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Second Friday, May 11, 2012, Second Friday Returns to Crossroads Art Center

Come join us at 7pm, as storyteller Kathy Hunter shares her slide presentation: To China, in Search of Stories. Traveling with a group of storytellers from the United States in November, 2010, Kathy visited historic sites in China and the tiny village of Gengcun, “The Village of Stories,” where residents preserve 600 years of oral stories. The stories she collected are shared here, accompanied by excellent photographs of China’s people and their surroundings.

 Learn about culture still common in China, like the eating of dumplings and boiled peanuts, the good street food, and family legacies represented by pearls and jade. Meet Chinese food – fancy and freaky.

Learn about the Chinese cultural importance of jade, its meaning and value. Be guided to “government-owned” pearl and jade establishments where you "won't be cheated."

Visit the Hanging Temple over a river near Datong, constructed by monks in the year 491, where monks descended on ropes above the river's crevasse and inserted logs in the steep cliff to support the temple. Embracing three religions – Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism – it was one of the most unimproved, and riskiest tourist sites on the trip. At 250 feet above ground, the rock pathways were steep and slick, and the railings rickety or nonexistent. Evidently no one worried about being sued!

Hear the story of the Dragon Lady, China's fabled Empress. Get mobbed in crowds of adoring Chinese. Learn the wrong way to say "thank you" to a shopkeeper. Find out about split pants on toddlers and the dreaded squat toilet. Here is China at its most memorable, through the eyes of Fishtrap's gifted (and funny!) storyteller.

 WGEO Meeting Saturday, May 12, 2012.

The WGEO regular meeting will be held in the meeting room, overlooking the river pathway at Baker County Library at 2400 Resort Street in Baker City from 1:15 - 3:00 pm.

 

Watch this site for further announcements of Second Friday Literary Night programs through fall 2012.   Sometime in summer, we will have the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour coming again, and in fall, new poetry releases from Carlos Reyes and David Axlerod,

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WGEO meetings are normally held on the second Saturday of every month from 1:15 - 3 pm at the Baker County Library in Baker City. Meetings are open to the public. Members share information, provide advice and assistance to other writers, and cooperate to promote and market local works of interest to the broader public.

Our enthusiasm and activities cover the spectrum of literary work including, travel, history, humor, poetry, drama, mystery, science fiction, cowboy westerns, romance, children's literature, biography, cooking, crafts, nature, and more. We welcome published authors and novice writers alike.

Join us! The Writers Guild of Eastern Oregon welcomes new members and maintains informative communication with those who just want to be associates. Contact us at:

 

Membership is free and open to anyone in eastern Oregon interested in literary arts. All genres are written here! The group provides literary events and discussion forums for the general public. For aspiring writers, the group provides constructive criticism, mentoring, editing, and public speaking experience. Published authors share experience, information, and practical help to teach others how to self-publish in a cost-effective, professional manner. For published members, the group also provides website hosting, advertising,cooperative book sales events, and business coaching.

WGEO has evolved into a loosely structured cooperative. While we no longer maintain the structure of elected officers, our volunteers will continue to provide assistance and services to local authors and the general community of eastern Oregon.