The Atlanta Writers Club exists...

To assist and encourage upcoming new writers;
To unite for mutual benefit, promote and sponsor creative educational activities for writers, lecturers, artists, and composers;
To train members to write and develop their aesthetic creative talents;
To present open forums for discussion on topics of importance to those interested in the advancement of the arts;
To promote advancement of literary art throughout the region and provide an atmosphere for more intimate acquaintance among the members with the work of established Southern writers.

Please click HERE for membership information.

History of The Atlanta Writers Club, Part III: Excerpt

By Adrian Drost

Jacques Futrelle, an early member of The Association of Writers (the original name of the AWC) booked passage to sail on the Titanic. This gregarious, nationally-known writer, actor and race-car driver, also known as "the American Conan Doyle," had a reputation as a teetotaler. Had he partied hard the night before the Titanic sailed, he would have missed the boat. Unfortunately for him, he did not. His wife later wrote that, after he had placed her in a lifeboat but refused to get in himself, she last saw him "calmly smoking a cigarette next to John Jacob Astor" on the deck of that ill-fated ship.

titanic

On a dogwood-laden day, April 20, 1914, The Atlanta Writers Club convened for the first time at the Atlanta Public Library, known then as the Carnegie Library. The club was organized by Mrs. Thomas Peters (formerly Kate Ross of Macon) and Mrs. Lollie Belle Wylie "to bring about a helpful and more intimate acquaintance among Atlanta writers, to promote their talents and market their writings." The oldest literary organization of its kind in Georgia, The Atlanta Writers Club has been a literary beacon in the cultural life of Atlanta for ninety years. Many of the early members became well-known in literary circles.

Frank L. Stanton, Georgia's first Poet Laureate, was an early member perhaps best remembered for his poems set to music, "Just A-Wearying for You" and "Mighty Lak a Rose". Others were Charles W. Hubner, lyricist, painter, musician and historian, often called "Poet Laureate of the South"; Lucius Perry Hills, referred to as Atlanta's wandering poet and lecturer; Clark Howell, editor of The Atlanta Constitution for many years; James R. Gray, editor of The Atlanta Journal; James B. Nevin, editor of The Atlanta Georgian; and Ward Green, Atlanta Journal reporter and novelist, also a well-known New York columnist and playwright.

References:
The preceding history was assembled from stories by Elizabeth Mack (1957) and Aurella Austin (1967), all from the AWC archive files.

Historic Atlanta Writers Club Dates

1914: The Atlanta Writers Club was established
1923: The AWC moved to The Atlanta Women's Club
1923: The first Author's Grove tree was planted at Piedmont Park
1924: The first Spoken Magazine was introduced
1948: The first Conference of Writers was established
1961: The first edition of The Quill was published

All historic information contained here is excerpted from Adrian Drost's History of The Atlanta Writers Club, previously published in The Quill.

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