Writers Block is a project of Backroom Productions, growing out of our work with Black Hills Books Press. Our authors are in search of readers, and we know many readers in search of books.

The COVID pandemic was difficult for many people in creative industries. Without performing spaces or galleries or book signings, artists missed their audiences and income. As the world opens up again, we are all finding new ways to communicate.

Federal grants encouraged creative ways to approach COVID, quarantine and opening up in the uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic. We are proud to have been a part of distributing this funding directly to artists, who in turn have helped design this new online effort.

As an organization, Backroom has learned a great deal from this time. We have generally emphasized the joyous community that concerts or festivals create. But during COVID, we realized that our emphasis on live events was also necessarily excluding both artists and audiences who were not able to show up in person, at specific time and place.

Thanks to this difficult time, as an organization, we are attempting to create an online presence which is more inclusive and more flexible.

Thank you for sharing this journey with us.