A Writer's Guide to Atlanta: Libraries, Bookstores, Writing Groups, and Presses

Central Library's Special Collections hold the Margaret Mitchell collection and the Genealogy Collection. Its event space is an auditorium on the fifth floor. The library is closed Sundays.

This public research library opened in 1994. Its Archives Division collects African American culture and history with a concentration on Atlanta, including the Andrew J. Young Papers, and staff help researchers in the archives reading room. Reference books stay in the building. The library also hosts exhibitions and book talks.

DeKalb County Public Library's main branch is also home to the Georgia Center for the Book, which holds its author talks in the library auditorium.

Poets will want the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library. The Rose also holds Irish literary collections and collections in African American and Southern history. The reading room is by appointment only, so register for an Aeon account and request materials before you go.

The Archives Research Center holds manuscripts, rare and first-edition books, and the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection. Visitors sign a research agreement each fiscal year and show photo ID. Ask for an appointment at least 24 business hours ahead. Staff inspect personal computers before you can use them in the archives.

The Kenan Research Center keeps primary sources on Atlanta and the region, among them the Cherokee Garden Library and oral histories from the Veterans History Project. Visits are by appointment. Book at least a day ahead and staff can pull materials before you arrive.

Frank Reiss has run A Cappella since 1989. The shop sells new, used, and antiquarian books, with signed copies among them. Authors appear about three times a week, in the store or at partner venues such as the Georgia Center for the Book.

Charis calls itself the South's oldest independent feminist bookstore. It has been open since 1974 and keeps a queer and trans fiction section.

Eagle Eye sells new and used books in a shop of more than 5,000 square feet. It hosts author events in the store and partners on readings elsewhere.

Little Shop of Stories sells children's and young adult books, and adult titles too. Among its book clubs are a Poetry & Wine Book Club and a Banned Book Book Club. It is open daily.

Bookish stocks new and used fiction and nonfiction, chosen with female, BIPOC, and queer authors in mind. Its monthly book clubs meet at nearby bars and restaurants, and memoir has a club of its own. Bring a card. The store is cashless and closed Mondays.

Offbeat Books specializes in speculative fiction and unconventional nonfiction and also stocks literary fiction. It holds author signings and runs several book clubs.

Tall Tales has been in the Toco Hills Shopping Center since 1979, and Rebekah Hagedorn has run it since 2013. It stocks fiction and nonfiction for adults along with books for children and teens, and it hosts signings and book discussions.

Lostintheletters is a 900-square-foot writing studio and bookstore. Members get desks, wi-fi, coffee and tea, and writing groups by genre. The bookstore and reading lounge open Fridays and Saturdays, and every book on sale is by an author who has read at one of its events. It also runs a reading and workshop series and the annual Letters Festival.

Switchyards calls itself a neighborhood work club. Its clubs are open around the clock with free coffee and tea, and membership includes phone booths and meeting rooms. One membership covers every club, the Decatur one included.

Discover Atlanta lists Dancing Goats as a good place to read, study, or get work done. The Ponce City Market café has large windows and is open daily.

Atlanta Magazine picks Condesa as a café for getting work done and praises its patio, Adirondack chairs and all. The Freedom Parkway PATH trail runs just outside. For longer hours, go to the Grant Park café at 1015 Boulevard SE.

Manuel's has been a family-run neighborhood tavern since 1956, and it draws writers and politicians alike. Bookish's Fantasy Book Club meets here on the first Tuesday of each month. Groups can book the Eagle's Nest room.

Wrecking Bar is a farm-to-table brewpub in a late-Victorian house. It is closed Mondays.

Eddie's Attic is an upstairs listening room with a food and drink menu. Its Monday Songwriters Open Mic has run for more than 20 years.

Paschal's was founded in 1947 and became a gathering place for civil rights leaders, who made it known as "Black City Hall." It serves soul food in Castleberry Hill, where it reopened in 2022, and has private dining rooms. It is open daily.

The Atlanta Writers Club holds monthly meetings and workshops, free to members, and sponsors critique groups online and in person across metro Atlanta. Twice a year its Atlanta Writers Conference gives writers feedback from literary agents and publishers. It also runs an annual self-publishing conference and an Author Mentorship Program.

The DeKalb County Public Library hosts the Georgia Center for the Book, which describes itself as the largest nonprofit literary presenter in the Southeast. Besides author talks, it puts on the Revival: Lost Southern Voices reading festival and The Book As Art exhibition. Past events are archived on YouTube.

The Decatur Book Festival opens with a keynote conversation. Author sessions and a street fair follow, and student writers have a stage of their own. Looking for a book club? The festival site has a finder.

Charis hosts readings and author panels in the store, online, and in hybrid form. Writers can join its monthly Sapphic Writing Group or the Black Feminist Book Club, and a related organization, Charis Circle, runs community programs.

Faculty can book research and teaching consultations with the Rose Library, and visiting researchers can apply for its awards. The Emory Oral History Program is among its collections.

ECDS has supported faculty open-access publishing on the Manifold platform since 2018. Through its Create Together service it builds digital research projects with faculty. Workshops and one-on-one consultations are open to faculty as well.

The CFDE's Scholarly Writing and Publishing Fund pays for professional editorial support on scholarly projects in development. Faculty also get writing-productivity resources through the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity.

Georgia Humanities gives grants to Georgia nonprofits, universities and libraries among them, for public programs that involve at least one humanities scholar. It also publishes the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Peachtree is a trade book publisher based in Atlanta. Most of its books are for children, from board books to young adult titles. Its backlist includes adult regional guides, fiction, and memoir.

SBL Press is the book publishing program of the Society of Biblical Literature. Its scholarly list in biblical studies includes commentaries and text editions, and it also publishes for seminary students and general readers.

Clarity Press was incorporated in Atlanta in 1988. It publishes books on global justice, human rights, and geopolitics.

The American Academy of Nursing's official journal publishes peer-reviewed articles and reports on nursing practice, education, and research for nursing leaders. Its editor, Sean Clarke, is at Emory's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Preparing an article for Nursing Outlook

SOPHE's journal publishes research, commentary, and practical tools for people who plan and evaluate health promotion programs and policies. Editor LaNita S. Wright is at Kennesaw State University. Preparing an article for Health Promotion Practice

This open-access, peer-reviewed public health journal is sponsored by CDC. It covers population-based chronic disease prevention, interventions to reduce chronic disease disparities, and public health law and policy. Its editorial office is at CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Atlanta. Preparing an article for Preventing Chronic Disease

AMR publishes theory on management and organizations: new theory, work that challenges or clarifies existing theory, and syntheses of recent research. One of its two editors, Jill Perry-Smith, is at Emory's Goizueta Business School. Preparing an article for Academy of Management Review

The Georgia Writers Association runs these annual book awards, first given in 1964 by the Dixie Council of Authors and Journalists. Published authors from Georgia can be nominated.

Every two years the Townsend Prize goes to the best literary fiction by a Georgia author written since the previous award. It was established in 1981 in memory of Jim Townsend, founding editor of Atlanta Magazine.

The Georgia Writers Association gives this grant to LGBTQIA+ writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and playwriting.

Hambidge offers self-directed residencies on a 600-acre campus in Rabun Gap, and each resident gets a private studio and living space. Writing is an eligible discipline, academic scholarship included. Distinguished Fellowships waive the fees for a two-week residency and add a stipend.

Members can enter the club's annual contest in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry with no entry fee. Winners are announced at the May meeting.

Emory students can find grants and writing resources on this page.

Georgia State students get the same guide.

Georgia Tech students have a page of their own.

Kennesaw State students have a guide too.

Clark Atlanta University students can start here.

Morehouse School of Medicine has its own page of grants and writing resources.

Atlanta Printmakers Studio is a nonprofit that teaches letterpress, etching, relief, and screenprinting. It has taught Risograph printing since 2024. Open studio hours run several days a week, and artists can rent studio space.

Georgia Tech's papermaking museum covers paper history and hand papermaking, with lectures and guided tours. Admission is free with an advance reservation. It is open weekdays.