the where of it

creating literary community

• Posted by Summer Wood on April 20th, 2010 filed in Uncategorized
• 3 Comments »

Well, AWP was great.  Provocative panels, terrific new people, chewy ideas, plenty of gossip, only a few too many glasses of wine. Even the food thing worked out okay, if you discount the late-night Domino’s pizza in the room.  (Pepperoni and pineapple. That’s how I really know I’m on vacation.)  I loved hanging out with other writers, talking crap and craft, listening to snippets of new work, exchanging suggestions.

And then we all went home.

I’ll have lots to say in future posts about craft and such — issues that were raised in panels and bandied about after — but for today I’m thinking a lot about community.  How do you sustain an atmosphere of mutual support and encouragement when you’re back home, working solo at your desk, facing that blank page?

Here in Taos, we have a lively bunch of writers and a lovely organization, SOMOS, that supports and promotes the literary arts, both spoken and written, in the region.  SOMOS has been around for something like 20 years, the brainchild of a bunch of civic-minded writers who wanted to organize for their own benefit and at the same time share their knowledge and energy with young emerging writers and other community members.

Other, larger communities have similar organizations.  Minneapolis has The Loft (world renowned), D.C. has The Writers Center, Boston has Grub Street, Denver has Lighthouse Writers Workshop.  Representatives from these four groups joined to present a panel on Creating Literary Community, offering ideas and recounting useful stories from their experiences.

Highlights?  Here are a few.  And, though their suggestions are mainly directed toward large, urban populations, there’s plenty of food for thought for smaller places, too.

1. Know your core mission.  Are you there to connect writers?  To develop readership?  To reach out to underserved groups? To promote professional development among your membership?  You may be doing all of these things.  It helps to formalize your aims and periodically assess your progress.
2. Strive to maintain quality of programming while you welcome writers (and readers) of all levels.
3. Try to work toward a balanced funding stream.  It isn’t always easy. The panelists had a lot to say about securing funding in the current economic climate.
4. Promote accessibility.  Are your programs affordable?  Do you have a welcoming, easily accessed space?  Do all community members feel invited?
5. Be creative in your ideas and approaches, but strive to maintain a consistent identity.

These are organizations with big budgets and impressive workshop schedules.  Here in Taos, SOMOS operates on a shoestring and offers much more circumscribed programming.  Even so, these folks sent me home with lots of thoughts for how to improve things here in my own community.

What works for you?  Do you have a writers group?  Do you correspond with writers who live at a distance?  Are you part of a local organization, or aspire to start one? Do you reach out to younger writers, or know where to turn when you need advice or mentoring?  What ideas or strategies can you offer others?

I’m just home from giving a talk and a reading at the local college to an Intro to Literature class.  (My friend Sean Murphy, himself an accomplished novelist, is the teacher.)  The students, a wonderfully diverse group, were interested, informed, empathetic, and involved on a deeply personal level.  It reminded me how important it is for writers to get out and talk both to their current readers — and to people who might someday be inspired to pick up a book, just because they heard somebody talk about stories with passion and relevance.

What are your thoughts on creating literary community where you live?