News & Events
What Writers Talk about When We Talk about Rejection
In Wes Anderson’s Rushmore (still his masterpiece, in my humble opinion, though I retain a soft spot for Bottle Rocket, which I wrote about almost exactly ten years ago), hangdog extraordinaire Herman Blume (still Bill Murray’s best role, in my not-so-humble...
Publishing Workshop with Jane Friedman
Getting Your Book Published: A Masterclass on Traditional Publishing, Self-Publishing and Everything in Between In this comprehensive masterclass, you’ll learn not just the foundational principles of getting a book published, but you’ll also gain expert...
Author Series continues with Karen E. Bender and Robert Siegel
FEBRUARY 2, 2019 2:00-3:30 PM The Virginia Center for Literary Arts Author Series at Handley Regional Library continues with Karen E. Bender and Robert Siegel. Bender and Siegel will read from their work and discuss their experiences balancing creativity...
The Music Industry in the 21st Century
Sean Murphy, Founding Director of the Virginia Center for Literary Arts (VCLA) will moderate a panel, “The Music Industry in the 21st Century.” A columnist for PopMatters, Murphy has been writing music reviews and essays for almost two decades. Joining him...
Author Series at Handley Regional Library with Ahmed Naji
JANUARY 12, 2019 2:00-3:00 PM The Virginia Center for Literary Arts Author Series at Handley Regional Library continues with Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji. This event is VCLA's first official collaboration with the Alan Cheuse International...
VCLA’S AUTHOR SERIES AT HANDLEY LIBRARY: Round Two
Following our first installment of the VCLA Author Series at Handley Library (with the wonderful writer John Lingan), the series continued last Thursday with a discussion about “The Art of Political Biography.” The timing for this particular event was fortuitous, as...
Introducing VCLA’s Author Series at Handley Library
While we are very excited by the progress made toward renovations at VCLA, the center likely won't be open for another year. In the meantime, we're dedicated to establishing a presence in and around the Winchester community -- because it's important, because we want...
Author Series with Howard Means and Harry Jaffe
The Virginia Center for Literary Arts Author Series at Handley Regional Library continues with Howard Means and Harry Jaffe. Means and Jaffe will read from their work and discuss the tricky—and ever-controversial—art of the political biography, as well as...
Author Series with John Lingan
NOVEMBER 8, 2018 6:30-7:30 PM The Virginia Center for Literary Arts Author Series at Handley Regional Library kicks off with John Lingan, author of Homeplace: A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk. Lingan will...
Inspiration Information: Some Playlists for Writers
You can’t believe everything you read, but you can always have faith in what you hear; the ears never lie. Not when it comes to music.
Building a Better Writers Residency
Amanda Petrusich is a writer I greatly admire, and her latest piece for The New Yorker, “Why Artists Need Oddball Residencies,” is timely and most welcome. Petrusich’s thesis is clear: no matter how outlandish these residencies have become, they’re important. I agree....
Jamie Saft, Creativity, and the Cultivation of Mastery
My personal mantra –and life goal– going back to my post-grad school existence, is somehow, some way eradicating the barriers between art and life; not merely living an artistic life or making time for creation, but celebrating art and life by being productive, focused, and positive.
FUNdraising Bingo Night
COME ENJOY AMAZING BEER AND PLAY GAMES FOR A GREAT CAUSE. The Virginia Center for Literary Arts will be running a FUNdraising Bingo Night at Cafe Pizzaiolo (The Shirlington Location) with a game every 15 minutes! Bingo cards will be available for purchase...
Routines, Rituals, and Writers
Winston Churchill famously remarked: “My vices protect me but they would assassinate you.” And he managed to achieve a thing or two in his time, decadent proclivities be damned. But his boast, equally self-aware and arrogant, invariably invokes the myriad stories of...
Beer & Bingo Fundraiser – September, 21
Come enjoy amazing beer and play games for a GREAT cause. The Virginia Center for Literary Arts will be running a FUNdraising Bingo Night at Winchester Brew Works with a game every 15 minutes! Bingo cards will be available for purchase for only $5 a card,...
Beer & Bingo Fundraiser
Come enjoy amazing beer and play games for a GREAT cause. The Virginia Center for Literary Arts will be running a FUNdraising Bingo Night at Winchester Brew Works with a game every 15 minutes! Bingo cards will be available for purchase for only $2 a card,...
@VALitArts: A Walking Tour of the Virginia Center for Literary Arts
No writer worth a damn would ever think to publish (even if anyone was willing to indulge them) an improvised rough draft. Creativity and inspiration, combined, are the easy part (!); the real art is in the process of revision. But a writer with a modest, at best,...
VCLA in the Fairfax County Times
To learn more, get involved and get updates on the progress of VCLA, visit http://1455litarts.org/about-vcla/
This Old House or, The VCLA Walking Tour
I've had the opportunity to peruse these buildings --inside and out-- during the ideal days of mid-autumn, many times during the snow, rain, and forbidding chill of deep winter, and, being Virginia, we skipped spring and slipped right into summer. At least that's how...
VCLA: On the Air @95.3 The River
It was my great pleasure to be interviewed as the featured guest on 95.3 The River's "Tourism Tuesday," along with Winchester "Tourism Dude" Justin Kerns and Janet Michael, the hostess with the mostess. I had the opportunity to talk about the WHAT, WHY, WHERE, HOW and...