During the pandemic shutdown, many swore they would begin writing the  next great American literary work regardless of their past writing  experience. The forced isolation inspired and allowed people to work on  passion pieces that would otherwise remain ideas. With the increased  volume of created content, this year’s Inner Loop Contest had plenty of entries to choose from and the selected winners exemplify the top local works produced during this tumultuous time.

Even throughout the pandemic, we were reminded of the resilience of the  arts. Now, with the world beginning to open again, read how a few local  nonprofits are contributing to the arts and literary scene in DC.

The Amazon Literary Partnership announced more than $1 million in  grant funding to 80 nonprofit literary organizations across the U.S. The  funding supports groups that are working to empower diverse,  marginalized, and underrepresented voices, helping writers to create,  publish, learn, teach, experiment, and thrive in 2021 and beyond.

The project, which received an Amazon Literary Partnership  grant, was launched last year as a multiplatform promotional campaign  that would spotlight a local author and their published work each month.

While The Inner Loop traditionally builds platforms for community engagement with writers off the page, the opportunity to publish local writers in a magazine  outside of the traditional literary realm fits well with our mission to  transform the written word into a shared experience.

66 grants are awarded to organizations across the country that support writers.

The alchemy that happens between a writer reading their work and an audience is terrifying for the same reason that it can be instrumental – it exposes gaps and connections a person writing alone in a room might never anticipate. Sexton and Coonce urge writers to take risks and play, exploiting the audience as sounding board.

I sat in the Full Service Radio studio quietly as “The Inner Loop Radio: A Creative Writing Podcast” recorded their latest episode. This week’s topic was on food writing and featured guest speakers Laura Hayes and Susan Lutz. Before getting into the conversation, hosts and The Inner Loop founders Courtney Sexton and Rachel Coonce plugged their upcoming gala...

DC literary organizers share the motivation behind their mission in the Winter/Spring 2020 edition of The Writer's Center's triannual publication.

Now, in their sixth year, the Inner Loop founders Rachel Coonce and  Courtney Sexton (solid writers in their own right) have grown it into a  multi-pronged literary establishment with a podcast, residencies, and  more.

TIL receives Amazon grant: "At Amazon, we believe in the power of the written word to change lives and we are committed to helping writers connect with their readers. We also strive to support a diversity of voices by funding organizations that prioritize amplifying and uplifting overlooked and underrepresented writers."

The editors of Fear No Lit interview TIL's Courtney Sexton and Rachel Coonce, with an introduction from Kris Zory King.

A Virginia writer takes a trip to Porches, where The Inner Loop holds annual writing retreats. 

Washington Post Express editors hail The Inner Loop as "Best group to write home about".

Courtney Sexton and Rachel Coonce are interviewed by WTOP's Jason Fraley.

Ploughshares's  Melissa Silverman explores Washington, DC's "literary loop," giving us  the inside scoop on the city's increasingly independent,  literary-minded, non-profit scene.

As they hosted the monthly reading series, Coonce and Sexton say, they  saw growth potential, and slowly began offering new literary  opportunities to local writers. 

In DC, it takes countless forms, and it’s not always recognized as storytelling.

730DC's Hayden Higgins interviews Courtney Sexton and Rachel Coonce of The Inner Loop.

You, silent writer. I’m talking to you.