Building a Writerly Community: How to Start Your Own Writing Group

Learn how to start and sustain a writing group, from finding writers and creating structure to facilitation and growth.
About this Event

Title: “Building a Writerly Community: How to Start Your Own Writing Group”

Description:

Are you seeking a community of writers who will challenge you to become the best writer you can be? Writing groups support individual writers by providing structure, community, and accountability. 

Hosted by experienced writing group organizers, this workshop will teach participants how to start and operate their own writing groups from scratch. Topics will include: 

1. Recruiting other writers 
2. Designing an ideal group structure
3. How to facilitate a writing workshop
4. Communication and scheduling 
5. Growth and development

This community workshop will be led by Kalamazoo Writing Circle (KWC) co-leaders Ava Dziadzio and Stevie Anderson. The KWC is a community writing workshop that has been meeting weekly since May 2023.

Learn more about the KWC and their 2026 anthology, Monsters and Humans, here:  https://kalamazoowritingcircle.org/

Presenters:

Ava Dziadzio (she/her) is a nonprofit community organizer and writer of both fiction and nonfiction. She holds a BA in English: Creative Writing from Western Michigan University, and her work has appeared in The Laureate. She is the proud co-founder and Executive Director of the Kalamazoo Writing Circle. Ava lives in Kalamazoo and stays engaged in its arts, nature, and LGBTQIA+ community.

Stevie Anderson (they/them) is a writer and educator, as well as the Deputy Director of the Kalamazoo Writing Circle. Before joining the KWC, Stevie had served four years as a Writing Center tutor across two institutions, receiving two Tutor of the Year awards for their work with students ranging from high school to PhD levels. Stevie loves to put their Bachelor's in Literature to use by writing stories that explore the depths and reaches of identity, alienation, and sincerity.