Join us for a special live performance celebrating Well Sai d\, Well Read\, the new anthology from Writers Read.
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\nContributing writers will take the stage to share their 5-minute true p ersonal stories\, captivating\, funny\, and deeply moving moments drawn fr om a decade of storytelling. The anthology gathers 62 unforgettable essays that have inspired\, challenged\, and connected audiences over the years. Come be part of this celebration of voices\, community\, and the power of story.
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\nEnjoy wine and cheese before the event\, t hen settle in to be part of this celebration of voices\, community\, and t he power of story.
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\nTwo-time O. Henry and Pushcart Prize winner Jai Chakrabarti is the author of the novel A Play for the End of the World (Knopf &rsquo\;21)\, awarded the National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction and long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Chakrabarti is also the author of the story collection A Small Sacrifice for an Enormo us Happiness (Knopf)\, which was among The New Yorker&rsquo\;s Best Books of 2023. His short fiction has been featured in Best American Short Storie s\, Ploughshares\, One Story\, and performed for Selected Shorts at Sympho ny Space in New York City. Also published in The Wall Street Journal\, Fas t Company\, Writer&rsquo\;s Digest\, Berfrois\, and LitHub\, he holds an M FA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. Born in Kolkata\, India\, he currently lives in New York with his family.
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Kathy Curto teaches at Sarah Lawrence College/The Writing Institute and
Montclair State University as well as several nonprofit organizations and
writing centers in the metropolitan area. She is the author of Not for Not
hing-Glimpses into a Jersey Girlhood. Kathy&rsquo\;s column Words on the S
treet\, Revisited is featured biweekly in Write or Die Magazine. Her piece
\, &ldquo\;Still Cooking Side by Side&rdquo\; considered a &ldquo\;Modern
Love in miniature&rdquo\; by the New York Times\, was included in The Best
of Tiny Love Stories in August 2021. Kathy lives in the Hudson Valley wit
h her family and can be found in her front yard\, on most mornings\, reple
nishing her Little Free Library with donated books. This practice has beco
me one of her daily delights.
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Steve Lewis is
a former Mentor at SUNY-Empire State College\, longtime member of the Sar
ah Lawrence College Writing Institute faculty\, freelancer and editor. Ove
r the past 50 years his work has been published widely\, from the notable
to the beyond obscure\, from The New York Times and Washington Post to The
Rosicrucian Digest and the Road Apple Review. \;His recent books inc
lude a novel\, The Lights Around the Shore\, and a poetry collection title
d Fire in Paradise\, co-authored with his daughter Elizabeth Bayou-Funk.\n
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Anthony C Murphy grew up in Lancashire\, Engl
and. He has worked as a postman\, toured Europe as a roadie\, and been an
associate producer of live poetry nights and open mic events. He&rsquo\;s
performed at spoken word events in the UK\, and here in the US for 15 year
s\, including several Writers Read shows. A member of Irish American Write
rs and Artists\, he&rsquo\;s a regular contributor at their salons in Manh
attan and elsewhere. Anthony has three kids and two dogs who\, he says\, a
re all lovely\, in their own way. At home in North Westchester\, Anthony b
rews nourishing ales\, enjoys walking the dogs and watching the birds\, an
d volunteers at his daughter&rsquo\;s school\, where he shares his love of
nonsense poetry with the kids. He&rsquo\;s published a novel\, Shiftless\
, and several poetry chapbooks.
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Irene O&rsqu
o\;Garden has won or been nominated for prizes in nearly every writing cat
egory from stage to e-screen\, hardcovers\, as well as literary magazines
and anthologies. Her critically-acclaimed play Women On Fire\, (Samuel Fre
nch) played sold-out houses at Off-Broadway&rsquo\;s Cherry Lane Theatre.
O&rsquo\;Garden won a Pushcart Prize for her lyric essay &ldquo\;Glad To B
e Human\,&rdquo\; featured in her new book of her essays by that name publ
ished by Mango (May 2020.) Mango also published her memoir Risking the Rap
ids: How My Wilderness Journey Healed My Childhood. O&rsquo\;Garden&rsquo\
;s poems and essays have been featured in dozens of literary journals and
anthologies.
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John Pielmeier began his career
with the internationally-acclaimed play and movie Agnes of God. Since the
n he&rsquo\;s had three more plays mounted on Broadway and over twenty-fiv
e film\, television movies and miniseries produced. Scribner published his
first novel\, Hook&rsquo\;s Tale\, to wonderful reviews and his theatrica
l adaptation of it premiered in Houston in October 2021. His adaptation of
William Peter Blatty&rsquo\;s The Exorcist toured the U.K. after its accl
aimed West End run\, and is on its way to New York. He&rsquo\;s received t
he Humanitas Award (plus two nominations)\, five Writers&rsquo\; Guild Awa
rd nominations\, a Gemini nomination\, an Edgar Award\, Camie Award\, Chri
stopher Award\, and his projects have won a Gemini Award and been nominate
d for the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe.
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A
ngela Derecas Taylor was born and raised in 1960&rsquo\;s Greenwich Villag
e. She had a twenty-year career as chef\, caterer and event planner. Her n
ext career\, as Executive Assistant to the mayor of New Rochelle\, lasted
seventeen years. \;Now\, in addition to writing creative non-fiction\
, Angela is an award-winning live storyteller\, with performances on The M
oth mainstage and on NPR on her resume. She is a certified Yoga Instructor
and Co-founder of Key to the Castle Workshop. Angela has been married for
almost three decades to her husband\, Tom. They are the proud parents of
two adult sons and a rescue cat named Mario Plomo.
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Sarah Bracey White and her husband live in Ossining New York\, but
in her heart and through her pen she is a southern storyteller\, mining he
r life for poems\, essays\, and stories. In 2021 her memoir Primary Lesson
s\, transformed into an immersive\, dramatic musical\, debuted live at the
Paramount Theater in Peekskill with Sarah in a starring role. Other liter
ary work includes The Wanderlust: A South Carolina Folk Tale\, and Feeling
s Brought to Surface\, a poetry collection. Her work has been collected in
several anthologies and has also appeared in The New York Times\, The Bal
timore Afro American Newspaper\, The Scarsdale Inquirer\, and the Journal
News.