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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Opportunities for those who enjoy writing to meet like-minded community members are coming to Chiton County with the formation of a Literary Guild, sponsored by the Central Alabama Performing Arts Guild.

Mary Schiermann of the Arts Guild said the idea for adding a literary group came from hearing about a group sponsored by the Comer Museum in Sylacauga.

“They have about 15 members, and many of them are published writers,” Schiermann said. “We started talking to them and got excited about doing something kind of similar. They have guest speakers that come in and they also read and critique each other’s work.”

Just what the Chilton County Literary Guild will do will be determined partly by ideas presented by the members. An informational meet and greet is being held on Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Chilton/Clanton Public Library, 100 First Avenue in Clanton. The event is free and the event is open to all ages and any genre of writing, including poetry, prose, plays, song lyrics, etc.

“It’s a great opportunity for locals to get together, mix and understand that we can support one another a comfortable fashion that affords us the opportunity to expand our capabilities as well as networking possibilities,” Schiermann said.

Organizers are hoping attendees will also share their thoughts and ideas for what the Guild could become.

“Whether they want support and critiquing on their current works or learning more about how to write, how to publish, how to approach the written word — this is what this group is going to be all about and supporting the art of creative writing,” Schiermann said.

The idea is to support each writer in whatever they are working on, rather than having group specific projects.

Schiermann said the Literary Guild will also likely increase participation in the annual poetry slam in November.

“Sarah Jackson (chair of the Literary Guild), and I were both English majors in college,” Schiermann said. “We have a love of the literary arts and have done some writing on our own, so we knew there were other likeminded folks in the area and this just seemed to go hand in hand with what the guild was trying to do in general.”

The Literary Guild will meet on the third Saturday of each month, except for June, November and December from 2-4 p.m.

For more information, visit capaguild.org on Facebook.