When Emily Mellentine started Writings from Her Corner in 2023, she was just seeking a community to write with in Indianapolis.
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She had no idea she’d become an Indy Arts Council project grant recipient, partner with businesses like Lucky Maeve’s and The Whispering Shelf, or be part of the Indiana Arts Commission’s 2026 On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator cohort.
“My origin story is kind of just being a writer and a creative person in general,” Mellentine, 25, said. “I started working at Indiana Humanities and was introduced to the literary community in Indy, which is amazing and always growing. And I really wanted to figure out a way to find my place in the community.”
Mellentine was 22 and studying communication studies at IU Indianapolis. Her career advisor, Anneka Scott, suggested she start a writing group.
“I was like, ‘Do you think anyone would come?’” Mellentine said. “And then I did it and people came and people kept coming.”
Writings from Her Corner has since expanded to From Her Corner, an organization that hosts events ranging from co-writing sessions to bedazzling and collaging.
“My overall goal, with everything I do, is just to create experiences that people can use to play and explore parts of themselves,” Mellentine said.
With her organization, Mellentine has hosted over 120 events. Now she’s finally getting a homebase at the Stutz, 1060 N. Capitol Ave.
The first writing session there will be 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at From Her Corner Writer’s Living Room in the SPACE lounge of the Stutz Building.
From Her Corner Writer’s Living Room will also launch weekly community writing sessions for women and non-binary individuals 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesdays, and for all 1-3 p.m. Sundays. The Wednesday sessions will be guided and themed, while the Sunday sessions will be open co-writing. There will also be astrology writing sessions open to all twice a month. Tickets for these sessions are $5.
“The space will be very loungy, chill,” Mellentine said. “I really just want it to be a space where people can come and exhale, and for it to be a very energetically free-flowing space where people can just write.”
Mellentine said beginners and people with no prior creative writing experience are welcome.
“For so many of us who write for work, it just becomes a part of the job,” she said. “You don’t have any energy left to feed your own creative writing side. And so having that consistent writing group helps you create a schedule around it and have way more accountability.”
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