CWC Mission Statement 

Charlotte Writers' Club supports local writers and promotes their development through education, recognition, and community. 

Welcome to the Charlotte Writers’ Club website!

The Charlotte Writers' Club (or CWC, as our members affectionately call it) provides a great opportunity for writers of all forms—and there are so many—to meet and discuss the latest trends, commiserate on projects, find critique groups, and participate in contests and workshops. This club is for you, the writer, to help develop your craft and keep the words coming. Sign up for our free newsletter to stay up-up-to date on the latest CWC speakers, contests, workshops, and member kudos.

This club has something for everyone. Come meet fellow writers—poets, novelists, creative writers, short-story writers, essayists, article writers, journalists, dramatists, editors, fablers, ghost writers, historical writers, lyricists, playwrights, reporters, rhymers, satirists, scriptwriters, sonneteers, autobiographers, biographers, and more—story tellers of all kinds.

Membership

If you are a current member, your annual dues are payable one year from last renewal date. SIGN IN to the membership database to check your renewal date on your profile.

Click HERE to login.  LOG IN button will be in the top right hand corner of the Join Us page. OR Contact the membership chairperson if you are unsure of your status.

For prospective members, the CWC sponsors a wide range of activities that nurture,  support and promote the writing life. This  includes contests, critique groups, monthly meetings, and periodic workshops. 

Your membership dues help fund all club activities. Please join us in supporting writers, readers and literacy in our community.

For more information on membership and joining the Charlotte Writers' Club, click on Membership.

To receive our monthly newsletter, type in your email below and select 'Go'.  Select 'CWC Member Contacts'  if your are a current member, or 'Non-Member' if you are still thinking about joining. The newsletters and meeting recaps contain important information and announcements.

A WORD from the CWC Executive Board

All CWC meetings, workshops and social interactions will be conducted online through at least Spring of 2021. The executive board voted unanimously to go virtual. Video conferencing allows us to continue meeting while helping our club members stay safe and sane and be socially distant in these uncertain times. The leadership team is busy creating programs and events for the 2020-2021 program year that we hope will make this new normal as interactive as possible. Keep checking the website for news and information. If you have ideas, questions or concerns contact CWC President Caroline Kane Kenna.

Celebrating the Life of Long-time Member and Former CWC President Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott, Davidson’s renowned poet, professor and mentor for many Charlotte area poets, departed this life on October 3, 2020. He leaves behind a lifetime of writing and a legacy of service to the greater literary community.  Among his many, many titles and accolades, Abbott was one of us, a proud member of Charlotte Writers’ Club. He served as president in 1987-88, and according to club history helped organize the third Writes of Spring, a writers’ conference. Later, he often spoke at meetings, taught workshops and judged contests.

Along with Louise Rockwell and a handful of poets and writers in the Lake Norman area, Abbott was an organizer of Charlotte Writers’ Club North. Writers from Mooresville, Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville faced a good 45-minute drive to Joseph Beth Booksellers where the regular Charlotte Writers’ Club meetings were held. That first meeting featured readings from Riding Out, a collection by poets Ann Campanella and Terri Wolfe. Abbott wrote about that event, “There are certain moments that shine with a peculiar intensity that we sometimes call luminous. Thursday, September 6, 2007, was one of them. Those of us in the north end needed something close to home.” 

CWC North created the Anthony Abbott poetry contest for college students, which CWC continues to administer. In 2015-16, the competition was merged with the Deane Ritch Lomax Prize to form a new poetry contest with a category for college students that still bears Abbott’s name. Whether or not he judged the entries, he often came to those meetings to present the undergraduate awards.

Most recently, Abbott was seen in the audience at Main Street Books as CWC North and the Davidson bookstore launched a new title for poet Adrienne Gilman. Previously he was the warm up act, celebrating the release of new collections by Campanella and Elisa Troutman, poets he mentored. Learn more about the writing lives Professor Abbott touched in a tribute put together by our partner Charlotte Lit.  A Tribute to Tony Abbott

Visit this link if you want to read his obituary or offer your condolences to the Abbott family.

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Members can register to read at one of these OPEN MIC Nights.   If you aren't reading, come out and support your fellow writers. 

November 20th, 2020 Virtual Open Mic Night - Link to register will be sent in an email to CWC members. This is a ZOOM meeting.

Please NOTE: This is NOT a publicity event for our authors.  The goal is to support our members as they practice reading in public.  If you are looking for feedback for your writing, please explore our Member Critique Groups.

In person Open Mic Nights at Mug's Coffee on HOLD until COVID-19 mandates for reduced capacity at our location is lifted.

(You do not need to register to come to listen and support your fellow writers.)

Kudos To Our Members!!! Our members are working hard and we want to share their accomplishments in the newsletter and on our website's blog. Submit your Kudos* to the Newsletter and the Website.

*As a non-profit organization, The Charlotte Writers' Club is not allowed to promote any sales related information but we can include the following: your name, name of the work, contact information for you, and brief information about you, your work, contests or anthologies involved, etc.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Policies and Procedures for the Charlotte Writers' Club can be found HERE.

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One of our many successful events from February 2017 was our Bookfair at Barnes and Noble.  Click HERE for news coverage.