TIL In the News...
The Inner Loop is special. But don't take our word for it, read what folks around town have to say.
Taking Risks: Inner Loop Contest Winners Don’t Hold Back
By Nicole Schaller for District Fray
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.
Literary DC: Area arts organizations every writer (and reader) should know.
By Clare Mulroy for the Washington Independent Review of Books
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.
Amazon Literary Partnership Announces 2021 Grant Recipients
Business Wire
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.
Lit for Localvores
By Natalia Kolenko for District Fray
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.
D.C.'s Got the Write Stuff
By Courtney Sexton for District Fray
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.
2020 Amazon Literary Partnership Grants Awarded
By Al Woodworth, manager of Amazon Literary Partnerships and senior editor for the Amazon Books Editorial Team
66 grants are awarded to organizations across the country that support writers.
Writers Out Loud
By Zoe Aslop for Cafe MFA
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.
Writers Gather for The Inner Loop’s Fundraising Gala
By Joyelle Ronan for On Tap Magazine
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...
Stepping Out With The Inner Loop
By Zach Powers for The Writer's Guide
DC literary organizers share the motivation behind their mission in the Winter/Spring 2020 edition of The Writer's Center's triannual publication.
Into the Wilds
By Leeya Mehta for the Washington Independent Review of Books
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.
Amazon Literary Partnership awards funding to 66 literary organizations
By Neal Thompson
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."
Learning How to Reading: The Inner Loop
Interview by Tyler Barton
The editors of Fear No Lit interview TIL's Courtney Sexton and Rachel Coonce, with an introduction from Kris Zory King.
A Writer's House
By Mary Architzel Westbrook for Distinction magazine
A Virginia writer takes a trip to Porches, where The Inner Loop holds annual writing retreats.
Best of D.C. 2018: See what Express editors picked as their favorite things in Washington
From the Post
Washington Post Express editors hail The Inner Loop as "Best group to write home about".
Inner Loop’s free ‘Literary Cornucopia’ unleashes creative writing feast in DC
Interview by Jason Fraley
Courtney Sexton and Rachel Coonce are interviewed by WTOP's Jason Fraley.
Ploughshares Looks at the DC 'Literary Loop'
By Harriet Staff for Poetry Foundation
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.
Inside DC’s Literary Loop
By Melissa Silverman for Ploughshares
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.
Storytelling in the City: How Washingtonians Share Their Stories
By Reem Nadeem for On Tap Online
In DC, it takes countless forms, and it’s not always recognized as storytelling.
Loopy for Literature?
By Hayden Higgins
730DC's Hayden Higgins interviews Courtney Sexton and Rachel Coonce of The Inner Loop.
All Written Up and No Place to Go
By Tara Campbell for the Washington Independent Review of Books
You, silent writer. I’m talking to you.