About Charlotte Lit
Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, Inc. – “Charlotte Lit” – is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts center formed in August 2015 by writers Kathie Collins and Paul Reali. Our first program, Light the Night with Lit, featuring the poet Linda Pastan, was held in February 2016. Today, we have more than 250 members and hold more than 100 events annually.
Charlotte Lit’s mission is to celebrate the literary arts by educating and engaging writers and readers through classes, conversations, and community.
Our vision is to be a valued and vital part of the Charlotte arts community and become a premier creative writing center for the region.
Charlotte Lit is a community, open to all. Through our programming and practices, we consciously reach out to non-majority and under-represented groups and individuals. — Charlotte Lit’s Statement of Inclusivity, adopted by our Board of Directors
What We Do
Craft Classes
Do you have a story to tell? Whatever your level of writing experience or preferred format, we have writing classes to help you practice and improve your craft, taught by the area’s best teachers.
Community Conversations
Do you long for a community of people with whom you can talk about that awesome best-seller, have a deep, soul-stirring conversation about the heart of a poem, or engage in truly civil discourse about society’s greatest challenges? Whether you’re looking for a book chat, a theme-based author reading and group discussion, or a deep-dive into poem, you can find your people at Charlotte Lit.
Explorations in Creativity and Culture
You don’t have to be a published writer, or even a budding writer, to engage with words. We have classes and offerings that engage other methods of storytelling—from visual journaling to film studies, from the soul of the poem to the archetypes of the collective unconscious—that can help you sharpen your creative edge. Whether you’re a published writer or someone just discovering the joys of reading, Charlotte Lit has tools and programming that will expand and deepen your relationship with the written word and bring you into a circle of community members seeking the kind of respectful, literature-based conversations that can help us to “write a stronger Charlotte.”
Our Co-Founders
Kathie Collins
Charlotte Lit Co-Founder & Creative Director
Poet & Mythologist
Kathie Collins, Ph.D., co-founder of Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, earned her graduate degree in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she is currently an adjunct professor. A poet and lifelong student of Jungian psychology, Kathie thrives in the in-between space from which dreams and creativity emerge. She’s happiest when she can share that space with others and one of her great passions is bringing words and people together for transformative conversations. Kathie’s poetry has appeared in Immanence, Kakalak, BibleWorkbench, and Between. Her chapbook Jubilee was published by Main Street Rag in 2011.
Paul Reali
Charlotte Lit Co-Founder & Executive Director
Writer, Editor, Coach, Instructor
Paul Reali, co-founder of Charlotte Lit, is the co-author of Creativity Rising: Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving in the 21st Century. His work has been published in the Winston-Salem Journal, InSpine, Office Solutions, Lawyers Weekly, and others. His fiction has been awarded first place in the Elizabeth Simpson Smith and Ruth Moose Flash Fiction competitions, and he received a Regional Artist Project Grant from Charlotte’s Arts & Science Council in 2018. Paul has an M.S. in Creativity from the International Center for Studies in Creativity at SUNY Buffalo State, where he also is an adjunct instructor and the managing editor of ICSC Press. Paul has been a trainer and facilitator for more than 25 years, in the areas of creativity, innovation, and business and writing skills.
Contact Us • Find Us
Mailing Address:
Charlotte Lit or Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, Inc.
P.O. Box 18607
Charlotte, NC 28218
Physical Address:
Hygge Coworking Belmont
933 Louise Ave Suite 101
Charlotte, NC 28204
(No mail to this address, please)
General e-mail: admin@charlottelit.org (the best way to reach us)
Phone: 704-315-2131 (voicemail)
Twitter: @CLTLitArts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cltlit
Instagram: charlottelit
