Is There a Place For a Writers’ Place In Lincoln?
Karen Shoemaker
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
At a few minutes after 9 a.m. on Monday, July 12, 2021, 1600 N. Cotner Blvd. in Lincoln NE became the official home of Larksong Writers Place. By about 10:30 a.m. I had changed out of my business clothes into my painting clothes and started the process of announcing our presence to the neighborhood by painting the front door of the former bank Larksong yellow. That’s not the official name of the paint, nor is “Color Us Happy to Be Here” but both seem appropriate to the mood.
On Thursday, July 15, the Larksong board hosted an Open House to invite the public to see where we were starting out and join us in dreaming and planning where we will go.
To be honest, I didn’t know how that event would play out. It’s true we have an on-line presence – we’ve been leading workshops via Zoom for more than a year and hosting weekend writing retreats for more than five – but to stake a claim on a physical space and say, “Here we are!” well, we didn’t know what to expect.
The Open House was scheduled from 4 to 7. I thought if all went well about 50 people would come through our doors. Fortunately, I was raised by a woman who prepared every get together with a backup plan to feed an army if they happened to show up, so I’m accustomed to overstocking treats and drinks. And boy am I glad I did! People started coming around 3:30 and they didn’t stop coming until after 7.
We don’t have an official tally, but by counting how many name tags were used and estimating how many people didn’t use tags, we feel pretty confident we had about 175 guests come through. Reports from the field (i.e. people who stood around outside when it got too crowded inside) said the parking lot was full, the streets around us were full, and people were walking blocks to get to us. It looked and felt like a party from start to finish!
We felt welcomed into our new home in the Bethany neighborhood and cheered on by the writing community. The dream that started it all felt as if it were coming true in ways that were better than the dream itself. We are so happy to be here.
Our question: is there really a need for a writers’ place in Lincoln? Seemed to be answered with a resounding yes!