
July 2019
Launch party for OldPVD.com
Join us to preview the new website OldPVD.com for crowdsourcing local history. OldPVD.com, an historical, architectural, and genealogical research site featuring a collection of photos and images of buildings and places in Providence dating from 1636 to the present day. The website is interactive, enabling visitors to upload their own images or to share a written comment or story about what they know. Visitors to the OldPVD.com can register and participate at no cost, and begin to research Providence’s architectural…
Find out more »November 2019
November Humanities Happy Hour
Join us in the inspiring What Cheer Writers Club to hear from RI Arts & Culture Research Fellow Janaya Kizzie about her work to tell the stories of our state's arts and culture luminaries! Janaya will give a brief talk and discussion entitled “Nodes and Gnomes: Flora and Fauna of Rhode Island Wikipedia,” where she will share some of the interesting discoveries, victories and opportunities for the humanities on Wikipedia, and preview upcoming events related to the fellowship. Light refreshments and drinks…
Find out more »April 2020
Environmental Writers Round Table
Join Dr. Lucy Spelman, founder of the local nonprofit Creature Conserve, alongside other RI environmental writers for What Cheer Writers Club's virtual Environmental Writers Round Table* on Saturday, April 25 at 1pm. Local science and environmental writers have a chance to gather online to hear about Dr. Spelman's efforts to connect scientists and creatives and to share their own projects and resources. Club Members: Free; otherwise $10 (cost of one month's membership). This event will be held virtually over Zoom.…
Find out more »May 2020
Podcast Listening Party
Now is a great time to sample local podcasts. At What Cheer Writers Club’s next virtual Member Meet Up listen in to clips from local podcasts & grow your list of to-be-listened-to shows! Hear clips from local podcasts such as: The Adventures of Elizabeth Crowne Design Me a House Still Dope Podcast Let's Chat with Chris Revill Old Roommates And more...
Find out more »Demystifying the Agent Process
Join What Cheer Writers Club for Demystifying the Agent Process, a virtual panel of literary agents on Sat, May 16 at 1pm. Lara Allen, Lotts Agency; Cheryl Pientka, Nancy Yost Literary Agency; and Katie Kotchman, Don Congdon Associates, will join us online from NYC to offer insight into finding a literary agent for your work.
Find out more »Podcasting 101
Podcasting 101 is currently an online class focused on providing an introduction to podcasting and offering tips for recording from home. The class will be held online via Zoom every third Thursday of the month from 6-8pm.
Find out more »July 2020
Podcasting 101
Podcasting 101 is currently an online class focused on providing an introduction to podcasting and offering tips for recording from home. The class will be held online via Zoom every third Thursday of the month from 6-8pm.
Find out more »August 2020
Podcasting 101
Podcasting 101 is currently an online class focused on providing an introduction to podcasting and offering tips for recording from home. The class will be held online via Zoom every third Thursday of the month from 6-8pm.
Find out more »October 2020
Writer Relief: Funds & Fellowships for RI Creatives
With so many local creatives in financial straits, What Cheer Writers Club is holding a practicum on financial relief available to writers, illustrators and podcasters negatively impacted by Covid or otherwise in need of funding for creative projects. Register now for Writer Relief: Funds & Fellowships for RI Creatives with RISCA’s Mollie Flanagan, online on Sat, Oct 3 from 1-2:30pm. Admission is free to Club Members, or by a pay-what-you-can donation.
Find out more »What Fear! A Virtual Masquerade
YOU’RE INVITED to What Fear! A Virtual Masquerade, a fundraising event for What Cheer Writers Club on Friday, October 30 at 7pm. Throughout the evening in-the-moment donations unlock tricks, readings and other amusements as we celebrate two years of serving a thriving literary arts community in Rhode Island. What: What Fear! A Virtual Masquerade is a fundraising event for What Cheer Writers Club, a nonprofit serving Rhode Island’s writers, illustrators and podcasters. Prepare for an evening of literary enchantment, with…
Find out more »November 2020
NaNoWriMo Sprint Days
In support of local writers taking the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, the Club is opening its virtual doors every Sunday in November for free & open to the public write-ins from 10am to 11am. It all kicks off on Sun, Nov 1 with a special 2-hour virtual chat and write-in, where you can meet fellow writers preparing for the month ahead.
Find out more »NaNoWriMo Sprint Days
In support of local writers taking the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, the Club is opening its virtual doors every Sunday in November for free & open to the public write-ins from 10am to 11am. It all kicks off on Sun, Nov 1 with a special 2-hour virtual chat and write-in, where you can meet fellow writers preparing for the month ahead.
Find out more »NaNoWriMo Sprint Days
In support of local writers taking the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, the Club is opening its virtual doors every Sunday in November for free & open to the public write-ins from 10am to 11am. It all kicks off on Sun, Nov 1 with a special 2-hour virtual chat and write-in, where you can meet fellow writers preparing for the month ahead.
Find out more »NaNoWriMo Sprint Days
In support of local writers taking the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, the Club is opening its virtual doors every Sunday in November for free & open to the public write-ins from 10am to 11am. It all kicks off on Sun, Nov 1 with a special 2-hour virtual chat and write-in, where you can meet fellow writers preparing for the month ahead.
Find out more »NaNoWriMo Sprint Days
In support of local writers taking the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, the Club is opening its virtual doors every Sunday in November for free & open to the public write-ins from 10am to 11am. It all kicks off on Sun, Nov 1 with a special 2-hour virtual chat and write-in, where you can meet fellow writers preparing for the month ahead.
Find out more »December 2020
Writing During COVID
Not since 1918 has the nation and state experienced a pandemic, with its enormous loss of lives, daily life and for many, livelihoods. With much of the culture on hold, reading books has become perhaps more important than ever. Join us at 7 p.m. Thurs, Dec 10, for a discussion with five Rhode Island authors who are writing them and learn what's so very different today... and what's not.
Find out more »February 2021
BIPOC/POC Creatives Happy Hour
Rhode Island writers, illustrators and podcasters of color are invited to What Cheer Writers Club’s BIPOC/POC Creatives Happy Hour online Fri, Feb 19 from 5-6pm. Come share about your creative projects, and how you are facing the unique challenges of creating and finding community as an artist of color in the age of Covid. The discussion will be moderated by Club Member LuzJennifer Martinez, founder of the Diverse Voices of RI writing group.
Find out more »March 2021
Grantwriting for Writers
Support for writing projects can feel scarce, but a strong grant proposal can open new opportunities, expanding your creative practice in the process. Join What Cheer Writers Club for Grantwriting for Writers, a conversation with Assets for Artists’ Molly Rideout online Thurs, March 4 at 7pm. Learn how to think innovatively about funding opportunities, place value on your work while building out a project budget, and, ultimately, transform your current projects into engaging proposals that get funded.
Find out more »April 2021
B/I/POC Creatives Happy Hour
Rhode Island writers, illustrators and podcasters of color are invited to What Cheer Writers Club’s B/I/POC Creatives Happy Hour online Fri, April 9 from 5-6pm. Come share about your creative projects, and how you are facing the unique challenges of creating and finding community as an artist of color in the age of Covid. The discussion will be moderated by Club Member LuzJennifer Martinez, founder of the Diverse Voices of RI writing group.
Find out more »Poets Write In
In honor of National Poetry Month, What Cheer Writers Club is hosting two virtual write-ins where Rhode Island poets can meet and write alone, but together, for a focused hour set apart for them and their work.
Find out more »Poets Write In
In honor of National Poetry Month, What Cheer Writers Club is hosting two virtual write-ins where Rhode Island poets can meet and write alone, but together, for a focused hour set apart for them and their work.
Find out more »Poetry Showcase
Many have turned to poetry over the past year for both expression and consolation in the face of loss. On Fri, April 23 at 5pm What Cheer Writers Club celebrates the form in honor of National Poetry Month with a virtual showcase of Rhode Island poets reading their work.
Find out more »July 2021
Podcasting 101
Podcasting 101 is currently an online class focused on providing an introduction to podcasting and offering tips for recording from home. In this class we will: • Explore the extremely relevant and rapidly growing medium of podcasting • Give you tips for recording from your home studio • Introduce resources to help get your idea into someone else’s earbuds
Find out more »August 2021
Creatives of Color Cocktail Chat with Jabari Asim
Rhode Island writers of color are invited to What Cheer Writers Club’s Creatives of Color Cocktail Chat online Fri, Aug 20 at 7pm. We'll be joined by Jabari Asim, author of seven books for adults and thirteen books for children and director of Emerson College's MFA program in creative writing. Bring your questions about the writing and publishing process across genres. The conversation will be moderated by Club Member LuzJennifer Martinez, founder of the Diverse Voices of RI writing group.…
Find out more »September 2021
Structuring Memoir: Life as Constellation
Sometimes the events of a life can feel less like a typical story and more like a constellation of disparate parts. In this workshop, we’ll explore how to work with this phenomenon and give compelling shape and structure to memoir, investigating variations in structure from the simple to the complex in works by authors such as Rebecca Solnit, Jesmyn Ward, Patti Smith, Helen MacDonald and Carmen Maria Machado. Memoir writers, including cross-genre and hybrid artists, will come away with a…
Find out more »October 2021
Sequential Storytelling: The Magic of Mini-Comics
In this workshop we'll explore storytelling through the mini-comic: a simple booklet made from a single folded sheet of paper with three interior spreads. Whether you're working with images or words, the miniature layout can be a generative blank slate for many creative practices, offering a unique opportunity to experiment with sequential storytelling. We’ll ask questions like: How do you break a larger story down to three essential beats? How can you use this three-beat structure to experiment with your…
Find out more »An Introverts Ball
You're invited to An Introverts Ball, a What Cheer Writers Club fundraiser. This hybrid event lets you choose your level of comfortable engagement, with options to stay cozied up at home in your armchair, or drop by for some leisurely in-person and virtual entertainment. Pick up your party favors (BYO tote bag!) on Sat, Oct 30 between 12-5pm outside What Cheer Writers Club at 160 Westminster St in downtown Providence, where we’ll be hosting safe outdoor festivities, with the chance…
Find out more »January 2022
Submission Bee
With a new year comes creative resolutions, but it can take community and accountability to meet our goals. On Sat, Jan 15 from 1-2:30pm, join What Cheer Writers Club online for a Submission Bee—a chance to come together to submit finished stories, essays and poems to publishing outlets. We’ll discuss various submission platforms and tools, then share our projects and publication lists. Together, we’ll submit our work to literary journals and magazines, publishers and presses. Bring a polished piece and…
Find out more »February 2022
Writers Roulette: Find Your Feedback Partner
Every writer needs a feedback partner, but--not unlike romantic love--the right person can be hard to find. On Sat Feb 12 at 1pm, What Cheer Writers Club offers Rhode Island writers a chance to meet their writerly match in an online Writers Roulette. At this entirely platonic event, writers will have a chance to mingle with other creatives in a breakout room roulette. Conversation prompts are provided for the introverted among us! At the end, you can let us know…
Find out more »Bringing the Steam: Writing Intimate Moments
Intimate scenes can be among the most difficult to write. Whether you are an aspiring romance author or want to include a “steamy scene” in your novel, short story or memoir, this workshop gets down and dirty to get you comfortable with crafting a love scene that rings true to your characters. Bring your work in progress—or an idea of the characters you would like to bring together—so we can start drafting the naughty bits! Craft Curiosities workshops are open…
Find out more »March 2022
Taxes for Artists, Freelancers and Creative Businesses
Anxiety around money and taxes are serious setbacks for any artist working toward financial stability and independence. On Wed, March 16 at 7pm, join What Cheer Writers Club online for Taxes for Artists, Freelancers and Creative Businesses, an online financial empowerment workshop for creatives with Hannah Cole, Enrolled Agent and founder of Sunlight Tax. Learn how to get organized, what you need to file taxes, and which tools and habits can help free up more time for your creative pursuits.…
Find out more »A Map of Home: Settings that Speak
Setting is often an overlooked element of story, especially in memoir and autobiographical fiction. But paying attention to place can help convey cross-cultural experiences of immigration, dislocation, social mobility, and other circumstances impacted by racism and discrimination. This workshop will consider works by Randa Jarrar, Alison Bechdel, Julia Alvarez and Lamtharn Hantrakul to discuss how they use place to break silences of war, colonialism and prejudice. After drawing maps as a way to orient ourselves to the idea of "home”…
Find out more »April 2022
Earth in Verse
In celebration of Earth Day and National Poetry Month, What Cheer Writers Club presents Earth in Verse, an online showcase of nature writing from Rhode Island poets and writers. On Fri, April 22 at 7pm, local creatives read poems, essays and hybrid work inspired by or in conversation with the natural world.
Find out more »Sounds of Silence: The Art of Punctuation in Poetry
Punctuation works differently in poetry than in the mundane world of work emails and everyday prose. Why do you need to learn about it? Because it’s a great tool for control, texture and mood-tweaking! This isn’t a “rules” course—we’ll be looking at the effect of stops and pauses in the work of master poets such as Louise Gluck, Anne Carson and Brigit Pegeen Kelly, as well as other usual suspects and new arrivals, and chatting about the feel of various…
Find out more »May 2022
Step into My Parlor!: Crafting Strong Beginnings
Every first page—whether story, novel, memoir, essay, or poetry collection —bears a promise and an invitation: Reader, there’s something I need to share with you, something important, that I believe with all my heart you’ll want to know. Powerful writing begins with the first word, and with each subsequent word, hooks readers, making them want to keep going. In this workshop, through writing exercises, discussions, craft presentation, and a look at some amazing beginnings, from authors N.K. Jemisin, Anne Carson,…
Find out more »