Who We Are

Women Writing for (a) Change, Jacksonville, is a growing community for Jacksonville writers. We are here to nurture and celebrate the individual voice by facilitating supportive writing circles and by encouraging people to craft more conscious lives through the art of writing and the practices of community.

What We Do

We offer regular writing circles in our community, art exhibits featuring women artists, and an annual anthology of women writers and artists who have been in our circles over the years. We also host a number of special events highlighting our women writers and artists as well as women leaders in our community.

Why We Are Different

We are a radically inclusive community that actively works to create a safer space for women’s voices. We use circle practices to create a more egalitarian atmosphere. We make sure that feedback on writing is delivered respectfully, and only as requested. We believe, like Pat Schneider, that “everyone is a writer,” and that there is value in everyone’s stories. We provide a platform that gives women a chance to tell these stories. As Maya Angelou famously said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Our Vision

Our vision is to foster healthy, conscious communities where the words and creative expression of women, girls, and individuals—from all classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, and life circumstances—are nurtured, developed, and celebrated, contributing to positive cultural transformation and a more just and equitable society.

A Focused Community, But Not An Exclusive One

We focus primarily on women and those that identify as women, but not exclusively. We try to create a supportive, non-threatening environment for all who participate. We encourage everyone in our community to help us create an atmosphere where the safety of others is validated.

Antiracism Statement

At Women Writing for (a) Change Jacksonville, we seek to be a feminist organization that is intersectional, antiracist, climate-conscious, and radically inclusive. And yet, we acknowledge that systemic racism, systematic sexism, and climate-damaging behavior is embedded deeply in our culture (including within our own organization). We must change this. We must become more conscious. We believe this is an individual journey and, as an organization, we can accomplish it best through the art of writing and the practices of community. We are particularly working to become an antiracist community by ensuring more inclusive leadership representation, deep work for our leaders, healing circles for BIPOC community members, and addressing issues of racism as they come up in our community, making reparations as needed, with kindness and compassion and a fierce determination to do better.

Our Roots

WWf(a)C Jacksonville is an affiliate site of Women Writing for (a) Change in Cincinnati. Since 1991, WWf(a)C has evolved into a powerful and empowering community of women and girls telling our stories. We are a radically inclusive community of women creating change in ourselves and our worlds one truth, one voice at a time.

Try Us Out

To Whoever Needs This:

“Take this class. Take it. Forget the rumblings of the mind—“I can’t write.” “I have nothing to say.” “I’m unworthy.” Click the button—YES. Let the love in this room envelop you, the authenticity of these women, circled ’round, pen in hand, uplift you. The “you” you may have forgotten or thought was venturing forth alone. The one who you promised to honor as a little girl. Yes, bring her. Bring a pen and let words flow to paper.”

—Janessa Martin, October 2017