The Queendom of Literary Women
Wintergreen Women Writers Collective • Yellow Arrow Publishing • Zora’s Den • Scribente Maternum • Well-Read Black Girl
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
31st Street & Barclay Street
Waverly Neighborhood
BRY REED moderates a conversation with women who represent a sisterhood of writers in Baltimore and from across the country that include TYECHIA THOMPSON (Wintergreen Women Writers Collective), ANNIE MARHEFKA (Yellow Arrow Publishing), VICTORIA KENNEDY (Zora’s Den), RACHEL BERG SCHERER (Scribente Maternum) & GLORY EDIM (Well-Read Black Girl). The “transformative cultural impact” of women writers gathering in sacred spaces cannot be underestimated. Founders and representatives of five organizations gather to discuss their origins, significance, and influence in the literary community, with Baltimore Beat’s Bry Reed, who’ll share a special letter written to those assembled from Courtney Thorrson, author of The Sisterhood.
______________
Founded in 1987 by Dr. Joanne Gabbin of Furious Flower Poetry Center, the Wintergreen Women Writers Collective is dedicated to supporting and promoting women writers of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. The organization offers workshops, retreats, and other opportunities for women writers to connect with one another, hone their craft, and gain exposure to their work. This 35-year-old collective centers the encouragement and support of Black writing and culture, and intends to document and preserve the work of the women writers who are a part of it. Wintergreen Women describe themselves using the metaphor of a quilt. Put together piece by piece, using wonderfully diverse materials, stitched together in sisterhood, and handed down with care from generation to generation to envelop each member in warmth and safety. But if Wintergreen is a quilt, then members like the late Val Gray Ward, Nikki Giovanni, Daryl Dance, Trudier Harris are at the very center, holding them all together.
https://wintergreenwomenwriterscollective.com
______________
TYECHIA THOMPSON is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Virginia Tech. She is a board member of the Wintergreen Women Writers Collective. She is the recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) – Mellon Fellowship for Digital Publication grant, which seeks to support individual scholars conducting research projects that require digital expression and digital publication. Thompson will lead a project titled “Place, Memory, Poetry, and the James A. Emmanuel’s Papers at the Library of Congress.” She will conduct a documentary-style analysis of 30 poems written by Emanuel to highlight his contribution and impact relevant to 20th-century literary and cultural history. The focus will be on literature of the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements and Thompson plans to showcase the importance of Emanuel’s role as an African American expatriate in Paris.
______________
Yellow Arrow Publishing Co. supports and inspires writers who identify as women by providing access to publication and literary arts through a variety of programs. They support all women writers but specifically focus their activities and programming on writers in the Baltimore area. Their publications include a biannual literary journal of creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art, Yellow Arrow Journal, which represents voices worldwide. They also publish several chapbooks each year and provide their chapbook authors with the support and tools to share their stories. They allow women to express themselves however they come to them by creating a safe space to be proud of their work, lives, and stories. Through their Writers-in-Residence program, they provide Baltimore-area writers with collaborative opportunities to focus on their creative endeavors in a flexible, supportive environment.
______________
ANNIE MARHEFKA is a writer in Baltimore, Maryland whose recent publications have appeared in Pithead Chapel, Whale Road Review, Lunch Ticket, and more. She is the winner of the 2024 Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize and her work was featured on The Slowdown Show. Annie is the Executive Director at Yellow Arrow Publishing, a Baltimore-based nonprofit empowering women-identifying writers. Annie is working on a nonfiction manuscript about grief and astrophysics with support from the Maryland State Arts Council, the Gullkistan Center for the Arts, and the Tin House 2024 Winter Workshop. She has a BA in creative writing from Washington College and an MBA. When Annie is not writing, she is usually trying to find her way back to the water.
anniemarhefka.com
Instagram: @anniemarhefka
X: @charmcityannie
______________
Zora’s Den is a multi-generational writers’ group dedicated to empowering the lives of Black women writers. They host a monthly reading series, conduct writing workshops, and gather in a twice-weekly virtual Sister Circle. Members meet for accountability, writing sprints, and to give feedback on works in progress. Zora’s Den has published three volumes of The Fire Inside, their annual anthology, which showcases the stories and poems of Black women writers. As part of the local writing community, “the Den” participates in literary events to foster motivation and creativity and to continue the legacy of both notable and underrepresented writers living and working in Baltimore and beyond. Their hope is to build a sisterhood of writers at every level of accomplishment and to strengthen the voices of the unheard and unacknowledged. If you are a Black woman writer, you are welcome to join their online social engagement and public events. Zora’s Den is a program of Charm City Cultural Cultivation (CharmCCC), a non-profit foundation whose primary function is to build opportunities for cultural growth.
zorasden.com
Instagram: @zorasden
X: @zorasden
______________
VICTORIA ADAMS-KENNEDY is a fiction writer who writes about the complexities of relationships with a focus on midlife. She is the author of Sometimes Love, published in 2017 by Brown Girls Books. Her second novel, Don’t Walk Away, was self-published in 2019. She is the founder of Zora’s Den, a group for Black women writers for which she co-edited their anthologies, The Fire Inside, Volumes I, II & III. Her short fiction has appeared in midnight & indigo and TORCH Literary Arts for which it was nominated for Best of the Net. She writes and resides in Baltimore, Maryland.
victoriaadamskennedy.com
Instagram: @victoriaadamskennedy @zorasden @charmcityculturalcultivation
X: @zorasden
______________
Scribente Maternum is a community of writers who identify as mothers, with an inclusive definition of “motherhood” that’s not necessarily linked to gender but to Mother Earth and their everyday roles as caregivers doing the emotional labor. It includes those who yearn to be a mother, those who mourn the loss of a child, those estranged from their children, or those who fill parental roles in non-traditional ways. Their space is for the writing process, not the final product. Their name is a play on”writer mom” but that’s where the fanciness ends. This community is authentic about how central motherhood is to the human experience. They embrace the tension that exists between motherhood and writing. Children are their greatest distraction, but also their greatest inspiration. They may be exhausted from being the on-call parent – whether for three years old or thirty. They work to support and tap into each other’s creative energy to create new and glorious things.
Their annual Write Like a Mother Retreat has the most impact. Accomplished facilitators lead dynamic workshops. Through guided sessions and dedicated time with small groups, writers find purpose, community, time to write, are showcased at readings, and are given the gift of returning home refreshed and energized. Transformative retreats are held in Maryland, the state of Washington, and their third retreat will be held in Minnesota in November. Mothers follow them wherever they go–to be part of what many call a movement. Scribente Maternum was created in partnership with CityLit Project, Midwest Writing & Editing, and Doerr & Co.
www.scribentematernum.com
Instagram: @scribentematernum
______________
RACHEL BERG SCHERER is an accomplished writer, editor, and teacher. She taught high school English in Baltimore County, where she also coached an award-winning Speech team. Before her years in the classroom, Rachel worked in Communications for nonprofits and government agencies, including time on Capitol Hill. Her work has since appeared in Parent magazine, Solstice Literary Magazine, Rebellious Magazine for Women, and many others. Rachel also writes educational materials such as textbooks and teaches writers at all levels through her signature program, The Write House, which helps writers produce their best work in less time.
www.writewithrbs.com
Instagram: @writewithrbs
______________
Well-Read Black Girl (WRBG) was founded by GLORY EDIM in 2015, as an Instagram account meant to visually illuminate the words and powerful affirmations of her literary heroes – authors whose photos and works inspired her and asserted pride, collective empowerment, and optimism. Now with an online community of over 435K+ members, WRBG has evolved into a movement and literary arts organization. Its mission is to provoke conversations around publishing, politics, and pop culture, and to amplify new work by African-American artists, from authors to activists to playwrights to policymakers.
Using literature and storytelling as a tool for advocacy; specifically, in the areas of mental health and gender equity, Glory works nationally to shift the narratives of Black girls and women in society.
https://www.wellreadblackgirl.org
Instagram: @wellreadblackgirl
X: @wellreadblkgirl
Facebook: facebook.com/wellreadblackgirls
TikTok: @wellreadblkgirl
______________
GLORY EDIM is a literary tastemaker, entrepreneur, and advocate for diverse voices in literature. In 2015, she founded Well-Read Black Girl (WRBG), an online platform and book club dedicated to celebrating the works of Black women authors and creating a supportive online community for readers. Under Glory’s leadership, WRBG has grown into a non-profit organization, hosting events, book festivals, and author conversations that highlight the richness and diversity of Black literature. Her efforts have earned her accolades such as the 2017 Innovator’s Award from the Los Angeles Times and the Madam C.J. Walker Award from the Hurston/Wright Foundation. As an author herself, Glory has contributed to the literary landscape with her best-selling anthologies Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves, and On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library.
gloryedim.com
Instagram: @guidetoglo
X: @guidetoglo
______________
BRY REED (she/they) is a Baltimore-born and bred writer and thinker focused on literary archives and public engagement. She is a Rubys Artist awardee and currently writes for The Baltimore Beat.
patreon.com/bryreed
Instagram: @TheBryReed
X: @TheBryReed