Macalester Writing Club Revival

by Ahlaam Abdulwali ‘25

After the pandemic, the Writing Club made its debut on the Macalester campus during the Fall 2021 semester. Former Writing Club leaders designed the club to provide a space for members to write and workshop their creative work outside of academic spaces. However, after the founder graduated, the Writing Club was an inactive club on campus.

This semester, first year Paul Wallace started efforts to revive the Writing Club. Paul felt particularly inspired by Chanter meetings, and after taking the Into to Creative Writing FYC, he realized the liveliness of the creative writing community at Mac. Paul began to look towards creating a club that cultivates a space to work on long form pieces– as opposed to the shorter works that Chanter discusses– and fosters a safe space for workshops. At Writing Club meetings, Paul hopes that members take an hour out of their busy weeks to put their phones down, tune out the world around them, and just write.

Prior to his time at Mac, Paul submitted to the NYT’s personal narrative contest, where his piece placed top 48 of 1000. This incredible feat emphasized the importance of writing competitions like this one to Paul, especially in regards to furthering his career as a writer. For Paul, submitting to “competitions are how people network.. a bridge from a part time passion and a full time job.” Paul hopes to encourage people to submit the pieces they write and revise in Writing Club to competitions to help advance their writing careers. 

Oftentimes, it’s difficult for students to find a safe and dependable space outside of the classroom to get feedback on their writing, and reviving clubs like this one help build a stronger writing community here at Mac. For Paul, “writing is the only thing they’ve always wanted to do,” and if you find that you have a similar passion, contact Paul at [email protected] to join the Writing Club!