A new writing education center is moving into the second floor of 107 Capitol Way N, adding a tenant and a programming partner to one of downtown Olympia's longest-running retail addresses.

OlyPages Writing Arts Studio will hold its first class on Sunday, September 13, in Suite 200 of the building that houses Browsers Bookshop at street level. Founder Star Wuerdemann, a writer and teacher, told the Jolt News on July 23 that the studio grew out of her work hosting the Nearly Silent Writing Club at Browsers.

The two businesses are separate entities, but Wuerdemann described the arrangement as a collaboration built on shared values.

"Reading and writing enhance our hearts and community; we want to expand the reach of stories to the Puget Sound and beyond," Wuerdemann said.

Who it's for

OlyPages will run two tracks of programming. "OpenPages" events are free and donation-based, open to anyone who walks in. "StudioPages" classes and workshops carry a fee. Specific class titles, schedules, and prices are listed online.

The building

The property at 107 Capitol Way N dates to 1895, according to the City of Olympia's 2017 architectural history survey, which identifies it as the Van Epps Building and lists it as a contributing structure in the Downtown Olympia Historic District.

Browsers Bookshop, the ground-floor anchor, traces its history to 1935, according to a profile on the store's website. The shop was founded in Aberdeen as Anna Blom's Book Shop and moved to 107 Capitol Way N in 1968. Owner Andrea Griffith has run the store since late 2014.

In April, Griffith told the Jolt that the OlyPages launch was "exciting news on the horizon" and credited the bookshop's events with fostering organic community connections over her nearly 12 years of ownership.

About the founder

Wuerdemann holds a bachelor's degree in English language and literature and a master's in acupuncture. She said her clinical training in five-element acupuncture informs how she teaches character development and narrative structure, pushing students to write every character with compassion.

What's next

Registration for September classes is open at olypages.org/classes. The studio has not publicly disclosed class sizes or pricing details beyond the two-tier structure.