Writers Tools: Scrivener, MS Word and Google Docs
2026-02-04 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | North Amherst Library Community Room, 8 Montague Rd, Amherst, MA, 10002, United States
A lecture/discussion of three common tools used by writers: Grammerly’s scrivener, Microsoft’s Word, and Google’s Docs.

North Amherst Library Community Room
February 4th, 7-8:30 pm
The presentation will demonstrate the various strengths and weaknesses of the three tools, using either a display projector or screen sharing in zoom.

The presenter will provide recommendation for the use of the three tools. Participants will not be expected to use the software, but to view the presentation and ask questions about each tool. Time will be allotted for ample questions and answers. (Note that the presentation will be delivered in Windows, but screen shots of Mac versions of Scrivener will be incorporated into the presentation.)

Don Lesser has an M.F.A. In fiction from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Professionally, he has been a computer technical writer, a corporate trainer, and a food writer in addition to writing manuals and delivering classes in computer software in MS-DOS and all versions of Windows software. His novel, Crystal Springs, will be published in February 2026 by Rootstock Press.

Second Sundays Virtual Open Mic
2026-02-08 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-08 18:00 - 20:00
Come create community on second Sundays of every month 6-8pm EST with a virtual open mic on zoom.
Please contact Lindsay Rockwell for zoom link if interested: emonrock@mac.com
Format Focus: EVERYONE READS!

Co-create and reading and listening experience that is generous, dynamic, and heart-felt.
Read a 3-minute piece
Brief positive responses after readers share
Listeners welcome

Weekly Wednesday Writing Group
2026-02-11 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-02-18 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-02-25 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-03-04 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-03-11 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-03-18 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-03-25 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-04-01 18:30 - 20:00 | Dalton Free Public Library, 462 Main Street, Dalton, MA, 01226
This Wednesday and every Wednesday: in-person Weekly Wednesday Writing Group at the @daltonfreepubliclibrary

“Curious Writers” will meet at the Dalton Free Public Library on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00pm for our Weekly Wednesday Writing Group in collaboration with the Dalton Free Public Library.
We will meet for dedicated writing time with a focus on:

getting settled and acquainted
writing goals for the session
one hour of concentrated writing
recap

Bring your laptop, journal, pen, and paper. At this time, the meetings do not include sharing writing for feedback. Feedback will be included if the group decides it would be beneficial (guidelines for feedback will be provided). Spaces limited.

For more information email Emma Carkhuff Emmacarkhuff2@gmail.com

Straw Dog Writes
2026-02-11 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-02-18 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-02-25 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-04 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-11 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-18 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-25 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-04-01 19:00 - 20:00 | ZOOM, MA
Straw Dog Writers Guild members who would like to spend some time writing together can join a Zoom session. We will spend 15 minutes on introductions, a 45 minute writing session, have a 15 minute discussion, then write for a second 45 minute period of time. Afterwards, the Zoom room will remain open for a half hour for discussion and chat.
To register and receive the zoom link, contact Steven D. Brewer at sdbrewer@stevendbrewer.com

A Writer's Night in February
2026-02-12 18:45 - 19:30 | The Longmeadow Adult Center, 211 Maple Road, Longmeadow, MA, United States
Straw Dog Writers’ Guild and Longmeadow Adult Center present author Jovonna Van Pelt on Thursday, February 12 from 6:45-7:30pm at the Longmeadow Adult Center.
Jovonna Van Pelt has stories to share: funny stories, difficult stories, personal revelations, and casual observations of life. She has been a featured reader for Straw Dog Writers Guild, Poets at Large, Gateway City Arts, Great Falls Word Festival, and a multiple finalist in the Poet’s Seat competition. Jo’s debut poetry collection, Unrelated Questions (Human Error Publishing, 2019) was serendipity after a Garlic & Arts Festival appearance. She lives happily with her rescue cat in Greenfield, MA.
You may register by calling 413-565-4150, option 1. Or you can just show up. The Longmeadow Adult Center is located at 211 Maple Road, Longmeadow.

Poetry Critique Meet Up in February
2026-02-15 13:00 - 15:30 | Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley St., Northampton, MA, 01060, United States
Poetry 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 Sunday February 15, 1-3:30 pm. Cost: by donation. Suggested sliding scale $25-40. No one turned away for lack of funds. Limited to five participants. Register early. Please sign up for one session per month. Register HERE. Questions – email: hammerandhorn@gmail.com

These workshops are made possible in part through the Eli Daniel Nemetz Todd Memorial Fund. Please make your donation through the Center for the Arts via Paypal here, via Venmo @Northampton-CenterForTheArts, or by mailing a check made out to NCFA to PO Box 366, Northampton, MA 01061. Please note Poetry/Prose in the memo line. Donations on the upper end of the scale help support our continued commitment to accessibility. If you need financial support, please apply through NCFA’s Community Fund.

Facilitator: Michael Favala Goldman is author of seven poetry collections and translator of nineteen books. His work has appeared in scores of publications such as The New Yorker, The Harvard Review, and Rattle Magazine. https://michaelfavalagoldman.com/

Michael’s blog about the Poetry Critique Meet-up: http://strawdogwriters.org/blog/poetry-meet-up

Writers Night Out in March - Cancelled!
2026-03-03 18:00 - 20:00 | Forbes Library, Coolidge Museum, 20 West Street, Northampton, 01060
Oh no! Forbes Library is closing for the day. That means Writers Night Out is canceled for March 3rd.

Join Straw Dog Writers Guild on Tuesday March 3rd, 6:00-8:00pm for Writers Night Out with featured writer Patricia Lee Lewis, at Forbes Library. No registration required. If you want to participate in Open Mic and read, please sign up by 5:50pm. Ten names will be randomly selected. Each reader will have five minutes. The second half of the evening showcases our Featured Reader.
Hosted by Jacqueline Sheehan, Rick Paar and Beth Filson.
A native Texan, Patricia Lee Lewis is an award-winning poet who led creative writing and yoga retreats at her little mountainside retreat in Westhampton MA and internationally for 30 years. An advocate for women, civil rights, peace and democracy, and co-founder of Straw Dog Writers Guild, Thorns of the Mesquite is her first novel.
https://writingretreats.org/

Inspired Poetry Share
2026-03-04 18:30 - 20:00
Enjoy an evening of reading and listening to poetry!

Bring your newest work, your favorite work, or a poem you read from another poet. We come together on a quarterly basis to read our work and or the work of others and enjoy filling our ears and hearts with poetry. This is a safe space to share your poetry. There is no critiquing, just appreciation for sharing inspired words.

And for those of you who do appreciate a theme here is this session’s challenge by choice: The first time I met you: consider the first time you met someone or did something new and either create or find poetry on this topic.

Come read and listen on Wednesday, March 4th from 6:30-8:00pm in the Belding Memorial Library Meeting Room with poet Arianna Alexsandra Collins of Offerings for Community Building. Tea and treats will be served.

This program is free and open to the public. Please register by contacting Belding Memorial Library at bmlashfield@gmail.com or 413-628-4414.

The Library is located at 344 Main St. in Ashfield, MA.
Sponsored by Belding Memorial Library and Straw Dog Writers Guild.

A Writer's Night in March with Peter J. Newland
2026-03-12 18:45 - 19:30 | The Longmeadow Adult Center, 211 Maple Road, Longmeadow, MA, United States
Straw Dog Writers’ Guild and Longmeadow Adult Center present Peter J. Newland for A Writer’s Night on Thursday, March 12 from 6:45-7:30pm at the Longmeadow Adult Center.

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Peter J Newland formed the Springfield, MA rock band FAT in 1969. FAT released albums on RCA and their own Dream Merchant Records and were signed to Atlantic Records by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler in 1979. Peter wrote all the material on the FAT albums, collaborating with other bandmembers on several songs.
In 1985, Peter moved to Nashville and worked as a staff writer for Paul Overstreet and Fitzgerald/Hartley. He has had songs cut by Hank Williams Jr., Collin Raye, Tracy Lawrence, Alan Jackson, and others. He moved back to Springfield in 2002. He appears locally and regionally with with FAT. He also performs with his rock quintet RadioX, and The Peter J. Newland Trio.
Peter began work on his first novel (working title: The Meteorite and the Runaway Horse) in the fall of 2022. It is an autobiographical work of creative non-fiction, and his intent is for it to be the first of a three-book series. Each book will incorporate several of Peter’s original songs that are relevant to various aspects of the story. He has recently finished writing the first volume and, along with his editor David Sokol, is entering the final editing and revision phase.
You may register by calling 413-565-4150, option 1. Or you can just show up. The Longmeadow Adult Center is located at 211 Maple Road, Longmeadow.

A Writer's Night in May with Joy Deva Baglio
2026-03-12 18:45 - 19:30 | The Longmeadow Adult Center, 211 Maple Road, Longmeadow, MA, United States
Straw Dog Writers’ Guild and Longmeadow Adult Center present Peter J. Newland for A Writer’s Night on Thursday, March 12 from 6:45-7:30pm at the Longmeadow Adult Center.
Joy Deva Baglio is a writer of speculative-literary fiction and the founder of the literary arts organization Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop, based in Northampton MA (and virtually). Her short stories appear widely in journals such as One Story, Ploughshares, The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, Tin House, The Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere. Two stories have been optioned for film/TV. Her writing has been supported by fellowships, grants, and residencies from Yaddo, The Elizabeth George Foundation, Ragdale, Vermont Studio Center, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, The Speculative Literature Foundation, and The Kerouac Project, where she was the spring 2023 Writer-in-Residence living and writing in Jack Kerouac’s Orlando bungalow. Joy holds an MFA from The New School and is currently at work on multiple novels and a short story collection. She’s represented by Peter Steinberg, at United Talent Agency, and Sean Daily at Hotchkiss, Daily & Associates, for film/ TV. Joy lives in Northampton, MA, where she can also be found playing the bagpipes, running, and scheming up adventures. She writes a semi-regular Substack—Alone in a Room—on the craft of writing. Visit her online at www.JoyBaglio.com.
You may register by calling 413-565-4150, option 1. Or you can just show up. The Longmeadow Adult Center is located at 211 Maple Road, Longmeadow.

Open Mic at WOW in Westfield
2026-03-12 19:00 - 21:00 | The WOW Center, 105 Elm Street, Westfield, MA
A FREE, low-pressure, open mic night welcoming all who love prose and poetry. Authors, poets and writers of every skill level are invited to share a 3–5-minute piece for WOW’s newest series celebrating the spoken word, produced with the Straw Dog Writers Guild and Whip City Wordsmiths.
This program will happen each month on the 2nd Thursday.
Check back here for special theme events and more!
Readers sign up on a first-come basis, when the doors open. Be an audience member or perhaps share your favorite fiction/non-fiction or poetry selection. Beverages available. Right on!!!!

WriteAngles Call for Proposals!
2026-03-15 08:00 - 2026-05-15 17:00
Be part of the only writers conference in Western Massachusetts! If you are an experienced writing professional or teacher of writing submit a proposal to be part of the 2026 WriteAngles Conference HERE.
If you have an idea for a session that you would like to see at the conference, please email Morgan at admin@strawdogwriters.org.
We can’t wait to hear your ideas!

Poetry Critique Meet Up in March
2026-03-15 13:00 - 15:30 | Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley St., Northampton, MA, 01060, United States
Poetry 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 Sunday March 15, 1-3:30 pm. Cost: by donation. Suggested sliding scale $25-40. No one turned away for lack of funds. Limited to five participants. Register early. Please sign up for one session per month. Register HERE. Questions – email: hammerandhorn@gmail.com

These workshops are made possible in part through the Eli Daniel Nemetz Todd Memorial Fund. Please make your donation through the Center for the Arts via Paypal here, via Venmo @Northampton-CenterForTheArts, or by mailing a check made out to NCFA to PO Box 366, Northampton, MA 01061. Please note Poetry/Prose in the memo line. Donations on the upper end of the scale help support our continued commitment to accessibility. If you need financial support, please apply through NCFA’s Community Fund.

Facilitator: Michael Favala Goldman is author of seven poetry collections and translator of nineteen books. His work has appeared in scores of publications such as The New Yorker, The Harvard Review, and Rattle Magazine. https://michaelfavalagoldman.com/

Michael’s blog about the Poetry Critique Meet-up: http://strawdogwriters.org/blog/poetry-meet-up

Stepping Into the Story – Using Psychodrama to Deepen Character Development
2026-03-28 10:00 - 12:00 | Easthampton Public Library Annex, 52 Main Street, Easthampton, MA, 01027, United States
Dive into character building using psychodrama with author and poet Kevin Thomas!

March 28th from 10am-12pm
Easthampton Public Library Annex

In this experiential writer’s craft workshop, participants will use psychodrama to enter their characters’ worlds as fully as possible—speaking in their voices, seeing through their eyes, and discovering unspoken motivations. By moving beyond the page and into action, writers will uncover layers of emotional truth, relationship dynamics, and sensory detail that make characters more vivid and compelling. Whether working on fiction, memoir, or poetry, participants will leave with fresh insights and new material to enrich their writing.
Register for this event HERE.
Kevin Thomas is a poet, facilitator, and organizational consultant based in Greenfield, Massachusetts. His work has been recognized with awards including Second Prize in the Poet’s Seat Poetry Contest. In both his writing and teaching, he is drawn to voices at the margins—objects, animals, and overlooked figures—using imaginative empathy to explore inner life and relational dynamics. Kevin is the founder of Green River Coaching & Consulting and the Pioneer Valley Psychodrama Institute, where he brings embodied, action-oriented methods to creative, therapeutic, and professional development settings. Trained in psychodrama, coaching, and group facilitation, he works at the intersection of story, body, and meaning. His workshops invite participants to step inside experience—on the page and in the room—to discover emotional truth, complexity, and depth.
https://www.pioneerpsychodrama.org/events

Cracking Open Your Poetic Process
2026-04-04 12:30 - 14:00 | Forbes Library, Coolidge Museum, 20 West Street, Northampton, 01060
Cracking Open Your Poetic Process: a roundtable experiment in stimulating our personal approaches to writing poetry.

Co-facilitated by Lindsay Rockwell and Becky Jones

Saturday, April 4, 2026, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Coolidge Museum at Forbes Library
20 West Street, Northampton

In this roundtable experiment, up to twelve poets will gather to share reflections, ideas and strategies about our creative processes for writing and revising poetry. We will explore each other’s methods; we will write, discuss, brainstorm, and spark each other’s creative juices.
Lindsay and Becky would be delighted to have you join them.

There is limited space for this roundtable discussion. Please register HERE.
