“Past and Present I know well; each is a friend and sometimes an enemy to me. But it is the quiet, beckoning Future, an absolute stranger, with whom I have fallen madly in love.”
Dear Woman-Who-Writes!We all journeyed through a trifecta of historical events in 2020—a pandemic, civil strife, and a presidential election. We are eager to greet a future that will invite us to trash our masks, summon friends for a pot-luck buffet, hug, sing, dine, travel. Women Who Write has managed to thrive on Zoom since April. We’ve seen you, heard you and shared prose and poems for peer commentary. We’ve hosted guest writers Katy Yocom, Ellen Birkett Morris, and Susan Lindsey. We enjoyed two small socially distanced retreats, at Valaterra and Hopscotch House. Literary scholars propose there are between seven and 27 types of plots. But they all boil down to two—someone goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town. 2020 was that stranger who came to town—both an antagonist and a foil (at least one of us learned a lot about herself). We are hoping you had more than a few moments of peace and clarity, allowing you to fill more than a few blank pages. Speaking of blank pages . . . at the January 5 meeting (scroll down for Zoom info), we will be discussing writer’s block. Do you believe there is such a thing? How have you overcome those times when the words won’t come? We will also make writing resolutions and gather ideas to help WWW enhance your writing life. What are your personal goals for your writing in 2021? How can WWW feed your needs?
Our monthly meetings are a safe place where members share ideas and writing tips, as well as manuscripts, new and seasoned, for strength-based critiques. As usual, on January 5, we will screen share and comment on five pieces of prose and poetry (4 pages double-spaced for prose and up to 3 poems). Please forward your manuscript to by Tuesday noon.
Sign-in to ourTuesday, January 5 Zoom meeting 5 minutes before 6:30 PM
Why publish in markets that will pay you nothing? For the pleasure of an audience. To develop a clip file for future publishers. To finish that personal essay, memoir excerpt, poem or short story you’ve been working on. Here are some opportunities.
Women Who Write invites you to submit short fiction, nonfiction and poetry to be included on our blog (less than 1,000 words of prose). Essays about the writing process, publication, and craft tips are also welcome. Members, please pitch a blog idea by e-mail to
Pitch an idea or a finished pieceto Kimberly Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson, members of WWW, who have started a publication on Medium.com. Landslide Lit(erary) invites submissions of poetry and prose about growing up, growing older, looking forward,and looking back. To inquire or submit essays, e-mail WWW members Kim and Bonnie at .
Learn about submission requests and contests at https://www.newpages.com. which enables you to find specific markets for your fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
Become a member—
As a community, WWW strives to nurture your writing life. We hope you choose to join or renew as a member and participate in our monthly meetings, author talks, retreats, and workshops. Please share your ideas for future programming! You can attend two meetings as a non-member, before joining for $50. Students 18 and older enrolled in school can become members for $25. We will greet the new stranger in town—2021— with masks, social distance and hope. We will write into the future to make sense of the past.
Be safe. Be strong. Be peace. Write forward.
Yours sincerely—
The leadership team— Kimberly, Terri, Pam, Melony & Alisa
