The Room to Write

 

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:) ...

 

“Seniors to Seniors” is a cross-generational event that brings high school seniors and seniors in our community together.   Join us on Wednesday, March 5th for an opportunity to share your personal story through a one-on-one interview with a senior Wakefield High School student.   After the interviews, students will write stories about their interviewees, and these stories will be published in the Wakefield Daily Item. No writing experience is necessary, so if you'd love to be able to pass down some stories but would like somebody else to do the writing--this is a great opportunity to let the younger generation do the writing! During the interview session, lunch will be provided for all participants by The Savings Bank on Wednesday, March 5th, from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Wakefield Senior Center, 30 Converse Street, in the dining room. Registration is required  by 12:00pm on Tuesday, March 4th. Senior citizens interested in participating...

Stop by to meet and learn about some of the local authors in the area. A personalized, signed copy of a book makes a wonderful and unique gift for the holidays and birthdays. With thirteen different authors, there will be a great mix of genres and books geared towards all age groups! Be sure to be present at 2pm when there will be refreshments available and each author will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and their books so you'll get to know a little bit about each. Thank you to Karen Stern at the Wakefield Public Library for making this program possible as well as Whitelam Books for connecting authors and readers even beyond the walls of their bookstore in Reading. 

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...

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...