The San Francisco Writers’ Grotto is not a grotto, really. A grotto is a cave … or, something like a cave. This is just a floor in a nondescript office building: 31 offices surrounding a conference room, where a few dozen people can sit somewhat comfortably. From the hallways, each office door looks about the same. What makes this place special, though, is what’s behind each door.
Nonfiction writer Ethan Watters says, “This idea of working alone as a writer would never work for me, certainly.” So he, along with Po Bronson and Ethan Canin, started a collective. A place for six writers to work. Then nine. Then 21. Now, nearly 60 writers are members of the Grotto.
