnic
at Charles and
Antoinette (May) Herndon's home, 8437 Center St., Mokelumne Hill, CA.
- 7:30 p.m. Poetry Reading at Mokelumne Hill Library. Work by
Monika Rose, Kathy Isaac Luke, and Helen Bonner will be featured. This
is an open mic reading. Bring your own work to share.
Saturday, May 2nd
- 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. Registration (for those not registered
Friday) at Hotel Leger, 8304 Main St.
- 9:00 a.m. Introduction: Meet the Gold Rush Writers and learn
their secrets. (Lucy Sanna: How I Sold My Novel)
- 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m Workshops.
- 11:45 to 1:15 p.m. Lunch on your own, explore Mokelumne Hill.
- 1:15 pm to 1:30 p.m. Talk Accessing Creativity 101.
- 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. Workshops.
- 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Networking, Book signing/sales, No-host bar.
- 6 p.m. Dinner at the Hotel Leger. Featured Speaker: Alex Espinoza. Breaking Barriers: How Stories Saved Me.
- 8:15 p.m. Open Mic. This is a casual, laid-back event with
no critiquing, just fun. Each reader is limited to 500 words-about 2
double-spaced pages. Everyone is invited to share.
Sunday, May 3rd
- 9:30 a.m. Inspirational talk.
- 10:00 to noon. Workshops.
- Noon Brunch. Afternoon speaker: Mary Volmer on The Tourist, the Expat and the Native: A Traveler’s Guide to Writing Historical Fiction.
Workshop Schedule
Saturday 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.
Saturday, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, 3:15 to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, 10:00 to 12 noon
Click Here
for Registration Form
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Copyright © 2015 Gold Rush Writers | | | |
