SPARK Writing Festival at UAB

SPARK Writing Festival at UAB The SPARK Writing Festival is hosted by the UAB Department of English to foster community and create

If you are unable to attend the in-person workshop this year, there is still a chance to experience SPARK 23 with our vi...
07/28/2023

If you are unable to attend the in-person workshop this year, there is still a chance to experience SPARK 23 with our virtual community events! SPARK founder, Halley Cotton will speak three nights! Register here: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

Full Virtual Schedule:
🧡Monday, July 31: Journaling through your work in progress with Javacia Harris Bowser
🧡Tuesday, August 1: How Alabama The Beautiful Magazine is created with Beth Cowan Drake
🧡Wednesday, August 2: Digital Distribution Workshop with Halley Cotton
🧡Thursday, August 3: Print Distribution Workshop with Halley Cotton
🧡Friday, August 4: Digital Poetry/Story Video Workshop with Halley Cotton
Register to get your Zoom link for these events!

H. M. Cotton is the managing editor of the Birmingham Poetry Review, contributing editor for NELLE, and production manager for both publications. She is the founding director of the SPARK Writing Festival, and her work has appeared in places such as The Greensboro Review, Poetry South, and Smokelong Quarterly, among others. Cotton teaches freshman composition and literature courses at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. When she’s not busy kayaking or finding four-leaf clovers, she’s studying folklore and writing/reading poetry.

Get those pencils sharpened--SPARK starts in less than a week! 🥳Register here: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestivalThe...
07/26/2023

Get those pencils sharpened--SPARK starts in less than a week! 🥳
Register here: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

There are two ways to experience SPARK 23:

Ticketed events: grab your ticket for a five-day, in person on UAB’s campus experience. One ticket gets you gets you into both our immersive and genre workshops.
Free Community Events: join us online via Zoom to connect with SPARKers all over the nation. These events are fun creative sessions hosted in the evening and designed to bring us together to celebrate writing.

We'll see you soon!

If you haven't already, get yourself registered for SPARK 23 virtual community events: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfes...
07/25/2023

If you haven't already, get yourself registered for SPARK 23 virtual community events: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

On Tuesday, August 1st, Beth Cowan Drake will share with us how Alabama The Beautiful Magazine is created!

Beth Cowan Drake is a Huntsville native, a software engineer, an award-winning photographer, a publisher and editor. She created the popular Facebook group Alabama The Beautiful in October 2017 and has grown the group to over 250K members. She started a media company in 2021 and launched the monthly digital Alabama The Beautiful Magazine. She designed the 2023 Year of Alabama Birding print magazine for the Alabama Tourism Department.

The ATB mission to showcase the beauty of the state has ignited an interest across the state in photography and Alabama tourism, as well as being a catalyst for the Alabama photography community. Beth’s photography interests include landscape, nature, wildlife, cityscape, historical, night sky and drone photography. She speaks and teaches regularly at events around Alabama, has served as a judge at state level competitions, and has been published in national magazines. Beth is also an FAA certified drone pilot.

Beth and her family live in the Big Cove community of Huntsville.

BethCowanDrake.com

Hey YA writers! There are still spots available for Randi Pink's YA Workshop! Workshops start on July 31st. Looking forw...
07/21/2023

Hey YA writers! There are still spots available for Randi Pink's YA Workshop! Workshops start on July 31st. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

You can find scholarship and registration information here: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Randi Pink grew up traipsing around the Magic City in search of history and community. Now, she is the award-winning author of four acclaimed novels including Angel of Greenwood and Girls Like Us. Her writings meld historical southern themes with magical realism. Embracing her southern roots, Randi has honed her creativity into a successful writing career. Her fifth novel, Under the Heron’s Light, debuts next year. In addition to writing, Randi is building a community driven nonprofit in the Eastlake neighborhood called Ruffner Treehouse Village. Ruffner Treehouse Village will serve as a Birmingham centered, creative space for the children, Elders, and residents of Eastlake and beyond.

In addition to this year's in-person workshops, we have FIVE virtual community events scheduled! Register now to join th...
07/20/2023

In addition to this year's in-person workshops, we have FIVE virtual community events scheduled! Register now to join the nationwide SPARK community! https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

Javacia Harris Bowser kicks off this year's community events with a session about journaling through your work in progress.

Javacia Harris Bowser is an award-winning freelance journalist and the author of the essay collection Find Your Way Back, a collection of essays about how she has used writing to cope with everything life has thrown her way, including a cancer diagnosis. A former high school English teacher but always an educator, Javacia is also the founder of See Jane Write, a website and community for women who write. Javacia was included in Southern Living magazine’s list of Innovators Changing the South, alongside household names like Dolly Parton and Reese Witherspoon, and she is a recipient of the 2022 Alabama State Council on the Arts Literary Fellowship. Javacia has written for a number of local, regional and national media outlets including Good Housekeeping, USA Today, Business Insider, Shondaland.com, BET.com, Good Grit magazine, and The Birmingham Times. She's also the host of The Writeous Babe Podcast, which she describes as the grown woman's guide to journaling. Javacia not only used journaling to write her way through cancer but she uses it to her way to the life of her dreams and she's always looking for opportunities to teach others how to do the same.

But wait, there's more! In addition to in-person workshops, this year's SPARK festival offers 5 virtual community events...
07/17/2023

But wait, there's more! In addition to in-person workshops, this year's SPARK festival offers 5 virtual community events.

Monday, July 31: Journaling through your work in progress with Javacia Harris Bowser
Tuesday, August 1: How Alabama The Beautiful Magazine is created with Beth Cowan Drake
Wednesday, August 2: Digital Distribution Workshop with Halley Cotton
Thursday, August 3: Print Distribution Workshop with Halley Cotton
Friday, August 4: Digital Poetry/Story Video Workshop with Halley Cotton

Register for these and in-person workshops through the link in our bio!

Are you ready to put your words in the world during SPARK 2023? There’s two ways to experience SPARK this year:Ticketed ...
07/14/2023

Are you ready to put your words in the world during SPARK 2023?

There’s two ways to experience SPARK this year:

Ticketed events: grab your ticket for a five-day, in person on UAB’s campus experience. One ticket gets you gets you into both our immersive and genre workshops. Choose from four genre workshops: Fiction, YA lit, Poetry, or Memoir!

Free Community Events: join us online via Zoom to connect with SPARKers all over the nation. These events are fun creative sessions hosted in the evening and designed to bring us together to celebrate writing.

Register for both here: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

Have you been wanting to hone your craft or just get started writing? SPARK Writing Festival is for you! July 31st- Augu...
07/12/2023

Have you been wanting to hone your craft or just get started writing? SPARK Writing Festival is for you! July 31st- August 4th.

Register now to join Will Walton for a SPARK 23 Fiction Genre Workshop. You'll be glad you did!

REGISTER HERE: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

Will Walton is the author of two novels for young adults, including the LAMBDA Award finalist Anything Could Happen. He is also a member of the Egocircus Collective, a performance troupe headed by Anne Carson and Robert Currie.

Details:
Included in the $80 registration fee:
- 5 days of Immersive Workshops
- 4 days of Genre Workshops
- 1 Friday Community Session

*See website for schedule.

Genre Workshops to choose from:
Poetry with Tina Mozelle Braziel
Memoir with Salaam Green
Children's Lit with Randi Pink
Fiction with Will Walton

Register for SPARK 23 In-Person Workshops and join Nellie Beckett for an Immersive Workshop on July 31st! https://linktr...
07/10/2023

Register for SPARK 23 In-Person Workshops and join Nellie Beckett for an Immersive Workshop on July 31st! https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

Nellie Beckett is an advocate for culture, stories, and connection in the Deep South. She writes about perfume on Instagram .

SPARK Workshops give you the chance to explore and hone your craft in an encouraging, small group setting. Whether you've been writing for a decade or a day, there is a place for you!

Details:
Included in the $80 registration fee:
- 5 Immersive Workshops
- 4 Genre Workshops
- Friday Community Session

Genre Workshops to choose from:
Poetry with Tina Mozelle Braziel
Memoir with Salaam Green
Children's Lit with Randi Pink
Fiction with Will Walton

Join SPARK's founder and director, Halley Cotton, for two Immersive Workshops when you register for SPARK 23: https://li...
07/07/2023

Join SPARK's founder and director, Halley Cotton, for two Immersive Workshops when you register for SPARK 23: https://linktr.ee/SPARKwritingfestival

H. M. Cotton is the managing editor of the Birmingham Poetry Review, contributing editor for NELLE, and production manager for both publications. She is the founding director of the SPARK Writing Festival, and her work has appeared in places such as The Greensboro Review, Poetry South, and Smokelong Quarterly, among others. Cotton teaches freshman composition and literature courses at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. When she’s not busy kayaking or finding four-leaf clovers, she’s studying folklore and writing/reading poetry.

SPARK Workshops give you the chance to explore and hone your craft in an encouraging, small group setting. Whether you've been writing for a decade or a day, there is a place for you!

Details:
Included in the $80 registration fee:
- 5 Immersive Workshops
- 4 Genre Workshops
- Friday Community Session

Genre Workshops to choose from:
Poetry with Tina Mozelle Braziel
Memoir with Salaam Green
Children's Lit with Randi Pink
Fiction with Will Walton

Address

1720 2nd Avenue S
Birmingham, AL
35294

Telephone

+12059344250

Website

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