“You must continue to create and flourish at all ages. Statistics bear that out, so [we] wanted a vehicle to urge people on. Ageless Authors is that vehicle.”
-Larry Upshaw
Ageless Authors highlights the work of writers and artists ages 65 and older. Founded by Ginnie Bivona and Larry Upshaw, Ageless Authors celebrates senior creativity by publishing anthologies of work created solely by those over the age of 65.
In addition to promoting the work of seniors, Ageless Authors is a proud Community Member of the Writers’ League of Texas. Read the interview below with Larry Upshaw to find out more about them.
Scribe: Can you tell us a little more about your mission and what inspired you and your co-founder, Ginnie Bivona, to start Ageless Authors?
Larry Upshaw: Ginnie Bivona is an 85-year-old Dallas author and poet who started writing in her fifties. Her first novel became a made-for-TV movie, Bound by A Secret, on Hallmark. She has another novel being considered for a TV series. She believes that you must continue to create and flourish at all ages. Statistics bear that out, so she wanted a vehicle to urge people on. Ageless Authors is that vehicle. We encourage people 65 and older to enter our writing and art contests. We publish the best entries in an anthology, and we both work with older aspiring writers, teaching them how to write and publish. Her areas are fiction and memoir. I have ghostwritten a dozen business and professional books, and that is my area of expertise.
Scribe: Your site lists titles of several planned anthologies, including: “Remembering Romance & Magical Moments In Life” and “Baby Boomers Look at 65.” How did you select the topics for these anthologies?
LU: Memory can be a wonderful thing, and that’s what older people have in abundance. Memories can be a lubricant for the brain. I can’t think of anything more productive at this stage of my life (age 68) than telling a great story from my past. Too often we get hung up on whether these stories are real or imagined, but if you become a storyteller that doesn’t matter. Ginnie and I had a good time conjuring up these anthology titles. Our favorites are one military memories, about tales of the battlefield and the home front, and “Dang I Wish I Hadn’t Done That,” sure to be a rich collection of tales about the foolish or destructive things we did earlier in life.
Scribe: Ageless Authors is hosting its first contest for its first-ever anthology. Can you tell us a little more about this contest and how interested writers can submit?
LU: This first contest has a deadline of August 31, 2016. You can write about anything for this first anthology. We are looking for outstanding essays, short stories, poetry and art (cartoons and line drawings). We will award cash prizes for winners in each category, and the best entries will appear in our first anthology this fall. Entrants can be professional writers or beginners. The easiest way to enter is to go to agelessauthors.com and click on contests to submit online. To submit via mail, please find details on our website.
Scribe: As a professional writer – you’ve written for numerous publications and have published over a dozen books – what is one piece of advice you’d like to give aspiring authors?
LU: Just keep at it, and enjoy the process of writing. I’ve heard all this bull about writing being so tedious. At my age, sitting down to write almost anything is the best part of my day. I’ve written books that sold well and some that I still have in my warehouse, but that did not determine the amount of enjoyment they gave me.
Scribe: What’s important to you about supporting the Writers’ League of Texas and being a community member?
LU: Anything that encourages literacy beyond 140 characters and a gang of emojis is good for our culture. We’ve become a nation of consumers. Time to produce something.
Scribe: Here at the Writers’ League, we love sharing book recommendations. What’s one Texas-related book that has come out within the past year that you couldn’t put down?
LU: Maybe it’s this Ageless Authors project that has made me turn to the past. Once I was hired by The Dallas Morning News book editor to travel the country interviewing Texas writers. The one I found most interesting was William Goyen, who wrote about the decadent South from his office at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in LA. I’m rereading his first and last novels, The House of Breath and Arcadio, and consider them masterpieces.
Scribe: Anything else you’d like to share?
LU: Many of your members are not old enough to participate in Ageless Authors, but almost everyone knows someone who is. We ask you all to encourage people 65 and older to take part in our contests and anthologies. Using your mind like this will keep you young.
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Thanks, Larry!
Click here to visit Ageless Authors’ website.
Are you a business or organization interested in getting involved?
Community Membership is a great way to connect with the Writers’ League’s membership base and share news and information about writing-related services and events. For more information on Community Membership click here or call our office at (512) 499-8914.
