Frostburg Center for Creative Writing

In conjunction with the Allegany Arts Council, the Frostburg Center for Creative Writing is proud to host its first ever Music & Writing Workshop--a program for musicians who need to write, creative writers who love music, and lovers of music who want to write music reviews. The day will end with a small performance.

Featuring three fine writer-teachers with a broad range of experience, the workshops will provide students with the skill necessary to write about about their own music or about the music they love.

Three workshops include Music as Muse, Lyric Writing, and Scene and 'Zine

Download a PDF of the application here.

Music as Muse with Gerry Lafemina

Music as muse, prose as chord, poem as a form of drum? Possible? Definitely. This workshop is designed to increase the level of musical technique in both prose (fiction and nonfiction) and poetry by choreographing the sentence as a unit of rhythm, by exploring the potential meanings in syntax, and by exploiting poetic techniques to create structures near chant and song. We will begin the workshop by examining the sentences of various prose writers and poets who are rhythmically inventive. Participants will then produce short exercises and share new work. In the end, like our new sentences, we should all be dancing.

Lyric Writing with Gina Powell

Lyrics are an integral part of most songs-whether the singer croons or screams or drops rhymes. But what makes some lyrics stand out? And what is their relationship to melody? To the music? To the audience? We'll be listening to some successful songs of a variety of genres, in order to get a sense of how songs work. Songwriters are encouraged to bring lyrics-in-process or whole songs they feel aren't coming together, as well as their instruments, in order to work on the art of song lyric writing. If you have music but no songs-even better, as we'll also discuss process and come up with some prompts to write new lyrics for existing or new music.

Scene and 'Zine with Jeff Henry

Not a musician or a creative writer? Our love for music might go into other ways of approaching the two arts. This workshop will look to create a Western Maryland music 'zine, and will focus on review writing, interviewing bands, and other aspects of 'zine creation.

For more information:
Email- cwcenter@frostburg.edu
Phone- 301-687-3099

2011 Faculty

Gina Powell is a singer/ songwriter from deep creek lake, Maryland. She graduated from Frostburg State University with a degree in Theater in 2004, where she focused in acting and directing. She plays the guitar and the piano and started writing her own music in 2004. She released “Sincerely”, her first full length studio album in 2009. She has been involved in such projects as The Distorted Penguins, The Beatstreet All-stars, and Gina Powell and the Electric Band. You can find her music on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and Cdbaby, and can hear her live in Frostburg and the surrounding areas.

Jeff Henry has been working in radio since 1994 and currently hosts a weekly show on 91.9 WFWM, Frostburg State University's public radio station. He is also editor of The Appalachian Independent (appindie.org) and a self-taught drummer.

Gerry LaFemina is a poet, fiction writer and musician. His most recent book is Vanishing Horizon. He teaches at Frostburg State University, and directs the Frostburg Center for Creative Writing.

What to Expect:

-A day of intensive working with a practicing writer and musician.

-Opportunity to socialize with other like-minded musicians and writers of a variety of ages and experiences.

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