Hey howdy everybody! Happy 250th America from Curious Penman! Spilled Ink VA was held on Friday, June 26, 2026, at Jirani Coffee at 7 pm.
There were a few new faces at Spilled Ink this month, testing the waters of community open mic. Curious Penman read a special tribute to America for her 250th anniversary, while Triple Doc brought his own form of Seuss-like whimsy to poetry, and J.A. Valker read excerpts from his very own stage play!
Much ink was definitely spilled, and we’re looking forward to next month!
02/22/2026 ‑ Greetings one and all from Curious Penman! It was that time of the year again, where local writers, poets, and storytellers get together and share their passion with interested participants at ScribbleCon, a writing event that welcomes students of all levels and anyone who loves writing. ScribbleCon26 was held at Benton Middle School on Saturday, February 21, 2026, and it was a blast!
ScribbleCon26 waiting to start
The conference began with a keynote address. Mary Rook, former publisher and contributor to “Neighbors of Historic Manassas”, copywriter, marketer, and published poet who shared insights from her years in attending industry webinars, and studying the craft through books and videos.
Mary Rook gave the keynote speech
Curious Penman introduced a new workshop, “Hip Hop Poetry,” which talked about blending self-expression with cool rhythms and beats. He also brought back his crime fiction workshop, “Crime Tech: The Techniques and Technology of Crime Fiction,” about the methods and tools used in crime and crime solving.
Mike engaging listeners for Crime Tech
The Hip Hop workshop offered pointers on how to write cool poetry, while the Crime Tech workshop showed participants how to structure a fun, believable crime story. John Dutton of Spilled Ink VA presented a workshop on how to write adventure fiction, and Nick Kelly held a workshop on secondary characters, just to name a few of the 12 learning experiences to be had. Other workshops included topics in epistolary fiction, script writing, rules of writing magic, pitching your story, and more.
ScribbleCon also had tables for local authors to promote and sell their literary wares.
Curious Penman and his wares
Closing out ScribbleCon26 was the open mic session where conference goers had an opportunity to entertain the crowd with their stories.
Two writers presented their epistolary effort
We here at Curious Penman certainly look forward to next year!
Greetings one and all from Curious Penman! The first ever Literacy Night for Prince William County was held at Benton Middle School on Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 6:30 pm and it was awesome! Six authors attended and advised young and aspiring writers on how they could get started on their literary journeys.
All authors present agreed that the journey begins with finding a type of story that resonates and proceeding accordingly, writing the kind of story they would want to read, then either finding a compatible literary agent and publisher, or publishing independently through Amazon. Curious Penman offered another option for those who can’t wait until their book is complete, serialize their work on their own website. The authors answered questions and offered advice until 7:30 pm.
We here at Curious Penman can’t wait for next year’s Literacy Night!
10/16/2025 – Hey howdy one and all from Curious Penman! Hope everyone enjoyed their Columbus Day Weekend! The Prince William Arts Council’s biannual event In the Company of Laureates was held in the Verizon Auditorium of Colgan Hall Science and Technology Center at the Manassas/Prince William campus of George Mason University on Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12, 2025. Co-hosts Alice Mergler and Cathy Hailey put on one heck of an event, with poets not only from all over Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, but also New York and Pennsylvania!
“In the Company” audience intent on listening to a contemporary poet.
The Early Bird Open Mic saw lots of talent that wowed, including Chad Frame of Pennsylvania with works like “Claw Machine” and “Vietman Dad,” Thomas “Doctor Love” Burson enthralled with rhymes “Moon Madness” and “The End of a Drunk,” While Curious Penman read excerpts from “Poems In The Key of Carlin” and “Collected Snippets,” as well as debuting new works “(More) Poems In The Key of Carlin,” and an easy read children’s poetry book, “Petagonia!”
The afternoon workshops offered wonderful ways to expand writing skills, such as John Dutton’s “Turning Memories into Children’s Books with Personification,” or Roscoe Burnem’s “Breaking Writer’s Block,” or Mattie Quesenberry Smith’s unique and powerful “Inseperable Strands: A Generative Workshop for Writing About Poetry and Science!”
In the Company of Laureates was informative, enlightening, and all sorts of fun! Here’s looking forward to 2027! Catch y’all on the flipside!!
This Sunday, September 14, 11:00 am at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, it’s the annual Arts Alive! Check out live performances, graphic displays of visual art by local talents, and for the first time in the Upper Gallery, Readings by Spilled Ink! Mark your calendars! Clear your schedules! Be there!
Hey-howdy everybody, Salutations from Curious Penman!
Spilled Ink hosted its first Creative Writing with Spilled Ink workshop at Central Library Monday, September 8, 2025 at 6:00 pm. Curious Penman was among the attendees. Kathleen Kinsolving presented a workshop on the elementary mechanics of poetry, covering assonance, alliteration, stanza structures, and rhyme schemes.
After covering the basics, the workshop opened up to exercises of self-expression with two prompts, one for haiku and another for free form. Be sure to mark your calendars for the next Creative Writing with Spilled Ink workshop at Central Library on Monday, October 6, 2025 at 6:00 pm, when Cathy Hailey will cover Ekphrastic Writing.
Hey all, and Greetings from Curious Penmnan! Curious Penman got to attend an epic event last Sunday! The Second Annual ARTfactory Super Con!! The ARTfactory, at 9419 Battle Street in Old Town Manassas, was a writer’s fun zone, writers of fiction, comicbook writers, and tabletop guide writers had much to offer attendees!
One of the featured writers was Gerald Dubose of Younaverse Comics, offering copies of the first issue of their flagship character, the anti-hero Ynegma. Younaverse is offering a challenge: for a limited time, any reader who can accurately guess Ynegma’s identity gets the second issue of the comic free! See if you can guess!
Another booth worth checking out was Dorian Peele, founder of Tribby Simba and creator of the awesome tabletop football- style game Chargas. You can go to Tribby Simba’s website to watch a brief demonstration of the game and purchase your own copy! It’s an awesome time!
If you’re looking for an antihero to go with Ynegma, check out our Browse Books page!
Greetings all! April has been an exciting month! In addition to being National Minority Health Month, Stress Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Autism Awareness Month April is also National Poetry Month.
National Poetry Month is a celebration of poetry which takes place each April, was introduced in 1996 and is organized by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. The Academy of American Poets’ website Poets.org serves as a hub for information about local poetry events during the month. The organization also provides free educational resources to teachers for classroom celebrations and activities, and commissions an annual festival poster. Since 1998, National Poetry Month has also been celebrated each April in Canada.
So grab a pad and pen, a keyboard, or your phone, and rhyme it up!
Greetings friends! Today’s Quin-Quote comes from Benjamin Franklin of all people. The great man drops some words on the importance of education. Mr. F says, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” The best lifetime investment is an investment in your self improvement.
Wassup y’all? Today’s Quin-Quote comes from Plato about the necessity of music. He believes that, “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” To make life worth living, put some music in it!
Curious Penman 