|
The Writers' Forum, based in Redding, California, was founded in 1983.
The Redding Writing Club predated the Forum by a couple years. Some of our charter members offer their
words about the conception of the Writers Forum and how it has supported and inspired them in their writing
endeavors through the years.
|
Sharon Owen, Charter Member
My introduction to the Writers' Forum came from my critique group leader,
Lois Cecil-Bissett, in either 1980 or '81. Lois told those of us in the group
that there was a larger group of writers who were meeting once a month in
a little cottage near City Hall on Parkview Avenue. I began attending
those meetings. Lois and John Lawson were co-leaders of the group. After
some time had passed, Lois and her husband moved out of state. Before she
left, Lois asked me if I would
please join John in helping to keep the group going after she was gone. I
don't recall this being anything formal, and it may be something she
asked several of us to do. Obviously, we were successful, and at some
point we opened a bank account and began calling ourselves the Redding
Writing Club. Eventually we moved our growing group to a new meeting
place in Redding Medical Center's large second floor conference room in
the Eastgate Building on East Street. It was during our time in that
location that the name was changed to Writers' Forum by a vote of the
membership.
I moved to the East Coast in 1991 and was away for almost four years. I
came back to Redding in 1994 to find that several dedicated members had
done the official paperwork to gain nonprofit status for the group. This
status was a great gift to the organization, offering many advantages and
opportunities.
Since my return to Redding, the group has met in a variety of locations,
including the present location at the Moose Lodge. Writers' Forum has
survived for twenty-four years with a remaining handful of charter
members and many talented, enthusiastic new folks who bring vitality and
new ideas. WF has served its members well, and its future can only grow
brighter as more and more writers join, bringing with them the kind of
innovative thinking that inspired Lois Cecil-Bissett and a few others many years ago to
organize the area's writers into one remarkable organization.
Sharyn Cornelius, Charter Member
Writer's Forum provided the inspiration and structure that led me to begin a career in writing.
In the early years when I was an active member, the group engaged numerous speakers
who encouraged our small band of novice writers, while the weekly critiquing groups provided
the impetus to keep us turning out pages of manuscript despite our busy schedules.
In the early 1980's, my best friend Kathy Hansen insisted I take a short story I had written
over the summer to a critique group run by Lois Cecil-Bissett, one of those who later founded
Writers' Forum. Though I insisted that I was too busy teaching full time to write, I was hooked
after just one session. Some of my fondest memories are of the years we met in Lois's little
house on Leland Ave. to read and critique each other's work.
With the support of various critique groups over the next twenty years, I completed a huge,
historical novel manuscript that I am currently polishing to send off to a publisher. Thank you,
Writers' Forum for getting me started and keeping me going.
Jean Darby, Past President, Charter Member
Twenty-one years ago John Lawson, Marge Kurry, and I met at the Country Kitchen to discuss forming
a club for local authors. The idea was met with enthusiasm. Many talented writers joined, and happily,
the Writers' Forum is still thriving today.
Al Weissberg, Charter Member
I don't remember much about the early programs of the Forum, inasmuch as I was deeply involved at
the time in my research for the theatrical memoir, Broadway Sweetheart: The Al Woods Story,
which was finally published in 1997. (Woods was a prominent Broadway producer in the first four decades
of the 20th century. He was my namesake great-uncle by marriage, but the family element in the book
is only incidental.)
John Lawson invited me to do a presentation on my research for one of the Forum's first summer programs.
It took place on a hot August day in 1983 in one of the city's small cottages on Parkview, and the attendance
was accordingly less than might have been hoped for in the cool of spring or autumn. However, those who
did attend were very interested and cordial. In February, 1997, I did a followup presentation on the completed
book. To my pleasure, this took place in the attractive upstairs auditorium of Old City Hall and was well attended.
The Writers' Forum has provided a welcome meeting ground for professionals and amateurs in the writing field
over many years. May it continue its valuable work for many more years to come.
Lola Miller, Charter Member
Once upon a time, about twenty years ago, a group of six or eight people gathered in Redding homes to critique each other's writing and for support. Then another group started and another. By now the trickling groups felt the need to consolidate into one stream and elected officers.
Jean Darby, President, John Lawson, Vice President, and Marge Kurry, Treasurer, three brave souls, took the helm, brought the streams together and made a river running in one direction - to write. We voted it be called "The Writer's Club" and charged dues to pay our own way. As it grew the small groups still clung to their job of critiquing and found places to meet once a month for the combined streams.
I think the first home we had was a tiny museum in Redding Park. When we outgrew that we found larger quarters. It soon became one big river with local speakers and workshops. With so many small steams joining us we needed more room, and as the writers became more proficient, the demand for outside speakers increased. This called for a raise in dues, which enabled us to hire some famous speakers and workshops. Grow we must, or become backwash. With the help of many members, "Writers' Club" became "Writers' Forum" - a nonprofit reorganization with a sea of over 150 members, some from as far away as Oregon. This gave writers wider horizons, greener pastures, and more information and access to publishers. Flow on mighty river.
|
|
|
