When I moved from Los Angeles to Tryon, I knew I’d be closing a chapter of my life and starting a new chapter in many ways. The most obvious way would present itself every day: in my profession. I knew I would no longer make my living as an actor. Yes, there’s still acting in Tryon, but I’d worked almost exclusively on commercials for the past decade or so before I left L.A., and there’s no commercial production here. I decided I wanted to be a writer. I’d been writing for a few years and loved it. I hoped I’d be able to continue here. What I didn’t know was that Tryon has a history of harvesting writers, and we have a bumper crop at the moment. The most famous author who wrote in Tryon was F. Scott Fitzgerald. He hung around town quite a bit, scribbling poems on napkins and penning great American novels. Hemingway’s name is also bandied about as having enjoyed his Tryon visits. Author Margaret Culkin Banning died in Tryon at the age of 90 while working on her forty-first novel. Now, Tryon is home to dozens of writers, the most notable in recent years being North Carolina Poet Laureate, Cathy Smith Bowers. Writing is a solitary pursuit, which is probably why writers are drawn to each other and often clump together in places like Tryon. I learned much of what I know about the craft and business of writing through the Southern California Writers Association when I lived in L.A., and upon arrival in North Carolina, I joined the North Carolina Writers Network and attended their fall conference in Raleigh. I hoped for more organizations from which I could learn that were even closer to home. Hub City Writers Project in Spartanburg is a shining star in the world of literary organizations with a bookstore, publishing house and educational programs. I hoped to find similar organizations in Tryon. The first group I encountered here was at the Literary Open Stage. Every other month, local writers gather at the Upstairs Artspace on Trade Street and share their work with a supportive audience. I was happy to find an assortment of poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, and I started to read my stories there as well. Then I was thrilled to see Lanier Library hold its first annual Poetry Festival in April this year. Named for poet Sidney Lanier who died here, the library is Polk County’s oldest civic organization and will be celebrating its 125th anniversary next year. I attended the Poetry Festival, signing up for a workshop with Cathy Smith Bowers, and I was happy to see the “campus” of downtown Tryon buildings bustling with poets and poetry lovers. I discovered that every other Friday morning, local writers gather at Openroad Coffee for an informal chat. I also joined a critique group called Tryon Writers. They christened TFAC’s Peterson Amphitheater with a reading last year (and are planning another on Oct. 5). Tryon Writers has had a dozen or so members floating in and out of the group, but we wanted more—more members, more events, more support. Then we met Tracey Daniels, a literary publicist who lives here in Tryon. She and local author Mark Schweizer came to Tryon Writers with an idea we loved. What if we expand Tryon Writers? What if we include all area writers and organize? We want craft workshops, marketing initiatives, publicity and self-publishing support and, potentially, a future publishing arm. Why not think big? We have writers in droves and the most supportive community of arts lovers imaginable. We welcome all area writers—from aspiring to successfully published—and in every genre. The goal is to partner with local organizations and enhance the literary arts—not to compete with the Poetry Festival or TFAC’s workshops or the readings at Upstairs, but to join with them to help set Tryon apart from other communities. We want to shine a spotlight on our area’s current literary community, give a voice to our writers, and show what a literary gem we have here in the town of Tryon. Tryon Writers has set up a Facebook page to post information and we invite everyone interested to come to the Literary Open Stage a bit early on Friday, September 12. Come at 6 p.m. to hear Tracey Daniels and Mark Schweizer talk a little about our ideas, and bring your own to share. Then stay and enjoy the readings at 7. They don’t call North Carolina “the writingest state” for nothing, and Tryon isn’t referred to as a writers’ haven for no reason either. We harbor them, nurture them, support them, and now we can facilitate their work in many more ways. I hope you’ll join us.