About this event

Everyone loves masterfully crafted book characters, but what does it take to bring one to life?

Wrestling with fictional characters is a familiar pastime for experienced as well as new writers. Yet, every reader who cracks open a book expects to be fascinated by the people they meet there. It’s an ongoing struggle to create realistic characters who fulfill all the functions of story and resonate with the reader as real, engaging people.

In this webinar, author and editor Oksana Marafioti will teach you:

• The basics of writing characters;

• Techniques for making them believable and entertaining; and

• How to make sure they fit into your story.

Register now!

Wednesday 3rd August at 3 pm New York • Noon Pacific • 8 pm London • 12.30 am Delhi • 3 am Hong Kong • 5 am Sydney

REGISTRATION: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-write-engaging-characters-reedsy-live-registration-350523915467

Have you ever wondered why some stories dazzle instantly while others fail to capture your attention? What makes a book unputdownable from page one?

In storytelling, as in real life, first impressions count. It’s crucial to write an unforgettable story opening. One that will not only pique the reader’s interest but keep them immersed in your tale to the end.

In this class, author and editor Oksana Marafioti will reveal techniques that help create effective story beginnings. Whether you’ve always dreamed of writing, but don’t know where to start, or want to make sure the opening of your completed novel will catch a reader’s or an agent’s attention, this class will help you achieve those goals.

The topics covered will include:

• Where to open

• How to open

• Establishing the main conflict

• Introducing your characters

• How to avoid mistakes that weaken the opening

Butcher's Dog Publishing proudly presents Wagtail, our debut anthology of poetry, with many thanks to the support from ERIAC, the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture.

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Wagtail celebrates voices and visions from the margins. The book seeks to address historic and ongoing failures by the publishing industry to fairly represent the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) diaspora. 

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Editor Jo Clement's foreword details the provenance of this inclusive international publication and explains why it is vital mainstream publishing brings traditionally excluded voices into print.

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Here, established poets share pages with the previously unheard and unpublished. In solidarity against hate and all forms of misogyny: 'The Roma Women's Poetry Anthology' includes writing by gender-fluid, non-binary and transgender writers.

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The Wagtail anthology features specially commissioned artworks by Delaine Le Bas and Imogen Bright Moon, alongside twenty-six astounding poets.

Join us for a virtual book launch and readings from the anthology!

Stand by for the link to the virtual Zoom event.

Location:
Globus Books YouTube Channel

Website

Globus Books is excited to invite you to a conversation with Oksana Marafioti, the author of American Gypsy: A Memoir (FSG, 2012). This event is in English and will take place on July 7, at 4.00 PM PST (SF), 7.00 PM PST (NY.)

Oksana Marafioti's writings have appeared in Rumpus, Slate, Time, Literary Orphans, and in a number of literary journals and anthologies. Oksana was the 2013 Library of Congress Literary Award Recipient. From 2019 to 2021, she was the guest editor of the Critical Journal of Romani Studies at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. A 2020 recipient of the Picador Guest Professor Award from the University of Leipzig, Germany, she is also the founder of Lounge Writers, a virtual creative writing studio. A classically trained pianist, Oksana holds a BS in Cinematography and an MFA in Creative Writing. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @oksanamarafioti.

Marafioti will talk about her memoir and her family's journey with Zarina Zabrisky.

Zarina Zabrisky is the author of three short story collections and a novel "We, Monsters" (Numina Press, 2014). Zabrisky's work appeared in nine countries in over fifty literary magazines and anthologies, including The Nervous Breakdown, A Capella Zoo, The Rumpus, Guernica, and received nominations and awards, including 2013 Acker Awards for Avant-Garde Excellence. Zabrisky runs literary and cultural programs at Globus Books.

This event is in English and will be held on Zoom on June 23, 2021, at 10.00 am PST (SF), 1.00 pm EST (NY), 20.00 (Moscow.)

There will be a limited number of seats; please contact Globus Books via FB messenger to register.

We will also be live streaming the event on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/GlobusBooksSF/videos) and later will share the edited version of the program.

Online launch of the thematic issue of Critical Romani Studies journal

6 July 2021 18.00 (Central European Time)

Critical Romani Studies is an international, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open access journal providing a forum for activist-scholars to critically examine racial oppressions, different forms of exclusion, inequalities, and human rights abuses of Roma.

The thematic issue contains academic papers papers by Ileana D. Chirila, Ana Belén Martín Sevillano, Marina Ortrud M. Hertrampf, Georgia Kalpazidou-Dimitris Alexandros Ladopoulos-Theofano Papakonstantinou, Éva Kovács; reviews by Laura Soréna Tittel, Mariana Sabino Salazar, Deniz Selmani; and creative writing pieces by Oksana Marafioti, Jorge Emilio Nedich, Jessica Reidy, Frances Roberts Reilly, Katelan V. Foisy, Galina Trefil, Diana Norma Szokolyai. The guest editors of the thematic issue are Ana Belén Martín Sevillano and Oksana Marafioti.

The thematic issue is introduced by Ana Belén Martín Sevillano, Oksana Marafioti, Ileana D. Chirila, Marina Ortrud M. Hertrampf, Frances Roberts Reilly, and Diana Norma Szokolyai.

The event is live-streamed at https://www.facebook.com/CEURomaniStudiesProgram

The open access journal issue is be available from the 6th of July at https://crs.ceu.edu

Cover: Generational Trauma (2020). Image courtesy of Nicholas Alexander