In Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, Laurie Colwin writes: “No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”
Cooking is alchemy, bringing together disparate ingredients for a dish that warms the tongue and the soul. You can use formal recipes, or you can improvise.
Not unlike writing. Whether you prefer a formal poetry structure or a free-flowing nonfiction essay, you can cook up a scene that will make readers' mouths water while conveying a message about the meaning of creating a meal and nourishing others.
Now you take garlic, first, caress that precious ivory, smell its irate fragrance, then blend the minced garlic with onion and tomato until the onion is the color of gold.
I don’t think I’d be wrong if I said that my family’s love of bread began with ashcakes cooked in an open fire outside a cabin in Kentucky in the 1800s. Though it’s conjured by my imagination, I can see Grandma Aggy—born in 1795, likely into slavery—by the fire, taking the rations of cornmeal, adding boiling water and salt, shaping the stiff batter into ashcakes so there’d be bread. There has always been bread.
Food stories are family stories. Food stories are love stories. Food stories reveal layers within our characters. Much is conveyed by what kind of food they eat, who cooks it, how much they eat, how the table is set, who sits at the table, how long the meals last, etc. All these details communicate important information about your characters and their backgrounds, whether they are fictional or your own family.
Describing a meal is an excellent way to “show and not tell” your audience about the people sitting at the table. How many critical scenes have played out over a meal in literature? How about in your own life? Sitting down to eat is about so much more than the act itself. What we eat and who we eat it with shows our values, our socioeconomic status, our openness to trying new things, our limitations, how we were raised, how we choose to present ourselves and so much more.
Breathe in the scent of Neruda’s Congee Chowder, Wilkinson’s bread, a relative’s cooking, or your own, and see where it takes you.
~Liz Roach-Smith
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Our March 11th member meeting will be from 6:30 PM to 8:30 at the Eline Library Branch in St. Matthews at 3940 Grandview Ave, Louisville, KY 40207.
If you are interested in receiving a peer critique, let us know before the 11th at noon through email () and tell us what you are bringing. Please bring 8 printed copies of the manuscript you want us to read. No more than 1300 words (4 to 4.5 pages double-spaced) for prose (excerpts of longer pieces welcome), or two pages of poetry.
Our April meeting on the 8th will be at the same location.
Photo by Liz Roach-Smith
WRITING PROMPT
Picture a table. Is it a kitchen table, a formal dining room table, a diner counter? Who is sitting there? What are they eating? How quickly or slowly do they eat? Do they talk, read a book, stare at their phone, argue with someone? Write down what comes to mind and see how you can incorporate it into a writing project, whether a scene for your novel, a nonfiction essay, or a poem.
Fiction: Write about a character who cooks, whether in a restaurant or a home kitchen. Describe a specific dish they create, including lots of sensory details. Create a story around the dish and what it represents for the character.
Poetry: Write a recipe, whether for a specific dish, or a “how to” (i.e. Recipe for a Good Friendship or Recipe for Surviving a Breakup). Be sure to use lavish descriptions that engage all the senses.
Nonfiction:Describe a dish that has played a meaningful role in your life or is associated with a powerful memory and build an essay around it.
~ Liz Roach-Smith
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Members, WWW wants to highlight the creative voices of our community. Send a short biography, headshot, and links to your author/poet accounts and website (if applicable) to . Additionally, share a favorite resource of yours for writing tips (like a podcast or social media account) and your most recent favorite read. We may spotlight you in a future newsletter!
WWW BLOG
Women Who Write has a blog on our website to showcase our community’s talent. We want to publish your writing or republish a recent publication of yours (given that reprints are permitted). Please send us your short stories, poems, and essays! No more than 2,000 words.
Browse our web blog now! Publishing on our blog will expand your writing platform. For more information, email and pitch your story or poem—the one you’ve written or the one you want to write! We may provide suggested edits, for flow and clarity.
The Hundredth Hill Poetry Residency
SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES & LOCAL EVENTS
The Hundredth Hill in Bloomington, IN is open for applications for a poetry residencyuntil March 18th. Three poets will work with Matthew Rotando to create poetry through the lens of resilience from May 19-25th.
Member and former Director Kimberly Crum’s retreat "Re-imagining your characters in your story” at the Valaterra Spiritual Retreat Center in LaGrange, KY has been rescheduled to April 19th from 9 AM to 5:30 PM. The cost is $65 (plus $12 for an optional box lunch). Send your request for a PayPal invoice to Kim at .
The Bluegrass Writers Coalition is hosting the 2025 Conference of Writers on April 26, 2025 Kentucky State University's Harold Benson Research and Demonstration Farm in Frankfort, Kentucky. It promises to be “a jam-packed day of instruction, networking, and fellowship.”
Submit a story to Landslide Lit(erary) on Medium.com, a publication edited by two WWW members—Kimberly Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson—who will provide editorial suggestions.
Regular local events:
● ‘Zine Lunch with Sarabrande Books, monthly on Fridays at noon
● Carmichael’s regularly hosts authors and poets in the evenings
Become a member or renew your membership—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. Our membership coordinator will notify anyone due to renew. Regular annual membership is $50. Student annual membership is $25. Scholarships are available. Membership entitles you to discounts on workshops and retreats.
Attend our monthly member meetings on the second Tuesday of each month for a brief program, peer critiques, and conversations about the writing life. Not currently a member? You can attend two meetings before deciding to join.
