The Mad Writing Collective is an ever-in-the-process-of-(trans)formation collective of Mad-positive, -identifying, or -aligned marginalized writers and marginalized writers affected by stigma, the psychiatric or mental health system(s), or psychiatric diagnoses who want to come together to be part of and hold writing and other creative online and in-person writing meetings and gatherings as a way of supporting one another, writing together across genres and for varied purposes, working together for social justice, and being in community together. Its first ever meetings were held in May of 2025.
Founding Members of the Mad Writing Collective formed in May 2025:
Javiera Green
Anna Quon (she/her)
Glynnis Reed-Conway (she/they)
Alison Dawson (they/them)
Svava Arnardóttir (she/her)
Marybeth Bauer (she/her)
Jessica Lowell Mason (she/her+)
Melina Vratny
Hal Foster (she/they)
Fanney Björk Ingólfsdóttir (she/her)
Arianna Taylor
Ivi René
Nancy Jensen
ivan beck (no pronouns)
Jacquese Armstrong (she/her)
Nicole Crevar (she/her)
Hanna Etu (she/her)
Ellie Curie (she/her)
Laura Burke (she/they)
This collective is, in its foundational inception, inspired by the ideas and labor of Black feminist writers and thinkers, disability justice activists and thinkers, BIPOC disability studies activists and thinkers, Mad activists and thinkers, the Mad liberation movement, and whatever other liberatory and writing-focused influences and backgrounds that members of the collective bring to the table. As a collective, we made Mad spaces and hold meetings of the collective — spaces for Mad collaboration and along-side-thinking as we write, spaces for us to be together, share support with one another, and hold writing workshops, projects, and events. What the Mad Writing Collective is now and will become is and will be based on the needs and desires of members of the collective, which we started dreaming up at the founding meeting. Writers bring to the table all sorts of interests, backgrounds, skills, knowledges, perspectives, and talents; the collective will allow us each to contribute according to our desires and abilities and comforts, to lead individual one-off or weekly or monthly workshops on themes or genres of our choosing, and to network writing-focused projects, events, and meetings through the collective. Members of the collective can serve as leaders and/or participants; it’s our collective and it’s always open to transformation.
Want to join the Mad Writing Collective? Send us an email if you’d like to be added to our listserv to receive information and invitations to meetings and events at madwritingcollective@gmail.com.
Madwomen in the Attic 