Writers’ Retreat to Commemorate Centennial For End of World War I
PIGGOTT –The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott will hold a special writers’ retreat, Friday-Sunday, Nov. 9-11. The retreat will commemorate the centennial of the end of World War I by using Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, the seminal World War I novel written in part in Piggott, as a model text.
The retreat is open to writers of all genres and will include special activities commemorating the anniversary of the armistice. It is part of a series of events leading up to the centennial anniversary of the end of WWI, that occurred Nov. 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.— the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Dr. Rob Lamm, director of English education at Arkansas State University, will serve as mentor for the retreat. Highlights of his career include serving as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame, directing the NEA Writing Project, editing the literary magazine Arkansas Anthology, and mentoring writers’ retreats at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Music and Educational Center.
He presents on many subjects, including “visual arguments,” “humor writing,” “writing poetry,” and other forms of creative writing. The second edition of his college-level textbook Dynamic Argument was published by Wadsworth Publishers, Cengage Learning.
The retreat will be held in the Educational Center and the Hemingway Barn-Studio and will offer writers the opportunity to work under the direction of a professional mentor. Registration is $200 by Oct.27 or $225 thereafter; lunch and breaks are included. Teachers interested in in-service opportunities associated with the retreat should contact the museum.
Writers’ retreats are structured to be interactive with group activities and private writing time and mentoring. Writers contribute stories, poems and essays to be published on-site in a spiral-bound souvenir anthology for each participant. For more information or to receive a brochure, email Dr. Adam Long, director of HPMEC, at adamlong@AState.edu, or call the museum at 870-598-3487.
HPMEC is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site at 1021 W. Cherry Street, Piggott. Tours are on the hour Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
