Collected

The Victorian seaport of Port Townsend, Washington, has long been a gathering place for artists, musicians and writers. After the pandemic interrupted those gatherings, a lone writer posted this notice around town: "Writers Welcome. Every other Saturday." He paid the rent for a meeting room at the Community Center and showed up to revive a community of writers. They came, writers from every walk and persuasion. Collected represents the work of many-veterans, a professor, an accountant, practicing Buddhists, a scientist, journalists, a counselor, one who is legally blind, one almost deaf. Some are published, others have been closeted until now. A writing group where everyone is welcome shouldn't work, but somehow it does, embodying the spirit of Port Townsend.