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Kristi L. Reed

Local group encourages writers to explore their talents

BY KRISTI REED

Ruthanna Kilpatrick-Bass is very excited about 2008. As president-elect of the Northeast Georgia Writer’s Club, Kilpatrick-Bass said she is looking forward to the many club projects that will be announced at the beginning of next year.

“We have many projects to promote our writing and to promote writing in the community,” Kilpatrick-Bass said. “We want to bring talent out of writers who have yet to be discovered.”

The purpose of the Northeast Georgia Writer’s Club is to foster good writing, to encourage members to publish their written works and to learn the joy of writing.

The club was established in 1973 by Jane Wilheit. Wilheit was known for her support of the Northeast Georgia Council of the Arts and of the Challenge Child organization, an advocacy group for special needs children. Wilheit was honored by the Girl Scouts of America as their first “Woman of Distinction” in the late 1990s.

Wilheit, a club member since its inception, passed away in April of this year. The club dedicated its recently published anthology, Our Journey, in her honor.

Our Journey is a collection of 63 stories and poems by 22 different writers in the club. The book’s title refers to the journey of the writers.

“I guess you would say it’s our take on the different facets of life,” explained Kilpatrick-Bass.

Our Journey is divided into four themed categories. The categories are “Preparing for the Journey”, “Places on the Journey”, “People on the Journey” and “Pictures of the Journey”.

The anthology is the club’s latest publication and is an important activity for club members. To further their writing goals, members also participate in monthly meetings, attend conferences and compete in an annual writing competition.

The competition culminates with an awards luncheon in May. Winners are recognized in categories including poetry, lyrics, short stories, non-fiction articles, lyrics and children’s stories. The highlight of the annual awards ceremony is the presentation of the “Snoopy Award” for outstanding writing achievement and the “Woodstock Award” honoring outstanding contributions as a member of the Northeast Georgia Writer’s Club for the previous year.

“I really enjoy the competition and I really enjoy the opportunity that I have to further my writing,” Kilpatrick-Bass said.

Kilpatrick-Bass also enjoys the opportunity to meet regularly with her fellow writers and to learn from special guest speakers.

“[Our meetings] are eclectic,” she said. “We have had speakers such as Gordon Sawyer. He has written a lot. He writes for Backroads Georgia. In February, we are going to have Jean Mahavier speak. She is the chair for the Poetry in Schools project in Georgia. She also was the judge for the poetry section of our contest last year.”

“We just have different people who can promote publication and who can promote places that we can publish our work. They can tell us different experiences they have had with publishing their works.”

Kilpatrick-Bass said the club has had many distinguished members over the years including Clara Martin, a former writer of The Gainesville Times and head of the journalism department at Brenau.

“There have been many distinguished people who have been members and many distinguished writings have come out of the club,” Kilpatrick-Bass said.

The Northeast Georgia Writer’s Club meets on the first Wednesday of every month at St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Gainesville. On Saturday, Dec. 8, club members will be participating in a book signing featuring Our Journey from 12-1 p.m. at Luna’s Coffee House in Hoschton.

Kilpatrick-Bass said the club’s book is 82 pages long and sells for $12.50. The book can be purchased at the Northeast Georgia History Center Gift Shop, Frames Younique in Gainesville and the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gift Shop.

Proceeds from the book fund club events. Kilpatrick-Bass hopes the book will help the club attract new members and help promote further writing efforts.

“Right now we have 30 club members, but it’s growing,” she said.

Kilpatrick-Bass said she has truly enjoyed being a member of the club. “I am in total awe of the members who have been there many years and their accomplishments,” she said. “They’re like mentors. I enjoy that. It’s just a very nice group of ladies and I have really enjoyed going and being a member.”