Tag Archives: Festival of Women Writers

I Will Be Teaching a Literary Relationships Class

18 Mar

Nikolopoulos teaching at Festival of Women Writers

I’m so excited to announce that I have been selected to lead a discussion at this year’s Festival of Women Writers in Hobart, New York!

The class I’m teaching will be called Literary  Relationships: Writing in, into, and to Community.

Here is the description:::

Surveying famous literary friendships throughout history—Dickinson and Higginson; Lewis and Tolkien; Hurston and Rawlings; Kerouac and Ginsberg—we’ll discuss the value of friendship among writers from both a personal and professional perspective as well as how writers today can achieve this type of community through such avenues as residencies, writing groups, and social media.
For more information, visit the Festival of Women Writers website and Facebook page.
You might also be interested in:::
Also, find about upcoming readings, workshops, and how to book me on my Appearances page.
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Photos and Video from My Reading at WORD Jersey City

22 Sep

Last month I had the exciting opportunity of reading at WORD bookstore in Jersey City with my friends and colleagues from the  Hobart Festival of Women Writers. One of my very best friends, Sue Jin Chang, came out to support me and took me out for a drink at Barcade to calm my pre-reading jitters. I was, after all, reading with highly esteemed writers whom I admire.

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Poet and cofounder of the Hobart Festival of Women Writers, Cheryl Clarke, PhD, emceed the reading.

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Cofounder of the Hobart Festival of Women Writers, Breena Clarke read from her novel Angels Make Their Hope Here.

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E. J. Antonio, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at last year’s festival, read her powerful poetry.

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J. P. Howard, who hosts the Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon, read her poetry.

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Evie Shockley performed her poetry, including a provocative piece on the recent events in McKinney.

It being a reading featuring women authors, I decided to go the feminist route and read a selection from Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” about the woman who was a catalyst for On the Road.

Sue Jin — whom you may remember from this jazz outing for peace and her mix Music and Poetry for On the Road — took these photographs of me.

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And here is a video of me reading a snippet!

Sophfronia Scott on Writing About a Generation

26 Aug

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I had the opportunity to interview Sophfronia Scott for the Festival of Women Writers. She is the queen of outlining, and her discipline makes me realize how structure can actually free up creativity. Sophfronia’s first big publication was writing about Generation X for Time Magazine. Since I am interested in the notion of categorizing people and literature by generations — the Beat Generation! — I was excited to ask her about her role in speaking for a generation.

Here is a snippet from our Q&A:

Nikolopoulos: While at Time Magazine, you and David Gross collaborated on the story “Twentysomething,” about Generation X. From the Lost Generation to the Beat Generation, and from Generation X to Generation Y, society tries to label groups of people based on when they were born and their shared historical and cultural experiences. As a writer, in what ways do you see yourself speaking for your generation?

Scott: The point of the Time Magazine story was that our generation, having observed and taken in the issues of the previous generation, seemed to be proceeding with our lives in a very thoughtful, observant manner. As a writer I tend to pursue my projects in similar fashion. Yes, I want to tell a good story or write an engaging essay but I’m also conscious of the fact that the story or essay has a deeper meaning. The story or essay interests me for a reason—I know I’m trying to say something important even if I don’t know right away what it is. The novel I recently completed explores sexuality, love, identity, and faith and when you read it you may find it challenging to what you believe about these things. In the big picture my writing, I hope, on some level will always leave you questioning who you are, what you believe, what your life is, in a style that will move you in positive ways.

If you missed it, I also did a Q&A with fellow Festival instructor Esther Cohen.

And, Breena Clarke interview me for a Q&A.

Poet Esther Cohen on Collaboration

19 Aug

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I had the opportunity to interview poet Esther Cohen for the Festival of Women Writers. She is an amazing talent, and I learn so much just from listening to the types of questions she asks. As someone who has studied writers in collaboration, I was particularly interested to ask Esther about her collaborative projects.

Here’s a snippet from our Q&A:

Nikolopoulos: You’ve done several collaborative projects. For your book Unseen America, you gave cameras to the working class so that they could document their lives and you helped tell their stories. For Don’t Mind Me: And Other Jewish Lies, you worked New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chas. For Painting Brooklyn Stories, you contributed bio-poems to Nina Talbot’s portraits. What is it about collaboration that appeals to you? 
 
Cohen: Yes I have done many collaborative projects, all my life. I’ve written poems with visual arts like the wonderful Nina Talbot, I was lucky enough to collaborate with amazing cartoonist Roz Chast, and I’ve been doing an ongoing project for many years with my favorite photographer Matthew Septimus (our work is on the ON BEING blog on the NPR site at http://bit.ly/1Mb5MZa.) Other people often bring our own work Somewhere Else. Matthew’s pictures, for instance, take my words into another place, a place they want to go.

You can read the rest of the Festival of Women Writers blog.

And just in case you missed it, here’s the interview novelist and Festival co-founder Breena Clarke did with me.

A Collage of Art and Literature at the Guggenheim

14 Aug
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Carol Bove, Vague Pure Affection, 2012, wood and steel shelves, paper, brass, concrete, and acrylic, 85″ x 35 1/2″ x 16″. © Carol Bove, photo courtesy Maccarone Inc., New York
When I was growing up, I wanted to be an artist. So I became a writer. At Scripps College, I majored in English literature and minored in studio art. I wrote my thesis on the influence the Abstract Expressionist painters had the Beat Generation. At The New School, I studied the collaboration between the poets and painters of the New York School, which also touched on a lesser extent on the Beats. Next month, at the Festival of Women Writers in the Catskills, I will be teaching a writing class called Cut-Ups, Jazz-Poetry, and Picture Poems: Writing Under the Influence of the Beat Generation.
 
So you can imagine how excited I am about the Storylines exhibit at the Guggenheim. Robert Anthony Siegel did a provocative write-up on it in The Paris Review.
 
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You can pick up your copy of Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” here.

This May Improve Your Mood about Your Social Media Presence

12 Aug

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This is me reading at Ronnie Norpel‘s fantastic reading series Tract 187 Culture Clatch at The West End —/ photo by author Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

Over the years, I’ve blogged about everything from twitter to pinterest, in the effort to help fellow writers think about their social media presence. Why? Because every conference and expo I’ve attended has drilled the need for social media into my head. Swirling around my brain, I hear platform, platform, platform.

But platform is about so much more than social media.

According to Rob Eagar’s article “Stop Grading an Author’s Social Media Presence” on Digital Book World, publishers are “misguided” in how they look at an author’s social media presence. He suggests what authors and publishers should focus on is:

  1. Email list and performance
  2. Monthly website visitors
  3. Speaking schedule or webinar participants
  4. Previous sales history

I’d highly, highly suggest reading the full article. What he says makes a lot of sense.

Does this mean we abandon social media?

By no means! It means social media is simply one tool in our toolbox. Okay, toolbox metaphors aren’t quite my lingo—nor my “brand”—but the point is that publishers, agents, librarians, and readers value the fact that an author uses social media, so we should maintain our online presence, but we should also look to diversify. Give a reading. Engage with people who leave comments. Send out a newsletter. Host a webinar. Maintain your backlist. Participate in a panel.

That’s what I’m doing at least. Or at least trying to do.

You can find the facebook page Paul Maher Jr. and I run for Burning Furiously Beautiful here.
My Twitter handle is @stephanieniko.
I pin about Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and lit life and 1950s fashion and nighttime road trips and the Greek beauty and deer on Pinterest.
I write articles for other publications.
I am reading at Word Bookstore in Jersey City.
I am teaching a writing class at the Festival of Women Writers.
I am participating on a panel at BinderCon.
I am co-organizing the faith and writing conference called The Redeemed Writer: The Call and the Practice.

There’s so much more to writing than, well, writing. I enjoy it, though. It’s stretching me as a writer, as an entrepreneur, and as a person.

I’m Reading at WORD Bookstore in Jersey City

6 Aug

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I am beyond excited to be reading at WORD Jersey City. I’ve been a fan of the bookstore since before the Jersey City location existed when they only had the Brooklyn location. I look forward to reading their newsletter, which always has inspired book recommendations. They also curate great literary events for readers, writers, and authors. It was a secret dream to read at WORD, and now it’s coming true!

It all happens August 18 at 7:30pm at WORD Jersey City (123 Newark Ave.). I’ll be reading from Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.” 

Here’s the official info:::

Authors participating in the 2015 Festival of Women Writers in Hobart, NY join us at WORD to share readings from their books. Performers include Evie Shockley, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, E.J. Antonio, JP (Juliet) Howard, Breena Clarke, and Stephanie Nikolopoulos. It will be hosted by fellow author Cheryl Clarke.

Evie Shockley, resident of Jersey City, professor of English at Rutgers University, poet and author of a half red sea  and the new black. Her essays and criticism have been featured in leading journals of African-American thought. She is a 2013 member of the Festival.

Cheryl Boyce Taylor, resident of Brooklyn by way of Trinidad,poet and author of Night When Moon FollowsRaw Air, and Convincing the Body. Founder of NYC’s Calypso Muse Series. She is an editor of the distinguished online poetry journal, The Wide Shore. Her poetry has appeared in numerousliterary and poetry journals. She participated in  the 2013 and 2014 Festivals.

E.J. Antonio, resident of New York City, poet and author of Rituals in the Marrow: Recipe for a Jam Session (cd) and two chapbooks, Every Child Knows and Solstice. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals. She is an avid spoken word artist and Cave Canem  fellow. She is a 2014 participating Festival Writer.

JP (Juliet) Howard, a native New Yorker, originally from Harlem, poet and author of Say/Mirror. She is curator of  Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon, a monthly New York salon featuring notable women writers. She is a Lambda and Cave Canem graduate fellow and will be participating in the Festival for the first time in 2015.

Breena Clarke, a resident of Jersey City by way of New York City and Washington, D.C., author of three novels: River, Cross My Heart an Oprah Book Club Selection in 1999, Stand the Storm, named one of the Best 100 Books of 2008 by The Washington Post, and in 2014 Angels Make Their Hope Here.  She is a co-founder and co-organizer of the Festival of Women Writers.

Stephanie Nikolopoulos, a New Yorker and co-author with Paul Maher Jr. of the biography Burning Furiously Beautiful: the True Story of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. She is a blogger, essayist, editor, and cyber journalist. Her essays on art and literature have appeared in a number of publications. She is a participating Festival writer this year as well as in 2014.

Cheryl Clarke, Emcee, a resident of Jersey City by way of New Brunswick and Wash., D.C., author of four books of poetry, the critical study, After Mecca: Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement, and The Days of Good Looks: Prose and Poetry, 1980-2005. She is a co-organizer of the Hobart Festival of Women Writers.

Facebook RSVP encouraged, but not required.

So, not only do I get to read at a cherish bookstore, but I also get to read with an impressive group of writers!

The event is just a mere taste of what what’s to come at the Festival of Women Writers taking place September 11-13 in Hobart, New York — a quaint town in the Catskills known for its many bookstores. These authors and many more will be reading and teaching writing all weekend long. I had such a blast last year and can’t wait to go again. I’ll be teaching a new class this year, which I think is going to be a lot of fun if you’re into experimental writing styles. You can register for the Festival here.

If you missed it, you can see the Festival of Women Writers spotlight on me here. Breena Clarke interviewed me for this one. (For last year’s spotlight, go here.)

Here too is a radio interview I did with Simona David while at the Festival.

Get all the latest announcements on my readings and teaching gigs in the Appearance section of my blog.

Breena Clarke Interviews Me for the Festival of Women Writers Blog

22 Jul

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Novelist Breena Clarke — whose book River, Cross My Heart was an Oprah book club pick! — recently interviewed me for the Hobart Festival of Women Writers blog.

She asks:

Clarke: I’m of the generation that kind of took our counter-culture marching orders from the Beats. You’re a couple of thousand years younger than me. How did you fall under the spell of Jack Kerouac and the Beats?  

You can read my answer that question and her others here.

I’m super excited to be participating in the Festival of Women Writers again this year!

I’ll be reading from Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” with Festival participants at WORD bookstore in Jersey City (123 Newark Ave.) on August 18 at 7:30pm.

Then September 11-13, I’ll be returning to the Catskills to teach a writing class at the Hobart Festival of Women Writers.

Festival of Women Writers Shines Spotlight on Me

26 Aug

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The Festival of Women Writers in Hobart, New York, recently featured me in their newsletter! You can read it in full here.

I can’t wait for to get up to this cute little town of books up in the Catskills. It’s such an honor to be included in this year’s festival. The line-up is spectacular:

I’ll be reading from Burning Furiously Beautiful as part of the Hobart Book Village Festival of Women Writer opening readings on Friday, September 5th at 3:30pm. Then on Saturday, bright and early at 9:30am I’ll be teaching my popular workshop The Role of Place for Reader and Writer. Workshop participants will look at several examples of great setting from literature and then do writing exercises to explore unique ways to imbue the story with a sense of place. You can register here.

Find out more on the Hobart Festival of Women Writers website.

Check out the blog.

Help support women writers by contributing to this event.

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For my other upcoming events, check out my appearances page. If you’re interested in booking me for a reading or hiring me to lead a writing workshop, you can contact me at snikolop {@} alumna.scrippscollege.edu.