Bright Hill Press and Literary Center

All ages, Monday, 7 - 9 PM, 10-week session Poetry enables us to "see things": to see what is and what is not, in the domains of the senses and imagination. We will develop our practice of writing by drawing upon both. Workshop participants will be asked to bring copies of one or two new poems each week for the group to consider, and to respond to the poems thoughtfully and respectfully with comments that encourage revision. We will also…

Opening Reception: April 4 from 3 - 5 PM Show runs through April 24 Sondra Freckleton (Oneonta, NY) was born in Dearborn, Michigan in 1936 and stud­ied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She began her career as a sculptor working in wood and plastics, exhibiting under her mar­ried name, Sondra Beal. She debuted at the Museum of Modern Art in the “Recent Sculpture U.S.A.” show in 1959 and achieved her first solo show at the Tibor…

April 9, 7 PM   Fred Schneider (Cooperstown, NY) earned his B.A. in American Literature from SUNY Geneseo. Following an executive career, Fred now owns the Landmark Inn in Cooperstown with his wife Robin. He is a three-time novelist and a two-time invitee to Colgate University’s Novel Intensive. Fred’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in Congo Lust, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Newsday, and Backpacker Magazine as well as Public Radio, where he enjoyed an extended gig as humor essayist…

Friday's, 6;30 - 7:30 pm Pajama Story Hour includes readings of themed books, themed coloring; stuffed animals and blankets - bring your own or snuggle with one of ours - until everyone has gathered for story-time.   Dates and Books: April 10 - Rabbit Pie, Can't Sleep Without Sheep, Chicken Bedtime is Really Early May 8 -Bedtime for Mommy, Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight, I Love You, Stinky Face June 12 - Daddy's Zigzagging Bedtime Story, I Love You, Daddy, Looking for Sleepy…

April 23, 7 PM   Bill Stratton (Colchester, Vermont) currently lives in Vermont and teaches writing at SUNY Plattsburgh, thus spending a good deal of time on a ferry. He serves as co-editor of The Saranac Review, and is a father of two. His work has so far been nominated five times for the Pushcart prize. He has two full length collections of poetry, Under The Water Was Stone and These Things Too Have Shape. He has poetry published or…

Opening Reception: May 2 from 3 - 5 PM   Sophie Bille (Voorheesville, NY) earned her Bachelor of Science in Media Studies from SUNY Oneonta in December 2019. She has been an intern at Bright Hill Press since January 2019, taking part in the Experiential Learning Program. From teaching snowboarding lessons to working on a yacht, Sophie always chooses the career path that is the most fun and adventurous. In addition to thrill-seeking, Sophie has a creative side that has…

Tuesday Evenings, 6 - 8PM "Transformations" is a workshop devoted to helping writers or would-be writers transform their autobiographical material into fiction. In this 6-week workshop, participants will learn to find their stories by identifying and focusing on the truly resonant details of their lives. Through a series of writing experiments, participants will uncover the significant memories and experiences that might form the basis of stories and novels. Participants will learn about the importance of using precise details and images…

Friday's, 6;30 - 7:30 pm Pajama Story Hour includes readings of themed books, themed coloring; stuffed animals and blankets - bring your own or snuggle with one of ours - until everyone has gathered for story-time.   Dates and Books: April 10 - Rabbit Pie, Can't Sleep Without Sheep, Chicken Bedtime is Really Early May 8 -Bedtime for Mommy, Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight, I Love You, Stinky Face June 12 - Daddy's Zigzagging Bedtime Story, I Love You, Daddy, Looking for Sleepy…

  Bruce Bennett (Aurora, NY) is the author of ten full-length collections of poetry and more than thirty poetry chapbooks. His most recent book is Just Another Day in Just Our Town: Poems New And Selected, 2000-2016 (Orchises Press, 2017). His first New And Selected, Navigating The Distances, also from Orchises, was chosen by Booklist as “One Of The Top Ten Poetry Books Of 1999.” His most recent chapbook is A Man Rode Into Town (FootHills Publishing, 2018). He co-founded…

  Rainie Oet (Syracuse, NY) is a nonbinary writer and game designer, former Editor-in-Chief of Salt Hill Journal, and the author of three books of poetry: Porcupine in Freefall (winner of the Bright Hill Poetry Book Competition, 2019), Inside Ball Lightning (SEMO Press, 2020), and Glorious Veils of Diane (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2021). They won the Puerto Del Sol Poetry Contest in 2019. You can read their writing and translations in Blackbird, jubilat, The Poetry Review, and The Yale…

Opening Reception: June 6 from 3 - 5 PM   Robert Bensen (Oneonta, NY) Robert Bensen’s published writing includes six collections of poetry, individual poems and essays in scores of journals and anthologies (including The Paris Review, Callaloo, The Caribbean Writer, Native Realities, Jamaica Journal, AGNI, Akwe:kon, Poetry Wales, The Thomas Hardy Review, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature (India), Ploughshares), and editions of Caribbean and American Indian literature, most recently Children of the Dragonfly: Native Voices on Child Custody and…

Alice Lichtenstein (Oneonta, NY) graduated from Brown University and received her MFA from Boston University. She has received a New York Foundation of the Arts Grant in Fiction and has twice been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony. Her first novel, The Genius of the World (Zoland Books, 2000), a Booksense 76 selection in paperback fiction, received favorable reviews, most notably in The New York Times Book Review and on National Public Radio. Lost (Scribner, 2010) received rave reviews, including,…

Friday's, 6;30 - 7:30 pm Pajama Story Hour includes readings of themed books, themed coloring; stuffed animals and blankets - bring your own or snuggle with one of ours - until everyone has gathered for story-time.   Dates and Books: April 10 - Rabbit Pie, Can't Sleep Without Sheep, Chicken Bedtime is Really Early May 8 -Bedtime for Mommy, Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight, I Love You, Stinky Face June 12 - Daddy's Zigzagging Bedtime Story, I Love You, Daddy, Looking for Sleepy…

June 20 and June 27, 2 - 4 PM This comedy writing workshop, taught by Su Yates, will cover topics such as: a brief history of comedy, the different types of comedy writing with examples of each type (performed live with social media), and breaking down how to write comedy (choosing a premise, different styles for different types, keeping it interesting and to the point). Assignments will be written in class and have a week to revise and bring back…

Mary Gilliland (Ithaca, NY) began life in Philadelphia and after college apprenticed to Gary Snyder in the Sierra foothills where she studied Buddhism and helped to build a wood-framed public school. Her poetry has been anthologized most recently in Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in Our Hands and Strange Histories: A Bizarre Collaboration—one of many multimedia projects she does with visual artists. With her husband of forty-five years, she has transformed a rocky acre of the Six Mile Creek watershed in…

June 20 and June 27, 2 - 4 PM This comedy writing workshop, taught by Su Yates, will cover topics such as: a brief history of comedy, the different types of comedy writing with examples of each type (performed live with social media), and breaking down how to write comedy (choosing a premise, different styles for different types, keeping it interesting and to the point). Assignments will be written in class and have a week to revise and bring back…

Grades 1 - 7, Ages 6 - 14, 9 am - 2:30 pm, 5 days We will study trees, how they grow, where they grow, how long they live, and how they communicate with each other, help each other, and why they climb to the clouds. We will take a day bus trip to the Albany Pine Bush Preserve & Discovery Area. At Bright Hill Center, we will study and draw trees and clouds and make artist books and trees.…

Denise B. Dailey (Walton, NY) of French-Chilean origin, teacher-writer Denise Dailey holds a BS from McGill University and an MFA from Columbia University. Her travels to the seven continents with husband and children inform much of her writing. Publications include short stories in The Sink, The Catskill Literary Journal, Who Knew? and The Walton Writers’ Works; a travel journal, Listening to Pakistan: A Woman’s Voice in a Veiled Land; a biography of the Czech painter, Jan Emmerich Mikeska, Riko: Seductions…

Friday's, 6;30 - 7:30 pm Pajama Story Hour includes readings of themed books, themed coloring; stuffed animals and blankets - bring your own or snuggle with one of ours - until everyone has gathered for story-time.   Dates and Books: April 10 - Rabbit Pie, Can't Sleep Without Sheep, Chicken Bedtime is Really Early May 8 -Bedtime for Mommy, Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight, I Love You, Stinky Face June 12 - Daddy's Zigzagging Bedtime Story, I Love You, Daddy, Looking for Sleepy…

The Word and Image Gallery Stagecoach Run Spotlight Show at Bright Hill featuring one piece from each artist participating by opening his/her studio for the 24th annual Stagecoach Art Run Festival. From realist to conceptual, and conventional to experiential, 2019’s roster included artists working in virtually every conceivable media. The exhibition of participating artists’ works will allow visitors to experience the totality of the gallery exhibitions, and to plan their tour routes. All work will be available for sale, and…

Marcela Sulak’s (Tel Aviv, Israel) lyric memoir, Mouth Full of Seeds and her third poetry collection, City of Sky Papers, are forthcoming with Black Lawrence Press; her two previous BLP poetry titles are Decency (2015) and Immigrant (2010). She’s co-edited with Jacqueline Kolosov the 2015 Rose Metal Press title Family Resemblance. An Anthology and Exploration of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres. Sulak, who translates from the Hebrew, Czech, and French, is a 2019 NEA Translation Fellow, and her fourth book-length translation…

Grades 1- 7, Ages 6 - 14, 9 am - 2:30 pm, 5 days Includes a trip to the Susquehanna River Archeological Center in Waverly, NY, a site with  native artifacts dating thousands of years ago. We will learn about the Iroquois and pre-Iroquois peoples who settled and lived here, then write about them and make our own artifacts, fossils, and other objects from digs. On the last day of the workshop, we will present an exhibit and program for…

Opening Reception; August 1 from 3 - 5 PM Vicki Whicker (Burlington Flats, NY), a poet and photographer, is a member of the Los Angeles Poets and Writers Collective as well as a member of the Bright Hill Press Poets. She has been published in literary magazines such as Mo+th, 12 Los Angeles Poets, Big City Mantra, Literary Mama, as well as others. Her iPhoneography has been the focus of shows on both coasts, she exhibited solo at Cherry Branch…

Grades 1 - 7, Ages 6 - 14, 9 am - 2:30, 5 days We will study and learn about the stars and planets in our universe, including the related legends from Mayan, Aztec, Roman, Norse, Asian, Middle Eastern, and other cultures. Activities include a day trip to visit the A. J. Read Science Discovery Center and SUNY Oneonta Planetarium, and we will build our own universes and write our own legends. On the last day of the workshop, we…

Richard Newman (Jackson Heights, NY) has published two books of poetry, Words for What Those Men Have Done (Guernica Editions 2017) and The Silence of Men (CavanKerry Press 2006), as well as a chapbook, For My Son, A Kind of Prayer (Ghostbird Press 2016). In addition, he has co-translated three books of classical Persian poetry, most recently The Teller of Tales: Stories from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (Junction Press 2011). Newman is on the executive board of Newtown Literary, a Queens-based literary…

Friday's, 6;30 - 7:30 pm Pajama Story Hour includes readings of themed books, themed coloring; stuffed animals and blankets - bring your own or snuggle with one of ours - until everyone has gathered for story-time.   Dates and Books: April 10 - Rabbit Pie, Can't Sleep Without Sheep, Chicken Bedtime is Really Early May 8 -Bedtime for Mommy, Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight, I Love You, Stinky Face June 12 - Daddy's Zigzagging Bedtime Story, I Love You, Daddy, Looking for Sleepy…

Opening Reception: September 5 from 3 - 5 pm Bertha Rogers (Delhi, NY) is a visual artist, poet, and translator/educator. Her art has been shown in solo and group exhibits in the US and internationally. More than 500 of her poems have been published in literary journals and anthologies. Her poetry collections include Wild, Again (2019) and Heart Turned Back (2010), both published by Salmon Poetry, Ireland;, Sleeper, You Wake; A House of Corners; The Fourth Beast; and Even the…

Opening Reception: September 10 from 3- 5 pm   Richard Levine (Schoharie, NY and Brooklyn, NY) is a retired teacher and author of Contiguous States (Finishing Line Press, 2018), as well as five chapbooks: The Cadence of Mercy, A Tide of a Hundred Mountains, That Country’s Soul, A Language Full of Wars and Songs, and Snapshots from a Battle, as well as Selected Poems (Future Cycle Press, 2019); Bertha Rogers (Treadwell, NY) poet and visual artist. More than 500 of…

Friday's, 6;30 - 7:30 pm Pajama Story Hour includes readings of themed books, themed coloring; stuffed animals and blankets - bring your own or snuggle with one of ours - until everyone has gathered for story-time.   Dates and Books: April 10 - Rabbit Pie, Can't Sleep Without Sheep, Chicken Bedtime is Really Early May 8 -Bedtime for Mommy, Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight, I Love You, Stinky Face June 12 - Daddy's Zigzagging Bedtime Story, I Love You, Daddy, Looking for Sleepy…

  Melody Davis (Albany, NY) a writer and art historian, is the author of four poetry collections. Ghost Writer is her latest volume, published by Broadstone Books in 2019. The collection has been nominated for a Pulitzer prize, and a selection of its poems has been nominated for a Pushcart prize. Here is an interview of Davis speaking about the book: New Poetry Book by Professor Melody Davis Now Available. Davis’ work in art history has been published in several…

Opening Reception: October 3 from 3 - 5 pm   Hannah Van Arsdale is the owner, designer, and maker at Blackbird Leatherworks. She began the business in April, 2010, while living in Portland, Oregon. All of the designs, from feather earrings to leather wallets and leather bags, are inspired by Hannah's love of medieval design, all things fae and fantasy, and Nature. Many of the bag designs are named for places and artifacts from Nantucket Island, where Hannah is from.…

    Unity Falls (Unadilla, NY) is the founder and president of Unity Solutions, a precognitive detective agency specializing in solving psychic mysteries before they happen by means of highly complex and deeply mysterious ecosophical-informed divination techniques. He is also a life coach, troubadour, and aspiring father figure to the inner child within us all. Unity is currently at work on two books, the first, a collection of short essays on forgiveness, and the second a memoir of the very…

Friday's, 6;30 - 7:30 pm Pajama Story Hour includes readings of themed books, themed coloring; stuffed animals and blankets - bring your own or snuggle with one of ours - until everyone has gathered for story-time.   Dates and Books: April 10 - Rabbit Pie, Can't Sleep Without Sheep, Chicken Bedtime is Really Early May 8 -Bedtime for Mommy, Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight, I Love You, Stinky Face June 12 - Daddy's Zigzagging Bedtime Story, I Love You, Daddy, Looking for Sleepy…