Literary Arts
The Hampshire County Arts Council was originally formed in 1994, inspired by members of the Ice Mountain Writers group. Recognizing, celebrating, and encouraging local writers remains an on-going, core goal of the HCAC.
Writers Groups & More
There are a growing number of opportunities for writers in our area to connect, attend workshops, meet fellow wordsmiths, participate in readings, and showcase their work.
Words of Love with Cookies
Celebrated every year near Valentine’s Day, this sweet event honors love through original poetry, prose, or personal favorite readings shared aloud by the public.
Look out for next year’s date announcement!
The River House Writers Club
Located in Capon Bridge, WV, The River House hosts a wonderful community Writers Club along with various regional literary events and open mic nights.
Local Book Clubs
Our local public libraries host wonderful recurring book clubs, as does the Romney Brew Station Book Club. Do you know of others meeting in the county? Let us know!
Coming This Fall: Hampshire County Book Fair
We are currently hard at work planning a spectacular Book Fair (targeted for Fall 2026) to actively celebrate our local writers and directly benefit our two county public libraries.
Would you like to participate as a featured regional writer, or join our planning committee as a volunteer?
Written Word Resources
Explore helpful regional and global organizations offering resources, contests, and tools for writers. If you have an excellent resource to share that is not listed here, please drop us a line!
West Virginia Writers, Inc.
The largest all-volunteer writers’ resource and service organization serving literary interests across West Virginia. They host a massive annual writing contest across multiple genres, an annual summer conference, and maintain local group directories. (In the past, at least two of our local HCAC writers have brought home Honorable Mentions!)
Beyond NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)
With the structural closing of traditional NaNoWriMo networks, a vibrant new collaborative writing group has formed to continue the famous November 50k-word novel-writing challenge and support long-form narrative accountability.
Hemingway Short Story Competition
Just for fun (and cash prizes!!)—this esteemed short story writing contest takes place each year, highlighting brief, powerful fiction inspired by legendary, minimalist prose styles.
Stay Connected with HCAC
Join our email newsletter list, volunteer at upcoming literary events, or follow our community updates on Facebook.