The “Writers Accountability Group (WAG)” is a free monthly opportunity for writers of all ages, genders, and genres to come together in person to offer mutual support, motivate accountability and goal-setting, participate in writing exercises, share work, and offer helpful responses to the work shared. These 90-minute sessions will be based on the philosophy set forth by Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) founder, Pat Schneider: “every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft”* Structure of the sessions may vary based on the number of participants and their interests.
HOW IT WORKS: Bring your writing notebook and be prepared to share a writing goal for which you’d like to be held accountable. Group facilitators will provide a prompt for a writing exercise during the session (or use the writing time for a work in progress). Each workshop will be facilitated by Women Writers Accountability Group (WWAG) alumnae Joan E. McCarthy, Kit Boyer or Abby Palko.
COST: This is a free monthly workshop. Registration not required, simply join us in person!
DATE/TIME: 6:30pm on the first Wednesday of every month, beginning on February 7th, 2024 and running through June 2024. We will also be offering a second optional in-person “critique” session on the third Wednesday of each month at The Palace, 6:30 to 8:00, starting with February 21st.
LOCATION: 19 Utica St. Hamilton, NY 13346 - Palace Theater Mezzanine
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS:
Joan E. McCarthy is a poet and copywriter with a degree in American Studies from Smith College. She has participated in many workshops and readings and her poetry has appeared in several literary journals. She received a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship and admission into the Iowa Writers Workshop summer poetry program where she also studied letterpress printing and published a chapbook of her work.
Kit Boyer is a poet and Marine Corps veteran with a degree in English from Arizona State University. Since 2014, she has been involved in the writing community. She's worked as an editor and submissions manager at Four Chambers Press and as a writing workshop moderator. Kit runs an online poetry critique group every other Monday. She also hosts the Writer at Work Podcast with her childhood friend.
Abby Palko is an avid reader who has taught essay writing in a wide variety of settings. After many years of a lot of academic writing and some personal essay writing, she has returned to her first love, fiction writing. She has degrees in literature from Chestnut Hill College, Rutgers University, and the University of Notre Dame. She is working on her first novel, a historical fiction story that draws on her love of needlepoint.