California Where: Lincoln CA When: Weekly Facilitator: Arloa Walter (ajwsw at aol dot com) Circle Description: I have started a Story Circle Group here in Lincoln, California. It is going very well. The women are enjoying it and writing their stories. We are a group of retired friends in our 60's and 70's. We have seven who meet at my home once a week. There are more women around who are interested in writing who want to be in a story circle. Date posted: 03/27/07

Colorado Where: Donna Remmert's home, Boulder CO When: 3rd Thursday of the month, 7-9pm Facilitator: Donna Remmert (donnaremmert at comcast dot net) Circle Description: There are 5 of us, and we're each doing our own unique life writing project. We read and critique each submission during our meeting. Last update: 02/03/09 Where: Donna Remmert's home, Boulder CO When: 4th Tuesday of the month, 7-9pm Facilitator: Donna Remmert (donnaremmert at comcast dot net) Circle Description: Each member has a project that she is working on and for which she would like feedback and support. In advance of our meeting, we'll e-mail 5-10 pages of material to each member to critique and edit. At the meeting, we'll talk about those pages. Last update: 02/03/09 Where: Community Center Room, Denver CO When: 1st Tuesday of the month from 6:30-8pm Facilitator: Valene Raymer Baskfield, LCSW (valene at bellybreath dot com) Circle Description: A Story Circle Date posted: 12/29/03

Florida Where: Largo Library, Largo FL When: 7-9pm Thursdays Facilitator: Jan Golden (jangolden at tampabay dot rr dot com; 727-535-7816) Circle Description: "Women of The Round Table" has been together for several years. This group is currently closed to new members, pending a move to a larger meeting space. Last update: 01/19/09 Where: Bloomingdale Regional Library, Valrico FL When: 1st Friday of the month, 10am-12pm Facilitator: Candi Martin (candicemartin at verizon dot net) Circle Description: We will begin meeting on May 1, 2009. There are seven members. We will be using prompts from SCN and sharing our stories. Date posted: 04/28/09 Where: Bloomingdale Regional Library, Valrico FL When: 1st Monday of the month, 10am-12:30pm Facilitator: Judith E. Johnson (getawayj at tampabay dot rr dot com) Circle Description: A closed circle of 9 members, we are the second story circle to be formed at the library and are known at the moment as STORY CIRCLE 2. We are in the process of selecting a name for our circle. Date posted: 04/28/09 Where: Bloomingdale Regional Library, Valrico FL When: Monthly Facilitator: Val Perry (Lifewritersbloom at msn dot com) Circle Description: We are part of a much larger program of life story writing which has been established here at Bloomingdale Library for several years. We range in age—some retired, some working, some a little of both. We welcome new members to contact us. 4-10 week co-ed memoir classes are given three times a year. Date posted: 01/16/09

Georgia Where: Firehouse Gallery—Decatur County Arts Council, Bainbridge GA When: Monthly, flexible date Facilitator: Pam Immendorf (vintage at mchsi dot com) Circle Description: The "Silver Retrievers" is an ongoing OWL Circle. Last update: 01/24/09

Illinois Where: homes of participants in North Shore of Chicago, IL When: monthly, 1-3pm or 1-4pm; days vary Facilitator: Susan Myrick (suemyrick at comcast dot net) Circle Description: WordsWomen began our monthly afternoon meetings (with delicious snacks, sometimes healthy, sometimes yummy) in February, 1999. We split from a larger memoir group at the Women's Exchange in Winnetka, IL. Our group wavers between three and four participants, a size small enough to give us plenty of time (2-3 hours) to share and discuss our work. We rotate as hostesses, but the facilitator remains Susan Myrick (penname Susan James). The facilitator brings a prompt for a free-write, memoir story ideas, and writing exercises that help us use tools such senses, time and point of view. We also participate in various exercises that stretch our vocabulary and add dimension to our writing. During workshop meetings, we free-write for 20 minutes from a prompt, read our work aloud, listen to others' works, and hear our work discussed (in a supportive and encouraging environment). We leave with 3 or more new prompts for free-writes at home. Between meetings, writers do any of the following: begin work on the suggested topic, revise a past piece, or work on an expanding project. We keep limber with the prompts for fast writes. Last update: 01/17/09

Indiana Where: Lafayette, IN When: 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month Facilitator: Sandra Gaylor (nsgaylor01 at comcast dot net) & Marcy Wooldridge (dicmar50 at verizon dot net) Circle Description: Women's Ink writing circle, organized by SCN members (and sisters) Sandra Gaylor & Marcy Wooldridge, has been meeting since 1998 and currently has a membership of eight. The group meets bi-monthly and has a writing assignment each time. Last update: 01/20/09

Montana Where: members' homes in Missoula, MT When: weekly Facilitator: Karen Buley (buley_r at msn dot com) Circle Description: We have been meeting weekly for several years. After reading and discussing works in progress, we follow with a timed writing exercise. Date posted: 02/06/09

New Jersey Where: Lambertville Library, Lambertville, NJ When: Two Thursdays a month, 10am-noon Facilitator: Victoria McNabb Wheeler (wheelinwool at aol dot com) Circle Description: Our first session is June 4, 2009, and three of us will be in attendance. Hopefully we will grow to six. We plan to follow the SCN facilitator's guide, with time for impromptu writing, reading aloud, and discussion. Date posted: 05/31/09 Where: Sussex Public Library, Sussex County NJ When: 2nd & 4th Saturday, 10am-noon Facilitator: Deborah Maya Lazarus (deblazarus at yahoo dot com) Circle Description: I have started a Story Circle at the Sussex Public Library in Sussex County, New Jersey. I started by giving a two-part memoir writing workshop. The women wanted to continue so I told them about Story Circle.org. So far we've had two meetings of the Story Circle group with six members each time. Email or call Deborah (570-296-4159) if you are interested in joining. Date posted: 10/11/06

North Carolina Where: Winston-Salem, NC When: to be announced... Facilitator: Elsa McKeithan (thesisdoctor at bellsouth dot net) Circle Description: We are a diverse group of women who have discovered the warmth that comes with gathering together to write from our lives and share from our hearts. Any project in life writing or memoir and any style or genre is welcome. We are rescheduling meetings currently. Please email Elsa McKeithan if you are interested. Date posted: 01/16/09 Where: Participant's homes, Charlotte, NC When: 3rd Monday of every month (except June-August) from 7-8:30pm Facilitator: Robin Edgar (2robinedgar at gmail dot com) Circle Description: The Red Tent Society has been meeting for over two years. The core group is comprised of women of all ages and backgrounds, from a 16 year-old aspiring writer to published authors and poets to a 90 year-old woman who simply enjoys reminiscing and hearing other people's stories. Newcomers are welcome. When we get back together after the summer break, the first meeting prompt reminds me of the story you wrote when school started up again: "How I Spent My Summer Vacation." Last update: 08/06/07

Oklahoma Where: Midwest City, OK; afternoon session: a different local restaurant each week (call 405-610-6144 for location); Midwest City Library for evening session When: Wednesdays, 1-3pm; Mondays, 6:30pm Facilitator: P. Jan Hall (jansstorycircle at aol dot com) Circle Description: "Come-When-You-Can" Have lunch, write, informal sharing & discussion. Come-When-You-Can has added a Monday night at 6:30pm at the Midwest City Library. The Monday night is good through Sep. 17 and then will move to Jan's home—dates and times TBA. Last update: 06/11/07 Where: 203 W Douglas Dr, Midwest City OK (Call 405-610-6144 to enroll) When: Weds 6-8pm Facilitator: P. Jan Hall (jansstorycircle at aol dot com) Circle Description: WolfSong Story Circle Last update: 06/11/07

Pennsylvania Where: Warrington PA When: Monday mornings Facilitator: Linda Wisniewski (lindawis at comcast dot net) Circle Description: We have been meeting for about 2 years in Warrington, PA on Monday mornings. At least three of us are SCN members. We have around 12 in our circle. Date posted: 01/30/09 Where: Facilitator's home, Philadelphia PA When: beginning September 8, 2003, every Monday from 7-9pm Facilitator: Sandra Pesini (walkwithwomen at comcast dot net; 215-673-3104) Circle Description: This Story Circle is an intimate group of six women who have been meeting weekly since December, 2002. Timed writing exercises and sharing using prompts is the way they like to interact. We just had our first writing retreat at a campground using the outdoors and summer season to inspire us. It was a great time! They are resuming their Serendipity Ladies workshop on a new night, begining Monday, September 8, 2003. Date posted: 08/10/03 Where: Facilitator's home, Philadelphia PA When: Sundays, 2-4pm Facilitator: Sandra Pesini (walkwithwomen at comcast dot net; 215-673-3104) Circle Description: A new group of eight enthusiastic women who come together each week prepared to share their at-home writings from a designated prompt. Additional prompts are provided for several class timed writings. Each week a member offers a fun topic for a final writing and sharing. Date posted: 08/10/03

Texas Where: Querencia, a retirement community in Austin, TX When: 4th Saturday of each month. Facilitator: Anne Beckner (abeckner at austin dot rr dot com) Circle Description: Continuing OWL-Circle group formed in May, 2009. A new group wil start in the Fall, 2009. Last update: 06/16/09 Where: St. John Neumann Catholic Church, Austin TX When: 1st Tuesday of each month, 1-2:30pm Facilitator: Jane Ross (mjrpubs3 at sbcglobal dot net) Circle Description: Continuing OWL-Circle group formed in January, 2003. Open to new members. Last update: 01/16/09 Where: varies; see Reading Circle web page for details When: noon-1pm, 2nd Monday of the month Facilitator: Peggy Moody (pmoody at pobox dot com) Circle Description: A reading circle that has been together since 1997. We read and discuss women's memoirs and women's fiction. For more information, see our Reading Circle web page. Last update: 12/19/08 Where: Milwood Branch Library, 12500 Amherst Dr, Austin TX 78727 When: 1st Wednesday of the month, 12:30-2:30pm Facilitator: Jackie Newman (jacquelinenewman at msn dot com) Circle Description: The "Milwood Library Group" writing circle was one of the original Austin Chapter writing circles. Last update: 12/19/08 Where: Yarborough Library, 2200 Hancock Dr, Austin TX 78756 When: 3rd Wednesday of the month, 7-8:30pm Facilitator: Sue Bilich (sueb78757 at yahoo dot com) Circle Description: The "Moon Writers Writing Circle" was one of the original Austin Chapter writing circles. Last update: 12/19/08 Where: Austin Public Library Howson Branch, 2500 Exposition Blvd, Austin TX 78703 When: 4th Tuesday of the month, 1-2:30pm Facilitator: Judith Helburn (thehelburns at sbcglobal dot net) Circle Description: The "Sharing Our Stories Writing Circle" was one of the original Austin Chapter writing circles. Last update: 12/19/08 Where: Rebecca Roberts' home, 205 Canyon Rim Dr, Austin TX 78746 When: 3rd Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:30pm Facilitator: Rebecca Roberts (rebecca at rebeccar dot com) Circle Description: The "INKlings Writing Circle" was one of the original Austin Chapter writing circles. Last update: 12/19/08 Where: PJ Pierce's home, 6811 Glen Ridge Dr, Austin TX 78731 When: 2nd Thursday of the month, 7-8:30pm Facilitator: PJ Pierce (pjpierce at cvtv dot net) Circle Description: The "Wordweavers Writing Circle" was one of the original Austin Chapter writing circles. Last update: 12/19/08 Where: South Austin When: 1st Monday of the month, 10am-noon Facilitator: Betty McCreary (bdownes211 at aol dot com) Circle Description: Rock Rose Writers is a Free Range Story Circle and open to women at all levels of writing experience who want to practice life writing using writing prompts and timed exercises. Although the focus will be life writing,other types of writers are welcome (fiction, poetry, etc.) We encourage sharing our writing and learning from each other. Last update: 01/16/09 Where: Borders at Southpark Meadows, Austin TX When: Two Sundays a month, 12:30pm Facilitator: Rose McCorkle (rosiemac4 at yahoo dot com) & Johnett Scogin (johnett42 at yahoo dot com) Circle Description: The "Free Range Chickenscratchers" is a small circle of women who meet to get/give feedback on longer pieces (ongoing) and to do short focused work to develop our craft. Due to the nature of our work, we have to remain small, and are not currently seeking new members. Read their blog. Last update: 01/16/09 Where: Georgetown TX, various members' homes When: 4th Thursday each month, 9:30-11:30am Facilitator: Linda Watkins (lwatkins1 at mac dot com) Circle Description: This is a writing circle. We meet once per month to share our writings, mostly focusing on life stories but all writing is accepted. This is a new group that began Fall '08 and we are just now learning our goals. Members are SCN & other, number of members is not yet set. Last update: 02/01/09 Where: Georgetown/Sun City/Round Rock TX When: intermittently Facilitator: Karen Hett (kmchett at verizon dot net) Circle Description: Our memoir-writing circle in Georgetown meets intermittently. We are still a closed circle, because we try to limit our meetings to no more than eight writers. We write from prompts, á la Story Circle, and we still haven't worked our way through all the stories we want to share with our families, even after five or so years. We are planning a writing retreat at a country house near La Grange, Texas, in February. Last update: 01/15/09 Where: Harker Heights Public Library, 100 E Beeline, Harker Heights TX When: 1st Saturday of the month, 9-10:30am (if the first Saturday falls on a holiday weekend, we meet the following Saturday) Facilitator: Meghan Brawley (mbrawley at ci dot harker-heights dot tx dot us) Circle Description: Our circle meets regularly once a month, and we have 7-8 participants. Some members are still working exclusively on memoirs, while others are beginning to explore other writing projects. Even though we're a very diverse group, ranging from a college student to a grandmother, we've gotten to be good friends through sharing our stories. We're small enough so facilitating is a very loose responsibility—we use the SCN Facilitator's Guide, but sometimes we adapt the topics to fit our needs. It's more of a round-table group. We're just about 25 minutes west of Temple, and serve the Ft. Hood/Killeen area, so if anyone's interested in finding a group here we're always open to new members! Last update: 01/16/09 Where: 129 Running Water, Sun City TX When: 3rd Thursday of month, 1:30-3pm Facilitator: Jackie Woolley (jackie at booksbyjackie dot com) Circle Description: The Hill Country Rough Writers have 12 to 14 members, some of which are members of Story Circle. The group evolved from my previous Round Rock Rough Writer group. Last update: 12/07/05 Where: Barnes & Noble, Sunset Valley TX When: 4th Thursdays, 1-2pm Facilitator: Stephanie Barko (steffercat at austin dot rr dot com) Circle Description: The South Austin Book Group is non-denominational, co-ed, and reads spiritually-oriented books from all traditions. The group meets for an hour and then those who can stay are welcome to linger for another half hour or so. Meetings are open to the public. The group has been meeting since Fall, 2005. Last update: 01/16/09 Where: Facilitator's home, Tyler TX When: 2nd Wednesday of month; 2-4pm Facilitator: Pat Turner (capturn2 at yahoo dot com) Circle Description: The Memory Keepers Story Circle is made up of five to six very faithful and enthusiastic women who meet monthly to share our writing and to write together. Last update: 01/26/09 Where: facilitator's home, The Woodlands TX When: 2nd & 4th Wed., 1pm Facilitator: Sonja Borstner (borstner at swbell dot net) Circle Description: The Story Gardeners meet on the 2nd and 4th Wed. at 1pm. Last update: 01/26/09 Where: The Forum, The Woodlands, TX When: 1st Thursday of the month Facilitator: Sonja Borstner (borstner at swbell dot net) Circle Description: The "15 Minute Writers", who range in age from 80-90 years, meet on the first Thursday of the month at The Forum. Last update: 01/15/09 Where: The Forum, The Woodlands, TX When: Tuesdays in September, 2009 Facilitator: Evelyn Cook (ecook at pdq dot net) Circle Description: In September, 2009 the "Telling Your Life Story" group will meet on 4 Tuesdays for the fall session. Last update: 01/15/09

Vermont Where: Pawlet VT When: Thursday, beginning March 23, for 6 weeks Facilitator: Lauryn Axelrod (circleworkshops at yahoo dot com) Circle Description: Story Circle at the Circle of Healing in Pawlet, VT (about 30 minutes northwest of Manchester) begins March 23 and runs for six weeks initially. Date posted: 03/06/06

Washington Where: Seattle WA When: Mondays, 7-9pm Facilitator: Pat Hoglund (hoglundp at aol dot com; 206-786-5377) Circle Description: I am hosting a womens' story circle in my home. We welcome new people to join the circle. Last update: 01/21/09

Wisconsin Where: Howe Neighborhood Resource Center, Green Bay WI When: February/March, 2009: six Tuesdays (advanced group) and Thursdays (beginning group), 7-8:30pm; 2 groups will also meet in Apr/May, as well as Sep/Oct and Nov/Dec. Facilitator: Sandra Shackelford (sashack10 at athenet dot net) Circle Description: Two circles: beginning and advanced. The advanced circle will be working toward putting together our own anthology with funds raised going to a program that works with women cancer patients. Contact Sandra for more information. Eight women are in the advanced group; 15 in the beginning group. The groups bond, becoming a family, celebrating and encouraging each other's efforts. We write. We share. We discuss. We educate each other. We grow. The sixth (final) session of each group's circle is a celebration and summation of what we have accomplished, an evaluation of our growth as women and writers. Recently our group of writers gave a presentation, "Six Women Reading", at the local independent book store, The Reader's Loft. This past fall, some of our circle members assisted Sandra with a writing project working with Homeless Women and Their Adolescent Daughters. This project was sponsored through the local school system's At-Risk program. The women's and girl's writing will be published in book form with funds raised going into more programs for this special group. Last update: 01/15/09