Jan Epton Seale
www.janseale.com
Jan Epton Seale, the 2012-13 Texas Poet Laureate, is a native Texan who lives in McAllen, in the southern tip of Texas. She is the author of seven volumes of poetry, two books of short fiction, three books of nonfiction, and nine children’s books.
Her writing has appeared in many magazines and newspapers including The Yale Review, Texas Monthly, The Chicago Tribune, and Writer’s Digest. Some anthologies including her work are Writing on the Wind, Let’s Hear It!, Red Boots and Attitude, If I Had My Life to Live Over, Cries of the Spirit, Mixed Voices, This Place in Memory, and Birds in the Hand.
In l982, Seale received a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship in poetry. Seven of her short stories were chosen in the P.E.N. Syndicated Fiction Awards series. Her poetry has received the Kathryn Morris Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of Texas, and the Bill Burke Award and Dolly Sprunk Memorial Award from the New York Poetry Forum. Her stories and poems have been broadcast over National Public Radio.
Workshops and readings by Seale have taken place in Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in Texas in Dallas, Denton, Waco, Houston, Abilene, El Paso, Austin, and San Antonio, as well as many in the Rio Grande Valley.
For 16 years she was the South Texas editor of Texas Books in Review. Other editorial work includes serving as a founding editor of RiverSedge literary journal and as an editor of The Valley Land Fund pictorial volumes.
Seale was born in Pilot Point, Texas, graduated from Waxahachie High School, attended Baylor University, and received a B.A. from The University of Louisville and a M.A. from North Texas State University.
She taught English and creative writing at The University of Texas-Pan American and at North Texas State University. For a number of years, she has taught workshops in creative and memoir writing, both locally and nationally at conference centers such as Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, Gemini Ink in San Antonio, and Mo Ranch in the Hill Country of Texas.
Seale is available for readings of her work and for workshops in writing poetry and nonfiction. Besides these genre interests, she specializes in the subject areas of memoir, nature, aging, spirituality, and women’s lives. She is on the Speaker’s Bureau for Humanities Texas, speaking about the influence of personal stories on family life. She is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.
Jan Seale and her husband Carl, a retired symphony conductor and composer, have three grown sons and four grandsons. www.janseale.com
Panhandle Professional Writers
Saturday, March 16 we look forward to having Jan Seale, with “Writing the Story of Your Life.” Want to learn the basic story structure to use, what to include, and pitfalls? Come hear Jan’s talk on writing one’s memoirs. Greeting time begins at 9:30 a.m. at Amarillo Senior Citizens, 1219 S. Tyler, Amarillo, TX. – entrance on the southwest corner. Join us for lunch at Noon: Pasta La Mexican – Penne pasta topped with diced chicken, mixed vegetables, and pablano cream sauce. Top this off with fresh tomatoes, corn relish and cilantro. Dessert and drinks are included, all for $10.00, with morning and afternoon snacks also provided. Come join us to learn more on “Writing the Story of Your Life.”
You may make lunch reservations by contacting Donna Otto at ppwlunch@gmail.com
Wordsmith Six 