Women of Words Benefit with Authors Held in Farmington

Farmington-based Michigan Women's Media, Inc. will host an evening fundraiser to kick-start its Women and Journalism Internship.

"Women of Words" will be held on October 15, 7 p.m., at the historic Masonic Hall, 23715 Farmington Rd., in downtown Farmington. Guests will meet and hear from three women authors:

Brenda Dziedzic, author of Learn About Butterflies in the Garden, has raised more than 3,000 butterflies in her own backyard. She is co-founder and president of the Southeast Michigan Butterfly Association, and can show you how to create a butterfly habitat in your own backyard.

Joy Gaines-Friedler teaches creative writing both privately and for Springfed Arts Detroit Working Writers. She is also a Writer-in-Residence for InsideOut Literary Arts Project. Her book, Like Vapor, was published by Mayapple Press, 2008 and her work has been widely published in literary magazines.

Rebecca Johns' first novel, Icebergs, was a finalist for the 2007 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for first fiction and a recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Award. Her second, The Countess, a fictionalization of the life of Elizabeth Bathory, the “Blood Countess", was published in 2010.

As you listen to authors read from their works, you'll enjoy tea service, desserts and tea sandwiches from in Farmington. There will be time for questions, and authors will have copies of their books for sale.

Sponsored by the Center for Financial Planning in Southfield, this event will help establish the Michigan Women's Media Women and Journalism Internship, which will offer student journalists the opportunity to write about women's issues for MichiganWomensForum.com 

Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at MichiganWomensMedia.org, at Sunflour Bakehaus in downtown Farmington (cash or check only), or by sending a check to Michigan Women's Media, P.O. Box 921, Farmington MI 48332-0921. Tickets are not tax deductible. For information, call 248-568-0581.