an open community of writers in Catonsville & Arbutus, Maryland
FreeWritesAndCoffee.org | an open community of writers in Catonsville & Arbutus MD. 🗓️ FreeWrites & Coffee, inc.| our 501(c)(3) community nonprofit rolls out in fall 2026!
Welcome to our writers’ community! FreeWrites & Coffee has been writing together (caffeinated or decaffeinated) twice weekly since 2022, meeting at cafés in Catonsville & Arbutus, Maryland, in Baltimore County.
All are invited — from novice newbies to published pros — to write together with our diverse group on Saturday and Monday mornings, and occasionally at other times and locations. It’s always a different mix. Writing together is free and open. We write on a prompt for 5 minutes, and sharing is optional. In addition to FreeWriting, we also host evening ReWriting sessions with small-group feedback. Then there are the cultural field trips, bird walks, goat walks, open readings, art exhibits, music circles …
Always check the Freewrites & Coffee Newsletter ☕ for the week’s writing sessions and other news.
The FreeWrites & CoffeeNewsletter ☕ is emailed out very week, with current writing opportunities, other notable cultural events in the community, and items of interest to writers in the Catonsville-Arbutus-Ellicott City tri-village cultural corridor.
Sep 18th-20th | Fri-Sun | Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity.
🔵 Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity — a conference of writers in the genres of horror, science fiction & speculative fiction @ the DoubleTree Hilton in Columbia. www.CreaturesCrimesAndCreativity.com
Sep 19th | Sat | Open FreeWrites in Catonsville MD.
🔵 10-11am | Meet behind Scoops Ice Cream Shop in Catonsville, next to the bike shop. Just a few doors west of Atwater’s Catonsville.
🔵 10-11am | Open FreeWriting session @ Atwater’s Catonsville. All are invited. Upstairs backroom, no charge, bring a notebook.
🔵 11am-noon | FreeWrites Web Tech mtg. Bring your ideas and questions regarding emails & other digital communications, contacts, webpages, office software, event scheduling, and online document & image storage. We’ll be talking about www.TechSoup.org. Look for our table upstairs @ Atwater’s.
Oct 3rd | Sat | SATURDAY MORNING FreeWriting Session is Canceled! Join us 4-6pm at Wieland’s BBQ for Art Jacoby Music!
🔵 4-6pm | Art Jacoby Music @ Wieland’s BBQ outdoor pavilion at Catonsville Junction, near Roma’s, Scittino’s, and Opie’s snowballs (behind Oakdale wines & Tastee Zone on Edmondson Ave.) Join us for FreeWriter, singer & guitarist Art — from Open Mic Night! Plus, short readings from a few of your favorite FreeWriters!
🔵FreeWrites annual Fall Field Trip to Glenstone.org — vast nature trails, contemporary sculpture grounds & art museum galleries. We will carpool from OCA Mocha in Arbutus to Potomac MD at 11:30am, as we did twice in 2025. Check out the museum website. Richard has 30 free tickets, so put in your request now. Military & educators should check out special perks on the website. Families welcome, but sadly no art & nature lovers under 12.
Always check the FreeWrites Newsletter. Please notify Richard of any typos or other issues.
Notice! OCA Mocha in Arbutus is closed for renovations thru Sep 2026!
October 2026
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⬅️ FreeWrites annual fall field trip to Glenstone Nature & Art Museums in Potomac MD
