"Join a writing group," they said. "Enrol in a class. Attend a workshop."
But finding the information about local events in a Google search can sometimes be potluck: information is out of date, it's for the wrong city, or it just doesn't exist (because you don't know what buzz words to use in your search).
And for those who are active in the writing community, the information is still scarce. It's like the various groups want to hold the information close to their chest. And when the information finally is made public, the workshops and one-off events seem to all happen on the same day at the same time. It can drive any writer crazy.
This was the complaint of Judy L Mohr and Em Lowe (aka Emmy-Lou James). So, they set out on a mission: to create a hub of information for writers in Christchurch, New Zealand and the greater Canterbury region, providing the details for various events in Christchurch and the greater Canterbury area.
Canterbury Writers first went online in 2019. Since its inception, it has evolved and grown, and it continues to evolve today. But no matter where Canterbury Writers goes in the future, the mission will remain the same.
To help writers connect with other writers.
The Administrative Team
Canterbury Writers wouldn't exist without the volunteer efforts of our administrative team.
About Judy L Mohr
Kiwi Judy L Mohr is a writer of thrillers, fantasy, science fiction, and non-fiction. She is also a freelance editor with Black Wolf Editorial Services, working on projects from writers around the world. When she isn't writing, editing, or doing something for writing within the local community, she can be found with a camera in her hand, enjoying the world around her—no doubt scoping out the locations to hide the bodies. You can follow her crazy adventures on her personal blog.
Em Lowe (writes as Emmy-Lou James)
Kiwi Em Lowe writes as Emmy-Lou James. She loves anything romance. So much so, she writes it. Her stories are US- and NZ-based small town contemporary romances with holiday themes. When she isn’t writing or coordinating various writing groups around her region, she is reading, cooking and most importantly spending time with her family. Em is currently spending her time jet-setting around the world, sharing her time between Australia, Canada, UK, and New Zealand. (And Judy is a little jealous of all Em's traveling.) Check out her current projects on her Facebook.
Discord Helpers
We host an online community on Discord that is open to international members. The server is available 24/7... but sleep is a thing. Our admin team would never have any hope of administering and moderating our Discord server without enlisting help.
A few of our members have kindly volunteered to be moderators for the Discord server while our admin team are offline. You can identify our Discord server moderators by looking at the member list. Online Moderators and server Admin are listed at the top of the list, with their names in green and red respectively.