Dan's Literary Salon Returns This Weekend
Four authors will read pieces set on the East End at the Dan’s Papers Literary Salon at Southampton Arts Center on Saturday, June 13, at 5 p.m.
Susan A. Cohen will read “Littoral Drifter,” an account of her time in Montauk as a runaway teen. Originally from Long Island, Cohen currently resides in Maryland where she coordinates Creative Writing at Anne Arundel Community College.
Lesley Green Leben, of Sag Harbor and New York City, will read “The Kids Are Not ‘OK’,” a recollection of her time as a volunteer at Camp Good Grief on Shelter Island. Leben is currently enrolled in the MFA program at Stony Brook University.
Joanne Pateman will read an homage to her beloved summer cottage entitled “Camp Paradise.” Pateman has an MFA in writing from Southampton College and serves as a docent at The Parrish Art Museum. All three pieces were strong entries from past years’ Dan’s Papers Literary Prize for Nonfiction.
In addition, the 2015 Dan’s Papers Stony Brook University Scholarship winner, Shannon Mowdy, will read her winning piece, “I Remember the Sparrow,” about her childhood camping trips in North Sea. Mowdy, an East Moriches resident, is an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature candidate at Stony Brook Southampton.
This is the third Literary Salon held at Southampton Arts Center, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. The next will be Sunday, July 19, and Saturday, August 29. The event will continue monthly through October, with additional dates to be announced soon.
“This Saturday’s Literary Salon, like the others, is a celebration of the spoken word to honor the Dan’s Papers Literary Prizes for Nonfiction contests currently underway,” Dan’s Papers founder Dan Rattiner says.
“We are so pleased that Dan’s Papers has chosen to host their Literary Salons at Southampton Arts Center, as offering rich cultural programs such as these is central to our mission,” Southampton Arts Center Director Michele Thompson adds.
Held in conjunction with the Dan’s Papers $6,000 Literary Prize for Nonfiction and the $4,000 Emerging Young Writers Prize for Nonfiction, which are now accepting entries online at LiteraryPrize.DansPapers.com, the monthly Literary Salons will feature authors reading their entries from past Dan’s Papers Literary Prize competitions. Complimentary wine and cheese will be served, and the event is free and open to the public.