SPELLS community circles

Join us monthly.

Beginning in January 2025, all SPELLS community members will have the opportunity to gather on the second Tuesday of each month on Zoom from 7-8:15 p.m. EST for a craft and writing-life discussion.

Before each circle, community members can pitch topics in our group chat for possible discussion. These can be about anything at all you’re interested to discuss and conjure forth together.

Anything! This allows you to come to the SPELLS community with your interest and curiosity, and it allows me to be free of the burden of generating monthly topics. I would rather hear what you’re thinking about and create the space where we can explore. In our Zooms, I will respond to the best of my ability and capacity at the time, maybe give some little impromptu talks, and I’ll also open it up as an interactive group discussion. In the spirit of creativity, let’s have fun and see what emerges.

Writing prompts might pop up like mushrooms releasing spores, we might go in a round like a leafing vine and share about ways you stake out writing time or space, or we might pull down a book or essay and examine its structure, planting the seeds of future structures for ourselves. We might talk about first sentences, or last sentences, or syntaxes, or voice. We could talk about inspiration and discipline, the joy of the flow state, and silencing the inner critic.

In your suggestions for discussion topics, be as specific as you like and share a little about why you’re thinking of this now, if you’d like (a challenge you’re having in your own writing, or something you’ve read recently, perhaps). If you want to refer to a particular piece I’ve written and ask me to talk about a specific craft decision, that could also be fun. If you want to talk about crafting pitches or applying for residencies, throw it out there. I will choose one or two of your suggestions each month and send out an invitation. Let’s see where this goes and how our community can turn the compost together to build rich soil. ⤖

Again, our circles will be held every second Tuesday from 7-8 p.m. EST, and a Zoom link will be provided to participants beforehand.

2025 Circles:

January 14

February 11

March 11

April 8

May 13

June 10

July 8

August 12

September 9

October 14

November 11

December 9