The Room to Write

We're going back to our roots!   In February 2017 The Room to Write hosted its first-ever Writers and Illustrators Meet & Greet at the Boys & Girls Club of Wakefield where writers and illustrators of all genres and levels were invited to meet up and get to know other creative minds in the north of Boston region.  Five years later on Monday, April 11 th --since so much feels like starting over again these days--we are returning to where it all began. Stop in anytime between 6:30pm and 8:30pm. At that very first Meet & Greet we encouraged writers, illustrators, book sellers, librarians, and lovers of words in general to join us for casual conversation about writing and illustration. Join us! Attendees are encouraged to bring writing samples, art samples, books or just show up to connect with local writers and illustrators at the Boys & Girls Club of Wakefield located in the Americal Civic Center at 467 Main Street in Wakefield, MA . In addition, we would lov...

At long last we are excited to resume our Journey of a Story interview series in its unmasked format. We sat down with Joy Nelkin Wieder , author of The Passover Mouse , and got to follow Joy on her journey from spark of an idea back in 2002 all the way to this moment twenty years later when she is able to start to get out in-person in the community to share her picture book just before Passover begins April 15th.  Joy said it best when she said, "Don't give up!" Keep writing and that story you tucked away in a drawer for a decade might be just what somebody is looking for ten, twenty, thirty years later.

(Linda Malcolm, Kathleen Shine-Cain, & Sally Chetwynd) We are so pleased to welcome Linda Malcolm as The Room to Write's Coordinator of Senior and Veteran Programming . Linda is a local non-fiction writer and author of Cornfields to Codfish , a collection of short personal essays. Throughout the last ten years or so, she has been writing short, non-fiction, personal essays. In 2018, she was one of sixteen non-fiction writers selected to attend the annual New York State Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. To learn more about senior and veteran writing programs, contact Linda Malcolm at   linda@theroomtowrite.org ., sign up for   our newsletter   for programming updates, or visit our  Senior & Veterans Programming page .

Support New England authors and illustrators by learning who they are and what the titles of their books are. Watch and Share this Show & Tell video introducing you to twenty different authors and illustrators who published books during three very challenging years: 2020, 2021 or 2022. Want to find out more about each author or illustrator? Want to purchase their books? Click HERE! Congratulations to all the published authors and illustrators! Thanks to Monica Acker, Sarah S. Brannen, Phaea Crede, Kerry Crisley, Carol Gordon Ekster, Sara B. Fraser, Jannie Ho, George Jreije, Heather Kamins, Leigh Lewis, Linda Malcolm, David McCoubrey, Tim O'Leary, Ammi-Joan Paquette, Kari Percival, J. C. Phillipps, Lisa Stringfellow, Ralph Tufo, Joy Nelkin Wieder, and Kip Wilson for participating in this project and for ushering your books into a world the needs them. Special Thanks to Ryan Boyd and Amy Couture at  Wakefield  Community Access Television Studios ...

As we slowly get our regular programming back up and running, we thought it would be fun to coordinate one of our very popular, quarterly Writers and Illustrators Meet & Greets --with a twist. Of course we would prefer to see you all in person, but the times being what they are dictate that we meet virtually.  In addition to the actual meeting "event" with writers and illustrators of all genres and levels, we want to do a little extra to celebrate the books created and published by local authors and illustrators during two very challenging years as well as those being released in the year ahead.  (2020, 2021, & 2022) BEFORE : Wed, January 26th: Receive the meeting link by emailing: colleen@theroomtowrite.org Published authors and illustrators can send a video where they show us and tell us about their book. Sending the video ahead is our preference so we can show them during the event . Please send your 30-60 second Video through We Transfer to ryan.boyd@wcat.tv...

I have to admit that I have no problem stepping over the threshold from 2021 to 2022. Much of the past year was like the last few cloudy, dreary days of this year of 2021:  -- Gray, but warmer than expected.  Not necessarily a good thing. Cloudy. Moist. A bit solitary, dankly so. Sluggish -- Someday I will fill some "vacation" days with activity whether it be of the fun or the necessary sort, but these last few days deserved a cozy, lazy resignation. A recovery--the kind you can't rush or pretend away. The kind that proves the old adage: time heals. In 2021 time ticked or often flew by, and I for one couldn't decide whether I regretted the pace either way. It was a year to be gotten through--for me anyway.  But, as a gardener the days that are difficult and that feel like a grind are those I label: Sowing Days. Those who farm or garden know that there are the boring--paint primer--kind of days that don't show tangible progress and sometimes feel like a backward mo...

  Whether you are savoring warm memories of Hanukkah past or looking forward to Christmas ahead, hopefully there is something celebratory each of us can focus on as this year comes to a close and we head toward another new year. I hope and have to believe that the year 2022 will be an improvement in the quality of our lives and contentedness. So much stress, anxiety and patience in the face of difficulty has been a constant that many, if not all, of us have come to just deal with, cope with--expect as "normal." But, it isn't.  If you feel tired. You should. The last two years have been exhausting. We have all been through an extraordinary period of time--of history. Go easy on yourself and those around you. Be kind and feel grateful, but know that you need to heal and it will take time. Create space in the weeks ahead to rest, recover, renew, and maybe do some writing, a little reading, napping--laughing. We are looking forward to 2022 and seeing YOU in the new year!