Illuminate The Literary Landscape

As Executive Director, I attend about a third of the nearly 200 programs The Writer's Garret puts on. A significant number of those I don't attend are the kinds of workshops that frankly an Executive Director shouldn't be in all the time anyway–with young people, with writers sharing their work in peer critique groups, with veterans and and folks using writing to heal.

The Writer’s Garret has had an incredible year of illuminating the literary landscape of Dallas and the surrounding area. We hosted the second annual Dallas Is Lit! literary festival in May, featuring a week of events with over 1200 attendees. We had an amazing summer with Rail Writers, taking over 300 young writers into the city for a journey of exploration, writing and sharing. We announced the Lyceum Series, a free monthly workshop series, and sponsorship of the Cake & Prose reading series (come join us on Sept 28th to hear Kate Khavari!). In fact, there’s a whole schedule of events happening in the coming months. Suffice to say, throughout the year, we support the literary community in all kinds of ways.

The truth is, I'm happy to be Writer's Garret events. I don't love being photographed, but in preparing for this fundraiser, I realized that it would actually be weird if I wasn't in photos of Garret events. I love what The Garret does; I love what it stands for. I love saying "The Garret is here to welcome folks from every walk of life." I love saying "Programs at The Writer's Garret foster empathy, which will ultimately be the tool that saves us." I love saying "The Writer's Garret connects people through the power of language."

Several incredible folks have donated a total of $11,000 in matching funds to help make your donation even more impactful, matching your generosity dollar for dollar. We have enormous potential to set The Writer’s Garret up for another year of success, and if you're able to,  a donation of any size makes a difference. I am–on behalf of every kid who attends our programs; every writer who attends a workshop; every audience member who feels seen at a Dallas Is Lit! event; on behalf of our staff and teaching artists, the board of trustees and every person who feels a part of this community–enormously thankful for your help in creating the vibrant literary landscape we call home.