“There’s something seductive about the thing we believe we cannot do, the achievement that seems out of reach. I imagine it’s what keeps people climbing mountains or surfing during storms, that sense of going to the edge of possibility and then over it successfully.”
Anna Quindlen, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

At first glance, Anna Quindlen and Susan Casey seem to inhabit starkly different worlds. Susan writes, in such works as New York Times best-selling books The Wave and The Devil’s Teeth, about people and places on the fringes of society: killer great white sharks, mysterious and foreboding islands, extreme big wave surfers, mariners who’ve survived harrowing 100-foot seas. Anna, on the other hand, has described herself as a writer “fascinated by the normal places in the middle, the places where regular people live.” She’s earned a devoted national following for her incisive Pulitzer Prize-winning columns about motherhood, family, marriage, careers and women, and has tackled these topics in such best-selling novels as Black and Blue and Every Last One.

But as the above quote from Anna’s new memoir attests, these two authors have more in common than first meets the eye. They are bound by a mutual respect and admiration for the courage of ordinary individuals, who achieve extraordinary results – whether it be conquering the ocean’s largest waves or escaping an abusive marriage – through sheer force of will, and through deep reservoirs of passion and love.

Courage was a topic Anna and Susan discussed extensively during their electrifying stage conversation at the National Writers Series on May 14. While humorously recounting how her personal trainer once tried to coax Anna into doing a headstand, Anna recalled her fearful response: “Oh, I can’t do that. I’ve never had good balance.” To which her trainer gently responded: “That’s just a little story you’ve told yourself.” The little stories we tell ourselves, Anna realized, are myths rooted in fear; rarely do they reflect our reality or potential. Writing is an exercise that requires us, in order to do it well, to exorcise these demons of fear.

“You have to be confident,” she told the audience. “It’s the end of everything, if you’re afraid.” Susan agreed, noting that fear is “just information” that lets us know we’re entering unfamiliar territory. Remembering her time swimming with sharks or staring down building-tall waves, Susan earned a big audience laugh when she observed, “To me, fear is a signal I’m about to have fun.”

On top of “a-ha!” advice for conquering fear, the authors had plenty of tips for eager audience members on how to become better writers. Anna, echoing her remarks earlier in the day to high school students during a visit she and Susan made to Traverse City West Senior High School, exhorted writers to read their own work out loud. “You will be amazed what the eye will forgive that the ear will not,” she said. Anna also noted – circling back to the subject of fear – that many writers are terrified of writing the first sentence, lost as to how to tackle a blank piece of paper. “Let the first sentence be clay, not marble,” was her sage advice on this issue. Susan advocated for writers using their personality to their advantage and finding their own unique style: “Find the authentic chord within you – your authentic voice.”

Interspersed with these nuggets of wisdom were crowd-pleasing anecdotes from the authors about their personal lives, such as the time Anna got the call from Oprah Winfrey (whose voice Anna described as “somewhere between Toni Morrison and God”) informing her Black and Blue was going to be an Oprah Book Club pick, or the day Anna’s son came home from college wearing a pro-feminism t-shirt Anna had bought him…because, he informed his mother, “chicks dig it.” Anna also received an enthusiastic audience response when she answered a question from Susan about whether feminism was under attack in America. “You can’t make the mistake of confusing Washington with America,” she said, to whistles and cheers, adding: “The thing about freedom is you can’t go back. We’re not going to be able to go back on this issue. So no – I’m not worried about feminism.” (Speaking of Washington – one of the most surprising moments of the evening came when Anna revealed that, in appearing at NWS that night, she’d had to pass on attending Barnard’s commencement ceremony…featuring special guest speaker President Barack Obama. More than one grateful audience member emotionally thanked her for doing so at the book signing later.)

Celebrating courage, personal triumph, perseverance, progress, love, creativity…these were the hallmarks that defined Anna and Susan’s lives and works, as well as their NWS conversation. Along the way, there was still room for whimsy and light-hearted banter. “What do you know for sure?” Susan asked Anna in one serious moment, echoing Oprah’s famous interview question to her guests. Anna paused, then in a winking voice, answered: “That chocolate is good, and women are great.” After watching these two fearless women share the stage, we couldn’t agree more.

An Evening with Janet Evanovich:
NWS Annual Summer Scholarship Fundraiser
Benefiting Student Writers

Monday, July 9  |  City Opera House, Traverse City
Doors @ 6 pm, Show @ 7 pm

Creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling Stephanie Plum Series
and Lizzy and Diesel Series

Presented by the National Writers Series
and National Cherry Festival
Sponsored by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

TICKETS
Tickets go on sale to Friends of the National Writers Series on Tuesday, May 29 at the City Opera House box office and by phone at 231-941-8082. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, June 4 at the City Opera House, online and by phone at 231-941-8082. Tickets will be available at the following levels:

• $15 – Balcony level reserved seating; books available for purchase at the event
• $40 – Balcony and orchestra level reserved seating; includes a new hardcover copy of Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich
• $100 VIP – Premium orchestra level seating; includes a new *pre-signed* copy of Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich, plus a private pre-event reception with Janet that includes one complimentary drink ticket and an opportunity to meet-and-greet with the author

Proceeds from this event will help benefit the National Writers Series Scholarship Fund. Become a Friend of the National Writers Series and purchase your tickets before the general public.

EVENT DESCRIPTION
Don’t miss this special opportunity to hear #1 New York Times best-selling author Janet Evanovich – live in person in Traverse City!  Her hot-off-the-press novel is Wicked Business: A Lizzy and Diesel Novel (release date: June 19, 2012).

Talk about great summer reads, no one does it better than Janet Evanovich! She packs every novel with a loveable heroine, sexy men, quirky characters, and plots that just keep twisting. In this fun-filled event, Janet takes the stage to talk about her newest adventure series with Lizzy and Diesel. It’s all “wicked” fun!

The National Writers Series and the National Cherry Festival have teamed up to offer this exciting event presented by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Doug Stanton, NWS founder and a NYT best-selling author, will host the on-stage conversation with Janet. This is a particularly important event, he said, as a portion of the proceeds will support the NWS College Scholarship Fund. Janet has delighted readers with her mega-selling Stephanie Plum series, along with a long line of popular romance novels. No stranger to Northern Michigan, her novel, Love in a Nutshell, co-written with Dorien Kelly, is set in a fictional Northern Michigan town that you’ll be sure to recognize.

Janet is simply laugh-out-loud funny—no surprise at all to her loyal fans, who have gobbled up her 18 Stephanie Plum novels. Janet will be on the NWS stage with her newest book, Wicked Business: A Lizzy and Diesel Novel (out June 19, 2012), part of the “Wicked” series which infuses the supernatural into her light-hearted mysteries. Don’t miss this sizzling summer beach read event with one of the country’s hottest writers!

South of Superior, set in Grand Marais in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, is a charming book exploring the deep reward in caring for others. Charged with caring for an aging family friend,
Madeline Stone finds herself in the middle of beautiful nowhere with Gladys and Arbutus, two octogenarian sisters – one sharp and stubborn, the other sweeter than sunshine. As Madeline begins to experience the ways of the small, tight-knit town, she is drawn into the lives and dramas of its residents.

It’s a place where times are tough and debts run deep, but friendship, community, and compassion run deeper. As the story hurtles along – featuring a lost child, a dashed love, a car accident, a wedding, a fire, and a romantic reunion – Gladys, Arbutus, and
the rest of the town teach Madeline more about life, love, and goodwill than she’s learned in a lifetime.

For more information, contact Jill Beauchamp at read@horizonbooks.com.

These awards will bring the total scholarships awarded by NWS since the inception of the year round book festival in 2009 to $18,000.  Net proceeds from NWS events support the National Writers Series and its scholarship fund, which benefits college-bound writing and arts students attending Grand Traverse regional high schools. The students honored on May 14, 2012 include: Kelly Clare for Fiction; Emily Hittner-Cunningham for Poetry; and Whitney Hubbell for her Non-Fiction submission.

Also at this evening’s event, plans surrounding Front Street Writers (FSW) will be discussed.   FSW is a new, innovative program coming in fall of 2012 in partnership with Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) that will give students advanced creative writing workshop instruction as they earn public high school credit towards graduation. Both the NWS Scholarship Awards and Front Street Writers have been made possible by the success of our author events.
As it turns out, the success of these events has caught the attention of the national publishing industry. NWS has been the subject of three major feature stories this year, in three of the most widely read and highly respected magazines in publishing: Publisher’s Weekly, Poets & Writers magazine and Publishing Perspectives. This hat-trick of national news has established NWS as one of the “preeminent authors series in the country” (Poets & Writers), carrying the message of NWS and Traverse City to millions of readers nationwide. It’s an honor both for the NWS organization and for  the community that comprises and sustains the NWS.

An Excerpt from Publishing Perspectives story, entitled “Is America’s Forgotten Flyover a Gold Mine for Publishers?” by Anna Clark states…

“Traverse City is a bayside town of 15,000 people – the largest city in the 21 counties of northern Michigan. But the community has cultivated cosmopolitan appeal with a lively arts community that includes…an outsized literary culture heralded by the National Writers Series…(Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford) said that ‘socketed away in a rural, out-of-the-way place,’ NWS curates a vivid literary culture that treats authors well and serves readers. ‘As an NWS author, you get to feel useful in a way writers rarely get to feel useful,’ Ford said. ‘It humanizes writers to the reading public. And there’s a very rich reading public in Traverse City, which shouldn’t be surprising, but is to many people.’ Marlena Bittner, publicity director at Little, Brown, sent David Sedaris to NWS (‘he adored it’). She said NWS is revealing a market that publishers haven’t been connecting to…‘It feels like a joyous movement (in Traverse City),’ she said. ‘This isn’t some perfunctory event. It’s exciting.’ Bittner says not only is NWS offering a new possibility for readers, writers and publishers to intersect, it’s doing so in a big way…‘They’re thinking in a bigger way.’”

Publishing Perspectives calls National Writers Series “one of the nation’s leading literary series.” But, “successful as NWS is, Stanton is reaching further. Reminded of his time as a student at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy, and of the significance he felt in people ‘taking me far more seriously as a writer than I deserved to be taken,’ Stanton is moving his vision into the public schools. After expenses, NWS is putting profits into a scholarship fund to connect students with the literary life. It is initiating the Front Street Writers Program… a full-year creative writing class for public school students. Besides the literary practice, Stanton wants writers to ‘seem real and normal in our public school systems.’ It’s a populist move that leads Stanton to bring the language of social change to literature. ‘Books should be in every hand on Main Street.’”

From Publishers Weekly (Read the complete story, “Traverse City is for Book Lovers” by Claire Kirch)

“The National Writers Series, now in its third year, is a year-round book festival bringing the best of award-winning authors, journalists and storytellers together with thousands of fans in downtown Traverse City. Founded by New York Times best-selling author Doug Stanton, Traverse City attorney Grant Parsons and investigative reporter Anne Stanton, the National Writers Series aims to raise $50,000 in five years for aspiring young writers to pursue writing in college. Series organizers are partnering with area schools, libraries, bookstores, and businesses to host the events and fund the scholarships.”

“Some observers believe that Traverse City’s growing reputation as a city of book lovers can also be attributed to the National Writers Series, founded in 2009. Each month, the NWS brings in at least one celebrity author to Traverse City, where they read from and discuss their work at a ticketed event held in a 19th-century opera house.”

From Poets & Writers (To read the complete story, entitled “Author Tour Revolution” by Jeremy Chamberlin, pick up a copy of the May/June 2012 issue, available on newsstands everywhere):

“There’s something that Stanton and his co-founders … have struck upon that’s making these must-attend evenings: the promise of an analog experience in an increasingly digital cultural landscape. Stanton realized—as have independent booksellers…that audiences no longer want to hear authors simply read from their work. They’re looking for a conversation…[Stanton’s] vision for the National Writers Series is that of a great dinner party—stimulating, provocative, entertaining, and communal—in an evocative space. The monthly events take place in Traverse City’s historic opera house, one of only six Victorian opera houses that remain intact in all of Michigan. The interior is defined by a dramatic barrel-vault ceiling and walls adorned with frescoes and gold leaf. Like the opera house itself, the series is a place where art—and being passionate about art—matters. And by hosting the series year-round, … Stanton hopes to make it a part of the fabric of the local community as well as a defining element in the culture of northern Michigan.”

Best High School rankings are determined by:

1. how each high school meets the needs of the entire student population,
2. each high schools performance in relation to its peer group on State of Michigan assessments, and
3. how well each high school prepared students for college.

The US News and World Report analyzed Michigan Department of Education data for all high schools in the state. Data included ACT and MME performance, Advanced Placement Performance and enrollment, and graduation rates. Read entire article

2012 has been an exciting year for the National Writers Series. This month, at our sold-out event with Anna Quindlen and Susan Casey on May 14, we will award our 2012 scholarships in the categories of poetry, fiction and nonfiction to three area high school students. These awards will bring the total scholarships awarded by NWS since our inception in 2009 to $18,000. At the event, we will also discuss the launch of Front Street Writers, a new, innovative program coming in fall of 2012 in partnership with TCAPS that will give students advanced creative writing workshop instruction as they earn public high school credit towards graduation. Both the NWS Scholarship Awards and Front Street Writers have been made possible by the success of our author events – all thanks to you, the loyal readers, writers and donors in our community who have supported us. Stay tuned for more upcoming news about Front Street Writers.

As it turns out, the success of these events has caught the attention of the national publishing industry. NWS has been the subject of three major feature stories this year, in three of the most widely read and highly respected magazines in publishing: Publisher’s Weekly, Poets & Writers magazine and Publishing Perspectives. This hat-trick of national news has established NWS as one of the “preeminent authors series in the country” (Poets & Writers), carrying the message of NWS and Traverse City to millions of readers nationwide. It’s an honor both for our organization and for all of you – the community that comprises and sustains us. We are thrilled to share in this recognition with you. Take at a look at what these venerated outlets had to say about us…and keep reading!

From Publishing Perspectives Read the complete story: “Is America’s Forgotten Flyover a Gold Mine for Publishers?” by Anna Clark

“Traverse City is a bayside town of 15,000 people – the largest city in the 21 counties of northern Michigan. But the community has cultivated cosmopolitan appeal with a lively arts community that includes…an outsized literary culture heralded by the National Writers Series…(Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford) said that ‘socketed away in a rural, out-of-the-way place,’ NWS curates a vivid literary culture that treats authors well and serves readers. ‘As an NWS author, you get to feel useful in a way writers rarely get to feel useful,’ Ford said. ‘It humanizes writers to the reading public. And there’s a very rich reading public in Traverse City, which shouldn’t be surprising, but is to many people.’ Marlena Bittner, publicity director at Little, Brown, sent David Sedaris to NWS (‘he adored it’). She said NWS is revealing a market that publishers haven’t been connecting to…’It feels like a joyous movement (in Traverse City),’ she said. ‘This isn’t some perfunctory event. It’s exciting.’ Bittner says not only is NWS offering a new possibility for readers, writers and publishers to intersect, it’s doing so in a big way…’They’re thinking in a bigger way.’”

Publishing Perspectives calls National Writers Series “one of the nation’s leading literary series.” But, “successful as NWS is, Stanton is reaching further. Reminded of his time as a student at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy, and of the significance he felt in people ‘taking me far more seriously as a writer than I deserved to be taken,’ Stanton is moving his vision into the public schools. After expenses, NWS is putting profits into a scholarship fund to connect students with the literary life. It is initiating the Front Street Writers Program… a full-year creative writing class for public school students. Besides the literary practice, Stanton wants writers to ‘seem real and normal in our public school systems.’ It’s a populist move that leads Stanton to bring the language of social change to literature. ‘Books should be in every hand on Main Street.’”

From Publishers Weekly: Read the complete story, entitled “Traverse City is for Book Lovers” by Claire Kirch.

“Some observers believe that Traverse City’s growing reputation as a city of book lovers can also be attributed to the National Writers Series, founded in 2009. Each month, the NWS brings in at least one celebrity author to Traverse City, where they read from and discuss their work at a ticketed event held in a 19th-century opera house.”

From Poets & Writers (To read the complete story, entitled “Author Tour Revolution” by Jeremy Chamberlin, pick up a copy of the May/June 2012 issue, available on newsstands everywhere):

“There’s something that Stanton and his cofounders … have struck upon that’s making these must-attend evenings: the promise of an analog experience in an increasingly digital cultural landscape. Stanton realized-as have independent booksellers…that audiences no longer want to hear authors simply read from their work. They’re looking for a conversation…[Stanton's] vision for the National Writers Series is that of a great dinner party-stimulating, provocative, entertaining, and communal-in an evocative space. The monthly events take place in Traverse City’s historic opera house, one of only six Victorian opera houses that remain intact in all of Michigan. The interior is defined by a dramatic barrel-vault ceiling and walls adorned with frescoes and gold leaf. Like the opera house itself, the series is a place where art-and being passionate about art-matters. And by hosting the series year-round, … Stanton hopes to make it a part of the fabric of the local community as well as a defining element in the culture of northern Michigan.”

Doug traveled to Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina, with Yvon, who is founder of Patagonia Clothing company, to camp and fly-fish for trout. It was after meeting Yvon that Doug met Tom Brokaw, one of Yvon’s closest friends. Brokaw was a 2010 National Writers Series guest; Yvon has visited Traverse City to speak on the invitation of Anne Stanton.

Doug says about the trip, “Yvon slept under a tree, out in the open; he brought a piece of tarp instead of a sleeping bag. We set out without much food, as he said we could make do with what we found. True enough, a gaucho passed on horseback and we bartered for some beef and red wine. I remember the gaucho reaching into his bag and pulling out what he had left. We drank out of the river.

“Yvon, maybe the most self-effacing and competent individual one could meet, didn’t believe in “camping utensils,” so we ‘grilled’ without a grill and fork. We sat under the enormous night sky, in a vast emptiness, the sky a bowl of stars, eating with our hands, the only two people for several hundred miles in any direction, a trout river a few steps away.

“No one really fished this river– there was no one around to fish this river. You felt that you had disappeared and been re-constituted in sharper color. The silence was presence upon the back of your head. There are a few other times I can remember being so content.”

You can read the story of the trip here

TRAVERSE CITY — Aspiring writers will have a new place to call home.
The Front Street Writers Program — a collaborative effort between the locally based National Writers Series and Traverse City Area Public Schools — will open a downtown site in a portion of the Gourdie-Fraser building at 123 W. Front St.

Gourdie-Fraser President Joe Elliott said NWS signed a three-year lease for approximately 3,500 square feet in the building.

“It looks like they have a ton of great potential for the area, so we are very happy to have them as a neighbor,” Elliott said.

The Front Street Writers Program is for TCAPS juniors and seniors interested in pursuing writing as a craft or a potential career. A professional writer with a Master of Fine Arts degree will lead the year-long class with a TCAPS instructor, and students will be required to develop a peer-reviewed portfolio, submit to publications and read their work at a public exhibition.

Students will receive high school and college credit, and program costs are supported by NWS donors and sponsors. NWS Executive Director Megan Raphael said 25 students are signed up for the first year, which will focus on fiction, non-fiction and poetry writing. The program will launch with the 2012-13 school year this fall.