{"id":79869,"date":"2019-09-19T06:10:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T11:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=79869"},"modified":"2022-01-30T14:08:21","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T20:08:21","slug":"local-creative-writing-groups-the-oxford-comma-and-quasar-host-open-house-reception-at-the-edison-september-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/local-creative-writing-groups-the-oxford-comma-and-quasar-host-open-house-reception-at-the-edison-september-30\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Creative Writing Groups &#8220;The Oxford Comma&#8221; and &#8220;Quasar&#8221; Host Open House Reception at The Edison September 30"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Our arts scene is vibrantly stagnant. We have a home for MFA students, publishing authors, creative writing professors, and bright eyed undergrads\u2014but one sector is hungry for community. The non-university workshop environment for non-students is nearly nonexistent. The inclusive creative growth of literature has not been available for the 22\u201345 year olds of Oxford until the last year and a half. But sadly, many still aren\u2019t aware that are two new literary focused environments welcome to all ages and backgrounds and completely free to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1702\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Oxford-Comma-Qasar-Open-House.jpg?fit=900%2C997\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79870\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Oxford-Comma-Qasar-Open-House.jpg?w=1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Oxford-Comma-Qasar-Open-House.jpg?resize=271%2C300&amp;ssl=1 271w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Oxford-Comma-Qasar-Open-House.jpg?resize=768%2C851&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Oxford-Comma-Qasar-Open-House.jpg?resize=924%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 924w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Oxford-Comma-Qasar-Open-House.jpg?w=1280 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Oxford Comma<\/strong> is a creative writing workshop group that meets every other Monday at <strong>The Coop<\/strong>, located on the fourth floor of the <strong>Graduate Hotel<\/strong>. The group welcomes anyone wanting feedback on their creative writing, and happens to be run by me. It was originally started by my friend <strong>Savannah Suttle<\/strong> before she relocated to Seattle. I felt that Oxford needed what the workshop provided\u2014a safe place to find others who <em>want<\/em> to read creative work\u2014instead of begging friends and family to do so or enrolling in a full-fledged university course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the death of <strong>Rose Room<\/strong> (an indie music series in a house on Pierce Avenue), and the recent demise of <strong>Freddy\u2019s Basement<\/strong> (a similar, indie music, house-show scene), my friends <strong>Mattie Thrasher<\/strong> and <strong>Katherine Flannagin<\/strong> were facing a problem that The Oxford Comma also faces. Their literary + art show program, <strong>Quasar<\/strong>, that meets monthly, had not only outgrown their house with attendance, but faced pressing issues like expenses and their impending graduation from Ole Miss. If they didn\u2019t come up with a sustainability plan, Quasar would pass on just like Rose Room and Freddy\u2019s Basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mattie, Katherine, and I knew that sustaining The Oxford Comma and Quasar for the long run would not be doable without the help of others. We formed a committee of our active members and set to work applying for a grant with the <strong>Mississippi Writer\u2019s Guild<\/strong> with the intent of requesting funds to be used to host an open house reception to welcome curious potential members in Oxford and surrounding areas. In addition, <strong>Yoknapatawpha Arts Council<\/strong> has supported our endeavors with providing guidance, venues, and publicizing our events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through our host of other sponsors like <strong>The Edison<\/strong> and <strong>Wonderbird Spirits<\/strong>, we are able to offer craft gin distilled in <strong>Taylor<\/strong>, Mississippi, inside of a fantastic venue as well as host the <strong>2019\u201320 Grisham Writer in Residence<\/strong> <strong>January O\u2019Neil<\/strong> as our keynote literary offering. We are inviting <em>you<\/em> to an evening of hors d\u2019oeuvres, literature, music, and art in an open environment where you can learn what Quasar and The Oxford Comma bring to the community. Please bring friends, family, workmates, you name it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After our open house, The Oxford Comma and Quasar are working with the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council to put on a segment during <strong>A Literary Bit of Faulkner<\/strong>\u2014a weekend packed with activities centered on the art of literature and whiskey, two of Faulkner\u2019s favorites. The event will be held October 10\u201314, 2019\u2014check out Facebook for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Open House will be on September 30, 6:30\u20138:30 pm at <strong>The Edison on University Avenue<\/strong>. This is a free event, welcome to all those interested in a fun evening of art <em>and<\/em> to inform the community on our two programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be music from <strong>Silas Reed<\/strong> and <strong>Jesse Gillentine<\/strong>, art by <strong>Seth Kellum<\/strong>, <strong>Jake Brown<\/strong>, and <strong>Adrienne Brown David<\/strong>, and our Featured Reader: <strong>January O&#8217;Neil<\/strong> (2019 UM Grisham Writer in Residence)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>THE SPONSORS:<\/strong><br>Mississippi Writer\u2019s Guild, Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, The Edison (Lindsey and Phil Baquie), Wonderbird Spirits, Chicory Market, Frye Reeves PLLC, Tannehill Carmean and McKenzie PLLC, Square Books,Ole Miss English Department<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FOR MORE INFO:<\/strong><br>Email or text Elizabeth Tettleton at 662-801-4137 or <a href=\"mailto:emtettle@olemiss.edu\">emtettle@olemiss.edu<\/a><br>Email <a href=\"mailto:QuasarCommunity@gmail.com\">QuasarCommunity@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"25\" height=\"16\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14544\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our arts scene is vibrantly stagnant. We have a home for MFA students, publishing authors, creative writing professors,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":79875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16247],"tags":[9356,6027,15330,15332,15329,15331,747,14877,1177],"class_list":["post-79869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elizabeth-tettleton","tag-adrienne-brown-david","tag-elizabeth-tettleton","tag-jake-brown","tag-jesse-gillentine","tag-quasar","tag-seth-kellu","tag-silas-reed","tag-the-oxford-comma","tag-yac"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2019-09-18-OxfordComma.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}