January 21, 2013

as From a writer who does not do blogs… as   As someone new to writing, I can’t imagine a better place to live than western Massachusetts. You can’t walk two blocks without tripping over a novelist or a poet. How amazing to meet writers who are warm, welcoming, and quite generous. In a time when Read More

January 1, 2013

Happy New Year to all! As you think about how you want to change the world in 2013, consider the connection between art and your purse.   — Missy Wick  as When you buy from an independent artist, you are buying more than a painting or a novel or a song. You are buying hundreds of Read More

December 27, 2012

To celebrate the first six months of Writers Night Out, we asked guest reader Beth Filson if we could share the piece she read at our December gathering. Beth graciously agreed to share this excerpt from her memoir, which is a work in progress. It is a fine sample of the work we are privileged Read More

December 12, 2013

In Praise of Writing Communitiesas Guest Blogger: Ellen Meeropol I’ve been thinking about how we writers spend our time. When we’re not writing, that is. Of course, there are all the regular things that people do: jobs and raising families and taking care of elderly parents and taking pets to the vet and mowing the Read More

November 25, 2012

The Necessity of Summer Words Near Winter (a.k.a. another reason to write) Guest Blogger: Missy Wick, Straw Dog Founding Member as November in Northampton, MA 2012 Each day the sun sets a few minutes earlier now. Frost is no longer a warning – it is a given – and neither my body nor mind is Read More

November 8, 2012

Why I Write, Sometimes….  Guest Blogger: Missy Wick, Straw Dog Founding Member as I grew up in the wake of the Holocaust. The walls of my friend’s split-level homes were covered with sepia toned photographs. Men in dark suits and ties, white shirts, and beards stared with authority from their wooden chairs. Women in long dresses, Read More

October 18, 2012

as Comments on the Writing Life … Part 3 Making life a little bit better, a little more often Guest Blogger: Kathy Dunn, Straw Dog Founding Member as In the weekly workshops, I try to carve out 5 or 6 minutes for Comments on the Writing Life. These conversations often center around the writing practice: Read More

October 4, 2012

 as Comments on the Writing Life … Part 2 Practicing Trust Guest Blogger: Kathy Dunn, Straw Dog Founding Member as This is Part 2 of a Three-Part posting on the Writing Life. If you haven’t read Part 1, you can find it below. When you’re done, come on back and have a look at this Read More

September 21, 2012

  Comments on the Writing Life … Part 1 Creativity is a gift. Everyone has it. Guest Blogger: Kathy Dunn, Straw Dog Founding Member as This turned out to be a very long post. I have a tendency to expand, given the slightest opportunity; and while blogging wisdom calls for posts that are short and Read More