Writers express themselves through words and each word has the potential to become a step that leads the reader into the world of a story.
At the Winnetka-based Off Campus Writers’ Workshop, members are dedicated to storytelling and to joining with other writers each week, from September to May — for seminars featuring renowned speakers on the craft and business of writing.
In April, Off Campus Writers’ Workshop will launch a new, themed anthology Meaningful Conflicts, which editors say is their most industrious project to date.
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“Our membership is made up of a range of novice to award-winning writers from screenwriters to poets to Pushcart Prize nominated authors, in every discipline and genre, what we share simply, is a love of writing,” Paco Aramburu, President of OCWW and contributor to “Meaningful Conflicts” said.
Co-anthology editor and contributor, Renee James says this multigenre anthology represents a collection of diverse voices, each person telling their own story, in their own way.
Short stories, memoirs, essays and poetry, explore the art of friction and life’s conflicts.
“‘Meaningful Conflicts’ brings the voices of people like you and me, people who have lived a life doing something else and now draw on those experiences to tell stories in prose or poetry,” James said. “The stories, and the voices, are unique.”
The anthology debuts on April 30, 2023, featuring 49 authors, 15 poets, 406 pages, six editors, and 10 critique group leaders.
According to an OCCW concept statement, this is an example of a developmental anthology, unlike the traditional Darwinian anthologies in which an editor or editorial board select the best submitted works for publication.
The Off Campus Writers Workshop anthologies are developmental in nature: members volunteer to participate in the project, submit their best drafts, then join critique groups where authors help authors to hone their works to a high state of finish.
“Meaningful Conflicts” is the third anthology featuring OCWW members.
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According to James, the process for the collection began in January 2022 and the book will be available in paperback at The Book Stall in Winnetka, on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, Indie bound, and by request anywhere books are sold. An e-Reader version will also be available.
Celebrating their 77th anniversary this year, OCWW not only survived the pandemic but has grown exponentially, adapting their weekly in-person meetings at the Winnetka Community House first into a fully remote program, and more recently offering members hybrid access to lectures, organizers say.
Through it all, Off Campus Writers’ Workshop has become a thriving community of writers, which boasts over 400 hundred active members, many from the Chicago-metro and North Shore areas, and recently adding national and global participants.
Co-anthology editor and contributor, Peter Hoppock says they wanted to bring many voices into the action stream on “Meaningful Conflicts.” Authors writing about impossible decisions, therapy sessions, crises of faith, secret powers, moments of weakness and surprising discoveries.
“Writing is often a solitary process, but when a writer puts pen to paper, it’s because they have something worth telling, this allows the rest of us to inhabit their dream, if only for a little while,” Hoppock said.
Gina Grillo is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.