Writers’ Morning Out was founded in 2010 by Al Manning, Regional Rep Emeritus. 

WMO meets monthly to serve writers from Chatham and Lee Counties, North Carolina. In 2020, Writers Morning Out expanded to include writers from Davidson, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, and Stanly Counties and virtual members from around the state and world.

Ahead of physical meetings attendees enjoy lunch and camaraderie at various restaurants.

Past programs have included such topics as Flash Prose, Beginnings and Endings, Use of Backstory, Self-editing, Marketing, and Small Press Publishing.  

In addition, we have several annual events—Poetry Zoo in which we take a close look at two or three poems.

Flash Prose Contest in which the three-hundred or less word entries must contain only one-syllable words, Holiday Open Mic, in which members may read theirs or someone’s short work or poem, and the ever-popular Slush Pile, in which a panel of editors and agents decide whether they would continue to read a second page or reject the manuscript outright.

During the pandemic we have met online and added two other monthly events:  Writers Discuss Writing, in which attendees can discuss whatever might be on their minds, and Writers Discuss Craft, in which Tracy Crow presents various elements of craft.

WMO is headed by Jody Savage, Regional Rep for Chatham and Lee counties. Helping her are Tracy Crow, Regional Rep for Davidson, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, and Stanly counties, plus a Steering Committee comprised of  Tracy Crow, Tom Dow, George Kauffman, Carol Philips, and Judith Stanton.