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June 2021
Poetry Ritual 2021
On the three-year anniversary of the Poetry Critique Meet-up, co-sponsored by Straw Dog Writers and the Northampton Center for the Arts, twenty poets who have participated in the meet-ups this past year will give short readings. Join us for this gala event by writing for the zoom link at poetryritual2021@gmail.com.
Find out more »An Exploration of Flash Fiction & Flash Memoir
Join us online on June 16 from 6:30 – 8:00pm for An Exploration of Flash Fiction & Flash Memoir. Flash takes everything we love about compelling stories - the complexity, nuance, characters, emotion, tension, stakes - and delivers it all in an impossibly short high-wire act that leaves us deeply affected and that resonates long after. But how do we go about writing, crafting, and editing down our stories into these sparkling fictional (or memoiristic) gems? In this short workshop,…
Find out more »Black Writers Read: Juneteenth, One Year Later
On Friday, June 19, 2020, Valley Society hosted an over 3-hour virtual event, convening 16 Black writers from across the country to share their work. Seeing the need to sustain this platform, we launched the series, Black Writers Read. Join us, one year later in celebration of Juneteenth, to hear from members of Valley Society and past Black Writers Read guests reflect on the year in Black culture, literary arts, and existence. Members of Valley Society will read excerpts from…
Find out more »July 2021
Writers Night Out/In July
Join us for Writers Night In Open Mic on Tuesday, July 6, 7:00pm. Registration required. Click HERE to register. Our featured writer is JoAnne Silver Jones. Writer Bio: In her first book, a memoir, Headstrong: Surviving a traumatic brain injury, JoAnne Silver Jones tells of her journey from suffering an act of random violence that left her with a severe traumatic brain injury, to the publication of her memoir, at age 73, and entry into the world of writing. She…
Find out more »Writers Read Hilltowns July
Join us for Writers Read / Hilltowns! On Sunday, July 11 from 2-4 pm our featured reader is Dr. Jim Brosnan. To attend, email Jane Roy Brown at brownjaneroy@gmail.com for a link to the meeting. Reader Bio: Dr. Jim Brosnan holds the rank of full professor at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. Jim is the author of Nameless Roads (2019), a volume of poetry depicting New England and accompanied by original color photographs. His poems have appeared in…
Find out more »August 2021
Writers Read Hilltowns August
Join us for Writers Read / Hilltowns! On Sunday, August 1 from 2-4 pm. Our featured reader is Nicole M. Young. To attend, email Jane Roy Brown at brownjaneroy@gmail.com for a link to the meeting. Bio: Originally from Detroit, Nicole M. Young considers her creative practice to be inter+multi+disciplinary where theatre, music, poetry, and live performance intersect informing a unique repertoire of work. Trained as a musician and actor, Nicole's gift for writing was discovered as an adult making sense…
Find out more »August 3 Deadline for Author Showcase Submissions
Straw Dog Writers Guild and Forbes Library invite Straw Dog Writers Guild members with a book published in 2020 or 2021 to read as part of the annual Author Showcase on September 8. If you are interested in being part of the Showcase, please indicate your interest by emailing strawdogsubmission@gmail.com. The deadline to express interest is midnight Tuesday, August 3rd. We will let authors know by August 10th. Twelve authors will be selected at random by drawing names from a…
Find out more »Writers Night Out/In August
Join us for Writers Night In Open Mic on Tuesday, August 3, 7:00pm. Registration required. Click HERE to register. Our featured writer is Adam Grabowski. Adam Grabowski is the author of the chapbook Go on Bewilderment (Attack Bear Press, 2020) and his poems have appeared in such journals as Sixth Finch, Rust + Moth, Hobart, jubilat, and elsewhere. A two-time 2021 Pushcart nominee and the recipient of a 2020 Parent-Writer Fellowship from the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Adam…
Find out more »September 2021
Writers Night Out/In September 2021
Join us for Writers Night Out/In Open Mic on Tuesday, September, 7:00pm. Registration required. Register HERE. Our featured writer is Lanette Sweeney. If you have any trouble registering, contact Beth at: strawdogevents@gmail.com Lanette Sweeney's debut collection, What I Should Have Said: A Poetry Memoir About Losing A Child to Addiction, is being published by Kentucky-based Finishing Line Press in August of 2021. The book is divided into the stages of grief and features alongside her own poems 20 poems by…
Find out more »7th Annual Author Showcase
Join Straw Dog Writers Guild and Forbes Library for an online Author Showcase on Wednesday, September 8 at 6:30pm Brief readings from new books by members of Straw Dog Writers Guild: Dusty J. Miller, Eileen P. Kennedy, Howie Faerstein, Kathryn Holzman, Meg Thacher, Jane McPhetres Johnson, Celia Jeffries, Rebecca Hart Olander., J.A. McIntosh, Lesléa Newman, Ellen Meeropol, Stephanie Shafran. Registration required. To register, click HERE. This event is co-sponsored by SDWG and Forbes Library. Meet the Authors…
Find out more »Writers Read Hilltowns September 2021
Join us for Writers Read / Hilltowns on Sunday, September 12th from 2-4pm. Our featured reader is David Wyman. To attend, email Jane Roy Brown at brownjaneroy@gmail.com for a link to the Zoom meeting. David Wyman's second poetry collection, Violet Ideologies, was published in 2020 by Kelsay Books. His first book Proletariat Sunrise, also published by Kelsay Books, came out in 2017. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Dissident Voice, Blazing Stadium, BlazeVOX, Clockwise Cat, Picaroon Poetry, Squawk…
Find out more »October 2021
Writing Residency Applications Due November 1, 2021
The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home is collaborating with Straw Dog Writers Guild to offer a unique residency experience for nine emerging writers. Residencies will be for one week and include lodging at Seven Hills Inn in Lenox, a workspace at The Mount, breakfast, lunch, and a $500 stipend. The residencies run weekly from March 6 – March 26 and three writers will be selected for each week. How to apply: Applications open on October 1 and close on November 1. The…
Find out more »Writers Read Hilltowns October 2021
Join us for Writers Read / Hilltowns on Sunday, October 3 from 2-4pm. Our featured reader is Michael Favala Goldman. To attend, email Jane Roy Brown at brownjaneroy@gmail.com for a link to the Zoom meeting. Bio: Michael Favala Goldman (b.1966) is a poet, jazz clarinetist and widely-published translator of Danish literature. Among his sixteen translated books are The Water Farm Trilogy by Cecil Bødker and Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen (a Penguin Classic). His first book of original poetry, Who has…
Find out more »Writers Night Out/In October
Join us for Writers Night Out/In Open Mic on Tuesday, October 5, 7:00pm. Registration required. Register HERE. Our featured writer is María Luisa Arroyo. Changes to registration have been made for security purposes. You will now receive your link after your registration has been approved within 24 to 48 hours. On the day of the event, your link will be re-sent for ease of access. Contact strawdogevents@gmail.com for questions. See you soon! Bio: Educated at Colby, Tufts and Harvard in…
Find out more »Darling You’re Making a Scene
Straw Dog Writers Guild presents: “Darling, You’re Making a Scene” with Áine Greaney on Saturday, October 16, 2021 10:30 – 12:00. This workshop will be on Zoom. Registration required. Register HERE. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, learn how to craft lively, memorable scenes that draw the reader in and make them care about your story and your real or imagined characters. In this workshop, participants will learn: Macro and micro issues of scene building Those opening and closing scenes…
Find out more »November 2021
Writers Night Out/In November
Join us for Writers Night Out/In Open Mic on Tuesday, November 2, 7:00pm. Registration required. Our featured writers are Jason Montgomery and Alexandra Woolner, joint poet laureates of Easthampton. Register in advance for this meeting: Click HERE to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email (within 24 - 48 hours) containing information about joining the meeting. For security purposes, all attendees must register via this link. Names not on the registration list will not be admitted at the…
Find out more »SDWG Annual Meeting
PUBLIC NOTICE: Straw Dog Writers Guild Annual Meeting Thursday, November 4, 7:00 - 8:00pm. Agenda: Welcome and accomplishments Vote in Board of Directors SDWG Programs and Committees A Path Forward Website performance for this past year Hear from the Membership SDWG members who are interested in participating in the Annual Meeting, please email admin@strawdogwriters.org to request zoom link for registration. If you are not able to participate in Thursday's member, you can still vote for BOD officer. UPDATE: Voting has…
Find out more »Writers Read Hilltowns November
Join us for Writers Read / Hilltowns on Sunday, November 7 from 2-4pm. Our featured reader is Rebecca Hart Olander. To attend, email Jane Roy Brown at brownjaneroy@gmail.com for a link to the Zoom meeting. Bio: Rebecca Hart Olander’s poetry has appeared recently in Crab Creek Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and her collaborative work has been published in multiple venues online and in They Said: A Multi-Genre Anthology of Contemporary Collaborative Writing (BLP). Rebecca is a…
Find out more »Black Writers Read: Aprell May
Please join us on Sunday, November 14 at 3 p.m. ET when we host Aprell May (urban creative non-fiction. journalism). She'll read from her memoir, "Classic Fly: Essays from generational trauma to healing." A previous salon owner, Aprell May is a trending/breaking news reporter for The Republican. She recently received her M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Bay Path University. When she is not spending time with her wonderful daughter and dogs Bentley and Lolaisha, Aprell May loves writing about…
Find out more »Exploring Some Japanese Poetry Forms: Writing Haiku and Tanka
Straw Dog Writers Guild presents: Exploring Some Japanese Poetry Forms: Writing Haiku and Tanka with Eileen P. Kennedy on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 from 6:30 - 8:00pm. Haiku and Tanka are traditional Japanese poetry forms. How do we go about developing our creative thoughts into these highly structured styles of poetry? In this short workshop, we’ll begin to answer this question. Through a brief talk, reading and discussion of some traditional and modern texts, and in-session writing, we’ll explore these…
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