Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance

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Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance Founded in 1975, MWPA is a community organization that works to enrich literary life and culture in Maine. https://linktr.ee/mainewriters

Meet ! Steve is running a 1-day in-person fiction and nonfiction workshop examining craft topics central to memoir and e...
10/20/2026

Meet ! Steve is running a 1-day in-person fiction and nonfiction workshop examining craft topics central to memoir and essay.

The storage shelves of our minds are filled with memories. Whether in a momentary snapshot or a full film reel, life’s c...
10/20/2026

The storage shelves of our minds are filled with memories. Whether in a momentary snapshot or a full film reel, life’s collected scenes can be the raw material for compelling stories. The challenge for anyone trying to write their story is to figure out how to sift through those memories, re-enter those scenes, poke around, ask questions, and shape them into something accessible and meaningful on the page.

In this generative workshop, we will tackle that challenge, and through writing exercises and prompts designed to tap into remembered experiences, we’ll begin the process of reconstructing moments from the past and write into the stories they hold. We will spend time examining craft topics central to memoir and essay, including sensory details and descriptive language; vivid, cinematic scenes; realistic dialogue; narrative tension; and authentic voice.

Click on the link in our bio for more information and registration.

This five-week generative workshop engages short prose and prose poetry to explore our personal relationships to capital...
10/19/2026

This five-week generative workshop engages short prose and prose poetry to explore our personal relationships to capitalism. Working through prompts and prompting texts each two hour workshop asks participants to draw on their immediate experience of buying and - if relevant - selling in capitalism as it is now practiced in the United States, as well drawing on deeper stores of memory regarding class struggle and class privilege as it has shaped our lives individually and collectively. The emphasis is on individual personal relationships to capitalism rather than writ large theoretical explorations of our political moment, although that can certainly percolate beneath the surface and come into the work. Participants will be asked to bring paper and pens for use during our meetings, rather than digital devices. We will have the option of sharing work each week written in response to earlier prompts; that work should be written on computer and printed, as is standard. Participants will be requested not to use AI in their creation of off-site work unless specifically directed to by a prompt and, yes, that will be one of the prompts!

Click on the link in our bio for more information and registration!

The storage shelves of our minds are filled with memories. Whether in a momentary snapshot or a full film reel, life’s c...
10/17/2026

The storage shelves of our minds are filled with memories. Whether in a momentary snapshot or a full film reel, life’s collected scenes can be the raw material for compelling stories. The challenge for anyone trying to write their story is to figure out how to sift through those memories, re-enter those scenes, poke around, ask questions, and shape them into something accessible and meaningful on the page.

In this generative workshop, we will tackle that challenge, and through writing exercises and prompts designed to tap into remembered experiences, we’ll begin the process of reconstructing moments from the past and write into the stories they hold. We will spend time examining craft topics central to memoir and essay, including sensory details and descriptive language; vivid, cinematic scenes; realistic dialogue; narrative tension; and authentic voice.

Check out the link in our bio for more information and registration!

Meet ! Laura will be guiding a 1-day nonfiction workshop exploring how to draw a reader in and bring a moment alive whil...
10/13/2026

Meet ! Laura will be guiding a 1-day nonfiction workshop exploring how to draw a reader in and bring a moment alive while sticking to our facts.

Crafting scenes in nonfiction may feel more constrained than in fiction, but these constraints need not get in the way o...
10/12/2026

Crafting scenes in nonfiction may feel more constrained than in fiction, but these constraints need not get in the way of strong writing. In fact, they can help fuel creativity and focus. In this workshop, we’ll explore how to draw a reader in and bring a moment alive while still sticking to our facts and staying true to our material. We’ll find inspiration in scenes written by a few different authors, discuss the tools we have available to us, and then craft a scene of our own. There will be time to give and receive feedback within the group.

Open to all genres of nonfiction.

Click on the link in our bio to learn more and for registration!

This unconventional class is all about curiosity, experimentation, and the joy of assembling a piece of writing from une...
10/11/2026

This unconventional class is all about curiosity, experimentation, and the joy of assembling a piece of writing from unexpected inspirations. For four Saturdays, we’ll play with fragments of found writing from various sources and practice using disparate elements to create new works. Each week, before we meet, I’ll send out an assignment of what to bring to class. These might take the form of anything from text message fragments to subject lines from your spam folder to the text from road signs and message boards. At the start of each session, I’ll begin sharing some jigsaw poetry examples of my own work (and others’) and then we’ll dive in together from the collective fragments we’ve brought. (Think it of this as a kind of potluck where everyone’s bringing elements of a recipe and we’ll all be making different dishes using an overlap of these ingredients.) Jigsaw Poetry is a wonderful exercise in both working within a restriction and finding ways to incorporate new language, imagery, and subject matter in our writing. This class offers an energizing, connective opportunity to practice staying loose and open to outcomes!

Check out the link in our bio for more information and registration!

Storytelling is an art form AND a powerful creative tool for our writing lives. In this lively, collaborative course, yo...
10/09/2026

Storytelling is an art form AND a powerful creative tool for our writing lives. In this lively, collaborative course, you'll work on your own personal stories out loud. In the process, you’ll learn how to engage your audience, figure out what you want to write & talk about, and really nail story structure. You’ll also meet your own written “voice” - that elusive voice! - in brand new ways.

Finally, you’ll learn more about yourself and what’s truly important to you, both in and out of your creative life.

In this collaborative 5-week intensive, you'll find stories from your life that you want to tell and learn how to make those stories compelling AND fun to tell out loud. You can use these stories as the beginning seeds of written pieces or performed stories onstage (think The Moth).

We’ll conclude the class with a celebratory “share” of our work with each other, and you’ll leave with strategies and ideas for bringing these new tools into whatever genre of writing you work in.

Sessions include generative exercises, out-loud practice in small groups, and individual coaching with me. We’ll work on at least one story and build a bank of future personal stories to bring into our written work.

This class is perfect for writers interested in new techniques for memoir, personal essay, creative nonfiction, or anyone who wants to bring more narrative skill to their storytelling in any medium.

*No class on November 25.

Check out the link in our bio for more information and registration!

There's still time for you to RSVP for Stories Of Our Times: A Conversation with Justin Ellis and Virginia Eubanks. The ...
10/08/2026

There's still time for you to RSVP for Stories Of Our Times: A Conversation with Justin Ellis and Virginia Eubanks. The conversation will be co-moderated by Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and Samaa Abdurraqib, Executive Director of the Maine Humanities Council.

Reserve your seat for this free event by clicking on the link in our bio!

Tomorrow (10/8) interdisciplinary artist Summer J. Hart will deliver a poetry reading and artist protest talk at the McG...
10/07/2026

Tomorrow (10/8) interdisciplinary artist Summer J. Hart will deliver a poetry reading and artist protest talk at the McGoldrick Center Salons at USM. A book signing for her new book of poetry What Came Down in the Smoke will follow the reading and lecture.

5:00 pm to 5:30 pm - Reception
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm - Lecture, Reading, and Q&A

Reserve your seat at this free event by clicking on the link in our bio!

Address

519 Congress Street
Portland, ME
04101

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12072288263

Website

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