Writing is a form of expression. People write for different reasons, and authors often see the extraordinary in ordinary, everyday life and explore different worlds - or even known worlds - through eyes that are keen to observe and interpret.

For 10 years, Cochise County has celebrated this art form during the Cochise Community Creative Writing Celebration. The celebration was born in 1998 when Leslie Clark, a Cochise College English instructor, and Diane Freund, a peer who at that time taught at the Sierra Vista Campus, felt it was time that the community welcome a celebration of this magnitude. Their vision was supported by the president of the college, Karen Nicodemus, and by several county organizations. Since its beginnings, the event has brought together quality speakers and a diverse audience who share a passion for this art form.

The annual writers’ conference takes place each spring in Sierra Vista and has been supported by co-sponsors from the community, including the University South Foundation, Cochise College, and Sierra Vista Parks and Leisure. Clark, a published poet who is committed to extending a platform of opportunities for creative talents, views the celebration as “an educational program to give aspiring community writers the opportunity to hear the nuts and bolts of the writing business from the professionals.”

  Jay Treiber, chair of the Cochise College English Department, has been involved in the event for most of its existence. A talented poet who speaks passionately about the event, his vision is “to establish some literary culture in the community.” He considers the first celebration – when author Richard Shelton delivered the keynote - as one of his most memorable; Shelton is this year’s keynote as well.

“There was a lot of energy behind the event,” Treiber recalls, “We had a lot of people on the committee, everybody wanted to be involved, it was very exciting. It was something pretty big for Cochise College!”

This year’s event promises to be of the utmost quality. The committee has worked diligently to honor the 10th anniversary of the celebration, while the workshop presenters truly exemplify the essence of creative writing.

The keynote address will be presented by Richard Shelton, retired Regents’ Professor of English at the University of Arizona. He will discuss his memoir Crossing the Yard: 30 Years as a Prison Volunteer and his experience in the Tucson prison system teaching creative writing to inmates. Participants in the author’s workshop The Real Story: Writing Creative Nonfiction will have the opportunity to be engaged in creative and challenging writing exercises that they will use to generate ideas for their own writing.

One of the characteristics of the creative writing celebration is that the audience gets to interact closely with the presenters. The experience that the authors share in their workshops is invaluable to future authors. It is a moment to learn from people who have journeyed through their field of expertise.

For this event, participants who are interested in publishing their work will be provided with useful advice from expert publisher Lisa Bowden, who presents her workshop, Publishing – From Concept to Book.  The co-founder of Kore Press, a Tucson publishing house, is always on the lookout to publish and distribute excellent works of literary and artistic value.

Allen Woodman, chair of the English Department and director of the Creative Writing Program at Northern Arizona University, will inspire participants to write their own short-short story with his workshop The Joy of Writing the World’s Shortest Story. The versatile author has published books for young and old audiences alike.

The workshop, The Poem’s Intention, presented by Rebecca Seiferle, will be a great inspiration for published poets or aspiring poets. The founding editor of the online international poetry journal The Drunken Boat is a resident of Tucson who believes that the poem has a will all of its own. The workshop is sure to help participants better understand their own writing and reach “new levels of poetic intensity.”

For those participants interested in developing a TV story, the workshop Writing for TV Sitcom and Drama, presented by Carey Alstadt, a Cochise College counselor and TV script writer for Everybody Loves Raymond and Becker, is surely one that cannot be missed. Alstadt, with his charismatic personality, will provide invaluable tips, rules, and strategies for aspiring writers.

Looking back at the 10 years of the Cochise Community Creative Writing Celebration, Leslie Clark commented that although the vast majority of participants are senior citizens, the celebration has welcomed participants ranging in age from 12 to 85!

The committee works hard to look for presenters who are mostly from the region and who are true role models in their fields. This year is no exception. Prices are very affordable, and the quality of the presentations is very high.

IF YOU GO…

What: 10th Annual Cochise Community Creative Writing Celebration

When/Where: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Friday, March 28 at the Ethel Berger Center; 8 a.m. – 4:30 P.M. Saturday, March 29 at the Sierra Vista Campus of Cochise College

Registration: $25 - $40

Info: 515-5486/417-4112; www.cochise.edu/information/newsevents/crwceleb/index.asp