Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

This free hour-long workshop explores how writing depictions of play — sports, games, make-believe, and other cooperative and competitive activities — can produce compelling scenes, characters, and dynamics. We'll analyze examples from film, prose, and poetry; respond to writing prompts; and discuss our goals and inspirations.

C.P. Jude (Colin Bonini) is a writer from San Jose, California. His work appears in The Under Review, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Wig-Wag, The Masters Review, The Chicago Review of Books, The 2024 Driftwood Anthology, The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of Gonzaga University and earned his MFA from Arizona State University. He currently lives, writes, and teaches in Philadelphia, PA, and is eternally heartbroken about the A’s leaving Oakland.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Friday, February 14th is the last day to register for Between Music & Language: Black Acoustemologies, a 3 hour, single session class with Hiwot Adilow. Details below:

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

This free hour-long workshop uses reflective exercises and poetry to explore how sexual and non-sexual pleasure can be a pathway to personal and collective liberation. Grounded in the teachings of Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Adrienne Maree Brown, we'll use poetic expression to reclaim our right to sensuality and to challenge systems of oppression. The workshop encourages participants to embrace pleasure and poetry as tools for self-awareness, self-care, and resilience. Expect writing prompts, intentional reflection, and open conversation.

Amir Methvin is a poet, social worker, sex educator, and aspiring sex therapist with a passion for using writing as a medium for healing and liberation. She writes about love, people, pleasure, and pretty sunsets. With a background in psychology and gender studies from Temple University, Amir has spent over six years facilitating poetic spaces that center joy, pleasure, and self-discovery. Their work draws on the teachings of bell hooks and Audre Lorde, with a particular focus on the intersection of pleasure, identity, and liberation. Through workshops like Poetry as Pleasure, Amir empowers participants to explore the intimate connections between body, mind, and spirit through creative writing and reflection. As a Black, queer facilitator, Amir prioritizes creating inclusive, affirming spaces where participants can safely engage with pleasure as a liberatory practice. In addition to writing, Amir advocates for pleasure-centered sex education and consults with nonprofits and social service agencies to help incorporate sex-positive, inclusive frameworks into their work.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

This event is hosted by the Authors Guild, and co-sponsored by Blue Stoop. Please contact the Authors Guild with any questions.

Do you want to learn from an experienced mentor—or give back to the writing community by mentoring an emerging writer? Drawing on personal experience with writing mentorship programs and community organizations, our panelists will address what curious writers should know about becoming either a mentor or mentee.

Author mentorships can take many shapes: formal or informal, free or paid, craft-focused or career-oriented. We’ll discuss:

• How to select the right mentorship program for you

• What makes a great author mentor

• How writer mentees can best benefit from the experience

• Engaging in a writing community for ongoing support

Special thanks to the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Blue Stoop, and Las Musas for collaborating on this event.

A Q&A will follow the presentation; you can pre-submit a question when registering for the event. A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend live.

The event will take place via Zoom with automatic closed captioning. To request any other accessibility features, please email support@authorsguild.org and we will make every effort to accommodate.

Presenters

Crystal Hana Kim is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Stone Home (2024), a finalist for the Maya Angelou Book Prize and current longlist for the Joyce Carol Oates Award, and If You Leave Me (2018), which was named a best book of 2018 by over a dozen publications. Kim is the recipient of the 2022 National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award and the winner of a 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.

M. García Peña / Mia García (she/her) was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She got her MFA at The New School and is the author of Even If the Sky Falls, The Resolutions, a contributor in the YA monster anthology Our Shadows Have Claws, and the picture book When We Find Her forthcoming from Viking Books for Young Readers. She is a founding member of the artist collective Las Musas Books and splits her time between Puerto Rico and New York.

Moderator: Julian Shendelman is a writer, editor, and organizer based in the greater Philadelphia area. When he’s not co-directing the literary arts organization Blue Stoop, he’s working on a novel about haunted houses, capitalism, and queer community. Learn more at www.shendelman.com.

Join Blue Stoop and The Head & the Hand Books on Zoom for…

By our count, there are 46 conventionally published titles by Philly or Philly-connected authors coming out in winter, spring, and summer 2025, and we think that’s worthy of celebration. Come hear the authors of 9 of them, from celebrated literary novelists and poets to buzzy romance writers and innovative young adult and children’s writers, read and discuss their recent and forthcoming books. Attendees will also receive a downloadable PDF guide to the details of all 46 titles. All are welcome; this is a night of literary toasting and camaraderie not to be missed!

To attend, please donate to Blue Stoop's winter fundraiser at any level, and you will receive a link to register. All $$ raised benefits Blue Stoop, Philadelphia’s nonprofit home for writers. Booksellers and bookish media/influencers: please email info@bluestoop.org to receive your free registration link.

Featured readers:

Considering registering for spring classes? Join Blue Stoop and several of this semester’s teachers for this virtual Q&A session. We’re here to answer questions about financial aid, payment plans, policies, and picking the right class for you.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

Contracts and clients and copyright, oh my! In this free hour long presentation, local attorney Gabrielle Sellei will address key legal issues for writers and creators. Topics will include contract basics (e.g., how do contracts work? what makes a contract binding? and how do I get out of a contract?) and copyright and intellectual property issues. Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of what a contract is (and isn't), how to handle a negotiation, and the basics of copyright law as it applies to creative writing. Q&A to follow.

Gabrielle Sellei founded Sellei Law in 2015, after practicing employment, business, and entertainment law in the Philadelphia area for 20 years. Over the course of her career, Gabrielle has led complex business transactions, helped launch numerous start-up ventures, closed on many millions of dollars of financings, negotiated and completed deals for television appearances, video games, podcasts, feature and documentary film rights, sports exhibition matches, celebrity endorsements, and literary rights, and has resolved copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property disputes, on behalf of many creative and talented individuals and their business ventures.

A graduate of Boston University School of Law (JD) and Wesleyan University (BA, Art History), Gabrielle is the Board Vice President of Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and has been a volunteer attorney with PVLA over the course of her entire 25+ year legal career. She also serves on the Board and various committees of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Gabrielle is also a past Director of The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. She is also involved in the revitalization of the Sculpture Park at the Abington Art Center, in her hometown of Abington, PA. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Sellei was a consultant to artists and fine arts galleries throughout New England.

Ms. Sellei is a frequent speaker on copyright, contracts, start-ups, non-profit entities, and other legal issues affecting artists, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, and has been quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer on these issues. Past teaching and speaking engagements include Drexel University’s Entertainment & Arts Management program, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s (PBI) Real Estate Institute, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Moore College of Art & Design, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, as well as numerous business, networking, and arts organizations.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Join us at the Kelly Writers house for live performances from Blue Stoop’s community of teaching artists and music by HUEY, The Cosmonaut.

With readings by:

Anndee Hochman is a journalist, essayist, teaching artist and storyteller. For nine years, her column, "The Parent Trip" ran weekly in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and an anthology of those columns, along with her personal essays on parenthood, is forthcoming in fall 2025 from Temple University Press. For more than 30 years, Anndee has guided writers across the age span in poetry, memoir, storytelling and creative non-fiction, working in schools, community venues, detention centers and a tiny village on Mexico's Pacific coast.

Chukwuma "Chuks" Ndulue is a writer and teacher. He is author of the chapbook Boys Quarter (Ugly Duckling Presse). He has been the recipient of fellowships from Columbia University and the Kenyon Review.

Edythe Rodriguez is an Upper Darby poet and copywriter, hardcore Bustelo drinker and non-violent Beyhive member. She’s the author of We, the Spirits which won Grand Prize in the 2022 Button Poetry Chapbook Contest. Edythe has received fellowships from The Hurston/Wright Foundation, The Watering Hole, Brooklyn Poets and elsewhere. Her work is published in Obsidian, Brown Sugar Lit, Torch Literary Arts and elsewhere. You can follow her work at www.edytherodriguez.com.

Originally born and raised on the Northside of Wilmington, DE, Enoch is a poet, manga writer, and trauma-informed teaching artist living an anime lifestyle in Philadelphia. As a mental health advocate and human living with bipolar disorder and autism, Enoch’s work investigates the emotional and spiritual nuances of the Black human experience. Enoch is the 2017 Philadelphia Fuze Grand Slam Champion and the author of two poetry collections, “The Guide to Drowning” published in 2017 and “Burned at the Roots” published in 2020. Enoch operates as the Program Director for ArtWell, a multi-disciplinary arts programming non-profit geared towards using the arts as a medium to enhance students’ social-emotional toolkit, nurture their exploration of self, and strengthen their presence in community.

Kale Choo Hanson is a writer and editor. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Peatsmoke Journal, The Good Life Review, Glassworks, and Thirteen Bridges Review. She holds an MFA from Temple University and currently resides in South Philadelphia with her partner. Kale is represented by Nour Sallam at P.S. Literary Agency.

With live music by HUEY, The Cosmonaut

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

In this hour-long introductory workshop geared toward queer, trans/nonbinary, and disabled writers, we'll dive into the gate-kept field of screenwriting. Together, we'll pitch, draft, and revise our plots in a supportive, collaborative environment. Participants will learn about the three-act structure, form new connections, share professional resources, and gain new perspective on the screenwriting process.

Note: This event will not be recorded.

Bridgid Ryan is a writer driven by the idea that storytelling offers relief from isolation. She was head writer for The Core, a series on Shudder, featuring Glenn Danzig, Mary Harron, and Elijah Wood — a must for any horror fan. Bridgid is a community organizer, a tenacious advocate, and was awarded a 2023 CALI Catalyst grant, which supports artists and arts workers who are on the frontlines of effecting greater inclusion, access, diversity, and equity in the arts and culture sector. Her dedication to storytelling, collaboration, and inclusion makes her a formidable asset to any creative project, as long as there isn't a bird in the room. Bridgid is terrified of birds.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

Good writing grabs the reader's attention. In this free one-hour workshop, we'll unpack several examples of solid opening paragraphs from published novels and stories, discussing which details the author has included or excluded, why the authors may have chosen their particular tactic, and what impact those choices have on the reader.

Tony Knighton is an American crime fiction author known for his lean, suspenseful writing style. He is a thirty-eight-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department, which has influenced his writing and given him a unique perspective on the darker aspects of urban life.

Tony has written a collection, Happy Hour and Other Philadelphia Cruelties, and three novels, Three Hours Past Midnight, A Few Days Away, and A Night at the Shore, all published by Brash Books. In addition to his books, he’s had short stories published in various crime fiction anthologies and magazines, further establishing himself as a respected voice in the genre.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Novels in Progress presents…

Thorns & Roses: A Stem by Lauren Holguin and STOPPING by Nikki Volpicelli (synopses below)

This fall, join us for one, two, or all three events of the Novels in Progress series, a salon-style reading and conversation featuring the work of two writers deep in the process of a long project. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. Masks are strongly encouraged!

Sponsored by:

• Blue Stoop, a nonprofit "Home for Philly Writers"

• Molly's Books and Records

• The Literature Department at The Free Library of Philadelphia

Thorns & Roses: A Stem by Lauren Holguin

Poet and burnt out elementary teacher Lola is devastated by the death of her beloved Abuela. Rushing from Philly to the Los Angeles she worked to get away from, Lola misses her opportunity to read Abuela the children's story she always wished Lola would write for her. With the stem who held them all together gone, the landscape of this already strange family is further complicated when post-funeral, Abuela returns as a stubborn rose plant sprouting within Lola’s body. When everything from an over-the-phone exorcism to a pack of razors fail to alleviate her condition, Lola reluctantly follows the instincts of Abuela’s spirit through dreams and uncomfortable bodily urges. With her resentful older sister Dora and a couple of favorite cousins, Lola embarks on an answer-seeking road trip though the Southwest beginning in the Mojave desert of Abuela’s childhood— the source of her environmentally caused cancer. Thorns & Roses explores the past, present, and future anatomy of a Mexican-American family, particularly the thorns of estranged relationships amidst roses of memories. Full of desert delirium, rest stop karaoke, family secrets, and drama, Lola journeys through the following questions: What are your thorns? , What are your roses?, and Who or what is your stem?

Lauren Holguin is a Chicanx writer, educator, and dancer from Los Angeles who calls Philly home. She is a recent grad of Rutgers Camden's MFA program, a poetry and fiction editor at Barrelhouse Mag, and co-host of the Philly reading series Spit Poetry. She currently works as a high school special education teacher in Camden, NJ. Her words have been featured in No Tokens Journal, The Fourth River, Subnivean, and Barrelhouse Magazine

STOPPING by Nikki Volpicelli

Stopping is a novel-in-stories about coming of age in and around Philadelphia during the opioid crisis that follows Danni, a teenager searching for—and refusing to accept—love, obliteration, and rescue. Years later, her life consists of staying sober, separating from her husband, and avoiding her mother’s phone calls about her little sister, Alyssa, who lives in a tent in Kensington. To reconnect with Alyssa, test her sobriety, or both, Danni returns to the neighborhood where her addiction began to volunteer at a syringe exchange, finding that her past is still very much alive, and more dangerous than ever.

Nikki Volpicelli is a graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars. Her work has been shortlisted for The Masters Review Short Story Award for New Writers and the Craft Literature Short Story Award. Her writing has been featured in Neutral Spaces, XRAY, Entropy, Expat, and more. She lives in Philadelphia with her two chihuahuas, Gene and Bones, and her human, Eric.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

This generative workshop is a space for participants to engage poems that model what daughters are capable of making and unmaking. Through writing prompts, we will work to answer the question: What are you devoted to? This workshop encourages poems that bow to and buck against subjects of devotion like fathers, mothers, lovers, nations, and The World. Participants will leave the workshop having developed maps toward honoring themselves and what they hold dearest.

Hiwot Adilow is an Ethiopian American poet from southwest Philadelphia. Hiwot is co-winner of the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize and author of the chapbooks In the House of My Father (Two Sylvias Press, 2018) and Prodigal Daughter (Akashic Books & African Poetry Book Fund, 2019). Her work appears in Vinyl, Callaloo, The Offing, Reconstructed Magazine, and elsewhere. She has been anthologized in The BreakBeats Poets Vol 2.0: Black Girl Magic (Haymarket Books, 2018), Best Small Fictions (Sonder Press, 2019), The New Teacher Book (rethinking schools, 2019) and An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry: Volume 3, (20.35 Africa, 2020). Hiwot’s writing has been supported by the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, the Pink Door Writing Retreat, Anaphora Writing Residency, and VONA.

Hiwot holds a BA in Anthropology with a certificate in African Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was a member of the First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Learning Community. She also holds a M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual workshops. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

You’ve done it–you have a book coming out! How do you get readers interested in your work? How do you spread the word about your own name? How do you promote a book or other project effectively? And how do you work effectively with your publisher to achieve your goals? Here we’ll discuss all things book promotion and how to work well with your publishing team to bring the most readers to your book.

PANELISTS:

Whitney Peeling, Co-founder, Broadside PR, handles narrative nonfiction and works with mission-driven organizations. She has a soft spot for big-picture science, technology, and economics; under-explored civil rights/humanitarian issues; ground- breaking research; and top-notch investigative journalism. Current and former authors/projects include Matthew Desmond’s Eviction Lab, Paul Farmer, Carlotta Gall, co-authors David Graeber and David Wengrow, Adam Grant, Kelly Lytle Hernández, Daniel Kahneman, Elizabeth Kolbert, Jaron Lanier, Victor Luckerson, Nathaniel Rich, James Risen, Elizabeth Rush, Reshma Saujani, Eric Schlosser, Safiya Sinclair, Clint Smith, Carrie Sun, Ellen Ullman, Linda Villarosa, The Whiting Foundation, and Muhammad Yunus. Click here for a full list of her clients.

Libby Burton, Executive Editor at Crown, publishes both practical and narrative nonfiction with an eye for stories and insight from traditionally underrepresented voices. She has edited a wide range of award-winning and bestselling authors including former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Stacey Abrams, Katie Porter, Mariah Carey, Melissa Broder, Jessica Valenti, Lyz Lenz, Aurora James, and Ai Weiwei. Previously she worked as an editor at Henry Holt & Company, Twelve Books, and Grand Central Publishing, and is the author of the poetry collection Soft Volcano.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual workshops. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

So, you’re a writer–maybe you’ve written a novel or you have a great idea for a nonfiction book, and you’re the right person to write it. How do you transform that idea or manuscript into a book deal? Do you need a literary agent? And how do you go about getting one–and what do they actually do? What is the query process? What is the relationship between literary agents and editors? Here we’ll discuss the best way to turn that manuscript (or idea) into something that can be published.

PANELISTS:

Jenny Herrera, Literary Agent, David Black Agency, joined the David Black Agency in 2015 after working at Fletcher & Company and Europa Editions, where she was an early advocate of Elena Ferrante. She went to college in Ohio, where she studied Philosophy, French, and Russian, and has master’s degrees in Philosophy and Social Sciences. Her authors have been awarded the Harriet Tubman Prize, nominated for the J. Anthony Lukas Prize, appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air, and been New York Times bestsellers. She loves reading nonfiction books about big ideas and is particularly drawn to smart, issue-driven books, especially those from journalists as well as writers with professional expertise, including science, psychology, philosophy,economics, prescriptive, lifestyle, history, and the stories of underrepresented groups.

Caroline Eisemann, Senior Literary Agent & VP, Frances Goldin Agency, joined Francis Goldin in 2017 after spending four years at ICM Partners. Her clients include Sam Adler-Bell, Delia Cai, Kyle Chayka, Sheldon Costa, Jasper Craven, Cody Delistraty, Rose Eveleth, Linda Rui Feng, Jaime Green, James Gregor, Courtney Gustafson, Katy Kelleher, Theresa Levitt, Rennie McDougall, Micah Nemerever, Haley Nahman, Jenny Odell, the Adrienne Rich Literary Trust, Reagan Penaluna, Cameron Russell, Lauren Slater, Claire Stapleton, Michelle Webster-Hein, Ye Chun, Kate Wagner, and Jennifer Wilson. Authors represented by Caroline have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list and been short or longlisted for the National Book Award in fiction, the National Book Award’s 5 Under 35 Award, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

Libby Burton, Executive Editor at Crown, publishes both practical and narrative nonfiction with an eye for stories and insight from traditionally underrepresented voices. She has edited a wide range of award-winning and bestselling authors including former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Stacey Abrams, Katie Porter, Mariah Carey, Melissa Broder, Jessica Valenti, Lyz Lenz, Aurora James, and Ai Weiwei. Previously she worked as an editor at Henry Holt & Company, Twelve Books, and Grand Central Publishing, and is the author of the poetry collection Soft Volcano.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual workshops. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

So, you’ve written a fiction or poetry manuscript, or you’ve got a solid idea for a nonfiction book...

What does it mean to have a “platform” as a writer and why does it matter? What are literary agents and publishers looking for in terms of a “platform?” Here we will discuss what platform means in the world of book publishing—both fiction and nonfiction, and even poetry—and how writers should think about their own platform to best position themselves to sell and publish a book.

PANELISTS:

Matt Inman, VP and Editorial Director (Crown and Ten Speed Press, Entertainment and Special Projects), loves distinctive voices, immersive journeys, and books that entertain as they teach. He’s looking for narrative and illustrated nonfiction, including memoir, biography, cultural history, humor, pop culture, and pop reference, as well as select art/photography, how-to, and business books. Matt has acquired and edited New York Times bestsellers by Matthew McConaughey (Greenlights), Dolly Parton (Behind the Seams), Jimmy Chin (There and Back), The Moth (How to Tell a Story, Occasional Magic, and A Point of Beauty), Rhett & Link (Rhett & Link’s Book of Mythicality and The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek), Gracie Gold (Outofshapeworthlessloser), Conor Knighton (Leave Only Footprints), and The Onion (The Ecstasy of Defeat). His authors also include Shirley MacLaine, Eric Idle, John "MrBallen" Allen, Andrew Rannells, The Explorers Club, Dave Holmes, Mike Matheny, and Olivia de Havilland, as well as the creative teams of The Crown, Black Mirror, and Shark Tank.

Libby Burton, Executive Editor at Crown, publishes both practical and narrative nonfiction with an eye for stories and insight from traditionally underrepresented voices. She has edited a wide range of award-winning and bestselling authors including former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Stacey Abrams, Katie Porter, Mariah Carey, Melissa Broder, Jessica Valenti, Lyz Lenz, Aurora James, and Ai Weiwei. Previously she worked as an editor at Henry Holt & Company, Twelve Books, and Grand Central Publishing, and is the author of the poetry collection Soft Volcano.

Lori Kusatzky, Associate Editor, has been at Crown since October 2023, brought over by Amy Einhorn (from Henry Holt / Macmillan) to restart the fiction division. While at Holt, she published Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie and Kate Flannery’s Strip Tees, and worked with authors Alison Espach, Liane Moriarty, Andy Cohen, John Stamos, and Gary Janetti, amongst others. Prior to being on the editorial side, she worked at Abrams Artists Agency and Innovative Artists Agency. She is a PW Star Watch Honoree and graduated from UNC School of the Arts with a BFA in drama.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Novels in Progress presents…

Who Disturbs My Peace This Lovely Evening? by Chandler Myer and Planet Surrey by Maya Afilalo (synopses below)

This fall, join us for one, two, or all three events of the Novels in Progress series, a salon-style reading and conversation featuring the work of two writers deep in the process of a long project. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. Masks are strongly encouraged!

Sponsored by:

• Blue Stoop, a nonprofit "Home for Philly Writers"

• Molly's Books and Records

• The Literature Department at The Free Library of Philadelphia

Planet Surrey by Maya Afilalo

Sepi Halimi observes her Philadelphia suburb like Planet Earth’s David Attenborough—but when best friend drops her, she finds herself the object of her own observations, fallen through the cracks of her school’s social hierarchy, seeking connection and at times, survival. Amidst the 2008 financial crisis, Sepi’s father loses his job, while her older brother, the once-golden Persian son, spirals into reckless college partying. As Sepi struggles to hold her family together, she must navigate her first queer crush, and decide if a new friendship is worth risking for love.

Maya Afilalo’s stories and essays appear or are forthcoming in New Ohio Review, The Rumpus (Funny Women), Porter House Review, Bayou Magazine, The /tƐmz/ Review, and elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for a Best of the Net Prize, earned her a residency with Sundress Academy of the Fine Arts, and was awarded the 2022 James Hurst Prize for Fiction. She lives in Philadelphia. Read more at mayaafilalo.com.

Who Disturbs My Peace This Lovely Evening? by Chandler Myer

Who Disturbs My Peace This Lovely Evening? is the story of two women, Wendy and Gladys, who have been best friends for 50 years. They live across the hall from one another in a dilapidated New York apartment building and make ends meet working in cheap real estate as they approach 70 years old. Wendy begins receiving mysterious bags of cash outside her door just as she unwittingly becomes involved in an international crime syndicate. Will the two widows, with the help of some unlikely allies, foil the bad guys and find happiness in retirement? Maybe… if the subway didn’t have so damned many stops!

Chandler Myer published his first novel, Jayne and the Average North Dakotan, winner of the Literary Titan GOLD Award, at age 57, following a 35-year career as a professional musician. The book is based on his short story, “That Night I Ran the High Heel Race,” published in the Medium publication Prism & Pen. He has been published in Bear Creek Gazette and Medium publications Rainbow, An Idea, and Atheism101. Myer was born in Bryan, Ohio, and now lives in Philadelphia with his amazing husband of more than a quarter century. He loves to walk, travel, and make friends with every dog he sees.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

A ghost is an amorphous thing, but a haunted house is a construction. The heavy urns, the veranda, the patterned carpet, the warm fireplace, the blue room, the library’s iron stairs: all make Eleanor Vance feel “like a small creature swallowed whole by a monster” in Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. How do we make wicked houses come alive in prose? How do we guarantee their physical construction to envelop the reader’s mind? In this one-hour free session, we will discuss the craft of building a haunted house in three parts: the physical construction, how to manipulate the mood of literary space, and finally, how to use contemporary culture or personal experience to adapt the classic framework to your own artistic endeavors. Examples will be given from writers like Gaston Bachelard, Edith Wharton, and Jamil Jan Kochai. Through the hour, writing prompts will be paired with these prose examples, so writers will leave with three generated elements to ultimately revise together into a future haunted house story. This is a supportive and relevant class for anyone writing the mood of an unhappy or evil domestic space. Prose writers of all genres are welcome.

Zinnia Smith’s work is published with TSR: The Southampton Review, East, Voicemail Poems, and Peach Mag, among others. She’s included in the speculative anthology WORLDS IN WHICH ed. by Fargo Nissim Tbakhi. She was the 2018 recipient of Fugue's writing contest in prose, and a semi-finalist for both the American Short Fiction's American Short(er) Fiction writing contest and the Ralph Angel Poetry Prize by Foundlings Press. She received a 2024 Mass Cultural Council Grant for Creative Individuals. www.zinniasmith.com