A new writing club is officially opening for Highline, specifically catered to existing and aspiring non-fiction authors. Non-fiction Writer’s Circle (NFWC) has already begun shepherding a community of writers in an effort to increase comfort with personal essays and memoirs, while offering tips along the way that can eventually help a writer enter the professional world.

The NFWC is forming under the leadership of Thunderword editor Mavrie Durham, an avid reader and aspiring journalist. The team roster has been slowly adding up as writers of diverse backgrounds and comfort levels are joining to create community, sharpen their skills, and learn just what kind of writer they’d like to be.

Durham told the ThunderWord that the club “started out with myself and a friend helping each other’s writing by providing that sacred space and allowing one another to really take those big leaps to grow as an author. From there, we saw the value in that safe space, and began building the NFWC so other writers could benefit as well.”

Per Durham and the club’s treasurer, Evelyn Rissell, the NFWC’s greatest offering is letting writers explore that growth on their own terms with others in a safe environment, because while poetry and fiction are vulnerable, many don’t know where to start with non-fiction.

Rissell elaborated, “Getting feedback from like minded individuals on my writing has helped me become a stronger writer and made the process more enjoyable.”

One size does not fit all, and Durham’s new aggregate of literature-prone students is aiming to create an environment that reflects the diversity of the stories we tell. One paramount value of the NFWC is each new writer being able to set the boundaries for their own critique.

This means that newcomers can set the bar immediately by telling their peers how thoroughly they wish to be critiqued, and what specific goals for their own writing they would like to accomplish. The climate as a whole is meant to push all the obstacles out of the way so members can do what they came here to do: write.

Rhiannon Hillman, who has an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in English, is heading the circle as its faculty advisor, and is passionate about bringing young writers into the fold, and showing them the ropes about breaking into the industry.

While more information is being released as the club takes form, be the first to hear about the inaugural meetings and introductions by emailing mdurham@highline.edu for the Google Classroom code and finding your place in a vibrant world of essayists, authors, autobiographers, and the just plain curious.

Liv Lyons has been an editor for the Thunderword since 2023. Their short story blog, “Loser Pulp“, is released twice a month.