This year at The Porch, we celebrated our 10th anniversary—a milestone marked with a lively fundraiser in April 2024 featuring Ross Gay, best known for his series of books that deal with Delight, a word that perfectly encapsulates the feeling we all come away with at the end of any Porch workshop.
As we approach the end of the 2024 calendar year, I feel compelled to reflect on the incredible programming we’ve had at The Porch and the lessons I’ve learned as Director of Education. We ran over 160 classes, with half taking place in-person at our beloved Porch House in Berry Hill and the other half online via Zoom. Our offerings varied in length: some were just a few hours on a single day, while others spanned up to eight weeks. The Porch has always prided itself on offering a wide range of classes in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and this year, we expanded into new sub-genres like graphic novels, letter writing, and screenwriting. We also introduced classes tailored for students ready to take their writing careers to the next level, such as How to Design Your Author Website and a series of photoshoot sessions with acclaimed portrait photographer Emily April Allen. The Porch staff had the pleasure of working with Emily ourselves this fall, and we’re so grateful for the stunning headshots she captured, which you can now see on The Porch’s "Meet the Team" page and our own author websites.
Our affinity groups remain vibrant, providing safe, creative spaces for writers to connect. These groups include the Nashville Black Storytellers, LGBTQ+ Writers, Nashville AAPI Writers, 20s/30s Writers, Writers Over 40, Parent Writers, and Songwriters. Some of these groups showcased their work through public readings or partnered with other local nonprofits, adding layers of community engagement.
Speaking of partnerships, we’ve maintained strong connections with organizations like the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra for our Words & Music program, while also offering writing workshops for Mending Hearts and Men of Valor. We’ve collaborated with API Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Public Library, and the Southern Festival of Books, and enjoyed engaging with the Romance Book Club at Parnassus. On the East side, we’ve loved partnering with The Bookshop for events featuring visiting writers like Crystal Wilkinson, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and Ananda Lima, as well as hosting off-site gatherings like our well-attended Literary Trivia Nights. Last but not least, we’ve solidified annual events such as the Paths to Publishing panel, in partnership with the Nashville Arts & Business Council.
Here are a few things I’ve observed about our writing community this year:
1. People crave human connection despite—or maybe because of—the rise of AI.
Even as AI technology makes headlines and changes the landscape of creation, there remains something uniquely human about the act of writing. The Porch continues to be a space where people come to write messily, to discover, to commune, to share something vulnerable, and to learn from one another. Writing is still about making meaning, finding community, and daring to be creative in a world that sometimes discourages deep thought.
2. Our community is vast and diverse.
Writers of all ages, races, hometowns, professions, and genres converge at The Porch. Memoir and personal essay classes continue to draw in students, but we’ve also seen an exciting rise in fiction sub-genres like romance, thrillers, and even sci-fi. There’s room for every kind of storyteller here, and it’s been thrilling to see how genre lines blur and how writers experiment.
3. Predictability is an illusion.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the only constant is change. People’s ability to commit to classes and events is in flux, and it’s hard to find clear patterns. Classes we thought would sell out struggled to make, possibly because of unforeseen scheduling conflicts, while others we deemed risky (read: experimental!) had twice the turnout we expected. This year also came with the challenges of an election season, adding an extra layer of unpredictability as people tried to balance engagement with current events and personal commitments.
Looking ahead, we’re ready to embrace change and keep evolving. In 2025, we’re excited to launch six-month fiction cohorts, both online and in person, for a more immersive experience. We’re also partnering with more local nonprofits, like Colby’s Army for an equine therapy writing workshop, and the Frist Art Museum for art-engaged writing programs. Our programming will shift to four three-month seasons, offering more flexibility and opportunities to join classes, with early-bird discounts to boot. We hope these shorter seasons make it easier for people who need to plan closer to a class start date.
And yet, no matter how much we adapt, one thing remains the same: We are here “for writers of all ages and stages,” always ready to celebrate and nurture the art of writing. Literary trends, current events, and subgenres may come and go, but the heart of The Porch remains in our shared love for the written word and the connections it builds.
As always, if you have ideas for future programming or thoughts on what you’d like to see from us, we’re all ears. I can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for our incredible community, whether you’re here in Nashville or joining us online. Let’s write our way into the new year together!