NEWS RELEASE

JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA

June 7, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JEFFERSON PARISH LIBRARY SATURDAY WRITERS' CLINIC TO FOCUS ON 'CREATING A SENSE OF PLACE' AND 'REVISITING THE FIRST DRAFT'

JEFFERSON, LA – Two creative writing instructors/authors will make presentations to aspiring writers as part of the JPL Saturday Writers’ Clinic, June 17, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.

Each presentation is free of charge and open to the public. There is no registration.

9:30 a.m., Saturday, June 17
Clayton Delery – “Creating a Sense of Place”

The best writing, whether fiction or nonfiction, creates a vivid sense of place, says Clay Delery. This is true whether one is writing about a suburban shopping mall or creating an entirely fictional universe. Delery’s own writing relies heavily on recreating a sense of New Orleans in years past. In this session, he will suggest techniques for making a place come alive.

Clayton Delery holds bachelor of arts and master’s degrees from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and a doctoral degree from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. For 26 years, he was a member of the faculty at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches, one of the nation's premier high schools for academically gifted students. He is the author of two nonfiction books: The UpStairs Lounge Arson was named Humanitarian Book of the Year by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and Out For Queer Blood was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award.  

11 a.m., Saturday, June 17
Matthew Griffin – “Revising Your Initial Draft”

According to Griffin, “To rewrite your draft, you must now question each sentence; find plot holes, assess the character’s arcs, analyze subtexts, include or move backstories. There is still a lot to be done until you look to your manuscript and say: ‘It’s finished’, but knowing what’s to come and be prepared for it makes the task of revising easier.”

Matthew Griffin holds a bachelor of arts degree in English and Religion from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem. He also holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing with a specialty in Fiction, from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His debut novel Hide was the winner of the 2017 Crook's Corner Book Prize, an ALA Stonewall Honor Book, and an Amazon Best Book of the Month. It was longlisted for the PEN/Bingham Prize for debut fiction, a semifinalist for the VCU/Cabell First Novelist Award, and a finalist for both a Lambda Literary Award and a Publishing Triangle Award.

For more information regarding this event, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

The Jefferson Parish Library system consists of 16 locations that stretch from the Lakeshore Branch on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain to the Grand Isle Branch just steps away from the Gulf of Mexico. The library system consists of two large regional libraries and seven branches on each side of the Mississippi River. The East Bank Regional Library (4747 West Napoleon Avenue, Metairie) serves as library headquarters. The Jefferson Parish Library is the second largest system in the state of Louisiana. More than 200 employees work for the Jefferson Parish Library including librarians, administration and support staff. For more information, contact the library at (504) 838-1100 or www.jefferson.lib.la.us

For more information about Jefferson Parish, visit www.JeffParish.net Residents can also receive regular updates by following the Parish on Facebook, Twitter Youtube, JPTV and Instagram (@JeffParishGov) or by texting JPALERT or JPNOTICIAS to 888-777.

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Jefferson Parish Public Information Office 1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Suite 1002 Jefferson, LA 70123

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Gretchen Hirt Gendron, PIO