About

Board and Members in Service

Nona Smith - Co-President

Leslie Wahlquist - Co-President

Catherine Marshall - Vice-President

Norma Watkins - Secretary

Ginny Rorby - Treasurer & Membership

Elizabeth Vrenios - Anthology Editor

Sharon Bowers - Member at Large

Ericka Lutz - Speakers

Naty Osa - Publicity

Phillip Regan - Website

Rob Hawthorn - Media

E-Mail contact for all - info@writersmendocino.org

Founding President, Molly Dwyer

Founding President, Molly Dwyer, invited local writers to her kitchen table in 2009. Her intention was to expand the network and opportunities for writers on the coast.

Molly's debut novel, Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein, was nominated for the 2009 Northern California Book of Year in fiction. Molly has been an educator for twenty years, facilitating workshops and critique groups. Molly coaches writers and edits manuscripts of all stripes, and is an English instructor at Mendocino College.

Jack London Service Award
A one-in-a-lifetime award bestowed every two years upon one branch member who has made extraordinary contributions to the branch.

2015
Doug Fortier

2017
Amie McGee

2023
Katherine Heiman Brown

California Writers Club
Central Board

Officers and Appointments

Roger Lubeck
President
president@calwriters.org

Bob Isbill
Vice President
vp@calwriters.org

Elisabeth Tuck
Secretary
secretary@calwriters.org

Constance Hanstedt
Treasurer
treasurer@calwriters.org

Sandy Moffett
Executive Member-at-Large
director-at-large@calwriters.org

Joyce Krieg
Bulletin Editor
editor@calwriters.org

Bob Isbill
Publicity, PR, Advertising/Promotions
forum@calwriters.org
advertising-promotion@calwriters.org

Roger Lubeck
MRMS Systems Administrator
mrms@calwriters.org

Sandy Moffett
Membership Chair
membership@calwriters.org

California Writers Club Beginnings

The esteemed California Writers Club evolved in the wake of the Alameda Press Club and a small group of “break-off” members who met outside formal settings during the time that the Bay Area was experiencing a literary revival.

With degrees and scholarship from Oxford, West Point, and Harvard, members included George Sterling, Harold Lamb, Herman Whitaker, Kathleen Norris, William Lederer, Eugene Burdick, James Henry MacLaferty, Charles Keeler, Frank Soule, Julia Cooley Altrocci. Fiction chair Torry Connor held luncheon meetings at the Clairmont Hotel. Women dressed in formal wear.

The new club adopted the motto “Sail On,” from Joaquin Miller’s Columbus. The logo came from U.C. Berkeley Professor of Art Perham Nahl, who also designed the poster for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

A core group enjoyed the sea and themes of the West. They published a collection “West Winds.” Honorary members, whose reputations lent a veneer to the club—and whose dues may have been waved - included the first state Poet Laureate Ina Coolbrith, Jack London, John Muir, Joaquin Miller, and Gertrude Atherton.

Drawn to the energy emanating from Berkeley, thirty-one Sacramento charter members formed the first California Writers Club “off-shoot” or branch on September 30, 1925. Guests from Berkeley included Henry Noyes Pratt, club V. P. Dr. Derrick N. Lehmer, and Mrs. Esther Birdsall Darling.

Writers of the Mendocino Coast Strategic Plan 2024-2027

Vision
Within the next three years grow the Writers of the Mendocino Coast into a successfully run chapter of the California Writers Club with annual funding of $11,000, providing encouragement, skill building, publishing opportunities, social connection, and community for the writers and aspiring writers of the Mendocino Coast.

Mission: Writers of the Mendocino Coast connects writers with community, creativity, and craft.

Strategies—Implement over the next three years 2024-2027

Attract new members with improved marketing materials, networking with community partners, and outreach to diverse and younger populations.
Expand community participation by using social media, partnering with community organizations, and improving the website.
Build the organizational structure by clarifying the board member application process, defining volunteer opportunities, and organizing committees.
Improve programs by providing more member networking, public readings, public writing sessions, and online prompts.
Grow the operating funds with revenue streams from the anthology, fundraising events, sponsorships and grants, and expanded club membership.

Action Plans—Implement over the coming year 2024-25

Make at least three presentations to community college classes by 9/30/24.
Complete updates of member bios on the website by 6/30/24.
Establish an Instagram presence by 2/15/24.
Form volunteer committees by 12/31/24.
Implement job shadowing to train volunteers by 12/31/24.
Offer weekly writing prompts through the website and social media by 7/1/24.
Provide four public readings and four public writing experiences by 6/30/25.
Expand monthly meetings to allow networking by 3/31/24.
Rewrite descriptions of programs (Ekphrasis and SmatchUp) by 7/31/24.
Sell at least $500 of anthology ads or sponsorships by 10/15/24.
Schedule at least one local “Dine Out” fundraiser by 5/1/24.
Secure sponsorship for at least two meeting speakers by 12/31/24.

Objectives—What we will measure.

Increase operating funds from $6,800 to $11,000 by June 30, 2027.
Increase membership from 73 to 85 by 7/1/25.
Increase average meeting attendance by 10% by 12/31/25.