A Writer's Guide to Princess Anne

The Princess Anne branch of the Somerset County Library System has a meeting room that holds up to 40 people, with a projector or monitor for presentations. Reserve it with the library's application form. For local history, start with the system's digital archives or the Jennings Evans Smith Island Collection.

Special Collections, on the library's second floor, holds rare, out-of-print and first-edition books on African American history, culture and literature. Its Eastern Shore Reference Collection gathers clippings, photographs and maps, especially on Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties. The archives keep university records from 1886 to the present along with every UMES thesis and dissertation in print. Archive visits are by appointment only. Email umesarchives@umes.edu to set one up, and bring a valid driver's license to view items.

Wicomico County's main library is in downtown Salisbury, about 13 miles north of Princess Anne. Its four lower-level meeting rooms hold groups of 20 to 70; book by phone, in person or online, and staff approve the request. The library runs a series of Virtual Author Talks, and its research pages cover genealogy and local history.

Salisbury University's main library admits the public during set visitor hours. Use the north entrance on the Route 13 side. Community members can apply for a Special Borrower Card.

Caprichos is an independent bookshop in downtown Snow Hill, about 20 miles southeast of Princess Anne. It stocks books by local authors and a shelf of limited copies, some of them signed. Two book clubs meet through the store: an audiobook club and Clues and Brews, for mysteries. The shop is closed Wednesdays.

Writers on the Shore is the Salisbury University English Department's reading series. Fiction writers, poets, playwrights and memoirists read on select Wednesday evenings during the semester, usually in the Worcester Room of the Commons. Admission is free and the public is invited; register ahead for a free visitor parking pass. Student writers read at the series' Creative Writing Festival.

The Eastern Shore Writers Association is a volunteer nonprofit, founded in 1985 and based in Easton, that serves writers across the Eastern Shore. Its Thursdays with ESWA sessions are free on Zoom and open to everyone. The association also holds Special Saturday Workshops and the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, and members' work appears in the annual Bay to Ocean Journal.

The Maryland Writers' Association works through local chapters that meet with guest speakers, some on Zoom as well as in person. It runs open mics and an annual conference. Its monthly Quick Notes newsletter covers events and publishing opportunities.

The Nabb Center, founded in 1982, is Salisbury University's repository for the history of the Chesapeake region and the Delmarva Peninsula. Its non-circulating holdings run from family papers, diaries and oral histories to microfilmed government and church records for Somerset and neighboring counties. Staff help outside researchers. Write to nabbcenter@salisbury.edu before you go.

Maryland Humanities, the state's humanities council, offers grants and runs the Maryland Center for the Book. One Maryland One Book, its statewide book club, holds events across the state, and Veterans Book Groups meet through the council as well.

The International Journal of Doctoral Studies, from the Informing Science Institute, publishes conceptual, theoretical and empirical research on doctoral education, from tools that help students understand the doctoral process to insights for the faculty who supervise them. Its editor-in-chief is at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne. Preparing an article for the International Journal of Doctoral Studies

The Maryland State Arts Council's Grants for Artists pay working or living expenses, as general support toward an artist's livelihood. Recipients are chosen each year by random selection among eligible applicants. Writers have received them.

The Maryland State Arts Council gives Creativity Grants to independent artists and small organizations in Maryland. They fund new work and day-to-day operations, along with arts projects and collaborations in Maryland communities.

Crossroads is ESWA's poetry and microfiction contest. The winners appear in the Bay to Ocean Journal, and members enter free.

The Maryland Library Association established this award in 1996 to honor Maryland authors. Its genre rotates each year among five, poetry and children's books among them. The winner receives it at the association's annual conference.