Annual Meeting 2019

Lilly Library 19 Meadow Street, Florence, MA, United States

Come join us for our annual meeting. This is a time to have the community come together and discuss ways in which Straw Dog can further support the writing community in Western MA.  

Writers Read/Hilltowns – Featured Reader Janet MacFayden

Janet MacFadyen is the author of four poetry collections, including Waiting to Be Born (Dos Madres Press 2017), In the Provincelands (Slate Roof 2012), and A Newfoundland Journal (Killick Press 2009). Her work has been nominated for the Forward Prize (UK) and two Pushcarts. It also has been anthologized in 50/50: Poems and Translations by Women over 50, and has appeared in The Atlanta Read More

Writers Night Out – Featured Reader Mary A Koncel

The Basement

Mary A. Koncel has published three books of prose poetry – Closer to Day (Quale Press), You Can Tell the Horse Anything (Tupelo Press), and The Last Blonde (Hedgerow Books). She was a recipient of a poetry fellowship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a finalist for the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award. Her Read More

“Mastering Beginnings and Endings in Your Writing” Workshop with Kate Senecal

Northampton Center for the Arts 33 Hawley St., Northampton, MA, United States

"Ann Hood once wrote that Beginnings "put into motion the events that will drive the story to its resolution. And the resolution is often the inverse of the opening. " Come join Kate Senecal on Sunday, November 10 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Northampton Center for the Arts for this writing workshop. She'll investigate Read More

Writers Read/Hilltowns – Featured Reader: Alexis Johnson

Belding Memorial Library 344 Main Street, Ashfield, United States

Alexis Johnson is co-founder and was Executive Director of International Language Institute for 31 years.  Her undergraduate degree in in languages and linguistics. Her double masters is in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Teaching Spanish. Before that she lived and taught in Barcelona for 9 years.  Her first book,Playing With A Full Deck, is a Read More

Writers Night Out – Featured Reader Karen Skolfield

The Basement

Karen Skolfield’s book Battle Dress (W. W. Norton, 2019) won the Barnard Women Poets Prize. Her book Frost in the Low Areas (Zone 3 Press) won the 2014 PEN New England Award in poetry, and she is the winner of the 2016 Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize in poetry from The Missouri Review. Skolfield is Read More

Writers Read/Hilltowns – Featured Reader Libby Maxey

Belding Memorial Library 344 Main Street, Ashfield, United States

Libby Maxey, of Conway, MA, is a senior editor at the online journal Literary Mama; she also edits for Amherst College and as a freelancer. She reviews poetry for The Mom Egg Review and Solstice, and her own poems have appeared in Crannóg, Kestrel, Naugatuck River Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Emrys and elsewhere. Her first chapbook, Kairos, won Finishing Line Press’s 2018 New Women’s Voices Chapbook Read More

Writers Night Out – Featured Reader Jovonna Van Pelt

The Basement

Jovonna Van Pelt considered a college degree for a career in Journalism but was advised that she wasn’t tough enough; it may even have been true. Instead, she earned her MA degree in Ethics. Through the years, her writing has served colleagues, non-profits, corporations, and puppeteers. Jo started writing for herself in 2014 and has Read More

6th Annual Author Showcase

Forbes Library Coolidge Museum, 20 West Street, Northampton, 01060

6th Annual Straw Dog Writers Guild Author Showcase Straw Dog Writers Guild is planning their Sixth Annual Author Showcase for new authors. The showcase features Straw Dog members with a new book published in the last two years.

Writers Read/Hilltowns – Featured Reader Suzanne S. Rancourt

Belding Memorial Library 344 Main Street, Ashfield, United States

Here’s how it works: The featured writer reads recent work and describes the journey to publication, followed by Q & A. Then the floor opens to other writers, who can read for five minutes each; we also draw two names for 10-minute readings. If you want to read, put your name in the hat before 2:15. Ms. Rancourt, Read More

Writers Night Out – Featured Reader Julia McKenzie Munemo

The Basement

OPEN MIC & FEATURED READER Every month we host a  different guest Author to be our evenings Featured Reader. The Featured Reader reads from their writing and shares their experience as a Writer. THE BASEMENT – 21 Center Street, Northampton, MA  If you’d like a chance to read, place your name in the hat up until Read More

Roundtable Discussion – The Novel: the Long Haul

Lily Library Florence, MA, United States

Roundtable Discussion - The Novel: the Long Haul The novel is a unique project that can take years from that first seed of inspiration to getting it out into the world. Come join other writers, as well as published authors, at our round table discussion to find out the different approaches, skills, and supports that Read More

Writers Read – Featured Reader Faith Kindness

Belding Memorial Library 344 Main Street, Ashfield, United States

Here’s how it works: The featured writer reads recent work and describes the journey to publication, followed by Q & A. Then the floor opens to other writers, who can read for five minutes each; we also draw two names for 10-minute readings. If you want to read, put your name in the hat before 2:15. Long-time resident Read More

Writers Night Out – Featured Reader Susanne Dunlap

The Basement

OPEN MIC & FEATURED READER Every month we host a  different guest Author to be our evenings Featured Reader. The Featured Reader reads from their writing and shares their experience as a Writer. THE BASEMENT – 21 Center Street, Northampton, MA  If you’d like a chance to read, place your name in the hat up until Read More

Writers Read/Hilltowns – Featured Reader Jan Maher

Belding Memorial Library 344 Main Street, Ashfield, United States

We will meet in the Virtual Hilltowns via Zoom on April 5, 2-4 p.m. Here's how it works: To attend, email Jane Roy Brown for a link to the meeting: brownjaneroy@gmail.com.  You can sign up for Zoom video conferencing for free HERE. Hosted by Jane Roy Brown  Jan Maher's writing credits include two novels, Heaven, Indiana and Earth As It Is; one-act plays Ismene and Intruders; Most Read More

Straw Dog Writers Guild