The New River Community and Technical College Office of Workforce Education invites you to unleash your creativity as a writer and artist with the help of two upcoming community education classes. Both classes will be held in Lewisburg. Award-winning writer Belinda Anderson will teach a workshop on Magic Realism on Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 6-8 p.m. Tuition is $38. A six-week Art Journaling class taught by Dr. Pamela Warren will begin on Oct. 29 and meet on Tuesdays from 1-4 p.m. Tuition is $100 and there is a $60 supply fee. Consider the enduring classics of literature, and you’ll find many of them containing magic realism, from D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. It’s a technique that treats an impossibility as part of the normal world. It’s fun for the writer and a pleasure for the reader. Anderson, who uses magic realism in her own books, will discuss how writers sprinkle magical elements into realistic settings. Learn how to make magic realism seem a natural extension of your narrative. Anderson is the author of four books published by the nonprofit Mountain State Press. Her first three books are short story collections: The Well Ain’t Dry Yet, The Bingo Cheaters and Buckle Up, Buttercup. Her most recent book, Jackson Vs. Witchy Wanda: Making Kid Soup, is a middle-grade novel. Her literary work was selected for inclusion on the first official literary map of West Virginia, published by Fairmont State University. The former newspaper reporter holds a master’s degree in liberal arts studies. With a background in journalism, she has extensive credits in nonfiction. She is currently researching a commissioned project co-sponsored by Alderson Main Street: “Wolf Creek Mountain: Remembering a Vanished People.” The combination of writing and visual art will be featured in Art Journaling. Participants will express their thoughts and emotions through words, images and art to explore the endless possibilities of creating art journals. Instructor Pamela Warren has been involved in the expressive arts. Although she never considered herself adept at drawing and was no good at piecing quilts, she learned to be “good enough” and went on to develop her own style in many different media. Her focus has been on exploring art quilts, art journaling and art dolls, finding creative avenues that work for her. Warren has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s in social work from Case Western Reserve University and a doctorate in expressive arts from Union Institute and University in the Expressive Arts. Her dissertation was on midlife women, the expressive arts and the importance of social relationships with older women during the aging process. For more information or register for either workshop, contact the New River Office of Workforce Education in Jefferson Office Park in downtown Lewisburg, 304-793-3001 or 304-793-6101.
