The Writers Room in Washington, D.C.
By Lisa Green A few years ago, Charles Karelis and his son Alex were sitting in a Starbucks in Washington, D.C., observing the klatch of writers consuming more tables than coffee. What if, they thought, we turned the Starbucks model on its head? What if we sold the space to write and gave the coffee for free? The basic concept wasn’t entirely novel. There are writers rooms across the country: six in New York City alone, Karelis says, with others in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and Toronto. A laptop doesn’t take much space, but writing requires a place to concentrate, and home isn’t always the best place for that. In October of 2012, after receiving a positive response to a questionnaire circulated to potential writers looking for a space of their own — next to someone else’s space — they opened The Writers Room in D.C. “Americans love to be alone together," Karelis says. “They are too distracted at home, but they don’t like complete solitude." The Writers Room in D.C. accommodates both sides of the social spectrum, with a light-filled quiet room set up with workstations, but also a kitchenette (the only place talking is allowed), equipped with, of course, the writer’s fuel, Starbucks coffee. Wi-fi and printing are no-charge extras. A membership guarantees a workstation, and no reservations are necessary. And cellphones are not allowed.
Charles and Alex Karelis.
Now, the Karelis team is looking to see if there’s a desire in the Berkshires for a dedicated space for writers, which they're calling A Place to Write in the Berkshires. They've issued a query to see if there’s enough interest to move forward. The input would determine the best area for such a place. The membership fee would be dictated by the space, but with the lower rents in the Berkshires, the fee would almost certainly be under the $130 per month charged by the D.C. Writers Room. Karelis invites writers to answer a few quick questions (no Survey Monkey here; put it in your own words, literary people!), available at the A Place to Write in the Berkshires web site, and hopes the survey will go viral among local writers. Although he lives in D.C., Karelis isn’t unfamiliar with our area. A lifelong academic and author of The Persistence of Poverty, Karelis was president of Colgate University but taught philosophy at Williams earlier in his career. Considering all the writing and book festivals, author appearances and poetry slams in the region, it shouldn’t be hard to find 35 interested writers, the number they need to establish A Place to Write in the Berkshires. Responding is an opportunity to help design a writing environment space in which the laundry won’t be beckoning, the dog won’t insist on being petted, and contagious motivation, as Karelis calls it, might lead to flow. “I want to see where people want us to be," he says. A Place to Write in the Berkshires
