Writers With Attitude is an organization that offers free, creative writing workshops in New York City. We are a vibrant collective of both emerging and experienced writers from all backgrounds and writing styles united by a passion for storytelling and improving our craft as a community. We gather biweekly on Sundays from 3:00-5:00pm to write, analyze and discuss literature, and support one another in a safe and inclusive space. We pride ourselves on being a safe space where new and returning members feel respected, heard, and supported in sharing their writing and ideas.

Each year, we focus on a different theme. This year, our theme is Writing Across the Diaspora. Writing Across the Diaspora is an exploration of the ways stories preserve, challenge and reimagine our understanding of identity, memory, and belonging across cultures, generations, and geographies. Drawing from a mix of poetry, fiction, memoir, translated literature, and spoken word, we will study the works of many BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers such as Joy Harjo, Li-Young Lee, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Mahmoud Darwish, Octavio Paz, Natalie Diaz, Ocean Vuong, Elizabeth Acevedo, Jhumpa Lahiri, Major Jackson, Lesley Nneka Arimah, and other distinguished literary voices whose writing traverses Indigenous, African, Caribbean, Latin American/Latinx, Middle Eastern, and Asian diasporic stories.

This year, we will examine and discuss the way identity, migration, language, memory, family, love, resistance, and concepts of “home” shape both individual and collective narratives. We’ll also explore the literary techniques and writing styles through which writers render deeply vulnerable experiences into stories that resonate and inspire generations and cultures across the world. 

Each meeting will offer opportunities to experiment, receive feedback, and revise our work. There are also many workshops where we get to kick back and play literary games, get crafty, read at open mics, and more! At the end of the workshop, dedicated members will have the opportunity to submit their pieces to our annual literary magazine, LUNA. 

The workshop is open for anyone ages 21+. No matter your writing style or preferred genre, we all come together for our affinity of putting a good story on paper.

Join our FREE membership to access the readings for the year!

See below for the 2026-2027 literary schedule:

Week 1: Honoring Indigenous Memory and Tradition with Joy Harjo

Week 2:Remembering the Caribbean Through Poetry with Nicolás Guillén, Safiya Sinclair, Shara McCallum & Canisia Lubrin

Week 3: Finding Home Beyond Borders with Li-Young Lee

Week 4: Preserving Puerto Rican Memory Across Generations with Judith Ortiz Cofer

Week 5: Reclaiming Afro-Dominican Identity with Melania Luisa Marte: Melania Luisa Marte on Naming Herself

Week 6: Reimagining Love and Desire with Octavio Paz

Week 7: Reclaiming the Self Through Indigenous Mythology with Natalie Diaz

Week 8: Uncovering the Stories We Don’t Always Tell with Jhumpa Lahiri

Week 9: Carrying Queer and Cultural Identities with Fariha Róisín & Ocean Vuong

Week 10: Preserving Culture Through Oral Storytelling Across the Diaspora

Week 11: Resisting Displacement Through Language with Mahmoud Darwish

Week 12: Confronting Beauty and Womanhood with Lesley Nneka Arimah

Week 13: Peer Review for LUNA Magazine Submissions

The schedule does not include our open mic events, literary magazine release and any other miscellaneous events throughout the year.

What makes W.W.A unique?

Most workshops charge a fee to be member, but we thrive on being easily accessible and equitable for everyone without cost and commitment. Writing is a joy we want everyone to experience and harness whether you’re an experienced, amateur or newfound writer looking to express yourself. We also pride ourselves on reading most of our texts from BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers throughout the year and being a safe space for everyone to feel comfortable in expressing their thoughts and writing without bias.

How would you describe a typical meeting?

Our meetings begin at 3:00pm. We ask members to join ten minutes prior to settle in so we may begin promptly on time. Our meetings are only two hours long, so it’s important that we are able to fit so much into such little time.

From 3:00-3:30, we are discussing the assigned reading, afterwards, we write based off of the day’s writing prompt or activity. We take a brief intermission at 4:00 and spend the last hour sharing our writing and/or peer editing.

What events do you host annually?

To begin the literary year, we host a Meet & Greet, where we introduce ourselves to the new and returning members with refreshments, a panel about the writing workshop and a Q&A. We also host an open mic for writers to share their latest work and have the opportunity to mingle with other creatives and network. Finally, we host a literary magazine release for our annual literary magazine, LUNA. Each issue includes fiction, poetry, essays, graphic art and interviews submitted from the members and other miscellaneous writers.