Atlanta Writers Club Turns 112 Years Old

In 1914, poet and songwriter Lollie Belle Wylie and author Kate Ross Peters organized an informal social group which later became the Atlanta Writers Club (AWC) “to bring about a helpful and more intimate acquaintance among Atlanta writers, to promote their talents and market their writings.” Early members included the literary elite of Atlanta, including journalists, magazine and newspaper editors, Georgia’s first Poet Laureate, columnists, lyricists, playwrights, and educators.

As the club grew, in 1918, the AWC established the Authors’ Grove in Piedmont Park to honor famous local and international authors. The first tree they planted was a memorial to the late Jacque Futrelle, the Atlanta journalist and author who was considered the “American Conan Doyle” and who lost his life on the Titanic in 1912. Another tree was for legendary fiction writer Jack London, who had, two weeks prior to his death, written to the AWC to confirm his plans to be their next guest speaker.

AWC member and past president, George Weinstein, joined in 2001, in search of education about writing and a community of like-minded artists. He was elected to the presidency in 2004 for three years and launched the Atlanta Writers Conference in 2008, which he continues to lead, and became AWC executive director in 2020, a role he continues to hold. Weinstein has authored eight novels, including the bestselling, award-winning historical novel series “Hardscrabble Road.” Under his leadership, the AWC grew from 28 members to nearly 1,600 and has become the largest and most active writing nonprofit in the Southeast as well as the third oldest in the U.S.

Weinstein shared, “Today, the AWC’s focus is on teaching the craft and business of writing and is open to all writers and those interested in becoming writers, no invitation needed. Individuals can join anytime online through the AWC website, through registration at any of its three yearly conferences, and at its in-person meetings on the third Saturday afternoon of each month at the Georgia State University Perimeter College-Dunwoody Campus and the Lilburn Public Library (June and July). A 365-day membership is just $10 for students and $60 for everyone else.”

The AWC is offering its 35th Atlanta Writers Conference on Nov. 6-7, at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel with 30 guest agents and publishers, educational presentations and workshops, Q&A panels, a book fair, and more.

After nearly every one of the Atlanta Writers Conferences, some attendees receive offers of representation from literary agents or publication contracts from the guest publishers. A few registrants have received six-figure or seven-figure advances, and one attendee’s work was turned into a major motion picture and a TV show.

The AWC also offers a creative writing certificate program and mentorship program for writers completing their first manuscript and a marketing program for authors with a recently launched or soon-to-be-launched book. In addition, the club sponsors more than 60 critique groups online and in-person throughout Metro Atlanta and beyond and provides periodic online workshops covering various aspects of the craft and business of writing.

In addition, the AWC holds an annual writing contest for members, with cash prizes and plaques awarded. The AWC also collaborates with the Georgia Writers Museum in Eatonton, Ga., to offer the biennial Townsend Prize for Fiction, an award given to a literary fiction author who wrote their nominated work while residing in Georgia during the past two years.

At every AWC meeting, 100 or more writers convene for the two speakers’ presentations and for the pre-meeting “nosh and networking” mixer that encourages writers to network. Numerous members are still working on their first manuscripts and not yet published, and the club welcomes everyone who has an interest in writing.

The two speakers at their meeting on the third Saturday of each month address various aspects of the craft and business of writing, with lessons for writing fiction, nonfiction, and creative nonfiction such as memoirs.

Jerry Weiner, the AWC treasurer added, “As a writer I thought I could write. And I could — just not fiction. I reached the point in 2018 where I realized I needed help and joined the Atlanta Writers Club. I like to get involved in any organization I belong to, so I became treasurer in 2019. It took six more years of rejections and rewrites, but with the encouragement of fellow AWC members, I finally produced a manuscript that got the attention of an agent.”

The AWC is a treasure trove of knowledge for writers, authors and anyone wanting to be published. Leave it to the power, connections, and education of the Atlanta Writers Club. Who knows? You might be next!

For more information, please visit https://atlantawritersclub.org/.