Programs & Events
NOTE: All forthcoming meetings will be held on Zoom unless noted otherwise.
Click on the event to get details on how to get your tickets.
The California Writers Club offers a multitude of activities and programs for its members and for the public.
Writers Groups
Our ongoing Critique Groups help writers practice and polish their craft. We have a climate action group, the Wolf Pack Writers, and a poetry group, Poetrope. See Groups for more info.
Speaker Programs
Our informative and interesting Speaker Programs are the focus of our monthly Meetings. These meetings are open to the public.
Workshops
We also offer monthly Workshops for writers by professionals, with special rates for members.
Contests
Two annual Contests: the 5th Grade Writing Contest and the Write On! Story Contest (formerly the WestSide Story Contest), celebrate local writers. Occasionally we hold a poetry contest at year’s end as well.
Our contests are currently on hiatus. If you’d be interested to help organize the next one, please contact us.
Conferences
We promote various Writers Conferences and our members can get discounts to several.
Recent Events
“Writing as Play” with Jorjeana Marie on February 19th, 2023
If you are like many other writers and occasionally get stuck or feel uninspired with a formerly passionate project, you might consider approaching the task of writing in a fun new way. In this interactive workshop, television writer and award-winning voice actress, Jorjeana Marie, will share tips and tricks to help you get started writing, boost your…
“Sipping the Elixir” with Gail Carriger on January 15th, 2023
What is the Heroine’s Journey (as opposed to the Hero’s), and what aspects make for compelling narrative and voracious readers? Where do these elements originate and how do we write them? This presentation by a highly successful writer of unconventional female protagonists explains all. Gail Carriger, author of The Heroines’s Journey, covers briefly what…
“Story Telling Crossover” with Chris Hennessy on November 20th, 2022
Attendees of this event will learn: The How and Why of incorporating film & video into your writing projects— How your writing skills can help you craft an award-winning film;How to make quality film/video projects at little or no cost;How to use film/video to get a book deal with a traditional publisher;How to pre-promote your…
“A Reading in the Redwoods” & Open Mic with Ayodele Nzinga, 10/21/22
The third week of every October is California Writers Week, and this year our community event features Oakland’s first Poet Laureate, Ayodele “Wordslanger” Nzinga, who accepted an honorary membership to the CWC at last year’s historic celebration of California writers, From Ina to Ayodele. At that event, we celebrated the restoration of the water feature…
“Intergenerational Dialogue” with Lyndsey Ellis on October 16th, 2022
The 3rd week of October is California Writers Week! This year we celebrate California’s deep, historical diversity with an exciting conversation with an up-and-coming West Coast & Midwest author. Regardless of race and class, many attitudes, behaviors, and belief systems stem from values hat are specific to our age groups. Exploring intergenerational exchanges helps us…
“Breaking the Book” with Michael Lucker on September 18th, 2022
Wanna turn your book into a movie? Now you can! But adaptation is a craft unto itself. Step one is: Breaking the Book. Distilling 400 single spaced pages into 100 double-spaced. What do you use? What do you lose? Join us for an hour of fun-filled discussion learning how to crack the spine on your novel…