About Us

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Writers Ink but Didn’t Know Who to Ask

Writers Ink of Northeast Arkansas evolved from a Hemingway-Pfeiffer Writers Retreat held in June of 2011.  The group has met continuously since that time. Their organizational meeting was held on June 7, 2011, in the coffee shop at the Books-a-Million store on Caraway Road in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Pat Oplinger served as mentor to the group, and her guidance and inspiration have been attributed as the factor that founded a group that has been stable and growing most of its days.

Over the years, the group has met in several locations in Jonesboro.  Presently, the group meets every third Saturday in the Greene County Library.  Membership has grown markedly from those first four people who met to establish the group.  Now, our membership is about thirty-five, and our monthly meetings average between eighteen and twenty-two people.  Our membership live as far west as Cherokee Village, Arkansas, as far north as Donaphan and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, as far south as Trumann, Arkansas, and as far east as Lafe, Arkansas. A typical meeting will have a business meeting (the shorter the better), a craft lesson taught by guest speakers or one of the group members, and a critique session.  Meetings begin at 10:00 and end by 1:00.

2026 will mark our third Writers Conference.  Each year we have had more attending than the previous year.  We have been blessed with great keynotes every year. The addition to this year’s conference is our first writing contest.  We are excited to participate in this way because so many of our members are avid contest participants.  We also have extended this competition to the youth of our area.  We have invited students from twenty-six schools in the region to enter their creative writing in a special category.

We believe Writers Ink continues to grow due to our adherence to our core mission.  The purpose of our group is to encourage writers to tell their stories.  Some new person will sooner or later hear, “No one can tell  your story but you.”  We are also “push” our folks to get their works out. Many of our members have published independently or through small publishers.  Our more experienced writers act as mentors to those who are new to our passion.  Finally, we critique, both in writing and orally, if a writer gives permission for group discussion.  We are constantly amazed at how much our members’ writing skills improve.

We would love to add your name to our rosters.  I know the exorbitant membership fee of $10.00 a year is a bit pricey…. But the expense is tax-deductible.  Any writer at any stage of their writing journey will find a warm welcome at Writers Ink of NEA.