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
The Amazing Life of Feisty Ina Coolbrith, America’s First Poet Laurate – October 18th
Writers often need courage, whether it is to meet a national event, a personal challenge, or just to face a blank page. In these instances we can look to our own history to find the inner strength to face our most profound challenges. At the culmination of California Writer's Week, historical author Aleta George will…
Finding & Working with an Agent with Literary Agent Andy Ross – September 20th
Our speaker series returns on Sunday, September 20th with Oakland literary agent Andy Ross. Ross will detail the steps you need to take before beginning work with a literary agent. Ross will help you determine whether your project is right for commercial publishers and he'll explain how to write effective query letters and book proposals.…
Summer Social Sunday August 16th at 1 p.m.
In years past, we've had a picnic in the park for our summer social. Of course we're committed to having all our meetings online for the duration of the pandemic. So here's what you can expect for our social: the breakout rooms, zoom link, and more.
Meet 20+ new BOOKSTARS and enjoy your summer reading!
20+ Authors from the Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club read from 20+ new books on 6/20/2020 Purchase all these titles at Our Bookshop! (Profits go to our members of color who are severely impacted by the Covid crisis.) Hello Universe Lovers & Oakland, I’m Not Dead by Keith Mark Gaboury A Waltz in…
“20 in 20″—CWC Berkeley Book Launch June 20th
On Saturday, June 20th, we honor our 21 members who have published a new title in the past year. A wide range of literary genres will be featured, including thriller, mystery, non-fiction memoir, media criticism, fantasy, and poetry. The virtual celebration will take place at 2 p.m., and will include a variety of insights…
May 17th SPEAKER—Paul Shirley—”Writing Like an Athlete to Build Creative Focus”
Building an Athlete’s Discipline and Focus into Your Writing Practice In the midst of a global pandemic, when there’s so much time on our hands staying at home, writers are having trouble getting things done. Paul Shirley, a former professional basketball player, will speak about how he applied an athlete’s focus to his writing career,…