SIERRA VISTA — One of the leading playwrights and novelists of the Southwestern region will be the keynote presenter at the 14th annual Cochise Community Creative Writing Celebration to be held March 30-31.
Denise Chávez
Denise Chávez, a novelist, playwright, teacher and performance writer based in Las Cruces and Mesilla, N.M., will present her keynote address, Remembering the Sacred, at 11 a.m. on the opening day of the event. Her presentation will emphasize the importance of remembering the sacred in life, including families, their stories, and “the continuum of creative blessing that has evolved and ripples out from the deepest core of our being.”
The Creative Writing Celebration, held at the Ethel Berger Center and Cochise College’s Sierra Vista Campus, brings together published writers in several genres, including poetry, novels, creative nonfiction, juvenile fiction and screenwriting, to present hands-on workshops to aspiring writers from the community.
The event also gives unpublished authors an opportunity to present and receive feedback on their work by participating in a writing contest associated with the celebration. Submissions will be accepted in the areas of poetry, short story, creative nonfiction, and, a new category this year, children’s (ages 6-9) magazine fiction.
There is a $5 reading fee for each entry. All submitted writing must be the original, unpublished work of the person entering the contest. Contestants must also be registered for the Creative Writing Celebration in order to participate.
The deadline to submit entries to the writing contest is Feb. 24. Submit electronic copies to creativewriting@cochise.edu, or hard copies by mailing or dropping off entries at the Cochise College Sierra Vista Campus. Cash prizes will be awarded on the final day of the event and first-place winners will have their work published in Mirage, Cochise College’s literary and arts magazine.
Chávez prides herself as a true child of La Frontera, with roots in far west Texas with her mother’s family and in Las Cruces with her father’s family. Chávez’s most recent book is “A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture.” Other books include novels “Loving Pedro Infante” and “Face of An Angel,” as well as a short story collection, “The Last of the Menu Girls.” She has also published a children’s book, “La Mujer Que Sabía El Idioma de Los Animales”/”The Woman Who Knew the Language of the Animals.” Chávez recently finished the novel “The King and Queen of Comezón,” a border mystery/love story.
Chávez is also the director of The Border Book Festival, a major national and regional book festival based at the Cultural Center de Mesilla, a multicultural bookstore that has recently opened an art gallery, Galería Tepín.
In addition to presenting as the keynote speaker, Chávez will host a reading session at the Cochise College Douglas Campus Little Theatre at 7 p.m. March 30. She is also one of three authors who will present at breakout sessions throughout the two-day event.
Chávez’s breakout session is called Despierta, Mi Bien, Despierta: Wake up, My dear, Wake up!, titled after the song “Las Mañanitas,” a traditional Mexican song celebrating birthdays and other important holidays. The session explains the ways writers can awaken creativity within them and sustain that joy and energy used to tell their deepest stories.
The event’s poetry presenter is Cynthia Hogue, who has published seven collections of poetry, most recently Or Consequence (2010) and When the Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina, interview-poems and photographs (2010), with Rebecca Ross. Hogue will explore ways to create new and different poetic voices in her workshop, Estranging the Lyric.
Marge Pellegrino is the children’s writing presenter. This award-winning author has facilitated expressive arts workshops since 1991. In her workshop, titled Writing for children is like baking bread, she will go over the essential ingredients and tools writers use to create poetry, articles and books for children. After working through the process, attendees will put pen to paper and experience on the page.
Creative nonfiction presenter Beth Alvarado’s fiction and creative nonfiction have been published in several literary journals. She teaches at the University of Arizona, where she is the fiction editor for Cutthroat: A Journal of Prose. Her workshop, Writing Family Stories, will explore the question “Where does memory begin, in the image or the word?”
The Creative Writing Celebration is co-sponsored by Cochise College, University South Foundation, Inc., City of Sierra Vista Leisure and Library Services, Cochise College Foundation’s Diane E. Freund Memorial Writing Celebration Fund, and this year received a National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America Grant.
For those looking to lend financial support to this event, the fast-track grant does require matching contributions from the community. In addition, the cost of the two-day conference costs $25, which is often a hardship for students. Donating to the Diane E. Freund Memorial Writing Celebration Fund supports scholarships for students who wish to attend the event and also can help with expenses associated with putting on the event.
To learn more about registering for the Creative Writing Celebration, the event’s schedule and writing contest guidelines, click here or contact Leslie Clark at clarkl@cochise.edu.
Anyone needing an accommodation in order to attend should contact the Disability Services Office at (520) 515-5337 or (520) 417-4023 at least 72 hours in advance.