One of my former students recently sent me an email about her resolution for the new year. “I have one big goal for 2022,” she wrote, “and that’s to finish the YA novel that I started while I was a graduate student at UNC Charlotte.” She asked me if I had any advice for her related to her goal. I gave her the same advice that I often give to Charlotte writers who are looking for help or support with their writing. I advised her to join one of Charlotte’s organizations for writers. Such organizations can provide writers with support, encouragement, and a needed break from the solitude of a study. Charlotte is home to several organizations and groups for writers, but for the purposes of this blog post, I will focus on three of them.
Charlotte Lit – The Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, more commonly known as Charlotte Lit, is a nonprofit arts center that holds more than 100 events annually. Founded in 2015 by Kathie Collins and Paul Reali, Charlotte Lit declares on its website that its mission “is to celebrate the literary arts by educating and engaging writers through classes, conversation, and community.” Charlotte Lit offers a wide variety of writing classes and workshops. For example, this month Kathie Collins and Larry Sorkin are co-teaching a course called “Mythology and Depth Psychology: A Crash Course for Writers.” Charlotte Lit also publishes a literary journal titled Litmosphere, sponsors or co-sponsors lectures and readings by writers, and holds writing contests. For more information about Charlotte Lit, please click on the following link: https://www.charlottelit.org/
Charlotte Writers Club – Founded in 1922, the Charlotte Writers Club (CWC) has a long history of supporting Charlotte-area writers by offering workshops, helping writers find critique groups, and sponsoring contests. The CWC meets monthly, and usually, a prominent writer gives a presentation at the meeting. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 18, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. At this meeting author, Megan Miranda will give a presentation titled “Finding the Right Way to Tell Your Story.” For more information about the Charlotte Writers Club, please click on the following link: https://charlottewritersclub.org/home
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Writing Groups – The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library sponsors a variety of writing groups, all of which are currently meeting online. Some of these groups are intended for adults while others are for children or teenagers. For example, on Wednesday, January 19, the Independence Regional Branch is sponsoring its “Adult Poetry Club” from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Also on January 19, the ImaginOn Preteen Writing Group meets from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about the public library’s writing groups, please click on the following link: https://cmlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/search/q=writing%20group
The ready availability of writing organizations and groups is one of the reasons why Charlotte is home to so many successful writers. Aspiring Charlotte writers, such as my former graduate student, can easily find the help and encouragement they need to achieve their writing goals and make their own contributions to Storied Charlotte’s ever-expanding library.