Write by the Bay: Capt Avery Museum May 17

Once a month, a joyful energy of combining words buzzes about the great room of The Captain Avery Museum, then escapes up and down the West River to lively up the entire Shady Side Peninsula (as Bob Marley might put it).

It's called Write by the Bay, and on special Saturdays, folks from under 10 to over 80 gather for two hours of free-style, non-judgmental, writing fun.

There's a theme, and the May 17 topic is a wide-opening, fetching one: Comings and Goings.

"Memorial Day heralds the coming of summer while also honoring those who were gone too soon. Explore the coming and going and the time of the year in this friendly, supporting writing workshop," Captain Avery Museum said in a news release.

The sessions are directed by Sandra Olivetti Martin, publisher at New Bay Books and founding editor of Annapolis-based Bay Weekly, formerly the largest weekly in the Chesapeake region, and Julie Wakeman-Linn, a writer, editor and teacher.

"When you think about a subject, it won’t take long before that subject wants to speak to you," said Wakeman-Linn, explaining a writing prompt in the April workshop focused on Spring.

The subject of spring-generated stories on matters ranging from baseball to flowers to fishing to poison ivy to complicated childhoods. Some were read aloud.

A simple memory can trigger a lovely story, Martin said, adding: "A totally trivial and irrelevant story will emerge as the one who wants to be told."

Martin and Wakeman-Linn welcome writers of any age: "Bring your laptop, writing pad or notebook and a notion of the story you want to tell," they said.

Pre-registration preferred: Free for Museum Members (so join!); $10 for non-members.

Captain Avery Museum

1418 E. West Shady Side Road

Shady Side, MD 20764

410/867-4486

CaptainAveryMuseum.org