Twice-monthly meetings at the University of Dallas begin this Tuesday

The Fall schedule of DFW Catholic Writers meetings at the University of Dallas has been confirmed. This semester the group will meet twice a month, on the evenings of the first and third Tuesdays of the month.

That means that this Tuesday, September 20, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., any Catholic writer in the area is welcome and invited to gather with other writers to share, discuss, and critique works-in-progress. There are a number of eager young student novelists from the UD population who meet along with writers from the wider community, so there is always a lively discussion. Those who wish to get feedback on their writing should bring 6-8 copies of a sample of approximately 1,000 words or less.

Will you join us? Find details on the meeting time and place here.

If you want to make sure you never miss a meeting, contact Nancy Ward  to get on the email list. You can also sign up to receive all blog posts by email. Just fill in the form in the right-hand sidebar.

New meeting place, New day ... New members?

There are lots of new things in store for the Dallas/Fort Worth Catholic Writers Group.

New meeting day and location

First, our lunchtime meetings are moving to a new day and place. From now on, we'll meet at Sacred Heart Books and Gifts in far north Dallas, on the first Tuesday of each month (from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) Bring your lunch if you wish. Sacred Heart has moved to a new, larger space (just two doors down from their former space), where they now have a community room suitable for our meetings. (Click here for a map.) We've enjoyed meeting the past three years at Half Price Books, but we are happy now to accept the hospitality of the premiere Dallas Catholic bookstore.

New status for University of Dallas meetings

Second, evening meetings at the University of Dallas will resume, now that a new academic term has begun. Dr. Bernadette Waterman-Ward, writer and UD faculty member who acted as convener for the UD meetings, is on sabbatical in Wyoming this year, however, so the group has been officially listed as a student group on campus so that it can reserve a meeting space without a faculty sponsor (non-students are still very welcome). We are not yet sure exactly where and when we will meet, but expect to be able to announce the new time and place very soon.

New members — will you be one?

Finally, we are hoping to see some new faces at our meetings this fall — or maybe some we just haven't seen in a while. We encourage active writers and aspiring writers alike to attend. If you would like to get some peer critiques from a work in progress, bring half a dozen copies to share. Even if you don't have a sample to share, you can help other writers by giving them feedback on their work. Most importantly, you can give and receive encouragement. Writing is a solitary endeavor, but it needn't be a lonely one. We all benefit from the help and encouragement of our peers.

So put our lunchtime meetings on your calendar for the first Tuesday of each month. Come and visit Sacred Heart Books and Gifts in their new digs, and maybe plan to spend a little extra time checking out their inventory, or pick out a space on their shelves where you would like to see your book someday.

If you want to make sure you never miss a meeting, contact Nancy Ward to get on the email list. You can also sign up to receive all blog posts by email. Just fill in the form in the right-hand sidebar.