DC WRITERS' SALON

The Salon Book Club

In the Salon book club, we read books about writing. Very meta, we know. We've read Anne Lamott, Samuel Delany, bell hooks, Amy Tan, Ursula Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut with Suzanne McConnell, Ernest Hemingway, Donald Maass, Roy Peter Clark, and Mary Oliver.

Rather than discuss once, we read and practice with one book over ten weeks to explore how to bring the author's insights into our own writing.

This winter, we're studying the short story, reading "The Art and Craft of Fiction" (pdf here, used print here) by Michael Kardos, which includes a curated anthology of fifteen short stories. We are meeting on the following dates from 11am - 12:30pm in person and virtual so join however suits you. 

  • Jan 22nd, reading through Ch. 3 + Alexie, Bausch, Brockmeier
  • Feb 5th, reading through Ch. 5 + Everett, Hagenston, Hannah, Le Guin
  • Feb 19th, reading through Ch. 6 + Lahiri, McCorkle, Moore, Cheever
  • Mar 5th, reading through Ch. 8 + O'Brien, Packer, Russell, Jackson
  • Mar 19th, reading through Ch. 11 + Saunders, Updike, Wolff, Jemisin, Hemingway, Leavitt

We meet every other Sunday for a chat about how to integrate nuggets into our writing, sometimes playing with prompts or exercises, and examining what makes each short story work for us or not.

​All members welcome, no need to sign up, just show up (and ideally read, not a requirement but helpful!) ​It's encouraged to stick with the group for the duration, but totally understandable if schedule changes mean missing one or two. 
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Join Book Club

Book Pick for Spring

This spring, we're getting into workshopping with the highly recommended new collection by Matthew Salesses, "Craft In The Real World."

As usual, we meet every other Sunday so will be 
meeting on the following dates from 11am - 12:30pm in person and virtual. 

  • April 23rd, reading through What is craft (page 39)
  • May 7th, reading through Character and story arc (page 68)
  • May 21st, reading through Structure (page 98)
  • June 4th, reading through Alternative workshops (page 143)
  • June 18th, reading through to the end ​
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To join the book club Google group or to share book ideas email hello@dcwriterssalon.com. For a taste of book club, here is a collection of quotes and exercises from Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird.

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(we don't post much because, well, it's distracting to writing : ) 
1807 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009
To keep everyone safe, the Salon has a 100% Covid boosted policy. Please decline to join in person if you're not vaccinated.