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Giving Tuesday is Today and We Need Your Help
Giving Tuesday is today. Last year, The Muse raised more than $20,000 to support its programming and outreach programs. This year, as we embark on a broader plan to strengthen our connections in the community, we need to raise an additional $25,000 by the end of the year.
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Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated. And if you can possibly increase your gift from last year, you can help ensure we meet our increased goal. And now, all contributions will count toward our New Muse Membership Program, and contributions can be set as a one-time donation or broken up into monthly payments.
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Did you know? We offer nearly 300 classes and serve more than 1,500 students (from age 6 to post-retirement) each year. We provide more than $28,000 in tuition assistance to nearly 600 students, and we helped send 4 people to college this year through scholarships. The Muse gives writers a voice, organizing readings, open mics, and writers events that reach more than 16,000 adults, teens, and kids yearly. And we're expanding our outreach to senior living communities, youth, and military & veterans groups. Your support will enable us to continue our mission to support the vibrant literary community in Hampton Roads and beyond.
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Gift Certificates
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Last Chance for Fall Creative Writing Classes
In-Person, Online, & Hybrid Classes
- In In-person classes, everyone will meet at our physical center.
- Hybrid classes are where it's your choice whether to attend In-Person or through Zoom each class meeting. We have installed an excellent hybrid system to ensure both In-Person and Zoom students have the same great experience. The instructor will host the class in a physical Muse classroom.
- Online classes meet over Zoom; you can take them from anywhere.
Classes Starting Now...
Writers Professional Development
- The Path to Publication: An Agent’s Point of View: An online class that meets Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Instructor: Jessica Errera. More information
- Submitting Your Writing to Magazines, Journals, and Publishers: A hybrid class that meets Saturday, December 10, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Instructor: Rick Eley. More information
Writers Craft
- Writing a Sense of Place & Setting: An online class that meets Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Instructor: Susan Isaak Lolis. More information
- Parachuting Into a Brush Fire: A Workshop On Writing a Brevity Essay: 2-meeting hybrid class that begins Sunday, December 4, 1-3:30 p.m. Instructor: Emily Pease. More information
Writers Knowledge
- The Deep History of English: A hybrid class that meets Sunday, December 4, 1-3:30 p.m. Instructor: John Aguiar. More information
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Muse Holiday Party with the Ghent Market Shops
Friday, December 9, 5-9 p.m. at The Muse. More information
Join us for our first in-person holiday party since before the pandemic!
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Come to The Muse for refreshments, live music, a book sale, raffle, and more, and be sure to check out the rest of the block for Happy Hour specials and discounts on services and products!
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- Happy hour at Plaza del Sol
- 10% discount on services at the Foot Treatment Spa
- Telescope viewings with the Back Bay Astronomers (weather-dependent)
- Pizza from Ynot
- and more
- The party will continue with karaoke at Plaza del Sol starting at 9 p.m.
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Stay tuned for more details.
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In-Person & Online Events
NaNoWriMo 2022 Final Push Pajama Party
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Wednesday, November 30, 7 p.m.-12:30 a.m., In-Person at The Muse & Hybrid, More information
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This is it, the final push! As NaNoWriMo 2022 comes to a close, join us in person or on Zoom to finish up that 50k. We will be open right until the final second of November, so put on your favorite PJs, grab your trusty writing utensils of choice, and burn the midnight oil with The Muse.
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Writers Coffee Break
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Friday, December 2, 10 a.m.-Noon, In-Person at Cafe Stella Ghent, More information
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Join us as we come back together and meet in-person for our monthly 1st Friday Writers Coffee Breaks at Cafe Stella in Ghent. At these informal get-togethers, area writers and Muse teachers, students, and friends enjoy conversation and camaraderie over a (perhaps much needed) coffee break. This month's hosts: Michael Khandelwal and Lisa Cooper. We look forward to seeing your faces!
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757 Comic and Cartoon Creators
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Saturday, December 3, 5-7 p.m., In-Person at The Muse and Hybrid, More information
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757 Comic and Cartoon Creators is a community group for local artists, specifically those interested in creating comics and animation. Writers are welcome as well. Come in-person or join us via Zoom.
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The Write Offs Writing Group
Join us for an writing group for writers in their 20s and 30s. Registration required.
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Pamela Brothers Denyes Book Launch and Q&A
Join The Muse for a triple-threat book launch, with a reading by Pamela Brothers Denyes from her three latest poetry collections: The Right Mistakes, The Widow's Lovers, and As I Lay Dreaming. After the reading, there will be a Q&A and book signing. This event will be held in person at The Muse and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
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Writers Zoom Meet-Up
Join The Muse on the first Tuesday of each month for our monthly Writers Zoom Meet-Up, an informal get-together where writers from anywhere in the world enjoy conversation, camaraderie, and discussion about what we're working on. Breakout rooms by genre will be
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Sensitivity Reading Q&A with Nathaniel Glanzman
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Sunday, December 4, 5-6 p.m., More information
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Sensitivity reading is a little known essential for publishing stories with marginalized characters. In this Live Q&A with a professional in the field, we will explore what sensitivity reading is, why traditional publishers value it, why it differs from censorship and why accuracy matters when writing about all groups of people. Free Zoom registration required.
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The Muse Neighborhood Jam
The Muse Jam is Back! Join us on the 2nd Friday of each month for an evening where everyone is welcome to make music, sing, read, laugh, or just hang out and listen. This is not an open mic with a sign-up list. We'll alternate between individual-led and collaborative performance and pure unplugged jams. Anyone is welcome... from beginners to professionals, whether you like to play an instrument or just listen, sing or be sung to, read your work or hear great stories and poems. Hosted by Dan Duke.
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Projects, Passions, and Possibilities Writing Group
A roundtable discussion open to all writers and generated by the interests of the participants to exchange and spread information. Free registration required. Hosted by author, Fran Ward
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Gathering Magic: A Fantasy Writers Group
Come join us for our monthly fantasy writers gathering. Some writing, come critique, some craft talk, some camaraderie with other fantasy writers--those of us who revel in wardrobe doors and rabbit holes, who would rather work on inventing a language than learning French, who long for something this world doesn't offer.
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757 Comic and Cartoon Creators
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Sunday, December 11, 5-7 p.m., In-Person at The Muse and Hybrid, More information
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757 Comic and Cartoon Creators is a community group for local artists, specifically those interested in creating comics and animation. Writers are welcome as well. Come in-person or join us via Zoom.
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Teen Writers Club
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Are you a teen? Do you like writing? Then join us at The Muse every 2nd and 4th Monday for the Teen Writers Club! This casual meet-up is part social hangout and part writing. The club is open to all teens with an interest in any creative writing form, including songwriting, comics, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and anything else word related. You don't need to be a Muse student to participate.
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High School Sophomores & Juniors... Be a Teen Fellow!
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The Muse Writers Center is now taking application for our 2023 Teen Writers Fellowship! Any sophomore or junior student who lives in the greater Tidewater/Hampton Roads area is encouraged to apply. The fellows selected will receive 25 creative writing classes and workshops, 4 mentorship sessions with a professional writer, and have the chance to pitch to literary agents at the Hampton Roads Writers Conference. All at no cost to the fellow! Deadline to apply is January 6, 2023.
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Please Fill Out Our Publishing Survey
We are compiling a list celebrating the publishing success of everyone who has ever been involved with The Muse Writers Center--students, teachers, volunteers, event attendees, etc.
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Past or forthcoming, self-published and traditionally published, short or book... any genre!
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Come to The Muse and Write
The Muse Writers Center's physical space is open for people to write, meet others, and learn more about The Muse four days a week: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. See our Locations, Hours, & Directions page for more information..
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The Muse has installed is installing an iWave-R air purification system that uses needlepoint bipolar ionization (NPBI) cold plasma technology to sanitize the air, killing viruses, bacteria, and mold.
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Come Back from COVID Campaign
Become a Sponsor
During the Coronavirus in-person shutdown, the staff of The Muse Writers Center has been busy preparing for our eventual re-opening. We are re-organizing our library, assembling more comfortable furniture for our classrooms, and more.
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All sponsorships are tax-deductible and all donors will be acknowledged with a thank you plaque on the item(s) or room(s) sponsored. Sponsorships can be made in honor of or in memory of someone special. Credit cards and checks are accepted. You can sponsor more than one item or room, and can split larger sponsorships into payments.
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What's Still Available?
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Stay Connected! Join The Writers Reservoir on Facebook
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Visit facebook.com/groups/WritersReservoir and connect with other writers and share articles, essays and personal experiences about being a writer in the world today as well as information about places to submit, contests, conferences, and more. The Writers Reservoir is more than a writers’ resource, it is a writers’ community! It is a place where writers can share, learn, connect and find that often elusive creative spark. The Writers Reservoir is a Facebook group. All writers are welcome to join and send invitations to join.
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The Muse Writers Center’s projects, classes, and events are made possible in part through sponsorship by the City of Norfolk Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Business Consortium for Arts Support, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the WeTransfer Creative Hubs Grant. Additional funding has been provided by Virginia Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic stabilization plan of 2020 as well as The Literary Arts Emergency Fund, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and the Norfolk Department of Economic Development.
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