Walk in the footsteps of your favorite author and become a better writer along the way by joining one of these top writing groups.

1. The Top Writing Groups
throughout History
# S Q U A D G O A L S :
P R E S E N T E D B Y

2. WE'VE COMPILED A LIST
OF WRITING GROUPS
THROUGHOUT HISTORY
THAT DEMONSTRATE
COMRADERY AT ITS
BEST . . . THE ORIGINAL
#SQUADGOALS.
W H I L E W R I T I N G I S O F T E N A S O L I T A R Y A C T I V I T Y ,
H U M A N S A R E S O C I A L C R E A T U R E S — A N D
W R I T E R S A R E N O E X C E P T I O N .

3. 1. The Socrates School
(Est. 400 BC)
The Socrates School included devoted
teacher Socrates and his loyal
students Plato, Xenophon, and others.
With a focus on life's big questions, the
Socrates School made important
contributions to philosophical thought.

4. 2. The Junto
(Est. 1727)
Benjamin Franklin's club, known as
the Junto, was established to help
members focus on self-improvement.
With various debates and knowledge
exchanges involving a variety of
topics, the members were diverse in
occupation, age, and background
but still met regularly to share their
writing.

5. 3. The Bloomsbury
Group
(Est. 1905)
With famous writers like Virginia Woolf
and E.M. Forster, The Bloomsbury
Group was composed of writers and
intellectuals who worked in London,
England. They often met informally
during the first half of the twentieth
century to share their ideas.

6. 4. The Dill
Pickle Club
(Est. 1917)
This hole-in-the-wall writing club
was frequented by popular writers
like Sherwood Anderson and
William Carlos Williams. It was a
forum that gave writers the
freedom of experimentation and
allowed them to share plays,
poetry readings, dances, and
more.

7. 5. Stratford-on-Odeon
(Est. 1920)
So nicknamed by James Joyce, Stratford-
on-Odeon was a bookstore called
Shakespeare and Company located in
Paris. The store turned into a hub for
famous writers like Ernest Hemingway,
James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein,
and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

8. 6. Los Contemporáneos
(Est. 1920)
Los Contemporáneos, a group of
contemporary Mexican writers, shared
common interests in both art and culture.
They were eager to modernize not only
literature but also their surrounding culture
and bring their visions to life through
publication.

9. 7. The Inklings
(Est. 1930)
The Inklings was a group of writers, including J.R.R.
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, that read and discussed one
another's work. They had regular meetings, and while
they generally focused on fantasy writing, there were
no official rules to confine its writers.

10. 8. The South Side
Writers' Group
(Est. 1930)
A group for African American writers and
poets, the South Side Writers' Group
included over 20 writers who focused on
realism. This writing club prioritized
collaboration, allowing writers to not only
give one another feedback but also to
receive support for their writing.

11. 9. The February House
(Est. 1940)
The February House was known as a
location that fostered creativity, as
famous writers, including W.H. Auden,
Carson McCullers, and others,
composed many of their iconic works
there. The house was a writing
community consisting of creatives with
a passion to produce works of art.

12. 10. The Factory
(Est. 1962)
Not only exclusive to writers, the
Factory was also a workspace for
experimental artists and other types of
creators. The venue was Andy Warhol's
studio, which doubled as a meeting,
work, and party space for famous
figures, including Salvador Dali, Allen
Ginsberg, and Bob Dylan.

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