The Room to Write

We have been invited by the Arts Collaborative of Wakefield to collaborate once again as part of their Elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire art exhibit in October. This time we flipped the timeline so that the writers submitted their pieces first and then the artists used the writing as an inspirational springboard for their artistic creations. The exhibit will take place in October at the Albion Cultural Exchange . See the dates and details below:

After a year's hiatus, the Commonweath Pen Show is returning with all things pen and paper thanks to the Boston Pen People ! If you'd like to learn more about the Boston Pen People, feel free to join them at their next meeting on Saturday, October 19th at 12.00 noon at the Albion Cultural Exchange (ACE), 9 Albion Street, Wakefield, MA. Until then, meet them at the pen show. Note the new location for the pen show.

Let's put our toes together!:) The Room to Write invites those in the north of Boston region to join us Tuesday, July 30 th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm for our quarterly Writers and Illustrators Meet & Greet taking place in the Reading Public Library’s conference room. Adult writers and artists of all genres and levels are welcome to stop in for a free, fun and casual meetup. Are you published? Bring your book or portfolio to share and celebrate with others. Not published? Share the focus or challenge of a work-in-progress. Let us know about an upcoming theatre production you have a hand in or a magazine your article or poem appeared in. Receive and offer encouragement. It can be invigorating to simply talk with other creative minds about writing, painting, songwriting, etc and to learn about how others are stretching their creativity. Attendees will learn about the upcoming artist/writer collaboration being planned for the fall and how you can participate while enjoying a cup of

We are always glad when Mother Nature cooperates (mostly:) and we are all able to enjoy a beautiful day by Lake Q for the annual Festival by the Lake, which took place on Saturday, June 8th this year!  With five local authors, three typewriters and two guest poets under our tent, there was something for everybody. Our guest authors were Susan Sabbatelli, Regina Mouradian, Sally Chetwynd, Karin Gertsch, and Christine Ricci-McNamee. Three children's authors and three adult authors (only possible with five authors because the talented Karin Gertsch writes for kids and adults!  A new feature at our tent this year was  the very popular and really fun poetry on demand fundraiser where passersby were able to talk briefly with our Poet for Hire.  Colleen Getty kicked it off at the beginning of the day, but the real stars waxing poetic for most of the day were Paul Angelosanto and Kerri Bonner Leonard pictured below. Our poets raised just over $100 for TRtW's programming! Special thanks

Our Seniors and Veterans Programming year wraps up on Tuesday, May 21st with an Open Mic Session at the Wakefield Senior Center at 1:30pm and that is the last of what has been a fulfilling year for those who attended either the Wakefield Senior Center or the Stoneham Senior Center on any given Tuesday since programming began in September 2023.  We run our programming like an academic year with a break in the summer for our all-volunteer team of coordinators and facilitators, but we are already looking forward to the variety of programs we will be offering starting in the fall. There are too many things to include in this one blog post, but let's recap the last month or so.  April 9th: Guest speaker: Nancy Reily, owner of Lady with a Pen , talked about the art of calligraphy and design. In addition to teaching classes and giving lectures, Nancy ran an invitation and calligraphy shop in Wakefield for twenty years.  After her talk, participants had a chance to try their hand at callig

Wow--April sure did keep us busy in all the best ways! We were invited to collaborate with the Arts Collaborative of Wakefield for their April Art Exhibit and Sale at the Albion Cultural Exchange and we committed fully to the collaboration! The theme of the exhibit and sale was "Tell Me a Story" and so we participated in three ways with an added bonus Writers and Illustrators Meet & Greet to boot!  1. An exhibit pairing 13 written pieces with 13 pieces of art. 2. Local Author Table featuring authors living all around us. 3. 3 Family Friendly Storytime Art Hours featuring 6 local authors. Writers who participated in the Artist/Writer collaborative exhibit were: Marilyn Lamkin, Cate Daniels, Susan Jepson, Sally Chetwynd, Eddie Brophy, Jennifer Revill, Kerri Leonard, Linda Malcolm, Sara Desmond, Eileen Worthley, PJ Carmichael, Janie Smith, & Alice Getty. You can see an example of their work on our North of Boston Writers Network blog with more to follow:  Shoes by Alice