Writers’ club picks up the pen again
Life Journeys Writers Guild will resume meetings in September
Yvonne Medley is ready to start the next chapter in her club’s journey.
Medley started her organization, the nonprofit Life Journeys Writers Guild, in 2007. A writer herself, Medley wanted to do her part to encourage other writers and help them hone their craft. For years, the group met regularly at the Waldorf West branch of the Charles County Public Library with no issue.
That changed suddenly on June 19 last year: Medley said she recalls the exact date because “when big things happen, you remember when it was, where you were, what you were wearing and all of that.”
That day, Medley said, she received a letter from the library’s administration saying that they were not going to renew the memorandum of understanding that allowed them use of library space for meetings and events. The letter alleged five separate violations that were the cause for the dissolution of the partnership. Medley immediately cried foul.
“We didn’t know there was a problem or anything,” Medley said. “We were floored by it. We immediately decided not to just accept that, but to ask why.”
She wrote a letter to the editor of the Maryland Independent in September 2018 explaining the situation, which ran the same week members of the guild lobbied the county commissioners for their support in getting to the root of the matter at a town hall held by Commissioner Amanda Stewart (D). A December 2018 story in the Independent discussed a meeting Stewart arranged between LJWG and the library’s board of trustees.
Medley and the LJWG’s persistence paid off. On May 15, while a reporter was at Medley’s Waldorf home interviewing her for this story, she got her wish. Her husband Robert, who serves as president of the board for the guild, returned home from a meeting with the library board with good news: After what had seemed at times like an uphill battle, they’d successfully renewed their MOU and could resume meeting in library spaces in September.
Since that “wonderful, positive” meeting took place, Medley said there’s nowhere to go but up.
“We can’t wait to resume the strong relationship we’ve had for 12 years,” Medley said. “The one thing we all knew was writers are the closest relatives to readers, and there’s no better home for us than the library. Writers should be where readers dwell, and that’s why we fought for it.”
Through it all, Medley said she was fortunate to have a strong group of supporters in her corner.
“When you don’t understand why something happened, it’s hard,” Medley said. “The members really rallied around me . ... I learned I probably need to cast a wider net, but God was good here.”
One such supporter was Commissioners’ President Reuben B. Collins II (D), who told the Maryland Independent a partnership between the LJWG and the library is “in the best interest of the county.”
“What [LJWG] provides, I think, is a venue for those in our community who have an interest in publishing their work,” Collins said. “It provides workshops, opportunities to hear from individuals who’ve been published already. In many ways I think it should be supported to some degree by the government because it encourages reading and writing, and that’s where I see a connection to our public librar y system.”
Medley and the LJWG, Collins said, help to “take away the mystery” that surrounds much of the writing, editing and publishing process while giving aspiring authors a supportive and constructive learning environment.
“I really think that she’s someone special, and what she does is worthy of support,” Collins said.
The day after that meeting where the new MOU was signed, the LJWG held a planned event featuring speakers from the U.S. Copyright Office at Middleton Hall in Waldorf. That event, Medley said, was the group’s first meeting in 2019. That lengthy delay in itself was unusual: since forming in 2007, Medley said the group had met every month except December.
The “Nuts and Bolts Gathering,” as it was called, was as successful as Medley had hoped it would be. They enjoyed “a few extras,” she said, including dance performances, delicious food prepared by Chef Kendall Selby and an informational session presented by employees of the U.S. Copyright Office, who provided a primer for writers and artists on how to get their work protected by copyright, as well as the importance of seeking such protection for one’s intellectual property. All in all, Medley felt 2019’s first event was “very successful and well-attended.”
Moving forward, Medley said she’s looking forward to the LJWG’s next gathering, which will be held July 27 at Middleton Hall. The event, their quarterly meeting, will be an homage to how “especially grateful” she is for the community’s support during the tumultuous past year.
Medley emphasized the event is suitable for all ages and will feature everything from live painting demonstrations to an improv performance by a troupe from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and readings from young writers. Of the last bit, Medley said those featured are “younger than 10, and they’re writing, and we want to give them the opportunity to read, write and perform in front of a crowd.”
Above all, Medley said she hopes July’s event and all future activities will serve well the group’s mission to empower authors and artists of all stripes.
“Writers love to write, write, write and then shove it in the top of the bureau,” Medley said. “We want you to come out and show it off.”
For more info on LJWG and to join or register for their upcoming events, email info@lifejourneyswritersguild.org or call 240-427-5594.