Programs & Events
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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
We also have a more concise list of past speakers.
5th Grade Story Contest winners – May 20th!
The Berkeley Branch of the 103-year-old California Writers Club is proud to announce winners of the 26th Annual Fifth-Grade STORY CONTEST at our Reception & Awards Ceremony! Congratulations to all of the entrants, and their teachers. THANK YOU for submitting! We enjoyed reading all your stories. You are all wonderful writers — keep up the…
April 15th SPEAKER — “Poetry Alive with Change!” with Emeryville’s Poet Laureate JANELL MOON
Emeryville’s poet laureate Janell Moon will show by example the varying forms in which poetry is now written, including poems from her lyrical-narrative collection, Riding Free in a Blue Studebaker (Main Street Rag), and her poetry-prose memoir, Salt and Paper (RAW ArT PRESS). Also, considered will be the fascinating work in the forthcoming book of…
March 18th SPEAKER — “Writing Novels for the Young Adult Market” with LAURIE MCLEAN
The healthiest segment of fiction these days is the young -adult market for teens aged 13-19. If you want to sell a book to this tough crowd, you have to know the teen voice, teen dreams and fears, the teen hive mind. Who better to be your guide than literary agent Laurie McLean, who has…
March 3 WORKSHOP — “Social Media Branding for Authors” with Beth and Ezra Barany
Saturday, March 3, 2012 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. In this hands-on workshop with best-selling and award-winning authors (and happily married couple!) Beth and Ezra Barany, we will help you take the first steps to attract your right readers and build your fan base of raving fans so you can sell more books. In this conversation…
February 19th Speaker — Writing a “True Life” Novel with Fred Setterberg
Fred Setterberg, the author of Lunch Bucket Paradise (Heyday Books), will talk about writing autobiographical fiction in the form of a novel at our next CWC branch meeting. Fred Setterberg has also written The Roads Taken: Travels Through America’s Literary Landscapes, winner of the AWP prize in creative nonfiction. He co-wrote Under the Dragon: California’s…
Calling all Fifth Graders!
Please tell all fifth-grade teachers you know that our 26th Annual Fifth Grade Story Contest is now open for entries! Information about this contest can be found on our website here. Download flyer here: CWC-26th Annual Fifth Grade Story Contest 2012.pdf (grayscale version available for black & white printers – click here)