Bulletin Board

SDWG members, submit a free listing on our bulletin board for a reading, workshop, or service you’re offering

REQUESTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Perk for SDWG Members! Straw Dog Writers Guild is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. If you are a current SDWG member and you have published a book, we can include your book on our members list on our Bookshop.org profile. Important instructions for inclusion: To be included, first, check to see if your book is available at: https://bookshop.org/ THEN, if it is, send your name and book title to admin@strawdogwriters.org. This platform will give greater exposure to your book. “Bookshop.org is an online book marketplace launched in January 2020. Its stated mission is “to financially support local, independent bookstores.” Bookshop, Inc., a privately held company, has been certified as a B Corporation.” NOTE: Some books may not be available on this site.

Missed an online SDWG event? Check out our YouTube channel for workshop and event recordings.

---

MEET UPS

Forbes Library Writing Room Wednesdays at 9:00am-12:30pm

This is a free, structured, facilitated drop in community writing group. We check in at 9:30, then write together for two hours, followed by the opportunity to read what you wrote (5 minutes). Follow the link for ZOOM meeting

Valley Society Black Writing Group

Valley Society, a SDWG committee, is open to new writers for our AWA writing group. We meet Sundays from 2-5 virtually. Visit valleysociety.org/about/writing-group/ to sign up.

Zooming Poetry Workshop

Monthly poetry workshop on the 4th Monday of the month from 4-5pm. “We send each other a poem or two before the workshop, and we give constructive, positive feedback during the workshop.” Interested poets please email Phyllis at phystgeorge@gmail.com

---

BOOK LAUNCHES/CONCERTS/READINGS/OPPORTUNITIES

Reading: “Swift River Secrets” by J.A. McIntosh

J. A. (Judith) McIntosh, a recovering attorney, will share her writing journey at the Wheeler Memorial Library, 49 East Main Street, in Orange, Massachusetts on Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM. Ms. McIntosh is the author of “Swift River Secrets,” a contemporary mystery with family feuds and grudges going back to the drowning of four towns to create the Quabbin Reservoir. She is also the President of the Swift River Valley Historical Society, a primary setting in “Swift River Secrets. Ms. McIntosh is a long-time student of the Swift River Valley and the flooding of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott to create the Quabbin Reservoir. She also writes the Meredith, Massachusetts series, set in a fictional town in central Massachusetts, and featuring imperfect people seeking justice. Ms. McIntosh has a degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in popular fiction. She was a prosecutor and a practicing attorney for many years and uses that experience in her writing. She is a member of Straw Dog Writers Guild and Mystery Writers of America; she is also on the Board of Directors for Sisters in Crime/New England.

Prompt Festival: Spring Forward, Writers! with Cheryl J. Fish

Sunday, Mar 09, 2025, 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM join Cheryl J. Fish online for her workshop. This workshop is open to writers of all genres and all levels. We’re approaching the end of winter, and setting our clocks forward to return to daylight savings. In that spirit, we will draw on a variety of prompts to spring forward in our writing. These include randomness, set forms, and techniques drawn from other creative arts. We shall use short writing sprints to generate new work and/or revise a draft of what we’re working on, and take it in an unexpected direction. We shall look at brief examples, and share our own efforts, as well as talk about how writing with prompts can help us to surprise ourselves. For more details and to register click HERE.

Calling All Creators! Submission Opportunity

GCC’s Literary journal, Plum, is making a comeback and we want YOU to be a part of this exciting revival! Whether you’re a poet, fiction writer, essayist or visual artist, this is your change to share your work with the GCC community.

We’re seeing fresh, previously unpublished piece for our new edition, which will be published both digitally and in print this spring. This is a wonderful opportunity to have your work featured and celebrated. Work will be considered from artists and writers from our region and anyone affiliated with GCC in any way.

Don’t miss out – submissions will be accepted through April 1, 2025! Find all the guidelines and details at submit your work at gcc.mass.edu/plum

Dreaming on the Page Writing Circle with Tzivia Gover, Author and Certified Dreamwork Professional

First Tuesday of each month, 11 am-2 pm US Eastern Time, on Zoom.
Combining dreams and writing helps to increase self-awareness, reinvigorate your creativity, and supercharge your writing. Each workshop includes information and inspiration for combining dreams and the imagination, plus writing prompts and time to write and share your work.
$55 with accessible pay-what-you-can options for those with low/limited incomes. Learn more and register at: thirdhousemoon.com/event/dreaming-on-the-page-writing-circle/

Miss T’s No Bull Writing Workshops

Miss T here and I’m developing a series of two-hour $10 workshops on various writing topics. Cool, right? The first will be backstory. I call it “Don’t Put the Backstory in the Front.” Future topics include dialogue, show don’t tell, an editing cheat sheet, personal essay, cutting down on adverbs, using power verbs, etc. And, of course, I am open to your suggestions. For the workshop, I’d like you to bring a doubled-space page 12 pt font – about 250 words. It would be best if you could bring in the beginning of your story, or somewhere where you think you may be having an issue with backstory.
To indicate your interest in this or future $10 workshops, click on the link DON’T PUT THE BACKSTORY IN THE FRONT!

Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop

At PVWW, there’s definitely no better time to dive deeply into creative work and goals! They always have A LOT going on, from a full lineup of virtual workshops (one-day and multi-week) to regular readings, panels, and gatherings! And monthly Community Writing (and Community Reading events) – free and open to all – continues. Applications for PVWW’s 10-Month Manuscript Program (in all genres) open each year in the fall as well.  Browse their current workshop schedule HERE!
And visit them online at www.PioneerValleyWriters.org!

Writers in Progress

Writers in Progress, the Valley’s Literary Arts Studio, is excited to re-open our gorgeous physical space this September, launching our Fall Session with a huge variety of weekly, half day and one-day generative and craft workshops. We will also continue to offer many workshops online. Some of our many offerings this fall include: Morning Jumpstarts, with Dori Ostermiller, Writing From Life with Emily Lackey, the Craft of Memoir with Cathy Luna, the Blueprint Your Book Series, with Susanne Dunlap, Fiction Essentials with Jacqueline Sheehan, Poetry Workshop with Sarah Browning, Word for Writers, Tarot for Writers, and many more. We also host a monthly community writing workshop, the first Sunday of each month, open to all. Founded in 1992 by author Dori Ostermiller, WIP has been supporting writers and creating community for three decades and has ‘midwifed’ dozens of published books. Our workshops are limited to 8 participants and emphasize writing time, community and craft development, nurturing voice, giving and receiving constructive, encouraging feedback. We believe that the writing process calls for both rigor and playfulness, both craft and inspiration. We also offer our legendary year-long manuscript intensive for writers working on book-length manuscripts, a six month revision intensive, as well as one-on-one coaching, editing and consulting. Our published alums include Ellen Meeropol, Steve Bernstein, JoAnne Jones, Dusty Miller, Ruth Lehrer, Dinah Mack, Kris Holloway, David Lovelace and many, many more. We host a seasonal Live Literature reading series in our studio and online. Check out our amazing lineup of fall workshops and events at www.writersinprogress.com. Hope to see you soon!

---

SERVICES

---

Straw Dog Writers Guild YouTube Channel

---

Having your events and other writing notes on this Bulletin Board is one of the many benefits of SDWG membership.

• We ask that events be in or within driving distance of the Western MA area.
• Text of up to 100 words
• Link to website or email where further information is available.
• Please send at least six weeks before the event to be placed in our newsletter.