Alabama Writing Resources

Posted by David Duhr in Writing Resources      2 comments

Jul
29

Kicking off our new series, State Writing Resources, is Alabama, apparently called the Yellowhammer State (?). Among the state’s most well-known writers past and present are Zora Neale Hurston, Harper Lee, and Jason Sanford, who runs the Million Writers Award (more on that later).

Presented here in no particular order are ten Alabama writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in Alabama or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at.

1) Alabama Writers’ Forum

Through a variety of partnerships, grants, and memberships, the Alabama Writers’ Forum helps create opportunities for both writers and communities to come together to appreciate the importance of literature in everyday life.

2) Alabama Writers Symposium

Alabama’s premier event for those who love to read, presented by Alabama Southern Community College.

3) Alabama Writers’ Conclave

The Conclave is one of the oldest continuing writers’ organizations in the United States. Writers, aspiring writers and supporters of the writing arts may join for sharing information, developing ideas, honing skills, and receiving practical advice.

4) Birmingham Arts Journal

Publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry and artwork.

5) Black Warrior Review

Established in 1974 by graduate students in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama, Black Warrior Review publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art.

6) storySouth

storySouth’s mission is to showcase the best fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry that writers from the new south have to offer. Special emphasis is given to finding and promoting the works of promising new writers. Also responsible for the Million Writers Award.

7) Alabama Media Professionals

AMP is a statewide organization of professional communicators, including freelance journalists, both print and broadcast. Members meet monthly to exchange news about the communication industry, as well as to network and to stay informed about the latest in media and journalism-related issues.

8) Fairhope Writers’ Forum

Its mission is to provide a venue for peer critique where writers of all genres can present his or her work within an environment of integrity, support, and encouragement.  FWF is dedicated to the development of the writing arts through peer review.

9) Mobile Writers Guild

The Mobile Writers Guild is an organization of professional writers and aspiring writers. Monthly meetings at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month from September to May at the West Regional Library on Grelot Road.

10) National League of American Pen Women

This is an organization of professional women artists, composers, and writers, founded in 1897, dedicated to its mission to serve its communities through the arts.

Help us add to this list, Alabamians! Do you run a local writing group or a lit journal we should be aware of? Feel free to share info and links in the comments section below.