Writers: All Forms and Genres

For January's selection, we'll be reading All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. Find out more information and register here: https://arlingtonva.libcal.com/event/15663421

We've noticed an uptick in the community seeking advice on navigating the current job market (no shocker here) and wanted to create an in person space for folks to dive in. Whether you have questions or believe you have knowledge that would be helpful to the collective, we'd love for you to join this event. To help make moderation easier, **post your questions here**: https://forms.gle/Nw3UKrtPj5U4Ln53A **Event schedule:** * 6 - 6:30PM: Socialize, get food * 6:30: Boomie will give a short talk on her job search advice and then open it up for discussion and Q&A * 7:45: Begin to wrap up to allow us to be out of the space promptly by 8PM

## **Free w/RSVP Now: [RSVP Now](https://AFCONWatchParty.eventbrite.com/?aff=MU)** ## **⚽🔥 AFCON 2026 Semi-Finals Watch Party** ### **Live Double-Header Screening** Join us for an unforgettable **AFCON 2026 Semi-Finals Watch Party**, featuring a **live double-header** showcasing the final four powerhouses of African football. Experience two fiercely competitive clashes from the **Africa Cup of Nations 2026** as **Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, and Egypt** battle for a place in the final. This back-to-back, high-stakes screening runs from **11:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST** at **The Continent DC**—DC’s premier African fine dining restaurant and lounge. Expect a spacious setting, multiple large screens, elevated sound, and a vibrant atmosphere designed for collective celebration. ## 🏟️ Match Schedule (EST) ### 🕛 Game 1 — 12:00 PM **Senegal 🇸🇳 vs Egypt 🇪🇬** A heavyweight clash between champions and legacy builders. *We recommend arriving between **11:00 AM and 11:30 AM** to get settled before kickoff.* ### 🕒 Game 2 — 3:00 PM **Nigeria 🇳🇬 vs Morocco 🇲🇦** Speed, skill, and intensity collide as two giants fight for a spot in the final. *If you’re joining us for the second match only, we recommend arriving between **2:00 PM and 2:30 PM** to catch the full experience.* Whether you come for one match or stay for both, this is African football at its highest level—shared, celebrated, and felt together. ## 🌍 The Full Experience This is more than a screening. It’s a cultural moment. Enjoy delicious African cuisine, African-inspired cocktails, and curated African music—all within a space built for community, connection, and celebration. Come early, wear your team colors, bring your people, and be part of an experience that goes beyond the pitch. **This is more than a watch party.** It’s pride. It’s unity. It’s Africa on display.

📚 Do you love reading, but wish you had a structure and a community to share your insights with? Join our small circle of curious minds (just 4 members per gathering) as we come together for an hour of focused reading—in the calm setting of a library or the cozy atmosphere of a café. Here’s how it works: First part: Quiet reading on your own—bring a book you’re exploring, whether it’s philosophy, history, psychology, literature, or anything meaningful to you. Second part: We regroup and each person shares key takeaways, insights, or questions sparked by their reading. This sparks a structured yet free-flowing conversation around ideas, perspectives, and personal reflections. Why join? Add structure to your reading habit. Discover new books, authors, and ideas through others’ choices. Build real connections by sharing and listening deeply. Socialize around something meaningful instead of small talk.

Let's walk around the Waterfront and Navy Yard neighborhoods of DC and catch some cool sights as we enjoy the views of the river! **Route:** * Start at Waterfront Metro Station * Walk north on 4th St * Take right on I St. * Make a short loop on Delaware Ave. to see the Culture House DC * Continue on I Street * Take right on 2nd street * Turn left on L street * Turn right on 7th street * Turn left on M Street * Turn right on 11th street * Take right and walk along the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail * Merge onto Potomac Ave * Turn left on Half Street * Turn right on V Street * Turn right on 2nd street * Turn left on P street * Follow waterfront path to Arena Stage theater * Turn right on M Street * Return to Waterfront Metro Station **Mileage:** 5.4 miles **Start Location:** Waterfront Metro Station **End Location:** Waterfront Metro Station **Directions:** https://maps.app.goo.gl/Jjz4UqB9MLowr7r77 **Time:** 5:30PM - 7:30PM **Terrain:** This will be mostly flat, on paved or gravel ground \-\-\- We try to be punctual with our event times so please be respectful to others and show up a few minutes early, because we will leave without you.

We'll be drafting Chelsea's Duskmourn/Neon Dynasty inspired cube! Playing on the magic conceptualizations of past, present, and future introduced in neon dynasty, this draft environment will have you paying close attention to the card types in your deck. Please take pictures of your decklist. All feedback on the cube is appreciated. https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/Carol If you love this list and want to play others like it, check out Lunch Box! A casual day of drafting cube at a Baltimore brewery, where all funds go to supporting school lunch programs https://www.tixtree.com/e/lunch-box-charity-cube-event-db9a8ec8c8ec **CONDUCT POLICY** We cultivate a safe, friendly atmosphere. Please keep other's feelings close to mind. Derogatory comments of any kind are unacceptable, as is behavior that may make others uncomfortable, such as rage-quitting. If the stresses of the game are getting to you, we encourage you to politely sit out for a while. Thank you! **TARDINESS POLICY** If you're more than 10 minutes late, I'll enlist my wife to draft for you until your arrival. If she's unavailable, we'll make random, blind picks for you. If this is your first time RSVPing to one of my events, please message me to confirm your full vaccination status and that you will be attending.

My name is MJ Huntsgood, and I am a speculative horror author with award-nominated speculative fiction published in literary magazines, anthologies, and across the internet. I've taught classes online, at conventions, and in other venues. I'd love to bring my knowledge to the community. In this one-hour workshop, we’ll explore how to use speculative elements (science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, dystopian, surreal) as tools for storytelling rather than decoration. The focus is on clarity, emotional stakes, and ideas that actually sustain a narrative. This session blends short craft discussion with guided writing exercises, so you’ll leave with new material on the page, not just notes. **In this workshop, you’ll:** * Learn a simple framework for generating speculative premises from personal, social, or philosophical questions * Explore how to ground speculative concepts in character and emotion * Draft a short piece or opening scene using a focused speculative constraint * Get tools you can reuse for future stories, regardless of subgenre **This workshop is for:** * Writers interested in speculative fiction (SF, fantasy, hybrid, literary speculative) * Writers who want their work to feel meaningful, not gimmicky * Writers comfortable doing short writing exercises You don’t need to be published, but some prior writing experience is helpful. This is not a critique workshop. **Format:** 1.5 hours **Includes:** Craft guidance, writing exercises, and optional sharing **Bring:** Something to write with and a willingness to experiment (a limited number of pens and notebooks will be available)

Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at **7:00 PM on Wednesday evenings.** Edit: As of January 7, 2026, we will be back at Starbucks! Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. **We'll meet inside the coffee shop**. Please buy something to ensure we're welcome back. Sit down anywhere, but let me know you're here so we can introduce ourselves and check in before and after writing! (I'll be the one with the sign.) **SCHEDULE:** 7:00 - Quick introductions 7:20 - Timer starts: write for 1 hour 8:20 - The End: chat, take off, or keep writing Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled, then check-in with me after the session. If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you! **What Should I Bring?** Whatever you need to be able to write! Note that outlets are limited, so please make sure your devices are charged. Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block the overhead music or the conversation by other patrons. **Other Important Details:** Starbucks has WiFi. TRAVEL / PARKING: The shopping area is about a twenty minute walk from the College Park or P. G. Plaza/Hyattsville Crossing Metro Stations. There's also a bus stop right outside the shopping center on Baltimore Ave. Parking is free. SEATING INFORMATION: Seating is first come first serve. I'll try to grab a table, but be prepared to sit down anywhere. FOOD GUIDELINES: Tea, coffee, and light food are available at the coffee shop. Please thank our hosts by purchasing something to drink.

This is the sign you've been waiting for! Come write with us Sunday at 7:30 am at Kaldi's Social House in Arlington. Kaldi's opens at 7. Grab a coffee and join the group! We generally have 10 to 14 writers attend each week, and new folks are welcome to drop in anytime. Intros start at 7:30 am. We will write for one hour. After writing, feel free to debrief, share thoughts or get advice. Our meetups are a safe space for writers to work on their craft. No one will read or critique your writing. Kaldi's Social House website: https://www.kaldissocialhouse.net/ \* Resource \* Many thanks to Justin for putting together a shared file of resource discussed at the meetings. Feel free to add to it! [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13LONNjZvsO5hEXM7NsBnWCgy3GgPgjAbQxE0lPxp7hc/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13LONNjZvsO5hEXM7NsBnWCgy3GgPgjAbQxE0lPxp7hc/edit?usp=sharing)

Hey Poetry Lovers! This group is on a roll. Here’s the gist: We meet at the **Capital One Café in Chinatown** from **12pm - 2pm** every other week. For enrichment, we start by reading and reflecting on a **“published poem”**, suggested by someone in the group. No advance preparation is necessary. But feel free to check out some of the poems we’ve read [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSyE_wCLQCPHRrKmN5F9tOIeeRQUZESxjRXGVBoCF2uU8Gm0_d0uECiCBCQXEy6ksxfsBOhtRIOpW3T/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true&widget=true&headers=false%22%3E%3C/iframe%3E). Or submit suggestions for future meetings [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexGc2Z2Kp6bZW0D3_hfJ7NUUkfNHf7TXX-43FglCeBd9EF2Q/viewform?usp=send_form). Next, we **share our work and offer feedback**. Depending on attendance, everyone gets \~10 minutes to use as they like. (No need to share, though; you’re welcome to come even if you prefer just to listen.) We maintain a **Discord server** to help share our work and communicate outside our bi-weekly meet-ups. If you haven’t used Discord before, take a moment to download it and create an account before arriving. When we meet you on Saturday, we will add you to our server, the “DC Poetry Workshop”, and can help you navigate the app if you have questions. Finally, if you plan on sharing a poem, consider how you will do so. Some options include: * Print 5-10 copies to distribute in person * Take and share screenshots in the Discord chat. * Copy the poem into a google doc, change sharing settings to “anyone with link”, and copy the google doc link into the Discord chat. Most importantly, we’re excited to meet you! Catch you on Saturday, Diego / Ian / Cayden / Nate / Otasha / Lia / An

Looking for a quiet, focused space to write? Come be part of our writing group—a dedicated time just for writing alongside fellow writers in your community. No readings, no critiques, no peer-review—just you writing within a supportive atmosphere. 11:00am-11:15am: Find your seat, set up your writing station, quick intro's. 11:15pm-12:45 pm: An hour and a half of silent focused writing. 12:45pm-1:00pm: Quick debrief, pack and head home. Can't wait to see you! :)

This is an In-Person Writing Event at Three Whistle's Cafe in Clarendon! Please join us. \*\*Three Whistles Cafe has kindly requested that we do not bring outside food and drink into their restaurant.\*\* This is not a critique session or discussion event. If you're interested in attending one of our regular meetings to discuss the art and craft of writing or to review another's work, please join us for a regular meeting on Wednesdays from 7p-9p.

Storytelling Open Mic at Library. Sign up list goes out at 1:30 p.m. Each performer will get 7 minutes to tell their story via Microphone. A true story. If you don't want to tell a story this time around, feel free to come enjoy the storytellers and relax. If you need to cancel, please change your status to "will not attend."

Looking for a quiet, focused space to write? Come be part of our writing group—a dedicated time just for writing alongside fellow writers in your community. No readings, no critiques, no peer-review—just you writing within a supportive atmosphere. 7pm-7:15pm: Find your seat, set up your writing station, quick intro's. 7:15pm-8:45 pm: An hour and a half of silent focused writing. 8:45pm-9pm: Quick debrief, pack and head home. Can't wait to see you! :)

**Looking for a group you can write with *whilst sipping your fave coffee*?** ☕✍️ Then come join **Shut Up & Write!** on **Saturday, January 24th from 1:30pm to 4:00pm** at **Ridgetop Coffee & Tea**! Whether you're cranking out a novel, journaling, looking for new friends, or just trying to get that stubborn paragraph right—we’ve got a cozy seat and a supportive group waiting for you! **No critiques, no peer review, no pressure—just a chill space to get words on the page.** 📝 **What to expect:** 1:30–2:00pm – Grab your coffee or tea, find your seat, and meet your fellow writers. 2:00pm–3:30pm – Silent, focused writing time 3:30–4:00pm – Debrief, celebrate any writing wins, commiserate on any obstacles, and head out feeling accomplished. **RSVP Info:** The room seats only 8 people comfortably! RSVP as soon as possible to secure your spot!! If you are unable to attend, please cancel your reservation **ASAP** so those on the wait list are able to RSVP and attend!!! **Meeting Room:** Enter the coffee shop, walk straight towards the play area and on your left you will see a meeting room just past the bathrooms. The room has a TV, white board, and walls are painted green. **What to Bring:** Whatever helps you focus, and be productive. There is a wall outlet at each end of the room, so you're able to bring your laptop to write. You're welcome to bring headphones if you enjoy listening to music while working. **Parking & Accessibility:** there is a large parking lot out front and it is free! There are no stair cases when entering the coffee shop or when inside. This coffee shop is incredibly spacious with many seating options. If you have any questions, please message me through MeetUp. I'm happy to help. **Dietary Information:** many GF, Vegan, and SF options. Just ask your barista when ordering for specifics! Can’t wait to see you there! 🎉

We're experimenting and trying a new place! Activities: Writing Sprints (individual time boxed writing time) These writing times can be used to do any writing-related activities like plotting/outlining, and most importantly writing and working on your own writing! Make sure to bring your writing tools (laptop, notebook, your brain). We start the first sprint promptly at 10:15 between every writing sprint we take 5-15 minute breaks We shoot for a total of 3 sprints (45 minutes of writing) Location: Corner Bakery Parking: Is free Food: breakfast until 11:00 Standard lunch menu after that https://cornerbakerycafe.com/

Looking for a quiet, focused space to write? Come be part of our writing group—a dedicated time just for writing alongside fellow writers in your community. No readings, no critiques, no peer-review—just you writing within a supportive atmosphere. 7pm-7:15pm: Find your seat, set up your writing station, quick intro's. 7:15pm-8:45 pm: An hour and a half of silent focused writing. 8:45pm-9pm: Quick debrief, pack and head home. Can't wait to see you! :)

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“The Life of Frankenstein,”** on the birth, evolution and impact of a tale of man-made monstrosity, with Bernard Welt, an emeritus professor of arts and humanities at George Washington University who frequently lectures on Frankenstein in literature, cinema, and culture. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-life-of-frankenstein](https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-life-of-frankenstein) .] Guillermo del Toro’s lush and lovingly produced film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel *Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus* is just the latest of many iterations of the story to capture the public’s imagination. People have watched Victor Frankenstein give life to his monster in numerous films, on television, and on stage, and even perform “Putting on the Ritz” with him thanks to the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Mary Shelley did not just tell a tale. She spawned the modern genre of speculative fiction and gave rise to a myth that would crop up in debates over nature versus nurture and other matters. Even today it stokes anxieties over the potential impacts of robotics, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering, by evoking the image of a monster turning on its progenitor. Come gain a new appreciation of Mary Shelley’s creation with the help of Dr. Bernard Welt, who has studied the relationship between nightmares and the horror genre and is the author of *Mythomania: Fantasies, Fables, and Sheer Lies in Contemporary American Popular Art.* Dr. Welt will start by telling a literary origin story almost as famous as Frankenstein itself, of how an 18-year-old Shelley started writing *Frankenstein* in 1816 while staying in a villa on Lake Geneva with two of her era’s leading poets, Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, her lover. Housebound by foul weather, the three read Gothic tales of ghosts and monsters and challenged each other to produce something even more terrifying. Mary dreamed up a story of a man who defied death by creating a living being out of scraps of deceased men harvested from graveyards and anatomy labs. The resulting novel, *Frankenstein*, published anonymously in 1818, would by that century’s end become a touchstone in philosophical discourse on the nature of humanity and in political discussions of imperialism and populism. By the 21st century, Mary Shelley (as she became) had earned a more significant place in the literary canon than Byron and her husband Shelley. We will examine how this grisly tale became a landmark of modern thought and look at the part played by numerous film adaptations from the first years of cinema to the present day. (Door: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: From a Theodor von Holst engraving in an 1831 edition of *Frankenstein* published by Colburn and Bentley of London.

Let’s hang out and journal together, trade stationary and stickers, and have a good time! Please note, we do not have a reservationtion, so we will do our best to find some good spots when we get there. The address is: