By Claudio

Summer Writers Night: our MC Claudio

I’m still buzzing from our Summer Writers’ Night on July 2nd!

Despite the hot weather and the tropical downpour that followed it that evening, we had a great turn-out, more than expected. And as always, I’m happy and thankful to see each and every one of you who made it.

We decided on a slightly different approach this time: to host an evening around the ‘Writers for Writers’ idea. We had noticed that facilitating the connections and resources that are out there is what our community of creatives and storytellers is mostly interested in. So, we set out to meet that call at ABC.

With our beloved collaborator Hannah Huber at Storyhouse Works, we figured we would be on to a good start. It was fantastic that she brought to the party a number of new faces to our community: her contributors to her Unexpected Gifts: Stories of Change anthology. Professional writing coaches Daniel Cecil from Honing House and Talia Stone from The Story Lounge, now operating together as The Writers Co-Op, also joined for an overview of their offer and possibilities.

Hannah Huber from Storyhouse Works gives a presentation, and together with the contributors to Unexpected Gifts: Stories for Change.

Mary Petiet came on board at the last minute to step in for an injured Ben Coates (get well soon, Ben!). Mary is herself an accomplished writer who clearly draws her inspiration from a place she knows well, the Massachusetts coast, in her books Moon Tide: Cape Cod Poems and Wash Ashore. She has also extended her creative drive into publishing, founding Sea Crow Press.

Now, what better way to inspire a roomful of writers than for a fellow author like Elizabeth Heider to share with us some first-hand lessons and best practices about how to achieve literary success? Elizabeth is the author of May the Wolf Die, praised as one of the ten best mystery / crime fiction novels of 2024 by the NY Times, Washington Post and Publishers Weekly.  May the Wolf Die has also been optioned for TV! Her second novel Children of the Savage City is due out in February 2026, so we will be seeing and hearing more from Elizabeth in the coming months.

Elizabeth Heider gives the Summer Writers’ Night audience her Top Ten Lessons on Writing.

We also got to glance back at some competitions from earlier in the year, such as our own Talent Wall during our Winter Writers’ Night back in February. We put out a call for submission for anything written or illustrated, to decorate our shelves on the first floor that night, and wow, was that call answered! We were a bit overwhelmed by the huge number of submissions. But we read through each, impressed by both the diversity of the stories as well as the level of the writing. One stood out, however: a short story by Helena Grande titled “Iceberg”. Unfortunately, Helena could not be with us this evening, so we will hold on to her Betty the Book Machine gift certificate until the next time.

The illustrators who submitted to the Talent Wall will be top of the list for selection for the new Fantastic Fiction book cover to be unveiled at the Winter edition of Dutch Comic Con this November.

Another competition we are very proud to be a part of is the NUFFIC Flash Fiction Competition initiated by Paulina van der Bilt and Marion Miller. Their aim is finding as many ways as they can to internationalize education in the Netherlands. This year’s Flash Fiction Competition was won by fifteen year-old student Mette Rusman. She was also with us at the event, together with her father, who read Mette’s delicate, well-constructed prose to us. Remember that name, I say!

Closing off our plenary segment, the evening morphed into an inspiring networking event. New friendships were made and old ones were strengthened. Our Maria showed off Betty the Book Machine’s book-printing abilities. Most importantly, future projects emerged and were explored, and inspiration was definitely the big take away.

Happy summer to all, and we hope to see everyone back at our next Writers’ Night on September 18th.

Please note: Writers’ Nights are evenings hosted at ABC Amsterdam where people in the local writing and publishing business gather to share tips and ideas, and to chat and network. They are not open to the general public, but if you are a writer/editor/publisher/illustrator interested in attending the next gathering send us an email and we will add you to our mailing list.