The Room to Write

 

You have probably heard the term or witnessed “The Irish Goodbye” in action. People often associate that style of departure as a sudden disappearance of a person without a word. Just poof! Well, that’s not my form of The Irish Goodbye. I follow in my parents’ tradition of circling the room to say goodbye to, and chatting with, each person one by one. We kids would plead, “When are we leaving?!” Our parents would stall by responding, “Get the coats.” We kids knew that meant we were at least one solid hour away from actually putting the coats on and walking out the door. Over the past nine years, I’m pleased to say there are too many people in “the room” to say goodbye to each of you individually. We have such a wonderful group of writers and readers and creative minds in this region—that I’m sure I will be bumping into each of you for one reason or another in the weeks, months and years to come. We know each other now. The Room to Write acted as a gracious host and brought us all togeth...

The Room to Write's annual Young Writers and Illustrators Meet, Greet, & Create! felt like a beehive filled with everything that could possibly inspire a young person to want to be curious, experiment, and create.  There were words being typed, pictures being glittered, acorns with eyes, animals to draw, rocks to dig deeper into, field journals, a graphic arts portfolio to amaze, and a master class in character illustration. All in one really fun space provided by the Boys & Girls Club of Metro North 's Saugus Teen Center "The Club" location inside the Square One Mall. What a bright and beautiful space! Tuesday, March 25th, seemed like an ordinary weekday night, but if you happen to be at The Club or strolling through the mall, there was something much more extraordinary to discover: 13 local authors (which included 3 author/illustrators), 1 local kids art organization: Kidcasso , tons-o-snacks, 100+ free books to give away to kids ages toddler (babies, too:) ...

 

What better way to warm up on a cold, winter day than to gather in a wonderfully creative space with wonderfully creative individuals! On Monday, January 27th we met up at the big, yellow house which is home to Follow Your Art Community Studios in Melrose, MA and enjoyed casual community. A variety of interests were represented--from novels taking place during historical biblical times all the way to more modern topics of audio book narrating.  The Room to Write's quarterly Writers and Illustrators Meet & Greets have become a great way to meet other creative minds in the north of Boston region while sipping a cozy beverage and snacking on something sweet. Thanks to Follow Your Art Community Studios for hosting this event and for all those who ventured out on a winter's night to join us! Happy Writing!

The Arts Collaborative of Wakefield  and The Room to Write teamed up again for ACW's October Art Exhibit & Sale which took place at the  Albion Cultural Exchange  in Wakefield. The theme was Elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire.  A collaboration exhibit between artists and writers paired a short piece of writing or poem with original art. Ten artists and writers were featured and several of the writers read their featured pieces aloud at the closing reception on October 25th.  Special thanks to TRtW board member and participating writer, Kerri Bonner Leonard, for being the MC of the readings and book raffle. The ten writers' and artists' paired work will be spotlighted in TRtW's North of Boston Writers Blog in the coming months.  Thank you to the ten writers who took part in this wonderful exhibit: PJ Carmichael,  Sally Chetwynd, Jennifer Revill, Susan Jepson, Cate Daniels, Kerri Leonard, Ariane Faro, Elayne Neal, ...

 Join us on for our upcoming quarterly Meet & Greet at the  Writers' Collaborative Learning Center! Click here for more information:)

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 ...

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...

We had so much fun bringing back our Young Writers and Illustrators Meet, Greet & Create event from its post-pandemic hibernation on Tuesday, March 12th at the Boys & Girls Club of Wakefield.  The authors who participated were,  in alphabetical order, are: Janet Costa Bates ( Rica Baptista: Llamas, Iguanas, and My Very Best Friend ), Rebecca Caprara ( Spin ), Carol Gordon Ekster ( Trucker Kid ), Betsy Ellor ( My Dog is  NOT  a Scientist ), Fred Gracely ( Misfit’s Magic ), Samantha Lewis ( Nature Activity Book for Little Ones ), Kari Percival ( How to Say Hello to a Worm ), Shawn M. Peters ( The Unforgettable Logan Foster  Book #1), Lisa Stringfellow ( Comb of Wishes ), Susan Tan ( My Kingdom of Darkness : A Branches Book, Pets Rule! #1), Dirk Tiede ( Paradigm Shift ) and Kip Wilson ( One Last Shot ). We were eager to welcome  TWELVE  local authors and give away over  100 BOOKS for FREE  to all ages, preschool to h...