Forty years ago, a group of writers decided the Writingest State needed a new organization to connect, support, educate, and serve the many writers all across North Carolina. From 1985 to 2025 the writing world has changed dramatically, but the Network has endured. www.ncwriters.org/news/blog/th...

✨️Squire Summer Writing Workshop Spotlight!✨️⁠ Don't miss your chance to learn from award-winning author Maddie Norris in "Writing the Body: Embodied Creative Nonfiction."⁠ Registration for Squire Summer Writing Workshops is currently open until July 11: www.ncwriters.org/squire-summe...

We're back after a mini summer break! Just in time to tell you about Squire Summer Writing Workshops, happening at Davidson College in July. You don't want to miss this long weekend of craft intensive sessions. 4 days. 12 writers per workshop. Learn more: www.ncwriters.org/squire-summe...

Spring Conference spotlight: Don’t miss “Writing the Big Issues in YA” with Lauren Yero! In this workshop, we’ll discuss how to write stories that deal with important social and political themes without being didactic. www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Spring Conference Spotlight: As a writer, your audience and your community are the two anchors that will keep you motivated throughout your entire career. So you don't want to miss "Finding Your Audience and Building Your Writing Community" with Alyson Sinclair! www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

just about ten days left to register for the always-delightful North Carolina Writers' Network conference, support Asheville's rebuilding, and hang out with yours truly while I meet with writers and eat as many giant biscuits as I possibly can!

I feel pretty well qualified to talk about strangeness-- on the page or off! But we'll focus on the page in this workshop from @ncwritersnetwork.bsky.social at the spring conference. Register today: www.ncwriters.org

A big congrats to Anne Raustol of Weaverville, who won this year’s Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize for her story “Brown Butter!” Read the full announcement: www.ncwriters.org/news/network...

ONLY A FEW SPOTS LEFT! Spring Conference Spotlight: Don't miss your chance to take a Master Class with Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn! Learn more and register: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Need feedback on your writing? NCWN offers an ongoing Critique Service for its members. Network writers can have their unpublished work reviewed, at below-market rates, by established writers and editors of varying backgrounds and areas of expertise! www.ncwriters.org/services/cri...

Spring Conference Spotlight: Paul Jones! Paul will join authors Patrick Cumby and Michele T. Berger for a can't-miss discussion on writing and A.I. Examine both sides of the coin and one of the most pressing issues of our community. Registration is now open: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

“Being a nonprofit was the right way to pursue our mission,” NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern said, “but you know what’s a better way to pursue something? In a sports car.” www.ncwriters.org/news/blog/nc...

By now you’ve probably heard about the theft of millions of books and other written work by Meta in order to “train” the AI they’re developing. If you’re reading this blog post there’s a good chance your work has been stolen, or the work of your friends. www.ncwriters.org/news/blog/th...

Our Executive Director Ed Southern and other network members are in Los Angeles this week for #AWP2025! If you're an NCWN member and attending the AWP conference, feel free to share your photos or tag us! Have fun!

The TBR pile just got a little bigger, thanks to these excellent books now out in the world! Congrats to our NCWN members.

Don't miss "Biography, Observation, and Belief" with Keith Flynn! This workshop will focus on incorporating elements of the writer’s personal life with tangible visual aspects to give their work greater authenticity and credibility. Register now: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Do you have an inspirational quote near your desk? Something you can look at and remember why you're there? Let us know in the comments!

Congrats to Anne P. Beatty, a high school English teacher in Greensboro, who won the 2025 Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition for her essay “Beach Daze." Beatty will receive $1,000, and Ecotone will consider her essay for publication. www.ncwriters.org/news/network...

Spring Conference Spotlight: Don't miss "Landbound: Writing Artfully About Place" with Jeremy B. Jones! In this session, we’ll explore approaches for putting place on the page. Registration is open for our Spring Conference, happening in Asheville. Register now: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Applause for our Network members who recently celebrated good publishing news! Are you a NCWN member and have news to share with us? Reach out! We'd love to spotlight you.

Spring Conference Spotlight: It was a matter of when, not if, we would address the elephant in the writers' room: A.I. Don't miss Saturday's kickoff panel, "Have You People Never Seen The Terminator? Writers & AI" with Patrick Cumby, Michele Berger & Paul Jones. www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Spring conference for @ncwritersnetwork.bsky.social May 2-4 in Asheville: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

What was the last book you read that surprised you? A plot twist, a new form, a memoir epiphany...Let us know in the comments!

Spring Conference Spotlight: James Beard Award winner Ronni Lundy will take attendees through a series of food-related prompts to enhance their ability to create mood, define character, describe place, and reveal motivation in their work. Learn more & register: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

"Is Asheville open after the hurricane?" "How do I get the most out of my Master Class?" "Are there books for sale? Will authors sign them for me?" Your questions will be answered on our Live Q&A on Tuesday, March 11 from 1-2pm. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Spring Conference Spotlight: we are thrilled that the one and only Kelle Jolly will join us at the Saturday night network banquet! Registration is open now for our spring conference. Don't wait! Learn more and register: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

CLOSING SOON - There's still time to enter the Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition, which honors a single poem. Open to any writer who is a legal resident of North Carolina or a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. Send in your submissions by March 1st! www.ncwriters.org/programs/com...

In honor of Black History Month, we want to take a moment with multifaceted artist, poet, & civil rights advocate Dr. Maya Angelou. Dr. Angelou moved to North Carolina in 1981, and lived in Winston-Salem for over 30 years. Here's her poem, "Still I Rise." www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/...

Delighted to participate in the Manuscript Mart with @ncwritersnetwork.bsky.social this May (my first visit to North Carolina)! Registration is open here: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Want something to read that IS NOT the news? Our authors can deliver! Check out the most recent publications from NCWN members.

Spring Conference Spotlight: Join Meg Reid, the Publisher of Hub City Press, as she demystifies all aspects of small press publishing. We'll discuss publishing models, mission, distribution, query letters, agents, & more, followed by a Q&A. Registration is open now: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Spring Conference Spotlight: Don't miss "Bending Reality" with award-winning author Michele T. Berger! What is speculative fiction and how does it play with realist constructs? Find out! Registration is open now: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Looking for some literary inspiration? Check out these last-half-of-February events and many more. You can see all the details on our Literary Calendar online or subscribe to our weekly newsletter, where you'll receive a curated roundup each Wednesday in your inbox.

Spring Conference Spotlight: We're thrilled to have author Heather Newton offering the class, "The Use of Sound in Prose." How can you describe sound in your prose in a way that is both original and instantly familiar to the reader? Registration is open now: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con... ⁠

SCHOLARSHIP ALERT! Thanks to the generosity of our friends at Flatiron Writers Room, we are able to offer a full Spring Conference scholarship to one WNC writer of color for the weekend of May 2-4, 2025. Learn more, spread the word, and apply here: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

Very important question: how do you like to write? -- Longhand in notebooks? -- Index card scenes? -- Scrivener on the laptop? -- A mix of all the above? Let us know in the comments!

Congratulations to Mildred K. Barya of Asheville who won the 2025 Jacobs/Jones African American Literary Prize for her entry “Sing for the Women.” Barya will receive a $1,000 prize, & Carolina Quarterly will consider “Sing for the Women” for publication. Read more: www.ncwriters.org/news/network...

Literary Calendar: there are many events happening around our great state this month! Stay up to date by subscribing to our weekly newsletter or visiting the website: www.ncwriters.org/news/literar... #ncevents #visitnc #literarync #ncwriters #writingevents #authorevents

Four reasons to attend the Spring Conference: Lucy Cleland, Maggie Cooper, Mariah Stovall and Denton Loving will be our Manuscript Mart reviewers! Register for the opportunity to submit your manuscript and get feedback from an editor or literary agent. Details: www.ncwriters.org/programs/con...

NC Literary Calendar: The Country Bookshop, Weymouth Center, & Moore County Historical Association welcome Marion Elliott Deerhake in convo with Kimberly Daniels Taws about her book "Jane Pratt: North Carolina’s First Congresswoman." Feb 6. Learn more: www.thecountrybookshop.biz/event/marion...

NC Literary Calendar: last chance to register for "The Art of Revision" with Doreen Baingana, happening Feb 3 at Flatiron Writers Room in Asheville. Learn more: www.flatironwritersroom.com/workshops-fa...

A few hours left until our Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize closes! Submit your work by 11:59pm ET tonight. www.ncwriters.org/programs/com...

This is a really challenging time (to put it mildly). Thankful for the community we've found here on Bluesky.

Pretty big deal. @bookshop-org.bsky.social is selling ebooks now. You can now support indies while purchasing digital books. bookshop.org/ebooks

The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize closes this Thursday. Submit your work by 11:59pm ET. Prize: $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review. This contest is open to all writers, *not* just North Carolina. www.ncwriters.org/programs/com...

The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize closes Jan 30! Winner receives $1,000 and publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review. Open to all writers regardless of geographical location or prior publication. Don't miss your chance. www.ncwriters.org/programs/com... #writingcompetitions #amwriting #writingcontest

NYT bestselling author. Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award winner. Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Three times the recipient of the O. Henry Prize. North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame-r. Professor. And all-around good person. We're thrilled Ron Rash will be our keynote speaker.

Congratulations to USMC First Lieutenant Hunter Mendenhall, winner of NCWN’s first Barrax/Bayes Poetry Contest for his poem “The Salty Son.” Mendenhall will receive $250 and his poem will be considered for publication in the NC Literary Review. Read more here: www.ncwriters.org/news/network...

The Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network, opens today! Submit your single poems for a chance to win $200 and publication in @storysouth.bsky.social. Deadline is March 1. For details and entry, visit: www.ncwriters.org/programs/com...

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Bernard L. Herman, professor emeritus @uncchapelhill.bsky.social American Studies, who co-curated Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South, on view through 5/4 at @iaamuseum.bsky.social (the exhibition catalogue published by UNC Press).