Chattanooga Writers Chat

Thursday, March 30

6 to 7 PM

Star Line Books

1467 Market Street # 106

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga Writers Chat is an encouragement group in which area writers can gather to discuss resources available to writers to develop their craft and promote their work. For the month of March, we will discuss the book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. Participants are advised to obtain and read a copy before attending. Ray Zimmerman will lead the discussion. Ray has produced, promoted, and hosted numerous events in the Chattanooga region.

What people are saying about Bird by Bird

“A warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer’s world and its treacherous swamps.”

- Los Angeles Times

“Superb writing advice...hilarious, helpful and provocative.” - New York Times Book Review

“A gift to all of us mortals who write or ever wanted to write...sidesplittingly funny, patiently wise and alternatively cranky and kind - a reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can.

- Seattle Times

An Excerpt from the Book:

“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils, and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the bigness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

We Are Water

Dry weather this year

Color fades on dying trees

We are water

I am excited to announce that my new book, We are Water, is in the final stages of production. I review the final draft at the printer tomorrow, and hope the print run will be complete next week.

This book is a very small product, featuring haiku and color photographs. The photograph and matching haiku appear on facing pages, and the poems are inspired by the nature photographs. In technical terms, they are ekphrastic.

Initial production will be a short run, due to the cost of color printing, and the book will be available from the author and through a local book store. Five of my poem/photograph combinations are also available as post cards at Star Line Books in Chattanooga. I am looking into an ebook version of We are Water, but the unique size and shape may make electronic publishing difficult.

I began looking at my photographs (originally shot on 35 mm slide film and digitized more recently) and writing matching haiku after reading The Art of Haiku by Stephen Addiss. I also had the opportunity to participate in a church art show with my poetry last summer. I produced a poster of a longer poem and a poster of one of my photographs as companion pieces. I have since produced four poetry posters (also known as broadsides), with signed and numbered copies available at Star Line Books and from the author.

I am also pleased to announce that the writers book club I organized had its first meeting on February 2^nd and will meet again at Star Line Books, on Thursday, March 30^th at 6:00 PM, We will discuss Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird, an excellent resource for writers wishing to develop their craft.

​www.rayzimmermanauthor.com