Thank you to everyone who came out to the Capitol Letters Writing Center-hosted Trivia Night! We hope you enjoyed our trivia rounds of Olympics, Microbiology/Disease Control, Sesame Street/One of these things is not like the other, Literature Characters, and California. If you're new and heard about us through this event, please take a look around and feel free to email us if you have any questions.

Thanks also to the fantastic Looking Glass Lounge for letting us take over the downstairs bar area with the fabulous Mary Helen as bartender! And, of course, congratulations to group "Terrorist Fist Jab" for winning first place!

If you weren't able to join us this time, have no fear -- we will definitely have more events in the near future. Join our mailing list, facebook page, twitter, etc. to keep updated on our activities!

Click here for more photos of the event!

Our first official Group Volunteer Orientation, complete with fingerprinting for background checks, will be held on Thursday, July 31st at the Dow Lohnes Law Offices from 5-6:30PM. If you're interested in tutoring or leading workshops, you must go through a simple orientation and screening process.

Please RSVP to our lovely Volunteer Director if you plan to attend. We have limited space available for this orientation and must provide names to the building security.

When: Thursday, July 31 at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Dow Lohnes Law Offices, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC (map)
Why: Meet and greet with CLWC team; get fingerprinted for DCPS records; and learn more about how you can help staff or workshops or tutoring sites.
What's required: A photocopy of a valid driver's license and proof of a negative tuberculosis test.

Online volunteer applications
Can't make it to our July 31 orientation? Never fear: Get a head start by filling out our volunteer application form. Be sure to submit the data file via email to us -- and you may want to print a copy for your records.

We tend to take our homes for granted, so this workshop titled "Homestyle: Writing About the Place Where You Live" is aimed at getting us to look at our homes with fresh eyes. Homes, like people, are unique and full of surprises. We'll discuss and write about things like what makes homes special places, what makes them memorable, what we would change and what we would never want to change. William will lead this workshop on Tuesday, July 29, from 3-5PM.

If you're interested in volunteering for this workshop, please email our Volunteer Director with the subject line "PUY: 7/29/2008".

Lots of people claim nothing interesting has ever happened to them, but that's just not true. Through this "How to Turn Your Life into Great Fiction" workshop, you will find that your life is much more intriguing than even you know, learn how to get it on paper, and then figure out ways to 'punch it up' using time-tested techniques of the best fiction writers. You will leave with a rough draft of a story you can then work on at home. Melissa will be taking the lead on this workshop on Wednesday, July 23, from 1-3 PM.

If you're interested in volunteering for this workshop, please email our Volunteer Director and with the subject "PUY: 7/23/2008".

CLWC's Politics & Prose Teen Writing Workshop met for the second time Sunday afternoon. Karen Maloy, assisted by William Bert and Teddy Downey, led five intrepid writers through a series of exercises to craft a character inspired by a photograph clipped from a magazine. The writers then quizzed each other on their characters, uncovering even more details including their greatest fears, number and ages of siblings, and eventual causes of death. The characters were then brought to life in short scenes which the students (and teachers) shared aloud.

The next Politics & Prose Workshop will be held Sunday, August 3. We'll see you there!

(ED: Please note the date change for the next P&P Workshop -- we will have two workshops in August, the first Sunday and the last Sunday!)

Hungry? Learn how to put your pen where your mouth and write about the foods you love (and hate!) as well as the best food critic around. No snacks required. Just your taste buds and memory.

Capitol Letters Writing Center is hosting its third Young Adult Writing Workshop on Sunday, August 3rd (please note date change from the last weekend in July!). Ages 12 - 16 welcome! The theme this month will be 'Food Writing' and this workshop will be led by CLWC volunteer Melissa D'Lando.

Please RSVP to Melissa D'Lando to reserve a spot.

Capitol Letters would like to extend many thanks to Ethelbert Miller and Caitlin Hill for generously donating copies of Poet Lore, the oldest continuously published poetry magazine in the United States.

Poet Lore publishes semi-annual installments of the finest contemporary poetry both by established writers and by those breaking into print. Poet Lore also prints reviews of new poetry books and books about poetry and poets.

For more information and to order copies of Poet Lore, please visit the Bethesda Writer's Center website.