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Featured News
Rooted & Written Applications Now Open!
Applications are open for the 2026 Rooted & Written Fellowship! The conference takes place from Saturday, April 25 to Sunday, May 3, 2026, and consists of both in person and online courses. We’re excited to offer two keynote speakers with moderators, a seminar speaker, six flash classes, and five core classes across multiple genres (memoir, fiction, essay, poetry, and screenwriting). Tuition is free if you are accepted into the Rooted & Written Conference. Please click on the link below to view the full guidelines of the application.
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Featured News
Rent office space at the Grotto!
The Grotto currently has office space available for rent. Get in touch today to learn more!
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Upcoming Classes & Events
MM/DD
MM/DD
Today
ddd, MMM. DD
7:00-8:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Jenny Bitner
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7:00-8:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Laurie Ann Doyle
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6:30-9:00pm PT
Writing The Wilderness with Zoe Young
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6:30-8:30pm PT
Aloud/Out Loud Reading Series: Candles in the Dark
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6:30-8:00pm PT
The Driving Force of a Great First Line with Lenore Weiss
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6:30-8:00pm PT
Find Your Story Find Your Voice with Britta Stromeyer
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6:30-7:30pm PT
Lit Crawl SF 2026 Applicant Information Session
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6:30-7:30pm PT
Winter Write-In with Laurie Ann Doyle
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6:00pm PT
Grotto Nights at SFPL: So Good It Has to Go on a Holiday Card
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6:00-8:30pm PT
Introduction to Creative Writing with Kristen Cosby
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6:00-8:30pm PT
Personal Narrative and Memoir Writing with Kristen Cosby
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6:00-8:30pm PT
Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing with Kristen Cosby
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6:00-8:30pm PT
Start from Scratch: Write a Short Story in 6 Weeks with Lindsey Crittenden
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6:00-8:30pm PT
Introduction to Creative Writing with Kristen Cosby
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6:00-8:00pm PT
Momentum: A Continuing Writing Workshop with Jenny Bitner
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6:00-8:00pm PT
Autofiction: Combining Memoir and Fiction with Jenny Bitner
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6:00-8:00pm PT
Write Your Memoir: A Course in Craft with Lindsey Crittenden
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6:00-8:00pm PT
Brilliant Openings: How to Grab an Agent on Page One with Anoop Judge
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6:00-8:00pm PT
Begin Where It Burns—Starting Your Book with Jenny Bitner
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6:00-8:00pm PT
Trancewriting: Intuitive Writing Through Hypnosis with Jenny Bitner
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6:00-8:00pm PT
Fiction Workshop with Doug Henderson
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6:00-7:30pm PT
Rewriting Diversity with Brandy Collins
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6:00-7:30pm PT
Rewriting Diversity with Brandy Collins
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6:00-7:30pm PT
Grotto Nights at SFPL: Strong Visions and Thick Skin: Writing Against the Status Quo.
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6:00-7:30pm PT
Difficult Conversations as Writers with Brandy Collins
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6:00-7:30pm PT
Difficult Conversations as Writers with Brandy Collins
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6:00-7:30pm PT
Difficult Conversations as Writers with Brandy Collins
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6:00-7:30pm PT
Grotto Nights at the Library: Campfire Stories and Other Ghostly Narratives
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6:00-7:30 pm PT
Grotto Nights at SFPL: Jack of all Genres: Master of More
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6:00-7:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Preeti Vangani
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6:00-7:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Lyzette Wanzer
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6:00-7:00pm PT
Grotto Nights at SFPL: Unchecked: The Future of Journalism in a Factless World
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6:00 - 8:00pm PT
Write Your Unformulaic Novel with Jenny Bitner
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5:30-7:30pm PT
Professional Submissions: Get Published with Lyzette Wanzer
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5:00-7:00pm PT
Reading + Meeting
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5:00-7:00pm PT
Reading + Meeting: Nov. 21st, 2025
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5:00-6:30pm PT
How to Tell the Story Only You Can Tell with Lisa Lerner
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4:30-6:00pm PT
Members Only: Book Discussion: Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
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3:00-4:30pm PT
Members Only: Essay/Memoir Group
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3:00-4:30pm PT
Members Only: Essay/Memoir Group
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3:00-4:30pm PT
Members Only: Essay/Memoir Group
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3:00-4:30pm PT
Members Only: Essay/Memoir Group
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3:00-4:30pm PT
Members Only: Essay/Memoir Group
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3:00-4:15pm PT
So Bad You Have To Laugh About It: Turn Life’s Garbage Into Literary Gold with Jessica Martinez and Britta Stromeyer
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1:00pm PT
Members Only: Bullet Journal Meeting
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1:00pm PT
Members Only: Bullet Journal Meeting
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1:00pm PT
Members Only: Bullet Journal Meeting
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1:00pm PT
Members Only: Bullet Journal Meeting
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1:00-4:00pm PT
Sacred Space & Intention: Threshold Writing in Midwinter with MK Chavez & Maw Shein Win
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1:00-3:00pm PT
Write a Fabulous Beginning with Lisa Lerner
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12:30-1:30pm PT
Fall Write-In with Xandra Castleton
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12:00-1:30pm PT
Rooted Words: Place, Landscape, and Setting in Contemporary Poetry with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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12:00-1:30pm PT
Poetry Writing Workshop with Kristen Cosby
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12:00-1:30pm PT
Unlock the Poet Within: Transforming Tradition with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Lisa Lerner
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Lisa Lerner
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Maw Shein Win
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Laurie Ann Doyle
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Jenny Bitner
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Kristen Cosby
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Kristen Cosby
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Lisa Lerner
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Lisa Lerner
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Fall Write-In with Xandra Castleton
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12:00-1:00pm PT
Members Only: Grotto Book Publicity/Author Marketing Group
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11:30am-1:00pm PT
The Music of the Line: Sound, Silence, & Rhythm in Poetry with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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11:00am-1:00pm PT
Held Things: The Poetics of Objects, Memory, & Meaning with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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11:00am-12:30pm PT
Between Line & Sentence: Prose Poetry and Poetic Prose with Sabina Khan-Ibarra
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11:00am-12:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Doug Henderson
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11:00am-12:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Jenny Bitner
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11:00am-12:00pm PT
Winter Write-In with Nate Olivarez-Giles
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10:30am-2:30pm PT
Conference Panel Proposals: Strategize for Success with Lyzette Wanzer
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10:30am-12:30pm PT
Writing Microfiction with Britta Stromeyer
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10:30am-12:30pm PT
Writing Microfiction with Britta Stromeyer
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10:00am-12:00pm PT
Rooted & Written Alumni Only: Let The Body Sing: A Generative Workshop on Writing into Sex, Desire and the Body with Preeti Vangani
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10:00am-12:00pm PT
Rooted & Written Alumni Only: Let The Body Sing: A Generative Workshop on Writing into Sex, Desire and the Body with Preeti Vangani
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10:00-11:00am PT
Winter Write-In with Doug Henderson
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10:00-11:00am PT
Let's NaNoWriMo Together! with Lisa Lerner
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Member Spotlight
Chino Lee Chung
Chino Lee Chung is a queer and trans Chinese Mexican personal essay writer, grassroots activist, and is currently working on a collection of essays that integrate his social activism with his intersectional identities. He’s a recipient of the 2024-2025 San Jose State Steinbeck Fellowship and a member of San Francisco Writers Grotto Ethics Committee and Board. He holds an MFA from the California College of Arts and San Francisco State University. His work appears in "Invitation to Joy – Writer’s Creating in Community", "Gender Queer: voices from beyond the sexual binary", "Our Family Coalition Newsletter", a featured narrator in “So Many Stars; An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color,” and served as an Assistant Fiction Editor at 14 Hills Literary Magazine.
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Featured Work
"You're going to the bookstore, aren't you?" with Lewis Buzbee
by:
T.K. Rex
Doug Henderson
Lewis Buzbee, Doug Henderson and T. K. Rex discuss the craft of books, and why we still love bookstores, even after (especially after) working at them.
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Join Us.
The Writers Grotto is a home for writers of all levels. Find your perfect class, grow as a writer in our fellowship program, or join our community of established writers as a member.
Take A ClassBecome A MemberOther Ways to Get Involved
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Lit Start books written by The Writers Grotto. Lit Starts on Memoir, Humor, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Dialogue, Character & Action
Little Books of Writing Prompts created by the Writers Grotto.
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Lit Start books written by The Writers Grotto. Lit Starts on Memoir, Humor, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Dialogue, Character & Action
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