Word Pirates is looking for a new member. The Petaluma-based writing group meets on the third Tuesday of each month to focus on
creative non-fiction and short fiction. Our goal is to inspire and support each other as we get our work ready for publication. A typical
meeting is split between reading our work to each other and starting new work through writing prompts.

We are looking for members who are professional writers/editors and/or hold a degree in writing. The group doesn’t focus on genre fiction, screenplays, or poetry. If you’re interested, please e-mail us a brief bio and sample of your writing and tell us what you are looking for in a writing group.

Contact: wordpirates @ gmail.com

In addition to dramatic stories bemoaning the economic downturn, recession, depression or whatever its currently called, the number of stories about the “death” of the publishing industry in general and literary publishing in particular rose exponentially. Well, it’s just not as bad as all that.

A study by the National Endowment for the Arts shows that the percentage of adults engaging in “literary” reading has gone up since 2002. Even better, the age group that increased most dramatically (18-24 year olds) is the group that previously showed the biggest decline. Youth is the future, and all that.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows: The number is lower than it was in 1992, and it’s only about half the nation’s adult population. (Really? Half of U.S. adults haven’t read one single book, short story or poem in the last 12 months???) But in a time when the media and publishing industry alike seemed allergic to anything even remotely resembling optimism, it’s good to hear something besides gloom and doom.

By 2012, let’s get that percentage up even higher than it was in 1992!!

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