A Writer's Guide to Bloomington, Indiana

The Downtown Library is open daily. Writers working on local or family history should start in the Indiana Room, and the CATS Digital Creativity Center has Adobe workstations and audio and video studios for anyone recording their work. Study rooms can be reserved.

The Southwest Branch is open daily and has study rooms and a conference room you can reserve. It also books out gallery space and a teaching kitchen.

The Lilly is IU's rare books and manuscripts library, with about 460,000 books and 8.5 million manuscript items. Its Reading Room is open to researchers of all kinds. Register in the Lilly Library Request System, book at least two weeks ahead, and bring photo ID. The exhibition galleries are free to everyone, and general tours run on Fridays.

The University Archives reading room is open to the public. Fill out the registration form once a year. Most records are stored off site, so allow two to three days for retrieval and write to staff a week ahead if you are traveling.

The Kinsey Institute's collections on sexuality reach across many fields, literature and art among them. Researchers must be 18 or older and register in advance. Visits are by appointment on weekdays, and the library closes during IU semester breaks.

Morgenstern is an independent bookstore with a café and plenty of seating, so it works for an afternoon of reading or drafting. It hosts author events, and on the last Sunday of each month the Writers Guild holds its poetry reading and open mic here.

Volunteers run Redbud, a nonprofit bookstore and a project of the Center for Sustainable Living. It sells new and used fiction, poetry, and theory. Reading groups and a community play reading series meet here, and the Writers Guild holds readings here too.

Caveat Emptor has sold used and rare books since 1971. It is strong in academic and unusual titles and carries a good selection of local authors and books about Indiana. Small groups can book a private visit after hours.

Book Corner, a family-owned shop, has been on the square since 1964. Along with bestsellers and classics it carries magazines and journals. Special orders cost nothing extra.

Steve's is a small family-owned used bookstore that opened in 2023. It sells DVDs and music on vinyl and CD too.

Vintage Phoenix sells new and vintage comics, graphic novels, and manga. It also buys and trades.

Volunteers staff this shop on the first floor of the Downtown Library, and sales of its donated books and magazines support the library. It is closed Mondays and Wednesdays.

Poindexter is the lobby restaurant and bar of the Graduate Bloomington hotel, with bar seating and a lounge. It serves coffee and food from early morning to midnight every day. The Indiana Daily Student recommends its couches and antique décor to students who want to settle in and study for the day.

Soma has been a coffeehouse for more than 20 years, in the basement of the Kirkwood Manor building. Students and professors share it with locals. It opens daily from early morning and stays open later Thursday through Saturday.

The student union welcomes visitors and stays open from early morning to midnight, with coffee and dining inside. For quiet, try the South Lounge. It has fireplaces and comfortable chairs.

The Mill is a nonprofit coworking center in the 1915 Showers Brothers Dimension Mill. It sells day passes, and memberships add meeting-room reservations and free printing.

The Museum Café sits in the museum's atrium and serves specialty coffee and lunch, with a terrace outside. Admission to the museum is always free. The café stays open on Mondays, when the galleries close.

An IU PhD student opened the Runcible Spoon in 1976 and named it for Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat," and the décor draws on the poem. Art exhibitions hang on the walls. It has hosted poetry readings and weekly Irish music sessions, and it is open daily.

The Comedy Attic serves food and drinks during shows. Headliners play most weekends, and there is an open mic.

The Writers Guild is a volunteer-run nonprofit, founded in 2010, with more than 425 members. Its readings and open mics meet at Morgenstern Books, Redbud Books, and Juniper Art Gallery and Cafe on West Kirkwood, and a virtual write group meets on third Sundays. The Guild has presented workshops since its early years, and each year it hosts the Spoken Word Stage at the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts.

Indiana Review is a nonprofit literary journal published twice a year since 1976 by the English Department at IU Bloomington. It calls the fiction, poetry, and nonfiction it publishes "carefully strange."

The institute has backed interdisciplinary work on the Bloomington campus since 1981. Its fellowships include a Visiting Fellowship and a Repository Research Fellowship, and it hosts the Bloomington Symposia and the Branigin Lectureship.

Indiana Humanities is a statewide nonprofit based in Indianapolis and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its Mini-Grants and Action Grants help organizations run public humanities programs. It also powers the Indiana Authors Awards.

Indiana University Press is part of IU Libraries and publishes books in the humanities and social sciences, including the Well House Books imprint. It also publishes more than 40 journals.

Slavica is affiliated with Indiana University and publishes books on Slavic and related subjects, from literature and linguistics to history and area studies. Its journals include Kritika and the Journal of Slavic Linguistics.

Victorian Studies, founded in 1956, is the official journal of the North American Victorian Studies Association. It publishes interdisciplinary essays on the Victorian period, from literature and history to science and law. Its co-editors all teach at IU Bloomington, where the Victorian Studies Program keeps its office in Ballantine Hall. Preparing an article for Victorian Studies

The Journal of American Folklore has been published by the American Folklore Society since 1888. It covers academic and public folklore from anywhere in the world in peer-reviewed articles and book reviews. Its editorial office shares the Society's address on the IU Bloomington campus, and its collective editors work at other universities. Preparing an article for the Journal of American Folklore

Eugene and Marilyn Glick established the Indiana Authors Awards in 2009 to honor Hoosier authors. Indiana Humanities runs them, with support from Glick Philanthropies.

Indiana Review gives annual prizes in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Its 1/2K Prize takes work in any genre under 500 words.

The City of Bloomington gives these grants to support the careers of artists 18 and older who live and work in Bloomington.

Each year the Writers Guild gives this award, in honor of teacher Joan Ryser, to help a South Central Indiana writer attend a workshop or conference in person or online. The recipient rotates among a high school student, a language arts teacher, and a Guild member.

The Indiana Arts Commission's On-Ramp program is for early-career creatives who want to build a portfolio career. It starts with a three-day intensive, after which participants can apply for project funding.

Editors For Students lists research funding and fellowships for Indiana University students, along with campus writing resources.