Ames Writers Collective

Write Together Tuesdays | Monthly 2nd & 4th Tuesdays
2025-02-11 15:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Join us for our hybrid Write Together Tuesdays on Zoom or in person at Fifth Street Writers. 3:30 to 5 PM CT.
WHAT’S A WRITE TOGETHER?

We join together on Zoom and in person at Fifth Street Writers, share what we’re working on, and write for ~90 minutes. At the end, we share our successes, and sign off. Easy peasy.
For more information and to register, click here.

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups
2025-02-09 14:00 - 16:00
Join us on February 9th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.

We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.

Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.

Join us! Happy Writing!

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups
2025-01-12 14:00 - 16:00
Join us on January 12th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.

We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.

Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.

Join us! Happy Writing!

Open Write Tuesday with founder, Ana McCracken
2024-12-24 15:30 - 17:00, 2024-11-26 15:30 - 17:00
Join Ana McCracken for our Open Write Tuesday on Zoom or in person at Fifth Street Writers.
WHAT’S AN OPEN WRITE?

We join together, share what we’re working on, and write for ~90 minutes. At the end, we share our successes, and sign off. Easy peasy.

Email Ana, ana@ameswriterscollective.org to register for the event.
To learn about Ana , check her out here.

Writing Circle Mondays | John Stoddard Cancer Center
2024-12-23 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-12-09 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-11-25 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-11-11 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-10-28 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-10-14 17:30 - 19:30
Writing Circle Monday sessions are sponsored by Stoddard Cancer Center as part of the Charlie Cutler Healing and Wellness Program and inspired by the Amherst Writers & Artists method, which believes that everyone is a writer.
Each session participants create a safe space, and then write together for timed intervals to writing prompts. Writing prompts inspire stories from participants’ lives. After each timed-writing session, participants will have the opportunity to read their stories to the group, which is healing on many levels.
Cancer patients and survivors are welcome to sign up for one to eight sessions. Registration is required, as each session will cap at 10 writers. For questions or to register, call (515) 241-8505 or email Gina Mandernach at Unity Point at gina.mandernach@unitypoint.org.

Writing Circle Wednesdays
2024-12-18 15:00 - 17:00, 2024-12-04 15:00 - 17:00, 2024-11-20 15:00 - 17:00, 2024-11-06 15:00 - 17:00, 2024-10-23 15:00 - 17:00, 2024-10-16 15:00 - 17:00
Writing Circle Wednesdays are for individuals who are currently receiving or who have completed cancer treatments.
These sessions meet on Zoom from 3 to 5 PM CT.
Anyone interested may join at any time.
Living with cancer is a lonely journey. Only those who have been or are on that same journey truly understand the emotions, fears and challenges we face each day. I was hoping to gain some insight into how others coped with their diagnosis. I not only gained that, but also came to understand more fully my own reactions to my personal cancer story. This was a valuable experience for me. I don’t feel quite as alone as I did. —A Past Participant
These sessions are led by Ana McCracken, founder of the Ames Writers Collective and held in partnership with the William R. Bliss Cancer Center located in Ames, Iowa. Registration is free and required. Contact Ana for questions and to register.

Author Spotlight | Anna Jinja Mather
2024-12-17 19:00 - 21:00 | KHOI Community Radio Station, 622 Douglas Avenue, Ames, IA, 50010

Open Write Tuesday with founder, Ana McCracken
2024-12-10 15:30 - 17:00 | On Zoom
Join Ana McCracken for Open Write Tuesdays on Zoom or in person at 612 Fifth Street.
WHAT’S AN OPEN WRITE?

We join togethor, share what we’re working on, and write for ~90 minutes. At the end, we share our successes, and sign off. Easy peasy.

Click here to register for Open Writes.
To learn about Ana, click here.

CANCELED | 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups
2024-12-08 14:00 - 16:00
CANCELED | CANCELED | CANCELED
Join us again,
on January 12th (the 2nd Sunday in January) from
2 to 4 PM in the PEO Room at
the Ames Public Library

Gathering of Artists
2024-11-19 18:00 - 20:00
Join the Ames Community Art Council and the Ames Writers Collective on November 19 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm for the monthly Gathering of Artists event. This event will be the first in a series of soft opening events for Fifth Street, our new writers co-working space in downtown Ames. Meet with other writers and our director Ana Hays McCracken to explore the space as it’s open for the first time. Learn about the Fifth Street Writers community and how to become involved!

Ruth Harkin at the Ames Public Library
2024-11-12 19:00 - 20:00 | Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue, Ames, IA, 50010, United States

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups
2024-11-10 14:00 - 16:00
Join on November 10th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.

We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.

Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.

Join us! Happy Writing!

Where We Live & My Ántonia—Connecting People and Place
2024-10-30 15:00 - 16:30 | On Zoom
This program is for OLLI-ISU members.

Speakers: Rachel Olsen and Ana McCracken
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 3 – 4:30 p.m. CT Online with Zoom

Few books pack as much genuine life into their pages as the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read, My Ántonia—the classic novel of the American immigrant experience that pairs a sense of place with a compassionate and gripping narrative. Following a lecture, Rachel Olsen will lead the audience in conversation to discuss how community and place shape lives. Participants are not required to read My Án- tonia. This lecture is part of the Cather Sesquicentennial year celebrating Cather’s 150th year.
Rachel Olsen is the Director of Education and Engagement at the National Willa Cather Center located in Red Cloud, Nebraska. Olsen has a master’s degree in English from Kansas State University with a certificate in Women’s Studies and was a full-time faculty member and writing center director at Oklahoma City Community College before moving to Red Cloud.
Ana McCracken, founder of the Ames Writers Collective, received her MFA in Creative Writing from Iowa State University. Her writing and poetry are published in literary journals and anthologies. A certified Amherst Writers & Artists facilitator, she serves on Litquake’s advisory board and the Willa Cather Foundation board of governors.

Writing for the Sake of Writing - A Generative Writing Workshop
2024-10-28 13:00 - 15:30, 2024-10-21 13:00 - 15:30, 2024-10-14 13:00 - 15:30
This workshop is held through OLLI-ISU.
Instructor: Ana McCracken
Five weeks: Monday, Sept. 30 – Oct. 28, 2024
Class Limit 8
1 – 3:30 p.m. CT Online with Zoom

Cost: $60 Class limit 8 REGISTER ONLINE

Do you dream of writing “someday” but don’t know where to start? Perhaps you already write, but you’re stuck. Maybe you’ve never written. This writing workshop provides a space for curious writers of all stages to generate stories inspired by prompts running the gamut from phrases, poems, photography, or a piece of art- work that inspires an ekphrasis response. We will read our stories to one another, discuss the craft of writing, and where to publish.
Ana McCracken, founder of the Ames Writers Collective, received her BS & MFA in Creative Writing from Iowa State University. Her writing has been published in literary journals and anthologies. A certified Amherst Writers & Artists facilitator, she serves on Litquake’s advisory board and the Willa Cather Foundation board of governors.

A Generative Writing Workshop for Adults
2024-10-26 10:00 - 12:00 | Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue, Ames, IA, 50010, United States
Do you dream of writing “someday,” but don’t know where to start? Perhaps you already write, but you’re stuck.
Join this FREE monthly writing workshop for adults, which provides a safe space for writers of all stages and genres to generate stories inspired by prompts running the gamut from phrases, poems, photography, guest authors and their prompts, or a piece of artwork. We will read our stories to one another and share only positive feedback.
These workshops are inspired by the Amherst Writers & Artists Method, which believes that everyone is a writer.
This workshop is held at the Ames Public Library from 10 to 12 PM upstairs in the PEO Room.
Presented by the Iowa Center for the Book and Ames Public Library in partnership with the Ames Writers Collective.

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups
2024-10-12 14:00 - 16:00
Join us on October 12th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.

We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Claire Kruesel will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.

Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.

Join us! Happy Writing!
