About the speakers at our 2024 Workshop​​​​​​

This dynamic duo took us through poetry writing exercises, just for the fun of learning, then discussed other types of poetry.  (Attendees were invited to share what they wrote IF they wanted to.  Thankfully many did!)

Priscilla Bettis  is an avid reader and a joyful writer.  She is a horror author under her given name and a Christian fiction author under the pen name, Vera Day. 


Her poetry can be found in various anthologies and in her Tulip Texas Cozy Mystery trilogy (because the plucky amateur sleuth is a poet).  She is also beginning work in another genre and is exploring options for a pen name in that arena!


She lives in small-town Texas with her two-legged and four-legged family members.  Her neighbor is a cow, but as far as neighbors go, "Daisy is a good 'un!"  On top of that, she has an engineering physics background!


Shann Tajiah is an award-wining poet, photographer, and author of Scraps of Love: Poetry from the Darkest Night 1997-2010 and the Biblical fantasy, The Shaloma.


A Minnesota-grown Texan, Shann began writing when she was eight and was submitting for publication by the time she was thirteen.  She is working on the second installment of the East of Eeden duology.  She is also one half of the spectacular writing duo, T.L. Gabriel, where she writes about worlds beyond the stars.  Her passion for writing and authors led her to establish her publishing imprint, Ithirial Rising Press, and she is currently studying to be a certified book and writing coach. 


Otherwise, she can be found working as an Activity Director in Long-Term Care, daydreaming in her hammock, or caring for her furred and feathered menagerie. 

                        Welcome

Objectives:   To study methods of writing and research,
      To develop our talents as writers,
          To promote interest in writing, and
                       To encourage our fellow writers at all times

       

                                                           In Case You Missed it!


We had a fun time on March 23, 2024, learning how to write a 17-syllable sentence, then turning it into a three-line poem...several times.  Priscilla Bettis and Shann Tajiah did a great job leading us in this hands-on workshop.  Writers can never learn too much! Plus coffee, snacks and door prizes were available.   


This project was supported in part by a grant from the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council HeARTS for the ARTS!  We gratefully acknowledge their support of the arts in Abilene!

                                         




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