Workshops
Every 4th Reader is Listening: Getting Your Book into Their Ears
Athol Public Library 568 Main St, Athol, MA, United StatesNarrator Scott Ellis shares, "As an audiobook narrator and retired teacher, I am always looking for ways to engage more people with audiobooks. I am looking forward to being with your group to walk through the entire process of audiobook production: from searching for the right narrator on the right platform, understanding the lingo used Read More
Chapbooks: Crafting a Collection
Join Straw Dog Writers Guild with presenter Adrie Rose on Sunday, February 11 via zoom from 3-5pm for this craft workshop. We will come together to work on pulling together poems into a chapbook collection. We’ll talk about what chapbooks are (and are not) and some strategies for arranging the poems in them. Participants are Read More
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing a Query Letter
zoomJoin Straw Dog Writers Guild with literary agent Cherise Fisher for an informative workshop about the often daunting task of writing a query letter. When you are ready to search for an agent, learn how to write the best query letter possible. Experienced agents like Cherise have received thousands of query letters and she has Read More
WriteAngles Conference
Northampton Center for the Arts 33 Hawley St., Northampton, MA, United StatesStraw Dog Writers Guild and our literary partners around western MA are re-imagining the WriteAngles Writers Conference, a local gem for over 30 years. Please save the date, April 6, 2024, for this day-long gathering of writers. That’s a long way away, you say? You’re right, but that gives us lots of time to brainstorm Read More
Dazzle an Agent: Pro Tips to Put the Polish on Your Manuscript
Make-It Springfield 286 Bridge Street, Springfield, MA, United StatesThe publishing market is brutally competitive. It’s not easy to get a query past the gatekeepers at publishing houses and literary agencies. You’re going to need an achingly good (and short) intro letter and an irresistible manuscript sample. You could pay an editor to buff up your prose, but with a little bit of elbow Read More
The Smell of Fear: Building Suspense & Tension with Subtext
Northampton Center for the Arts 33 Hawley St., Northampton, MA, United StatesJoin Straw Dog Writers Guild and presenters Elizabeth MacDuffie and Tamara Fricke for "The Smell of Fear: Building Suspense & Tension with Subtext" on Wednesday, May 22, 7-8:30pm, at the Northampton Center for the Arts,33 Hawley Street, Northampton, MA. In this craft workshop, writers will be guided in the art of creating suspense and tension Read More
Promoting Your Work as an Indie Author
zoomJoin Straw Dog Writers Guild on Saturday, June 15 from 1:00-2:30pm on Zoom with J. Scott Coatsworth as he shares his experience as an indie author. In this craft workshop he will present some of the tips and tricks he has learned in how to promote ones work and field questions. Scott stares, "I recently Read More
What Poems Want Reading and Revising with Care
Lilly Library 19 Meadow Street, Florence, MA, United StatesWhen giving feedback about poems, we’re often asked to point out what’s “working” and what’s “not working” and discuss revisions that would make poems “stronger.” But what would it mean to enter a different kind of relationship with our writing—one in which we let the poem itself guide us to what it needs? In this Read More
Surprising Readers and Ourselves: Playing with Hermit Crab Essays, Poems, and Stories
zoomUpon first glance, “Hermit Crabs” (stories or poems or essays that borrow another “shell” or form, also known as the False Document or Trojan Horse poem or Constraint Essay) look like literary play (and they are fun!). But they’re also great tools to break through writers’ block or overcome resistance to topics that feel heavy, Read More
Poetry Critique Meet Up in November
Northampton Center for the Arts 33 Hawley St., Northampton, MA, United StatesPoetry Critique Meet-up on Zoom is a chance for poets to give and receive immediate constructive feedback on their poems by everyone in attendance. Learn what is working in your poems, and what may need revision. Contribute your observations to other poets. Be fascinated by the breadth of the written word. Register for Saturday, November Read More