Last weekend the Network welcomed Squire Summer Writing Workshop registrants to Davidson College for workshops, readings, and community in-person with this year’s faculty Jack Jung, Cynthia Lewis, and Alan Michael Parker. NCWN members and non-members alike enjoyed ten intensive workshop sessions within their chosen genres.

“My experience at Squire was exactly what I hoped, and more,” registrant Bridget Whalen wrote in her evaluation. “I am so grateful for the privilege to learn from an incredible artist and teacher. I am also so appreciative of the chance to workshop with my peers who share my love for craft–even with their very different interests and approaches to writing. I am leaving Squire with a wealth of tools and ideas to bring to my writing, a renewed determination to seek out learning opportunities, and writers I can’t wait to collaborate with in the future.”


A highlight for many registrants was visiting the Davidson Letterpress Lab for a demonstration and letterpress etymology lesson with Davidson assistant professor Andrew Rippeon. They had the opportunity to use the letterpress themselves, creating broadsides with quotes by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. Wesley Spears-Newsome wrote in his evaluation, “The Letterpress Lab was so cool and I’m so glad that I went. It was fascinating to learn everything about how letterpresses and physical publishing used to work. In addition to my writing, part of my day job includes graphic design, so I learned a lot about where terminology and technique originated for that as well…I can’t speak highly enough about the Squire Summer Writing Workshops. It was worth everything that it took to be there. I didn’t want to leave!”

