Project Grant

The anticipated changes and measurable outcomes within the Writers/Poets will be a new understanding and realization that there is a special enthusiasm, as an area ?vintage? group, as they learn about how to publish a book. To the knowledge of any of the group members, a literary anthology book project such as this has never been done. While the writing of memoirs appears to be a literary endeavor as each writer and poet immerses themselves into their own past, they also realize that there are certainly both psychological and social benefits to discover, especially for seniors. The creative writing of memoirs is rewarding and enhances each life, can help heal difficult or traumatic events, plus creating these poignant stories/poems can also enhance and touch the lives of any reader or listener, which is another purpose of this project. Through this arts project, Writers/Poets group seek to: 1. Explore and understand the process of publishing an anthology book; 2. Build personal self-confidence and pride by speaking at a community event; 3. Motivate and inspire other senior citizens to write down their unique stories and anecdotes while growing intellectually; 4. Bring awareness to the public about senior citizens as significant authors/poets through the offering a public event along with selling their anthology book; and 5. Discuss the continuance as a literary senior citizen group with potential arts projects in the future. Through this project's process, the area senior writers and poets will learn the aspects and skills needed to publish a book, and have a new change in attitudes, as they continue to meet together to make an impact on themselves and others. While the Whitney Writers/Poets continue to use their literary skills, they will become influential in bringing more senior citizens ?into the fold? to start to write their memoirs. A more cohesive, self-confident group will evolve where Seniors will seek out/learn about each other's life occurrences as they also discover the commonalities amongst each other despite any cultural differences. When considering their creative writings or poems, the group members can give a voice to their own emotions along with invoking the feelings in others. The sharing of personal stories in a book will be a heartwarming, touching experience that builds comradery and friendships and builds better intergenerational relationships within families. These many outcomes will help establish more cohesiveness in the group and allow them to become more open in their sharing as they discuss their future. Each member will achieve a newer, brighter self-confidence level in their lives after hosting the public event. Together they will be proud to leave an enticing original legacy anthology for those who follow. ; The senior writers/poets group will learn aspects to publish a book and bring in more seniors to write their memoirs and discover their commonalities. Each member will achieve a self-confidence level after hosting the public event. The evaluation plan includes several methods for both measuring and documenting the goals and the outcomes for the two-fold project. The first aspect for this project, though, is to first finalize how many writers and poets will actually respond to submitting their original works for a book. This first phase will be completed by email and snail mail. Currently, 23 have responded with an anticipated response of at least 25 writers/poets. The first and most important evaluation method is to provide a one-page questionnaire to the Whitney Writers and Poets about their own personal learning experiences with the book publishing process and the community event. The survey, designed to measure personal outcomes of attitudes and new skills, will address: the personal positive/negative aspects of the publishing process; assessing their own personal changes in attitude or skills with this project; asking for additional ideas for future arts/cultural opportunities; asking a