“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
-Toni Morrison
Writers With Attitude is a free, creative writing workshop founded in New York City. We are a collective of experienced and amateur writers of all mediums, with a passion for storytelling and improving our craft. We meet biweekly on Sundays from 1:00-3:00pm to discuss all things from literature, writing, the world, and everything in between. We pride ourselves on being a safe space where new and returning members feel respected, heard, and supported in sharing their writing and ideas.
Each year, we focus on a different theme. This year, our theme is Love. We will explore and challenge our notions and experiences of love through the lens of bell hooks’ book, All About Love: New Visions. Through readings, discussions, and reflections, we will critically engage with hooks' insights on the complexities, ethics, and potentials of love in all forms of writing (poetry, fiction, non-fiction, essays and more). We will also read from other authors, engage in various texts and videos, that examine love in different ways in literature.
Week 1: INTRO TO THEORY OF LOVE
Week 2: GROWING PAINS
Week 3: LOVE IN PRACTICE
Week 4: LOVE AS A CULTURAL CRITIQUE
Week 5: FAMILY TIES
Week 6: REAL LOVE, NO MARY J BLIGE
Week 7: ROMANCE VS. LOVE
Week 8: LOVE IS TO CELEBRATE LIFE
Week 9: HEALING IN LOVE
Week 10: TRANSFORMATIVE WRITING/REFLECTION
Furthermore, we will host open mics and give many opportunities for writers to edit and share their writing in conjunction with our workshop. Our discussions will allow us to explore many themes in our writing, improve character development, challenge cultural and social commentary, and overall be a form of self discovery. At the end of the workshop, we will compile the members writing into our annual literary magazine, LUNA.
The workshop is open for anyone ages 21+. No matter your writing style or preferred genre, we all come together for our affinity of putting a good story on paper.
bell hooks (born Gloria Jean Watkins) in New York in the 1980s. (Anthony Barboza/Getty Images)
“The word ‘love’ is most often defined as a noun, yet… we would all love better if we used it as a verb.”
What makes W.W.A unique?
Most workshops charge a fee to be member, but we thrive on being easily accessible and equitable for everyone without cost and commitment. Writing is a joy we want everyone to experience and harness whether you’re an experienced, amateur or newfound writer looking to express yourself. We also pride ourselves on reading most of our texts from BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers throughout the year and being a safe space for everyone to feel comfortable in expressing their thoughts and writing without bias.
How would you describe a typical meeting?
Our meetings begin at 1:00pm. We ask members to join ten minutes prior to settle in so we may begin promptly on time. Our meetings are only two hours long, so it’s important that we are able to fit so much into such little time.
From 1:00-1:30, we are discussing the assigned reading, afterwards, we write based off of the day’s writing prompt or activity. We take a brief intermission at 2:00 and spend the last hour sharing our writing and/or peer editing.
What events do you host annually?
To begin the literary year, we host a Meet & Greet, where we introduce ourselves to the new and returning members with refreshments, a panel about the writing workshop and a Q&A. We also host an open mic for writers to share their latest work and have the opportunity to mingle with other creatives and network. Finally, we host a literary magazine release for our annual literary magazine, LUNA. Each issue includes fiction, poetry, essays, graphic art and interviews submitted from the members and other miscellaneous writers.
I’ve been in workshops before where I didn’t feel like my voice was represented, but I learned quickly that W.W.A is a safe space for everyone. I’ve been to meetings where we couldn’t stop laughing and others where people couldn't stop crying their eyes out. There’s an array of stories and voices in the program. It’s nice to always be inspired here.
— Jordanne Rodriguez, co-founder
Throughout each meeting, everyone is really positive. The feedback is completely unbiased. It was great because it reaffirmed how much I enjoyed writing and it was also a way for me to expand with the help of new ideas.
— Ronny Henry, third year member