Hello all, and welcome to the Writers’ Bloc!

This is our inaugural year, and I am beyond elated about the present anticipation and future expectations.

I must say, I did not expect to take on such an endeavor when I was bouncing this around my head over the summer.  I simply wanted to create a forum where all of the amazing minds at the University of Maryland’s Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House can be seen, at least among themselves.  This online entity was a distant desire, but considering my college lifestyle, not a feasible one on my own.

The group of amazing editors, reporters, etc. will be released later on, along with many other things, which I hope you enjoy.

But for now: The Writers’ Bloc

The idea was initially conceived in the office of our supreme director, Johnna Schmidt after I brought up how I wanted some way to share the extremely odd things that may be said in the workshop classes.  For example, a debate about sex on the moon*.

At the time (spring 2011), I could in no way, shape, or form, fit anything of the sort into my schedule.  But over the summer, it nestled in my mind, with flashes of what could be making me even more anxious.

Of course, when I proposed the idea to Johnna, she embraced it.   At the time, I planned to do most everything by myself.  It was not until a few weeks later that she suggested an expansion, and so, “the newsletter” was born.

Writers’ House events will be covered here, in various forms.  But, as I said, this is for the writers, our writers, first and foremost.  Their work will be here, their stories, their experiences.  Indulge in them!  You never know what you might find….

And the name?  Shouted out at a Writers’ House meeting.  (Democracy!) (not shouted)

The absent “k” was not implied, but deleted by myself.  I happen to be a big fan of Russia/the Soviet Union, but I only went through with it because of one of its definitions: a combination of persons, groups, or nations forming a unit with a common interest or purpose. 

Ladies and gentlemen, The Writers’ Bloc

Editor-in-Chief

Taylor Lewis

*out of context