Writing: People still do it! And they love to do it. (Even those of us facing constant deadlines, though we may not cheerfully acknowledge that sentiment in the moment.)
Sometimes people even love to do it together! Which is where the fabulous Writers Grotto in the Mission can assist, hooking up local scribes in person and online with classes, resources, event and reading space, and general support for each others’ work. You can grok everything from how to score a grant to the essentials of building a complete novel from their learnéd scholars. Writing can be a lonely business; connection with fellow ink-dippers can provide a huge boost.
The Grotto is celebrating 30 years on Sat//22, 6pm, at the Verdi Club, with a festive mixer including music, a historical slideshow, a taco bar, drinks, and even a little getting down on the dance floor—plus, of course, all sorts of literary delights. I spoke with board member (and 48 Hills writer) Christopher D. Cook about the Grotto’s importance, and the future of writing itself.
48 HILLS Who doesn’t love an intellectual grotto! Tell me a little about the Writers Grotto—how did it get started, and how did you get involved?
CHRISTOPHER D. COOK The Writers Grotto is a unique community of more than 175 writers supporting each other’s work and the wider literary world. Our ranks include novelists, journalists, poets, playwrights, filmmakers, essayists, memoirists, and fiction writers. The Grotto was born in 1994 when Po Bronson, Ethan Watters, and Ethan Canin launched an early co-working site in a rundown Victorian flat. I joined the Grotto in 2001 at our old “cat and dog hospital” spot on Fell Street, after bemoaning my writerly isolation to my editor at Mother Jones.
48 HILLS That’s a real SF author royalty pedigree. What are a couple of your favorite memories from the Grotto’s storied past?
CHRISTOPHER D. COOK Our early Grotto Nights at the SF Public Library were a blast. Hundreds would pack the Koret Auditorium for our thematic readings. One Grotto Night, a big crew of us literary folk marched from the library to a party at our rooftop space on Fell, regaled by the delightfully rambunctious Extra Action Marching Band. One of the best things I’ve seen in my 20-plus years with the Grotto is Rooted & Written, the nation’s first tuition-free literary conference by and for writers of color. This amazing conference has mentored so many terrific writers and really helped broaden and open up literary community in the Bay Area.
48 HILLS In an age of encroaching AI and artistic repression, why do you feel a community effort like the Grotto is important?
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CHRISTOPHER D. COOK These are exceedingly embattled times for writers, as we confront the existential threats of AI, a fascist president bent on crushing free expression and diverse and dissident voices, and a Bay Area economy that has squeezed its creative lifeblood nearly out of existence. We need communities like The Writers Grotto now more than ever, and we need to support each other now more than ever.
THE WRITERS GROTTO 30TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY Sat/22, 6pm-10pm, Verdi Club, SF. Tickets and more info here.
