Creative Writing Certificate Program

Spring 2012 Poets and Writers’ Festival

Held every spring semester, the Poets & Writers Festival at Community College of Philadelphia is an annual celebration of the literary arts. All events are free and open to the public.

Schedule of Events

	Thursday, March 15 Author Reading: Edwidge Danticat 1-3 p.m., Great Hall, Winnet Student Life Building Don’t miss your chance to see Edwidge Danticat, author of this year’s One Book One Philadelphia selection, Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work. (The Free Library of Philadelphia and the Center for International Understanding provided assistance with this event.)
	Monday, March 26 Poetry Open Mic 2-3:15 p.m., NERC, First Floor Community Meeting Room Community College of Philadelphia assistant professor of English, Sharon Eiferman, will host an open mic for students and faculty at the Northeast Regional Center. Come share a poem by a favorite author or a poem of your own! Light refreshments will be provided.
	Thursday, March 29 Poetry Symposium 9:30 a.m.-4:50 p.m., Winnet Student Life Building This daylong event held at the College’s Main Campus will offer workshops, readings, panel presentations and more! For more information about the day’s events, please contact Poets &Writers Festival coordinators.
	Thursday, April 5 Poetry Reading: Caryl Phillips 2-3:30 p.m., Location: Large Auditorium in the Bonnell Building, following the reading, there is a reception in the Winnet Student Life Building Coffeehouse Caryl Phillips was born in St. Kitts and came to Britain at the age of four months. He grew up in Leeds and studied English Literature at Oxford University. He writes novels, essays, plays for radio and the stage, and feature film scripts. Presently, he is professor of English at Yale University and an Honorary Fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford University. A regular contributor to The Guardian and The New Republic, his latest book, Colour Me English—Selected Essays, was published in July 2011.
	Thursday, April 12 Poetry Reading: Kay Ryan 3:30-6:30 p.m., Room C2-28 (CBI Building) Born in California in 1945, Kay Ryan grew up in the small towns of the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert. She received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from UCLA. Ryan has published several collections of poetry, including The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (Grove Press, 2010); The Niagara River (2005); Say Uncle (2000); Elephant Rocks (1996); and Flamingo Watching (1994). Ryan was elected a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets in 2006. In 2008, Ryan was appointed the Library of Congress’s sixteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Sponsored by the Maurice English Poetry Award. Special thanks to the College Board of Trustees for their assistance in coordinating this event.
	Monday, April 16 Faculty Showcase 5 p.m., The Cube, Pavilion Building Faculty in the College’s Creative Writing Certificate Program will read from their works. Participating faculty include Alan Elyshevitz, Julie Odell, Larry MacKenzie, Crystal Bacon, Katie Delhagen and Joe Kenyon.
	Monday, April 23 Limited Editions Launch Party 3-4:30 p.m., The Cube, Pavilion Building Come celebrate the launch of the 2012 issue of the College’s award-winning literary magazine, Limited Editions. Enjoy readings by student writers and complimentary refreshments.
	Thursday, April 26 The Cypher Literary Magazine Launch Party 3-5 p.m., The Cube, Pavilion Building Come celebrate the launch of the 2012 issue of the College’s developmental English literary and visual arts magazine, The Cypher. Enjoy readings by student writers and complimentary refreshments.
	Dickens’ Birthday Celebration By appointment only Celebrate the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens with a personalized discussion and private viewing of original Dickens manuscripts! Private sessions by appointment only. Please contact Jeff Markovitz at jmarkovitz@ccp.edu. Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central, 1901 Vine Street.

Acknowledgments
The 2012 Poets & Writers Festival would not be possible without the support of the Student Life Center, the English Department, Creative Writing Certificate program faculty, The Center for International Understanding, the Community College of Philadelphia Board of Trustees and the Free Library of Philadelphia.

About the Creative Writing Certificate Program
The Certificate in Creative Writing at the Community College of Philadelphia offers a varied curriculum of creative writing from experienced and published creative writers. The program will instruct students in the craft of creative writing, workshopping, and the life of the writer. Courses include Fiction Writing, Poetry, Scriptwriting and Creative Nonfiction. For more information, contact program director Jeff Markovitz at jmarkovitz@ccp.edu.