Celebrating the Creative Writing Community

A few years before the pandemic, a Muse student who had moved to West Virginia called me asking advice on starting an organization like The Muse where she lived. I asked her what she missed most about being part of our community in Hampton Roads, and to start there. For me, when 20 years ago, I began what became The Muse, I had two things in mind: teaching and community.

She said that what she missed most was our social events like our Writers Happy Hours and our Writers Coffee Breaks. I told her to let it evolve naturally from events like that. That a community would form.

Her love of our community has stayed in my thoughts to this day. I have always known that I was a bit more extraverted than most writers, and I always felt that the happy hours and coffee breaks were a way for writers to come together and form a strong bond over a shared love of words.

Fast forward to 2024, and I am heartened that The Muse has maintained it’s community focus, always bringing people together to form bonds and friendships that matter socially—but also matter to the improvement of our craft as writers.

Now, in addition to our 1st Friday Coffee Breaks and 3rd Thursday Happy Hours (which I hope you will consider attending in the next month), we have more than a dozen networking events and clubs that meet monthly–in-person, online, and hybrid–so no matter where you are in the world, you can find your community. There is something for every writer whether you write fantasy or poetry, want accountability or a place to vent frustrations, or want to get together with friends over writing prompts or best practices for submission.

This fall, as you explore our robust class offerings and schedule of events and open mics, I invite to you immerse yourself in the greater community of creative writers and find a place to ground yourself in the possibilities that words and community offer us all.

–Michael Khandelwal, Executive Director, The Muse Writers Center