The Writers Guild at Bloomington is an association of writers committed to mutual support and the professional development of their craft. Its mission is to foster interaction among writers as well as other artists, educators, and the Monroe County public, thereby enhancing the vibrancy of the arts and the writing community in the greater Bloomington area.
Events Calendar
WFIU is doing a series of broad/podcasts celebrating Jenny Kander with three special “Jenny” Poets Weave episodes.
The first was December 15 (listen to here: https://indianapublicmedia.org/poetsweave/jelly-donuts.php).
Upcoming episodes will air March 30 and May 11.
Writers Guild at Bloomington
Monthly Business Meeting
Monroe County Public Library – Downtown
Room 214
January 18 2025
3 to 4:30 pm
Writers Guild at Bloomington
Monthly Business Meeting
Monroe County Public Library – Downtown
Room 214
February 1 2025
3 to 4:30 pm
Join the Writers Guild as we feature:
Writers Ann Robins and Linda Pickle
sharing work from their farm memoirs
Linda Schelbitzki Pickle came to her family’s Nebraska farm in 1945, soon after her father returned to Chicago from World War II. Her parents worked hard to establish themselves and Linda was deeply shaped by her youth spent there. She sees these years now as a time of great change in American agriculture.
Ann Robins began writing her family stories after retiring to Bloomington in 2006. In 2019 she received the daily journals and ledgers of the family farm from 1932 to 1991. Ann swims, grows and makes things, volunteers at the downtown library, but continues to be obsessed with remembering her grandmother.
First Sunday Prose Reading
Sunday, February 2, 2025
The Juniper Art Gallery and Cafe
Writers Guild Spoken Word Series
Featuring poets Westley Penland and Tyler Frederick, music by Jason Hathaway
Sponsored in part by the Indiana Arts Commission, Bloomington Arts Commission, and the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association
WESTLEY PENLAND was a burp-the-alphabet kid and despite his deviated septum was quite good at it. He first discovered writing as an escape from reality, after years of being scolded for being left-handed. Now, he uses it as a cheap form of public therapy, but that’s health care, Baby. His work can be found in his debut chapbook “Confirmation of Life” published by Alien Bhudda Press, “Trans*Citizens Project” by {New} Word Press, and in the anthologies “October Stories”, “Rebirth”, and “Stormwash: Environmental Poems, vol 2.” He enjoys antiquing, cooking, traveling, and spending time with his two pups.
TYLER FREDERICK is a spoken word poet from Bloomington, IN who regularly performs at poetry slams and various open mics around the state. He was recently appointed as treasurer for the Writer’s Guild at Bloomington. His work has been published in “What is in John’s Basement,” “October Stories,” and “Rebirth.”
JASON HATHAWAY is an eager preservationist of American roots music, often performing his own versions of old public domain blues, folk, and country songs recorded some 50 years before he was even born. Carried on the wings of Hathaway’s deep, resonant voice and soothing guitar, these songs take the listener on a trip back in time, dredging up memories of Grandma and Grandpa’s big old Philco radio or rifling through their collection of 78 rpm records. No matter the age or musical taste of audience members, this guy always manages to have a little something for everybody to keep a smile on their faces and have their legs twitching to the beat.
open mic to follow
BEER & WINE available for purchase
Friday FEB 14 6pm Backspace Gallery, inside Bonne Fête
112 West 6th Street, on the square in Bloomington IN
The Writers Guild at Bloomington and Indiana Humanities present
a special edition of Last Sunday Poetry
Featuring George Kalamaras
GEORGE KALAMARAS is the 2024 Indiana Authors Awards poetry winner for *To Sleep in the Horse’s Belly: My Greek Poets and the Aegean Inside Me* (Dos Madres Press, 2023). Author of twenty-four books of poetry, he is professor emeritus at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, and 2014 – 2016 poet laureate of Indiana.
2/23/25, 7-8:30 PM (EST)
Morgenstern’s Books & Cafe, 849 S Auto Mall Rd, Bloomington IN 47401