NCWN Updates Logo thanks to 'ReCover' Donors
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- Written by: Katherine O'Hara
- Category: Uncategorised
After the 2021 ReCover Campaign—the most successful in the history of the North Carolina Writers’ Network—and after more than 90 e-mails, three Zoom meetings, and couple of phone calls, everyone involved could agree on one thing at least:
The big red pen would remain.
For decades, the NCWN logo has included a red fountain pen, the nib exposed and ready to write. That pen has become an immediately recognizable symbol of the Network, guiding creative writers across hotel lobbies and college campuses to the classes, readings, and workshops that for some have been life-changing.
“With this update of our logo, we had some discussion about whether we ought to update the pen, too,” NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern said.
Southern said that he and others involved in the update talked with their graphic designers about replacing the fountain pen with a ballpoint pen, or even a stylus, as well as changing the color.
“In the end, though, we decided that the red pen was too eye-catching, and too long-associated with the Network, to replace,” Southern said, “and that the fountain pen reinforced the timelessness of so much of what we’re trying to do, the literary virtues we’re trying to promote.”
The artists at Web Solutions, the firm handling the update of the Network’s logo and its website, did give the red fountain pen a more streamlined and abstract form.
“I think it’s a nice balance, showing the value of both the past and the future,” Southern said.
The updated logo had a “soft launch” at the NCWN’s 2022 Spring Conference, appearing without fanfare on some of the signs, posters, and other printed materials. The logo now appears on the Network’s website, its weekly e-blast, and its social media profiles.
“The premise of the ReCover Campaign was that the Network’s story was as strong as ever, but it needed a new binding and dust jacket,” Southern said. “That strained metaphor was our way of saying we needed a new look, a new visual identity for the new world of the 2020s. This update to our logo is a large part of that: a new design that says we’re moving forward, but that big red fountain pen that says we’ll never forget our past.”
“These Are My People”: 2022 Squire Workshops at Davidson College
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- Written by: Katherine O'Hara
- Category: Uncategorised
Last weekend the Network welcomed Squire Summer Writing Workshop registrants to Davidson College for workshops, readings, and community in-person with this year's faculty Jack Jung, Cynthia Lewis, and Alan Michael Parker. NCWN members and non-members alike enjoyed ten intensive workshop sessions within their chosen genres.
"My experience at Squire was exactly what I hoped, and more,” registrant Bridget Whalen wrote in her evaluation. “I am so grateful for the privilege to learn from an incredible artist and teacher. I am also so appreciative of the chance to workshop with my peers who share my love for craft--even with their very different interests and approaches to writing. I am leaving Squire with a wealth of tools and ideas to bring to my writing, a renewed determination to seek out learning opportunities, and writers I can't wait to collaborate with in the future.”
A highlight for many registrants was visiting the Davidson Letterpress Lab for a demonstration and letterpress etymology lesson with Davidson assistant professor Andrew Rippeon. They had the opportunity to use the letterpress themselves, creating broadsides with quotes by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. Wesley Spears-Newsome wrote in his evaluation, "The Letterpress Lab was so cool and I'm so glad that I went. It was fascinating to learn everything about how letterpresses and physical publishing used to work. In addition to my writing, part of my day job includes graphic design, so I learned a lot about where terminology and technique originated for that as well...I can't speak highly enough about the Squire Summer Writing Workshops. It was worth everything that it took to be there. I didn't want to leave!"
In addition to visiting the Davidson College Letterpress Lab, registrants enjoyed readings by faculty members and shared their own work at two Open Mike Nights. The event space was lively and warm, with each reader receiving loud applause and encouragement.
"I was sitting at lunch Saturday morning with a group of writers," registrant Janet Ford said in her evaluation, "some [writers] from fiction class, some fellow poets, some non-fiction writers, and one of us commented on how sweet it was to be together. 'These are my people,' he said, and we all agreed."
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