Member Newsletter — February 2026

Photo by Liz Roach-Smith

Hello Writers!

I remember the day I knew I wanted to be a poet.

On that grey January morning, a foot of heavy snow blanketed the ground. My older brother and I eagerly caterwauled out the door to build snow forts, make snow angels and chase our dog across the yard.

After lunch, I walked outside by myself and stood, mesmerized by the wintry scene. I noticed the crunch of the snow beneath my boots: the feel of it, the sound it made. I felt the chill of the air and smelled woodsmoke from a neighbor’s fireplace. I watched the cardinals flitting from tree to tree, their red plumage stark against the snow.

I remember being struck by the moment, which had an almost holy feel to it. I yearned to describe it, to share how it felt. I immediately went inside and wrote a poem about it, which I titled Winter in Kentucky.

While I’d always enjoyed creative writing, this is the first time I remember thinking of myself as a writer. Noticing the scene around me, wanting to share it, straining to describe it in a way that would bring others into the scene.

Sometimes, I still experience the magic of writing. I’ll be sitting in a restaurant, taking the dog for a walk, standing in a bookstore, sitting on a train in a new city, and it happens. The feeling. The magical sense of existing in a living scene, a scene I want to capture in the best way I know how: with words on a page. I want to conjure this place, this feeling, by describing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures.

Winter, with its snowfall, its mystical pink light, its silences, its stillness, is in many ways ideal for this. We need the cold in order to feel warmth. We need darkness in order to appreciate the light. We need quiet in order to truly hear.

In this frozen season of shadows, I invite you to notice the light. Find sources of warmth. Allow yourself to notice and engage in those magic moments. Write them down. Share them.

Our writing connects us, even when we feel alone or discouraged by what surrounds us.

While I haven’t read my childhood poem in years, I will never forget how it felt to write it. The writing began with the noticing and the primal need to express, to connect. Amid a snowstorm, I think I’m due for a rewrite of Winter in Kentucky. May you create your own winter meditation this season and reflect on your own origin story as a writer.

~Liz Roach-Smith

UPCOMING MEETINGS

Our February meeting is a workshop with Kathleen Driskell, Kentucky Poet Laureate, at Fante’s Coffee House 2501 Grinstead Dr 40206 on Tues February 10 from 6:00 – 7:45 pm. Space is limited. Please register if you plan to attend.

Photo by Liz Roach-Smith

WRITING PROMPT

Nonfiction: What was the first moment you thought of yourself as a writer? Where were you, what was happening, and what did you do about it? Be descriptive with the details.

Fiction: Winter has many meanings beyond the season. Write about a character experiencing winter, whether that means a challenge they’re facing, the winter of their life, or an event that takes place during the season. Use details that bring the reader into the scene.

Poetry: Describe a winter scene in your backyard, on a busy street, or in a restaurant. How does the starkness of winter enhance or contrast with what’s unfolding in your poem?

~ Liz Roach-Smith

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Melissa Draut recently had a nonfiction piece “14 Letters, Bellarmine and Me” published in Bellarmine University’s 75th Anniversary magazine. She says:

“Thank you to Women Who Write for giving me the momentum I needed in fall 2023 along with critiques and encouragement for a non-fiction piece about civil rights leader and Dean of Bellarmine Fr. John Loftus.”

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.

SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES & LOCAL EVENTS

Live readings and performances from Testament: A Rural Anthology, including WWW member Liz Roach-Smith, will be taking place Thursday Feb 5th from 7 to 8pm at Surface Noise, 600 Baxter Ave Louisville KY.

Applications for Kentucky Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship: Literary Arts are open until March 15th. The award is $7,500 to be spent during the grant period July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.

The Bluegrass Writers Coalition’s annual Conference of Writers will be April 11th from 8:30 to 4:00 pm. Registration is required and includes a $100 fee.

Regular local events:

• ‘Zine Lunch with Sarabrande Books, monthly on Fridays at noon
• Carmichael’s regularly hosts authors and poets in the evenings
• Axton Reading Series with UofL Creative Writing Department

Submission directories:

• Submittable
• Duotrope
• Poets and Writers’ list of literary magazines
• NewPages

Women’s publications seeking women writers:

• Landslide Lit(erary) (by WWW members Kimberly Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson)
• HerStry, literary essay/memoir blog
• Ashes, an online magazine of personal essays
• Brown Sugar, online magazine for women of color
• Bi Women Quarterly, bisexual+ women’s publication
• Literary Mama, journal dedicated to motherhood
• Persimmon Tree, online magazine for women older than 60
• So To Speak, an intersectional feminist journal

SUPPORT OUR WRITING COMMUNITY!

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.

Visit our webpage WomenWhoWrite.com.

Visit our Facebook Page—@womenwhowriteky. Don’t forget to like us and follow us.

Thank you, WWW members, for joining our nonprofit group, for sharing your unique voices, and for supporting each other with open hearts and minds.

Your Leadership Team,

Megan, Erin, Holly, Colleen, Liz, Irene, and Nancy