Shannon loves: Jandy Nelson, Anne Lamott, Rebecca Solnit, Cole Arthur Riley, Maggie Smith, Jane Austen, Sue Miller, Mary Oliver, Stephen King, Middlebridge School, the Narragansett Historical Society, and words that begin with the letter ‘J’.
Community
Co-founder and facilitator of the South County Writers Group, a community space for writers across genres and experience levels to come together in shared practice. In a process that can often feel solitary, the group offers something different: a vibrant, thoughtful community built on trust, curiosity, and the belief that every voice has a place. Together, writers create, read, and listen closely to language, to one another, and to the stories that ask to be told.
Education
Throughout my life, I’ve been shaped by communities that believe learning is essential, deeply personal, and profoundly shared. From my years as an undergraduate at Saint Michael’s College, to my time spent as a study abroad student at the University of Queensland, to the creative rigor of my MFA at Lindenwood University, to the spirit of continued curiosity nurtured through Stanford University’s continuing education program, each of these places invited me to grow and to belong, to contribute my voice while being shaped by the voices around me. That same belief sits at the heart of the community I helped to build at Middlebridge School, where students are known, supported, and encouraged to become more fully themselves. In every space, the throughline is clear: the most meaningful learning happens in communities where we are both held and challenged, where we are invited not just to achieve, but to become.
Shannon McCarthy 