By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Eighteen months ago, the pandemic forced a group of area writers to leave their collective home and regroup on the Internet.

It was an adjustment, but they kept their keyboards clacking, and video cameras Zoom-ing. 

“In 2020, March, we went fully remote,” said Westport Writers’ Workshop Executive Director Liz Matthews. “It was great because we were able to continue to offer classes. But we have missed our community.”

That community came together again in person last Thursday evening at the workshop’s new home, Suite J at 25 Sylvan Road South. 

The crowd of aspiring writers, established authors and friends, clearly was happy to be in each other’s company. 

There were smiles, laughs and wine. When the meeting space grew stuffy on a very humid day, people spilled outside and shed their voice-muffling masks.

The non-profit literary workshop is in its 18^th year. Inside, a bookshelf displayed instructors’ works.

Patricia Dunn, when asked, proudly showed a copy of her second, upcoming novel, “Last Stop on the 6.”

She grew up in the Bronx, and that’s where the novel is set, just before the first Gulf War.

“The prodigal daughter’s been away for 10 years because of an accident she thinks she caused, and she comes home to her family,” Dunn said. 

Might sound heavy, but she promises it’s filled with humor.

This is Dunn’s first year as an instructor at the workshop. She previously was director of the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville.

“I retired and decided I wanted to teach and write,” she said. 

Matthews said there is an abundance of writers in Fairfield County, but few places like the Westport Writers’ Workshop. 

Because of that, the group has drawn people from Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties. And since it began offering remote classes, has enrolled people, and gained instructors, from around the country.

As the only literary non-profit in the area, part of its mission is to help people who need it at no charge. The group offers service workshops, scholarships, and in the summer, helps students write college essays.

The group has its share of authors, but board treasurer Blake Schnirring said newcomers should not be intimidated.

“I’ve been here seven years, and I take classes for fun,” she said. “I don’t even want to be published. I just like it.”

Christine Pakkala, author of several books and an instructor for nine years, couldn’t linger at the open house. She was headed off to tutor boys at A Better Chance in Westport.

“I like being able to be a part of another person’s story, even if just for a little while” she said when asked why she teaches.   

“Some people say there are only so many stories that can be told, but I so don’t agree with that. I think there are as many stories as there are people.”

“So, you see someone in the workshop and they’ve lost their mother, and they want to write about that. Or they’ve gone on a journey, and they want to write about that,” she said. 

“Every person’s story is different. And that’s what makes my job so amazing.”

For more information about the Westport Writers’ Workshop, visit the group’s website here or call 203-227-3250.