writing groups boston

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We are a dynamic writing organization based in Massachusetts, passionately run by writers. Our primary focus is on teaching engaging writing classes covering the novel, memoir, and creative non-fiction genres. Whether you prefer online convenience or the personal touch of in-person sessions, we’ve got you covered with three ten-week sessions each year. But that’s not all; we also host enriching, free craft workshops throughout the year, delving into various writing topics.

At our core, we are dedicated to celebrating authors who have something meaningful to express and nurturing untapped voices that deserve to be heard. In today’s competitive era and fast-evolving market, we believe in supporting writers to thrive and succeed. Our commitment to writers and their craft is threefold:

Firstly, we provide a conducive space for writers, whether they’re novices or seasoned wordsmiths, to let their creativity flow, explore new ideas, and constantly learn and improve.

Secondly, we offer invaluable insights into the market and the publishing world, equipping writers with the knowledge they need to navigate this complex landscape and find their rightful place within it.

And finally, we foster a tight-knit community, where writers and the public come together to engage, share experiences, and forge meaningful connections. Our collaborative environment allows for the exchange of ideas and the growth of a supportive network that spans beyond our organization’s walls.

We hope to work with you soon.

Our Mission

We teach the craft of writing. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit writing organization run by writers for writers, dedicated to partnering with local communities to encourage writing and personal expression. Because storytelling is essential to understanding and celebrating who we are, and fostering voices is critical to a vibrant, inclusive narrative, we provide space, opportunity, and community for emerging and experienced writers through workshops, writing groups, and supportive programming. In this way, our collaborative fosters writing, sharing, and learning integral to the cultural life of central Massachusetts.

WHY CHOOSE US

Mastery learning.

Our teachers are published authors and experts in their fields

A SOLID FOUNDATION

Many of our writers go on to publish fiction and non-fiction titles

PEER ASSESSMENTS

Our community is filled with writers who offer honest and constructive feedback

ONLINE LEARNING

We offer online learning during the pandemic

SEVEN BRIDGE TIMELINE FOR GROWTH

Seven Bridge was created by a handful of local Lancaster, Massachusetts writers to fulfill their writing goals. They envisioned a place where they could meet with other writers to share their work, improve and provide support towards finishing and publishing work. The original board formed a partnership with the Lancaster public library. The library fostered the organization by providing free space for all meetings and open mics.

Writing groups grew and filled quickly. Seven Bridge was meeting a need in the community. Free monthly writing and industry workshops were planned and became very popular. The board took on more specialized roles in the daily running of the organization. Seven Bridge brought in more facilitators and approached other libraries about offering groups and open mics. 

Seven Bridge Writers began offering writing groups in Littleton, Worcester, and Groton public libraries, as well as Open Mics. Additional facilitators came aboard so that we could serve more writers. The organization refined our goals and processes. We began to apply for grants to help fund our workshops and pay facilitators a small compensation. Classes remained free and filled within hours of registration opening. When Covid-19 arrived, we were able to pivot to online zoom classes, groups and Open Mics. We managed to continue to serve our writers in a lesser capacity, but learned the power of online meetings. We found we could serve writers anywhere as well as those who found it difficult or impossible to attend in person. It was agreed that to serve more writers, online meetings would continue to be part of our offerings.

Seven Bridge has worked hard over the last two years to persist and ultimately transform. Last year, the board underwent a radical self-examination and transformation, and the entire structure of Seven Bridge evolved. Through a grant we received from Northeastern University’s Professional Development program, we were able to work with two professionals  to build a new business plan, called “A Roadmap to Financial Sustainability.” The goals detailed in this plan are as follows:

1. Continue to offer our writing programs to Central Massachusetts and beyond 2. Become financially stable and sustainable 3. Plan for expansion 4. Design a clear, straightforward marketing plan focused on growth. 5. Create a strong and committed leadership team 6. Build inclusivity and diversity into all goals 7. Find new ways to connect with partners 8. Update our registration, marketing, communication, and accounting systems 9. Establish a strong volunteer base 10. Grow to fulfill the needs and goals of our writers.

11. Establish Seven Bridge Press as a possible publishing partner for our members.

12. Establish Seven Bridge Consulting in order to provide detailed 1-1 coaching to our members.

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Writing Fiction: An Introductory Guide: Writing Classes & Critique Groups

• Recommended Reading
• National Organizations

Writing Classes & Critique Groups

• Blogs & Websites
• Tools of the Trade
• Reader Services at the Central Library
• Introduction to Writing Classes & Critique Groups
• Take a Writing Class
• Choose the Right Critique Group for You
• Join a Critique Group
• Start Your Own Critique Group

So you'd like to take a class to learn more about writing, or you'd like to get feedback from others to improve your work. Critique groups and classes offer support, feedback, accountability, and encouragement. You also stand a good chance of making life-long friends who also love the same thing you do: writing.

Writing Classes & Critique Groups contents

Take a Writing Class  - This is a list of classes that are online and/or in the Boston area. 

Choose the Right Critique Group for You - What should you consider when choosing a group? Find out here!

Join a Critique Group  - This is a list of existing groups that are online and/or in the Boston area. 

Start Your Own Critique Group - Tips for starting your own writing group! 

Free vs cost & local vs online

• The Join a Critique Group  tab has been split into two lists: Local first and online second.
• In the Take a Writing Class tab, each listing will say either "Local" or "Online" in parenthesis.
• Some of these groups and classes will be free, while others will have a cost associated with the group or individual classes. These have been noted for each listing as either "Cost" or "Free". Please check the individual websites for specific costs and possible discounts. 

A note on critique groups

You will see in Choosing the Right Critique Group For You a list of various types of groups, from writing to critique and social to accountability. For simplification, and because the most popular group among them is the critique group, this guide uses the term "critique" in a general sense to mean any of those types of groups.

Angela James' Classes - (Cost & Free/Online) Join editor Angela James as she teaches you how to edit your novel  and learn the ins and outs of publishing . 

The Writer's Roadmap   –  (Cost/Online)   A free email course by author, Tomi Adeyemi. Her website also includes downloadable writing tools including structure and character worksheets, back story templates and planners, writing prompts, and more. 

Gotham Writers   -   (Cost/Online)   A creative home in New York City and online where writers develop their craft and come together in the spirit of discovery and fellowship. We’ve been teaching creative writing and business writing since 1993. 

GrubStreet   -  (Cost/Local & Online)  By rigorously developing voices of every type and talent and by removing barriers to entry, GrubStreet fosters the creation of meaningful stories and ensures that excellent writing remains vital and relevant. Includes w orkshops, online classes, intensives, a Young Adult Writers Program, Consulting, and more. 

GrubStreet's Neighborhood Classes   -  (Free/Local)   Write Down the Street has a special focus on making creative writing workshops more accessible to those who have been underrepresented due to cost, racism, immigration status, language access, lack of access to transportation, and other barriers.  These are drop-in and multi-week classes offered by Grubstreet at your Boston Public Library neighborhood branches ! 

Holly Lisle's Writing Classes   -  (Cost & free/Online)   Here you’ll find writing classes, lively discussions in forums filled with writers who WRITE, and the answer to "How do I do that?"  The classes are available in ebook formats (Kindle/ePub) and printable PDFs.

LitReactor   - ( Cost/Online )  We bring in veteran authors and industry professionals to host classes covering a wide range of topics (from the writing craft to finding an agent) in an online environment that’s interactive and flexible. You get detailed feedback on your work and take part in discussions in a judgement-free zone. 

Master Class   -  (Cost/Online)  Take video-based writing classes with best-selling authors like James Patterson, Judy Blume, R.L. Stine, Margaret Atwood, and others.  

Peer 2 Peer University   - (Free/Local)  P2PU is a non-profit organization that helps get free online classes into the classroom setting. These are known as Learning Circles, where a facilitator helps students learn a specific topic, such as creative writing or computer coding. Check the class listings to see what is on offer or tell your community center or library that you're interested in a class.  

Skillshare - (Cost & Free Trial/Online)  These classes cover a wide variety of topics such as character driven stories and steps to a successful writing habit. They are also taught by published authors such as Roxane Gay, Simon Van Booy, Daniel Jose Older, and Yiyun Li.

Writer’s Digest University   -  (Cost/Online)   Whether you’re writing for publication, extra money, or to tell personal stories, Writer’s Digest University can help you get your writing career underway. Our expert instructors will provide advice, specific instruction, real-world experience, expertise, and the motivation and drive to help you achieve your goals.

The Writers’ Loft   - (Cost/Local)   The Writers’ Loft is a non-profit community which helps local writers foster their creativity, strengthen their spirit and grow professionally by providing them with quiet writing space, educational programs, opportunities to connect with supportive colleagues, and access to industry experts, as well as opportunities to give back to the greater writing community.    

Reasons to join a critique group

• You're looking for feedback in order to improve your work and possibly get published
• Share support, motivation, and a passion for writing with a long-term working group
• Discuss pitching, querying, and publishing insights
• Having a group at your back with deadlines helps to keep you accountable
• Meet and work with writers who share a love of your genre

Know the types of groups first

There are four major types of groups, but they do not have to be exclusive of each other, as some groups may want to combine elements of two or more.

Writing groups -  A writing group is traditionally a group of people who get together to write in the same space at the same time, and in general, keep each other motivated to get words down on paper. Keep in mind that many times a group labeled as a writing group could very well be a critique group as well.

Critique Groups -   A critique group will usually do their writing on their own time and then come together to read what they've worked on and offer advice and critique the work. 

Social Groups -   These groups exist for writers to get together and talk about writing, whether it's about their own work, the way a publishing trend is going, how to market their upcoming book release, or anything in between.

Accountability Groups -   Members will write on their own time and use the meetings as a deadline. The group is used to keep writers motivated and accountable for their work. They will check in with other group members to see where everyone is in writing and whether they're reaching their goals or are falling behind. Members can also read their work at meetings or use the time for other discussions on writing.

What to consider when looking for a group

• Do you need motivation to keep writing or are you looking for feedback on your work? 
•  This is often based on where you feel you are with your writing and how much help you need to improve your work. 
• Where do you think you will be in the future, in terms of how much work and effort you're willing to put in. Will you still need a group in six months? Will you quit once your book is published? Or do you have another book idea waiting in the wings? Or are you just starting your book journey?  
• Always err on the conservative side, because life happens, and sometimes the muse won't talk to you.
• Remember that if you join a group, you will be expected to read and critique others' work on your own time, while also carving out time to write your own book. 
• Do you live or work near the meeting location? 
• Does your free time line up with meeting dates and times?
• An In-person group , where you're in the same room with everyone, or an  online group , where you submit your work to the group and get it back electronically? 
• It helps to know what you're writing. If you're not sure of your genre, or age range, or if you like to read a wide variety of things, try a general group. Keep in mind that in a general group, they may not know the intricacies of your genre if you're the only one who writes in that genre.
• An open group where new members are always welcome or a closed group where you're working with the same people at every meeting? 

Local groups

Asian American Resource Workshop Writers Group   –  (Cost)  A hub for both accomplished writers as well as budding writers alike as a safe space to refine their craft. Members come together on a regular basis to share and discuss writings & ideas, get and provide support, and practice exercises to keep writing skills fresh.

Cambridge Writers’ Workshop   –  (Cost/Local & Online)  All writers from novices to professionals, who are looking for a serious writing community, are welcome to join the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop, which includes online creative writing courses and writing retreats.

Writing Meetups in Boston   -  (Free & Cost)  Many local writing groups use meetup.com to get together. Use this link to find writing groups not seen on this list, from casual writers to more serious critique groups, in and around Boston. 

Warrior Writers   –  (Free)  Warrior Writers is a national non-profit. Our mission is to create a culture that articulates veterans’ experiences, build a collaborative community for artistic expression, and bear witness to war and the full range of military experiences. Check the Events page for Boston area programs.

The Writers’ Loft   -   (Cost)   The Writers’ Loft is a non-profit community which helps local writers foster their creativity, strengthen their spirit and grow professionally by providing them with a quiet writing space, educational programs, opportunities to connect with supportive colleagues, and access to industry experts, as well as opportunities to give back to the greater writing community.    

Writers Room of Boston   –  (Cost)  Founded in 1988, the Writers' Room of Boston is a nonprofit organization that functions as an urban writers' retreat committed to providing a quiet, affordable, and secure workspace for emerging and established writers. Members can choose to meet regularly for readings, community gatherings and events. Periodic readings of the members' work are organized and open to the public.

Writers Rumpus   –  (Free)  A critique group in Andover, MA and blog for children’s, middle grade, and young adult authors.

Writers Without Margins   –  (Free)  Our mission is to expand access to the literary arts for unheard and under-resourced communities in Greater Boston — including those isolated by the challenges of addiction recovery, trauma, poverty, disability, and mental illness — through free, collaborative, writing workshops, public readings, and publication opportunities intended to empower community, amplify the voices of individuals, and to share stories with the world.

Online groups

Critique.org -    (Free) Workshops focus on in-depth critiques of your works, a process which helps both the recipient  and  the reviewer to grow. In addition to depth of analysis, much of critique.org's secret is our emphasis on respectful and diplomatic critiques.

Critique Circle   - ( Free & Cost ) Critique and be critiqued online. By critiquing work by others, you earn credits which allow you to post your own work for critique. 

Facebook   - (Free) There are many writing groups on Facebook, for all of your whims and desires.  

Goodreads   - (Free) It's easy talk about books on Goodreads in their Groups area, whether you wrote them or you've just read them and want to recommend them to others. 

Google Groups - (Free) Allows you to create and participate in online forums and email- based groups with a rich experience for community conversations.

Groups.io - (Free trial & Cost)  Email Groups. Supercharged. A modern platform for serious communities. Powerful management tools. Mobile ready. No ads, no tracking.

Inked Voices -  (Free)   A platform for writing groups and an online space for writers.

Scribophile   -  (Free & Cost Accounts)  A respectful online writing workshop and writer's community where writers of all skill levels join to improve each other's work with thoughtful critiques and by sharing their writing experience. 

Writer'sCafe - (Free) Post your poetry, short stories, novels, scripts, and screenplays. Get reviews and advice from thousands of other writers, enter hundreds of free writing contests, join writing groups or start your own, take and subscribe to free online writing courses, and more.

Writing.com - (Free & Cost) W elcomes writers of all interests and skill levels. Whether you're a writer looking for the perfect place to store and display your poetry, stories and other writing or a reader willing to offer feedback for our writers and their writings, this is the website for you. Meet and bond with fresh creative minds!

Reasons to start your own group

It may be that there isn't a writing group in your area or that the groups near you don't meet your needs. But you need to be interested in  helping other writers improve their work just as much as you're interested in having others help you improve yours. This should always be your top reason to start your own group. No writing group exists to help only one person. 

If you don't have the time to help others right now, but still want feedback on your work, consider hiring an editor or find some beta readers. See the Finding an Editor  tab under Publishing , for more information. 

Tips for starting a local group that meets in-person

Time: 

• Make sure you have the time to run a group, write your own work, and read & critique everyone else's work. If time is an issue, joining an existing group might be better for you.
• Will your group meet online or in-person?
• If in-person, choose a location that everyone can get to easily by car or public transportation. Make sure it will work for any members who are handicapped. And if it's a restaurant, make sure it can handle everyone's dietary needs, if you know these things in advance.
• Also keep your decibel level in mind. You'd be surprised, but a group of writers, when they get excited about their work and discussing the craft of writing, can get pretty loud. Make sure you choose a place that will be okay with however loud you end up.
• If you are interested in space at the Boston Public Library, you will find room use guidelines, forms to fill out, and contact information for our Events department on our website here:  Reservable Community Spaces .  Please note that these rooms are not intended for use as your organization's primary meeting place. 
• Choose a date and time that will work for everyone, and that you can keep consistent.
• How often will you meet? Once a week? Once a month? Choose something that will work with everyone's schedules.

Mission Statement:  

• Write a mission statement that addresses the purpose and parameters of the group that everyone can agree on.
• Do you want to talk about writing, have time to write in a group setting, critique each other's work, or something else? 
• Will you concentrate on a specific genre or topic?
• Some examples of language are: to support & encourage writing, guiding writers on the path to publication, to become stronger writers and editors, with an atmosphere of trust and caring writers can work to improve their manuscripts, to discuss the craft of writing...
• This will help attract members you want and get you off to a good start.

Membership:  

• Determine who you want to join your group, such as already published authors, or maybe you want to be open to everyone, regardless of where they are in their writing career.
• To find new members, if you don't have anyone in mind already, you can use social media, an ad in the local paper, blog about it, post it on Meetup  or Eventbrite , post fliers around town, or anything else you can think of.
• Make sure you determine ahead of time how many members you want so you don't end up accepting more than you are comfortable working with. Remember, you'll need to read all of their work! But also remember that in the beginning days of your group there may be a high turnover rate as people determine if the group is a good fit for them.
• Keep in mind if you keep membership open all the time, any time new members join you'll need to brief them on everyone's projects, which can get time consuming if new members don't stick around and more new members keep joining. 
• Your membership might be open to a select group of people if you only discuss science fiction, or if your group is for people who have taken a specific class (so you guarantee everyone has had the same experience), or if members have to be nominated by a current member. This allows for an open membership, where there won't be as many people coming and going.

Leadership:

• The group leadership role usually becomes a facilitator role once the group gets going.
• As a leader, remember to keep to your commitments or explain to the group when something prevents you from doing so. This will inspire other group members to do the same and will help to keep everyone accountable.
• If group participation starts to drop, speak up and ask the group, either privately or all together, if they're still interested. It might be that life is getting in the way, but they are still interested in being a member and speaking up about the lagging participation will inspire people to become active members again. It might be that you need to change the format of the group or the number of meetings you hold. But if you don't say anything, the problem will persist.
• The leader may have to cut members loose if it's not working out for that person and the group. It's not fun, but someone has to do it, if it becomes necessary.

Submissions:

• How much of their work should writers submit for critique at one time? (1-2 chapters, 5-10 pages, or by word limit?) Keeping the amount the same for everyone keeps members from dominating the group's time if they submit ten pages while everyone else has submitted only two. 
• To get good feedback, it is helpful for writers to ask for what they need based on where they are in their project. And it's helpful to add this to the document when submitting it. For example, if you are just starting your novel you may want to ask people to be on the lookout for plot holes, or weak characterization. If you're just starting the editing phase, you may ask people to look out for smaller things like continuity issues, or even smaller things like grammar and spelling mistakes.
• Determine whether you will read your work at the group meetings for the first time, or if members need to email their work to each other ahead of time by a specific date, say one week before the meeting, to give others a chance to read and review it.
• Will there be a trial period for new members where they will be required to only review others' works for a time before they can submit their own? This is a great way for everyone to determine if the new member is a good fit without the new person just getting the feedback they need on their own work and not sticking around.

Meeting Format:

• If the work is shared during the meeting for the first time, everyone should get a printed copy. Then someone will either read it aloud, or everyone will read silently. The copies will get marked up and returned to the author, and verbal comments will also be made.
• If the work is shared ahead of time, reviewers can email a marked up copy back to the author or bring a marked up printed copy to give them in-person. The meeting time is then used for discussion and critique of the work.
• How many writers will critique at the meeting? Will everyone get a chance at every meeting or will it rotate between members? 
• Will critique happen one-on-one with the group pairing up and rotating during the meeting or as one large group?
• How long will the meeting last? 

Feedback Format:

• Having a set format makes critiques feel like less of an attack on the writer when they know what to expect. See the two articles linked below for more critique guidelines.
• Will reviewers be allowed a specific amount of time to talk? Two minutes, as an example, cuts down on long winded diatribes.
• Some groups refuse to let the writer talk while the work is being critiqued so that they can't defend it and make excuses for decisions they've made. Once the critique is over then the writer can ask clarifying questions or respond however they need to. This can help keep things civil as well as keep the meeting to the desired length and flow without awkwardness.
• Will reviewers need to comment on something they liked as well as something they didn't, or will that not matter?
• Remember that if time limits are used, someone will need to keep track of the time during meetings.

Communication: 

• How will you communicate with each other outside of the meeting? Via email? A Yahoo! Group? Facebook? Goodreads?

Change Happens:

• Remember that as groups grow and develop, things may change and you may need to revisit these steps.
• It will also take a while, perhaps even up to a year, for your group to settle into itself with a core group of regulars that are comfortable working with each other. Patience is key.

Other things your group can do once you're set up:

• Write a blog
• Bring in speakers
• Schedule an open mic night at a local coffee house to share your work
• Celebrate members' successes

Online places to start your own group

See the Join a Critique Group tab, for websites that can host your group online as well as this list, which may overlap.

Discord   - Create a free chat space, known as a "server", where you can have multiple channels to discuss different topics as well as video and audio channels. 

Facebook Groups   -  There are many book groups on Facebook, and it's easy to start your own here as well.  

Goodreads   - It's easy talk about books on Goodreads in their  Groups  area, and they have a poll feature that makes voting on your next read super easy! 

Google Groups   - If you're comfortable connecting via email, try searching Google for online groups.

Groups.io   - (Free trial & cost) Email Groups. Supercharged. A modern platform for serious communities. Powerful management tools. Mobile ready. No ads, no tracking.

Google Meet   - Free video chat meeting space. It's easy to start a video and invite others to join or schedule something in advance!

Inked Voices - (Free trial & Cost) A platform specifically geared for small writing groups and workshops to collaborate intimately despite distance and strange schedules. 

Jitsi Meet  - A free, open source video chat platform. Simply type in the title of your meeting and you'll have an everygreen link you can keep forever! 

Proboards   - A free forum hosting service, where you can create your own forum and keep your discussions organized.

Slack   - This app works on iOS, Android, PC, and MAC and is a free forum where you can set up discussion threads, add photos and documents and easily set up meetings and decide what you're reading next!

Zoom   - This is a video chat platform that lets you have meetings up to 40 minutes for free. 

Ways to critique

Here are a couple of articles on how to write a critique that you may find helpful for your group.

Writing Groups: How to Write a Constructive Critique   by Mandy Wallace

Thoughts on Writing #12: Good Critique, Bad Critique by Seanan McGuire

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Massachusetts Resources for Writers

Here you’ll find a collection of resources for writers in Massachusetts, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you’re looking for writing groups near you, writing workshops near you, creative writing classes near you, or simply a place to hang out with writers or submit your work, these are some Massachusetts writing organizations you might want to check out:

WriteByNight

For more than a decade, WriteByNight has helped writers in Maryland and beyond achieve their literary goals. And we want you to be next!  Claim your free consultation  to learn about WBN’s customizable  one-on-one writers’ services , including:

Book Coaching :  If you’re writing a book and want some help along the way.

Manuscript Critique : If you’ve written a book and want a beta read, critique, or writing workshop.

Editing/Proofreading : If you’ve written a book and want someone to polish it for you.

Publication Assistance : If you’ve written a book and want help finding an agent or publisher.

Amherst Writers and Artists

The Amherst Writers and Artists’ philosophy is simple: every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn and develop craft. Offers writing workshops of all kinds.

Anomalous Press

A literary magazine and chapbook publisher, Anomalous “has its sights set on publishing literary text, advancing audio forms and creation, and supporting all sorts of alternative realities of the near future.”

Boston Writers SIG

A special interest group for writers who are also members of Boston Mensa. Meets in person monthly at various locations in Greater Boston.

Cambridge Writers’ Workshop

Formed by graduate students at Harvard University in 2008, the CWW is a creative writing community in Cambridge offering writing workshops, online courses, and writing retreats.

Cape Cod Writers Center

Writing workshops and a nationally-recognized writers conference that takes place annually during the third week in August at the Craigville Conference Center in Centerville on Nantucket Sound.

Fine Arts Work Center

A nonprofit devoted to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to the propagation of aesthetic values and experience, and to the restoration of the year-round vitality of the historic art colony of Provincetown.

Gloucester Writers Center

This “working writers center in a working town” offers classes, writing workshops, readings, lectures, residencies, and more.

Grub Street

The second largest independent center for creative writing in the United States, its mission is to be an innovative, rigorous and welcoming community for writers who together create their best work, find audience and elevate the literary arts for all. Offers writing workshops of all kinds and other events.

Juniper Summer Writing Institute

An annual week-long event hosted by the MFA program at UMass Amherst. Attendees can choose from a wide variety of writing workshops in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as craft sessions, manuscript consultations, readings, and more.

Ploughshares

Founded in 1971, Ploughshares is an award-winning literary magazine at Emerson College publishing poetry, fiction, essay and memoir.

Scribbler’s Ink

A Boston-area writing workshop for writers of all genres and abilities.

Seven Bridge Writers’ Collaborative

A community-based creative writing group operating under the auspices of the Thayer Memorial Library in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Straw Dog Writers Guild

A nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to the craft and transformative power of writing. Its mission is to support the writing community by strengthening, engaging and connecting writers at all levels of development.

Sutton Writing Group

Meets at the Sutton Public Library once a month and welcomes writers of all skill levels working in all genres. Meetings are social, and much of the reading and critiquing work is done via email.

Writers in Progress

Writing workshops and one-on-one mentoring with author Dori Ostermiller to enhance writers’ lives and work.

The Writers’ Room of Boston

A nonprofit organization committed to supporting the creation of new literature by providing a secure, affordable workspace and an engaged community to emerging and established writers in downtown Boston.

Help us add to this list, Massachusettsians! Do you know of writing groups near you, writing workshops near you, creative writing classes near you, or a Massachusetts literary journal we should be aware of? Let us know here

It’s so easy to get caught up in the everyday urgency of work and family. But with the help from the writing staff at WriteByNight, I’m finally creating my book, a journey I value as deeply personal and important. Leslie Tourish Dripping Springs, Texas

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Boston Writers SIG

A special interest group of boston mensa.

Over thirty writers. Over 600 books published. The Boston Writer’s group meets monthly and emails multiple times a week. Together we foster our dreams to create exceptional short story, poetry, and novels on a wide variety of topics.

Romance. Murder mystery. Health. Cooking. Government conspiracy. Artificial intelligence. Historical novels. Contemporary dramas. Lucid dreaming and world peace. Surviving a coma and surviving a rough childhood.

If you’ve thought about it, we’re probably writing about it. If you’re a Mensan, we’d love to have you join us! Many of our members are email-only, and that’s fine.

In whichever way you can participate, we’re here to help.

The Boston Writers Special Interest Group is a community of Boston Mensa. Back in January 2008, Thomas Holliday wrote Lisa Shea to discuss their writing projects. He kept encouraging the idea, and they met on July 14th at Mulligan’s Tavern in Westboro. They set the first ever public meeting on September 24th, 2008 at Cheng Du in Westboro. In September 15, 2009 we moved the meeting to Haverhill, and over the years we have adjusted the dates and times to coordinate with the members.

We began this blog in 2014!

To learn more about Boston Mensa visit https://bostonmensa.org/

All written content on this site is written personally by either the group member listed or by me Lisa Shea and copyright (c) to me Lisa Shea. I strongly support the rights of authors and do not allow my content to be used or ingested by AI programs such as ChatGPT to be used without attribution or recompense.

Nearly all images on this site are personally created or taken by me Lisa Shea and copyright (c) to me Lisa Shea. There are times that I used fully licensed stock images depending on the content of my articles. In those situations I will credit the stock company I acquired the image from. I do NOT use AI-generated images, unless the specific purpose of the essay is to discuss the ethical issues of AI-generated images, in which case I will clearly indicate that.

Readings & Events

At The Writers’ Room, we’re committed to offering our members as well as the larger Boston community public readings, writing groups, and more. Currently, we feature a public reading series, Readings from the Room, every month. And this summer, we’re offering a free writing group called the Summer Sundown Writing Hour. Don’t miss out!

For more info, check out the following:

Summer Sundown Writing Hour

Readings from the Room

Boston University Arts & Sciences Writing

• Financial Support
• MFA Degree Requirements
• Program Overview
• MFA Program Description
• English Department
• How to Apply
• Admissions Materials
• Submit an Application
• Repeat and international applicants
• Featured Alumni
• Alumni Achievements
• Global Fellows
• Undergraduate Courses
• Graduate Courses
• Publication News
• The Ha Jin Visiting Lecturer Series
• Robert Lowell Memorial Lecture Series
• Black Box Reading Series

Photo by Kalman Zabarsky for Boston University Photography. 11/23/09.

The Boston University Creative Writing Program, one of the oldest and most prestigious in the country, offers students the opportunity to complete the MFA degree in fiction or poetry in one year. Students complete their academic requirements, a rigorous combination of creative writing workshops and literature courses, over the course of two to three semesters. Cohort sizes are small– ten fiction writers and eight poets per year– and all admitted students for 2023-24 received full tuition coverage, basic health insurance coverage, and a stipend of $18,000. Each student is required to teach one course, either at Boston University or at a local public high school, during the fall or spring semester. We pride ourselves on being a program with an international focus: all of our students must fulfill a foreign language requirement during their time in Boston, and each will be eligible to receive a Global Fellowship allowing for travel, writing, and study anywhere outside the United States upon completing their coursework and submitting their thesis.

About the Program

Our MFA students have the opportunity to live, write, and travel anywhere in the world

Read about BU's renowned Translation Seminar

• 236 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215
• Phone: (617) 353-2510
• email: [email protected]

Meet other college writing instructors in the Metro-Boston area.

The Boston Rhetoric and Writing Network hosts professional meetings and social events, including an annual Summer Institute. We don't have official members, but we encourage you to register on this site so that you can participate and stay informed.

BRAWN is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization, so we also invite you to get involved, help to organize events or groups, or suggest new projects.

About BRAWN

In June of 2011, approximately twenty Boston-area writing program administrators and scholars convened to create a new professional organization: BRAWN, the Boston Rhetoric and Writing Network.

The Boston Rhetoric and Writing Network provides free and local professional development and learning opportunities to college writing instructors. There are no membership requirements, but please register for events that require it.

Meet the Board of Governors

BRAWN supports a listserv, regular professional events and social gatherings, and the BRAWN Summer Institute, held annually in May. BRAWN is currently in the process of registering as a 503(b) non-profit organization.

• Tales of the Profession

• Reading Groups
• Writing Groups
• Please register and log in to see the full list of groups, join a group or propose a new group.

Celebrations

• Book launches
• Member of the month
• Please register and log in to see the calendar of upcoming events and to register for an event.

Resources for Writing Instructors

Organizations

• Teaching Tips
• Please register and log in to view materials and other documents.

Other Resources

• Photo Gallery
• BRAWN works
• More stuff in the works!

How to get involved

Register and follow us.

Register on this site and create a profile, so that we can keep in touch about events and opportunities. (We'll never share your info without your permission!)

Subscribe to the Listserv.

Send us your ideas

If you have an idea for an event and would like to see it come to life, please contact us . We'd love to hear about it.

Participate

Our events are free and open to all instructors and students of college writing. Please join us! Register and log in to get all the information.

THE WRITERS' LOFT

43 Broad Street, Suite B404B, Hudson, MA 01749

[email protected]

A respectful and supportive community that believes we can be stronger writers together, dedicated to helping writers achieve greatness.

Come write with us—because writing doesn't have to be a solitary pursuit!

BECAUSE WRITING

Doesn't have to be a solitary pursuit, events at the loft, hey lofties you can log in to the writers' loft events database glueup to keep track of your events, critique groups, and communities,.

  Western MA Writing Workshops 

(Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, & Hampshire)

www.amherstwriters.org/ Amherst Writers & Artists is a non-profit, international arts organization and a network of writing workshop leaders. AWA-certified leaders have received the intensive training we offer in the AWA method,  founded over thirty years ago by Pat Schneider, author of Writing Alone and With Others , Oxford University Press.

www.janfreeman.net Jan Freeman offers weekly Monday evening Zoom poetry workshops and the MASS MoCA Writing Through Art Poetry Retreats. The generative MASS MoCA Writing Through Art Poetry Retreats use art as a portal to open memories, emotion, and the imagination and help poets experiment and play with new forms of expression. Morning workshops include prompts, exercises to open perception, readings, and discussion. A one-hour private consultation is included. New and experienced poets are welcome. Poetry retreats and workshops place great value on forming a safe space for open and expansive creative expression.

www.mainstreetwriters.com   Kathy Dunn , offering Creative Writing Workshops, and Retreats in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Do you have a story to tell? If you’ve written all your life and would like to experiment with new approaches, come and visit. If you’re new to writing and would like to discover skills you already have, come and visit. See what it’s like to explore stories and writing in a supportive and creative community.

www.nerissanields.com  On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, Nerissa Nields holds amazing writing workshops out of her home in Northampton. Write. Be entertained. Laugh. Cry. Foster community. Drink hot beverages. All kinds of writers are welcome. We are poets, novelists, songwriters, memoirists, journalers, and scribblers.

www.pioneervalleywriters.org   Welcome to Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop ! Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop is a Northampton MA-based literary arts organization, now completely online for the foreseeable future, offering a wide array of one-day and multi-week writing workshops for experienced and aspiring writers of all levels, genres, and backgrounds. Founded by Joy Baglio in 2016, PVWW has a team of over 30 professional writers, authors and editors and a constantly changing lineup of workshops and events.  All our workshops are limited to a small number of writers (8, 10, or 12, depending on the particular class) and are held live on Zoom. In addition to seasonal workshops, PVWW runs a   Year-Long Manuscript Group Program  for writers working on book-length projects, open for applications every year October – January.  In addition to our classes and workshops, we host a FREE twice-a-month generative  Community Writing  gathering open to writers everywhere and  frequent  virtual author readings .  For writers looking for more direct hands-on help with their projects, we offer professional one-on-one  manuscript consulting and editing  services. Our focus is on a rigorous understanding of craft and technique, while also creating a supportive and fun environment for writers of all levels. As Ursula K. Le Guin says: “Skill in writing rees you to write what you want to write. Craft enables art.”

www.qmzhang.com MemoryWorks is a creative research and writing practice founded in 2020 by Q.M. Zhang to address the urgent need both personally and collectively to recover and reclaim histories that have been not merely forgotten, but hidden, censored, or erased. MemoryWorks is designed for individuals and communities who are seeking to write the past from the standpoint of the next generation and those who follow: the inheritors of histories of war, migration, colonialism, slavery, revolution, and genocide. As next gen writers, we write in an effort to understand our proximity to history. We are deeply connected to and invested in the stories that we seek to tell, yet we are often faced with silences and erasures within our own family and community histories. This is equally true for the children of migrants and refugees, the descendants of Indigenous and enslaved people, and the offspring of settlers and slavers—all those for whom history, heritage, and memory are in constant conflict. MemoryWorks offers a creative methodology for researching and writing into the gaps between what we’ve been taught to remember, what has been distorted or disappeared, and what we sometimes have to imagine to get closer to the truth. Check for new workshops here: www.qmzhang.com/new-workshops

www.teriannefalcone.com   Terianne aka Miss T carries on her outrageously fun and thoughtful No Bull workshops on Zoom  We will write and laugh together and create community. In class, we’ve got bloggers, novelists, poets, memoirists, personal essay writers, playwrights, you name it. The mix is so enriching as well as entertaining!

www.theheartofstory.com Writer and editor Jane Roy Brown leads workshops for writers at any level who want to write about their lives. She also facilitates writing groups for experienced writers in any genre who seek to improve their craft through constructive critique. And she is available to coach any writer pushing through a funk!

www.thewritersspark.com with  Kirsten Rybczynski.   The Writer’s Spark is a Northampton-based, independent writing workshop for everyone–those of us who identify as writers and those of us who don’t. In these workshops, we concentrate on re-connecting to that place in our past where we just made things, without asking the question: “Is this any good?” Freeing yourself from that critical voice allows your stories to reveal themselves to you in unexpected ways. Inspired by the work and teaching of cartoonist/writer, Lynda Barry, participants in these workshops write, draw, color, and more. Anything Can Happen!! 

https://valleysociety.org/ Valley Society , is the black writer’s guild of the Pioneer Valley and a Straw Dog Writers Guild project. You can now subscribe to our newsletter to receive links to our new writings every month. Additionally, Valley Society is also planning a black or black-led writing group, The Midnight Run . We hope to offer discounted or subsidized seats to black writers. You can always support this initiative by giving monthly through Patreon through our Support page.

www.writersinprogress.com   Dori Ostermiller’s   Writers in Progress’ mission is to enhance writers’ work and lives with writing workshops and retreats, mentoring, coaching and editorial support.  Housed in a beautiful western Massachusetts artists’ studio, our small workshops and one-on-one mentoring attract people who want to take their writing to the next level in a thoughtful and inspiring space.

www.writersmill.org   The Writers’ Mill is a refuge for writers of all sorts, including novelists, journalists, poets, freelancers, academics, and researchers in Northampton, Massachusetts.

www.writingfulltilt.com   Maureen Buchanan Jones, Ph.D.  Maureen offers creative writing workshops for writers of all genres and at all levels of skills and experience. The workshop process is based on the method developed by Pat Schneider, founder of Amherst Writers & Artists and author of  Writing Alone and  With Others.

www.writingretreats.org    Patricia Lee Lewis , MFA, founding president of Straw Dog Writers Guild, has left Patchwork Farm Retreat and the little mountainside where she lived for 43 years, and occasionally offers creative writing opportunities from “Little Patch,” her new home in downtown Northampton MA. It is in her heart to find the way back to sacred sites around the world, offering creative writing and yoga retreats in community with other writers.

www.yasmineameli.com Yasmine Ameli is a poet, essayist, and writing coach who facilitates generative, trauma-informed workshops over Zoom. Recent workshops have included Beloved: How to Write a Love Letter; Poet Tea: Making & Writing about Tea; and Eat the Apple: Writing Sensual Experiences. Yasmine also regularly teaches writer professional development workshops on funding writing projects through residencies, fellowships, and grants; submitting to paying literary markets; applying to MFA programs; finding literary community; and cultivating sustainable writing practices.

If you are a SDWG member and would like to be added to this list, please email [email protected]

Editors / Writing Consultants

Joy Baglio www.pioneervalleywriters.org  Sometimes the best thing you can do for your manuscript, short story, or essay is to get a second pair of eyes on it. As writers, editors, and teachers, we’ve had years of experience reading and commenting on others’ writing, for literary journals, workshops, and individual students. We specialize in a range of genres and topics, from flash fiction, short stories, and novels to memoirs, essays, and academic writing.  Email:  [email protected] Phone: 518-645-1113 

Jan Freeman    www.janfreeman.net   Manuscript Consultations and Editing Services with Jan Freeman With 40 years of editorial experience, I am available to review works of prose and poetry, including full-length manuscripts, chapbooks, and selected collections. Through multiple readings, I evaluate literal and emotional narratives and a manuscript’s organization, texture, shape, tension, and emotional flow. I am author of 3 books of poetry and co-editor of  Sisters: An Anthology;  from 1995–2018, I directed Paris Press (now an imprint of Wesleyan University Press), which published critically acclaimed books by Emily Dickinson, NBCC award winning Ruth Stone, Virginia Woolf, and many others. contact:   [email protected]

DM Gordon   www.dmgordoneditorial.com/  Want your writing to be the best it can be? Aching to be published? Thinking of an MFA? Why not work with an individual editor first. I’m less expensive than a low-residency program, with more focused, extensive attention. I work with post-MFA grads towards publication, poetry, and prose, as well as writers first seeking to share their work. From query letters to self-publication, we can discuss your immediate goals and how to achieve them. A prize-winning poet and fiction writer, and an experienced, respectful editor in multiple genres, I’d love to talk with you.

Celia Jeffries www.celiajeffries.com:   My current editorial work encompasses reading and consultation, developmental editing, copy/line editing, and coaching. Having worked with writers at every stage of the creative process and in a variety of genres, I focus primarily on fiction, nonfiction, and memoir but love learning new subjects and working in many fields.

Michael Favala Goldman  hammerandhorn.net . I know how difficult it is to be objective about one’s own writing. Having skilled readers and mentors helped me gain the skills to publish16 books of prose translations, poetry translations and original poetry. I have been leading poetry critique groups since 2018. I give direct, compassionate feedback, to help clarify and magnify the author’s voice. I am happy to look at a few short pieces or an entire manuscript.  [email protected] .

Lesléa Newman lesleanewman.com/mentoring In addition to creating 75 books for readers of all ages, I have been critiquing manuscripts for 40 years (!) with experience in novels, short stories, poetry, novels-in-verse, young adult novels, middle-grade novels, and picture books. Basically, I can critique anything except a cookbook! Some of the books I have mentored are Kwame Alexander’s novel-in-verse, The Crossover  (Newbery Award) and picture book,  Acoustic Rooster ; Farideh Goldin’s memoir,  Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman ; Leah Henderson’ middle-grade novel, One Shadow on the Wall ; and Sonja Devries’ poetry collection,  A Garden in Baghdad . As Elsa Gidlow so famously said, “Writers are not special people. Each person is a special writer.” I firmly believe that everyone has an important story to tell and the ability to tell it. 

Sara Rauch www.sararauch.com I’m a Holyoke-based author, editor, and writing coach who is particularly drawn to character-driven work that has a strong relationship to language and a definite plot. Whether I’m engaging with a short story, novel, essay or memoir, I approach editing in a way that allows the story’s voice to find its truest expression. I’m well versed in the “rules” of what makes “good” writing, but I’m more interested in helping authors use all the tools in the craft toolbox to make their work shine. As a coach, I guide writers looking to structure and complete longer works-in-progress, with a particular focus on editorial, publishing, or social media advice.

Gail Thomas www.gailthomaspoet.com I am available for individual consultation on your poetry submissions, manuscripts and residency applications. With more than 40 years of publishing and teaching experience, I offer feedback that not only focuses on your writing goals, but also strengthens your craft. If you are assembling a chapbook or full-length manuscript, I will work with you to organize and present your best work for publication. [email protected]

Yasmine Ameli www.yasmineameli.com As an educator, I take a holistic approach to writing coaching because I believe we create our best work when we nurture our whole selves. I want my students to develop a writing practice that makes sense for them individually. I adapt my coaching practice to each student and often provide guidance on:

• Cultivating sustainable writing practices
• Writer’s block
• The creative process
• Planning a project
• Developing and refining manuscripts (including chapbooks, full-length poetry manuscripts, flash creative nonfiction, long-form critical and personal essays, essay collections, and memoir)
• Submitting to literary magazines
• Application support for artist statements, awards, grants, fellowships, retreats, and the MFA

Let’s schedule a 15-minute call to talk about how writing coaching could work for you.

Q.M. Zhang www.qmzhang.com I am a writer, teacher, editor, and founder of MemoryWorks, a creative research and writing practice for individuals and communities who are trying to trace their own past and write their own stories in the face of intergenerational silences and historical omissions. My practice is based on over 30 years of teaching in higher ed in Hong Kong, China, and the U.S. and the making of my award-winning hybrid book, Accomplice to Memory. In addition to writing workshops, I offer one-on-one mentoring and manuscript consultation for next gen writers who are working on family or community history projects and interested in experimenting with hybrid forms of writing. Whether you are just beginning to ask questions about your history, or you have begun to gather some sources, or you have a full manuscript ready for review–I welcome writers from all backgrounds, nationalities, and stages of life, wherever and whenever questions of the past take on urgency for you.

If you would like to be added to this list, please email [email protected]

MA State-Wide Resources

Anomalous Press:  A literary magazine and chapbook publisher, Anomalous “has its sights set on publishing literary text, advancing audio forms and creation, and supporting all sorts of alternative realities of the near future.”

Brilliant Light Publishing  – Our mission at Brilliant Light Publishing is to promote the work of poets and writers from the New England community who illuminate the inner and outer states of our natural and cultural environment.

Cambridge Writers’ Workshop:  Formed by graduate students at Harvard University in 2008, the CWW is a creative writing community in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offering workshops, online courses, and writing retreats.

Cape Cod Writers Center:  Workshops and a nationally-recognized writers conference which takes place annually during the third week in August at the charming Craigville Conference Center in Centerville on Nantucket Sound.

Fine Arts Work Center:  A nonprofit devoted to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to the propagation of aesthetic values and experience, and to the restoration of the year-round vitality of the historic art colony of Provincetown.

Four Stories:  A literary series bridging Greater Boston’s nightlife and arts community. Each event is held in a club, bar or lounge, and features appearances from some of the most acclaimed authors in the nation, all reading their work under a unified theme.

Grub Street:  The second largest independent center for creative writing in the United States, its mission is to be an innovative, rigorous and welcoming community for writers who together create their best work, find an audience and elevate the literary arts for all.

Mass Poetry Mass Poetry supports poets and poetry in Massachusetts. We help to broaden the audience of poetry readers, bring poetry to readers of all ages and transform people’s lives through inspiring verse. We are a 501(c)(3) organization.

Online Resources for Writers – Amherst College

Online Resources for Writers – Money-Saving Guide for Authors and Writers

Ploughshares: Founded in 1971, Ploughshares is an award-winning literary magazine at Emerson College publishing poetry, fiction, essay, and memoir.

Scribbler’s Ink:  A Boston-area writing workshop for writers of all genres and abilities.

Seven Bridge Writers’ Collaborative:  A community-based creative writing organization operating in central MA. 

The New England Writing Workshop : Offers expert small-group and individual guidance amid the beauty of Cape Ann (north of Boston).

The Writers’ Room of Boston:  A nonprofit organization committed to supporting the creation of new literature by providing a secure, affordable workspace and an engaged community to emerging and established writers in downtown Boston.

Write the World Virtual Writing Workshops for Teens offer young writers ages 12-19 the opportunity to jump into new genres of writing, connect with campers across the globe, and learn from acclaimed authors, editors, and educators… all without leaving their homes! Founded in 2012 at Harvard University, Write the World is the online platform for teen writing, comprising a vibrant community of 30,000 teens from over 100 countries. Whether teens join our week-long virtual writing camps, from screenwriting to social justice poetry, science fiction to humor writing, or take part in one of our virtual poetry workshops throughout the calendar year, they will find, raise, use, and share their voice in a supportive community. Please contact Teaching & Learning Coordinator Brittany Collins with questions at [email protected] .

POETRY FOUNDATIONS with POETRY SELECTIONS

• The Academy of American Poets – look up poems and poets
• Mass Poetry’s Poem of the Moment – an poetry archive
• The Poetry Foundation – look up poems and poets
• Poetry Society of America – USA’s oldest poetry organization, founded in 1910
• Poetry 180 – designed for students to hear or read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year; housed on the Library of Congress site
• Poetry Daily – anthology of contemporary poetry
• Verse Daily – republishes 1 poem per day from literary magazines and books

POETRY PROGRAMS and EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

• Align Your Story with Nadia Colburn – courses (including poetry writing); coaching
• Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference – poem evaluation and access to publisher contacts
• Frost Place – poetry museum; programming
• Grub Street – creative writing center
• MFA Programs – database of graduate creative writing programs
• Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center – writer residency programs
• Tupelo Press Writing Conferences – learn the twenty principles you need to get your poems to that new place 
• Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard – public programs available as well as use of library

POETRY COMMUNITIES in Massachusetts

• Concord Poetry Center – community-based center for poets in the Boston area
• Massachusetts State Poetry Society – support and resources for poets in MA
• Powow River Poets – events for poets throughout New England; organization is based in Newburyport
• Straw Dog Writers Guild Poetry Critique Meet-Up – poets give and receive feedback on one another’s poems; based in Western MA
• Worcester County Poetry Association – supporting poets in Worcester county
• The Writers Room of Boston – urban writers’ retreat

Massachusetts Presses

• Bateau – publisher of chapbooks & an annual magazine
• Black Ocean – independent publisher based in Boston
• Broadsided Press – publishes monthly visual-literary collaborations
• Cave Canem – a home for African-American poetry
• Cervena Barva – solicits manuscripts for full-length books
• Greying Ghost – tabletop printing press based in Boston
• Interrobang Letterpress – hot metal letterpress shop in the Boston/Cambridge metro area
• Kundiman – a home for Asian American literature
• Off the Grid Press – for poets over 60
• Perugia Press – nonprofit press that publishes one female poet per year
• Slate Roof Press – member-run press committed to making our books accessible to print-impaired individuals
• Tupelo – independent, literary press publishing works of poetry, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction

Massachusetts Literary Journals and Magazines

• Agni – literary magazine housed at Boston University
• The American Dissident – focuses on exposing corruption 
• Boston Review – political and literary forum 
• Cape Cod Poetry Review – journal showcases the talent of local Cape Cod writers
• Eastgate – create new hypertext technologies and craft artisanal writing tools
• The Harvard Advocate – collegiate literary magazine
• Harvard Review – publishes new poetry, essays, fiction, drama, criticism, book reviews, and interviews
• jubilat – accepts poetry, visual art, and essays on poetry and poetics; housed at UMass Amherst
• The Massachusetts Review – literary magazine promoting social justice and equality, along with great art
• Meat for Tea: The Valley Review – non-academic affiliated magazine featuring western MA writers
• Night Train – publishing emerging and established writers online and annually in literary journal 
• Ploughshares – literary journal published 4 times a year; based at Emerson College in downtown Boston.
• Poets & Writers – database on literary journals, magazines, poetry
• Salamander – publishes biannual magazine of poetry, fiction, memoir, and works in translation
• The Worcester Review – annual print literary journal published by the Worcester County Poetry Association

POETRY BLOGS

• The Best American Poetry Blog
• Edward Byrne’s Blog
• Poetry News Western MA
• Poetry Writing Resources & Road Trip Poetry Activities
• Robert Pinsky’s Blog
• Nabati Poetry
• Ron Silliman’s Blog
• Ron Slate’s Blog

Regional Literacy Volunteer Directory Links

• The Literacy Project (Greenfield)
• Center for New Americans  (Northampton)
• Voices from the Inside (Chicopee, Springfield, South Hadley)
• Jones Library  (Amherst)
• Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County (Pittsfield)
• Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester   Also find LVGW on LinkedIn & Facebook
• Springfield Literacy Volunteers (Springfield Public Library)

Retreat Centers for Writers

• Artist Retreat at 32M Center
• The Mount Edith Wharton’s Home

Social Justice Resources

Online classes, courses, workshops, and assessment tools.

Harvard University, Project Implicit . Tests on implicit bias in several categories

Traliant, Diversity Training online course . Workplace Diversity, Inclusion & Racial Sensitivity, Unconscious Bias, Microaggressions in the Workplace

The Truth School Racial Equity online classes . Preparing social change leaders to win movement struggles

Building a Culture of Reparations with Dr David Ragland , Interfaith Council of Franklin County, MA

Felicia Rose Chavez (“The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop”) & Susan Briante (“Defacing the Monument”) with Community Bookstore Live

Healing and Reparations Through The Land Back Movement: A Conversation on Indigenous Land Tenure and Access, The Ohketeau Cultural Center, Ashfield, MA

Lifting the Veil on Racism , Interfaith Council of Franklin County, MA

Articles & Books

The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom by Felicia Rose Chavez

Fostering an inclusive culture by Amanda Cole

Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses

Tech Resources

Making Your Website More Accessible ( Candid article)

Optimizing Your Online Presence – For Writers with SDWG member Fungai Tichawangana

Essay Writing Guides from Perlego

If you would like to be added to this list,

Please email [email protected], upcoming events, straw dog writes weekly writers meet up, a writer’s night in may, the smell of fear: building suspense & tension with subtext.

MetroWest Writers’ Guild

It’s a Myth that Writers Write Alone

At the MetroWest Writers Guild, we believe that being part of a community of supportive writers is the best way for a writer to learn, grow, and be successful in their craft.

All of your favorite writers had community: critique groups, exchange partners, early readers, mentor editors, and/or great teachers.

People who told them to keep going and keep working! That is the mission of the Guild: to provide encouragement, resources, time, space, and tools for your storytelling.

A Community of Teachers and Learners

A Guild is an organization of people who teach each other, learn from each other, innovate together, and advocate for each other. When you’re part of a Guild, you’re recognized as a person who has something to contribute and something to learn. That’s why we encourage our writers to teach fellow Guild members what they know (about their profession, or their craft, or anything else they know) and we offer accessible classes about the writing craft and profession by professionals in our area.

Guild Thoughts

BETA VERSION

Welcome to Literary MA

Massachusetts is alive with literature. Hundreds of writers and poets in literary hotspots such as Boston, Western Massachusetts, and Cape Cod, make up a significant part of the cultural heritage here. One in six people in Massachusetts is employed in the creative sector, so we are part of a massive ecosystem.

Bring this together with a rich history or writers that saw Boston being the capital of publishing in the United States, until the mid-19th century, a network of some of the best library systems in the world, a strong presence of independent bookshops, publishers, and coffee shops, and you have the recipe for the perfect literary storm…

About Literary MA

Literary Massachusetts Through The Years

We take a look at the highlights from a rich history of literature in Massachusetts. From Emily Dickinson to Ralph Waldo Emerson; from Henry David Thoreau to Louisa May Alcott; from W.E.B. Du Bois to Sylvia Plath, this New England State has been the birthplace of some of the world’s finest literature.

ALL OVER MASSACHUSETTS

Literary Events

Book launches, workshops for writers, readings, conferences, and other literary events around Massachusetts.

• Brookline Booksmith

IN-PERSON | An Evening of Poetry: Carolina Hotchandani & Indran Amirthanayagam

279 Harvard Street Coolidge Corner Brookline, MA 02446-2908

• Harvard Book Store

IN-PERSON | $38 TICKET – Colm Tóibín at The Brattle Theatre

40 Brattle St. Cambridge, MA 02138 United States

IN-PERSON | Yukiko Tominaga with Hanna Halperin: See: Loss. See Also: Love.

In-person | $38 ticket – miranda july at the brattle theatre, in-person | jessica shattuck with heidi pitlor: last house, in-person | third thursdays poetry: miriam levine, tom driscoll, & matthew sisson, transnational literature series | to never have risked our lives: an agni portfolio, in-person | $38 ticket – claire messud at the brattle theatre, literary massachusetts today.

Massachusetts is home to international book festivals, leading writers, renowned publishers, critics, and some of the finest MFAs in the world. It is also a global meeting hub for writers, thinkers and seekers of knowledge.

Latest Posts

News, announcements, and opportunities for writers and book lovers in Massachusetts.

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Announced as Keynote for the Return of the WriteAngles Conference

Straw Dog names 3 writers for its 2022 Emerging Writer Fellowship shortlist

The New England Poetry Club is looking for a President

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