COSCBWI Meeting September 2013: Meg Brown, The Thurber House

While I usually attend every monthly COSCBWI meeting, I actually missed September's due to my trip to Disney.  But don't worry!  COSCBWI's Assistant Regional Advisor, Andrea Hall, wrote up a lovely summary for your enjoyment:

This month's COSCBWI meeting featured a fantastic speaker from the Thurber House in Columbus, Meg Brown.  She is the Manager of Children’s Programming.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Thurber House, it was the childhood home of James Thurber, humorist, author, and New Yorker cartoonist.  Here is a statement from the website: Our mission is to celebrate the written word for the education and entertainment of the broadest possible audience and to continue the legacy of James Thurber.  The Thurber House has a myriad of programs for children and adults.

Meg explained that the Writer-in-Residence program allows an author to live in the Thurber House for one month. In addition to focusing on writing, it gives the author an opportunity to teach children at the Summer Writing Camp.  Interested authors must apply for the program, as only one Children’s Writer-in-Residence is chosen each year.  Further information is available on the website.

Other events at the Thurber House include "Evenings with Authors" and "Summer Literary Picnics."  The "Evenings with Authors" run from January-May and September-December.  Each one features a reading from an author, a question and answer session, followed by a book signing and refreshments.  The "Summer Literary Picnics" take place outdoors, where attendees can either bring a picnic dinner or purchase catered box meals.  Schedules for both events can be found on the website, as well as ticket information.

In addition, Thurber House offers writing programs for both kids and adults.  The children’s programs range in age from preschool to high school on a variety of topics.  Thurber House is always looking for enthusiastic new teachers, so if you’re interested in volunteering your time and sharing your knowledge with future authors, please contact Meg Brown.

It was wonderful to hear about so many great opportunities to meet new authors, work on our craft, and be a part of another superb writing organization.  You can find out more about their programs and events at: www.thurberhouse.org.

A big thanks to Andrea for writing up a great post!  You can follow her on Twitter @andreadawnhall.

If you'd like to learn more about COSCBWI, you can check out the website at coscbwi23.wildapricot.org  or "like" the group on Facebook.  I hope to see you at the October meeting!