Writer’s Showcase: All-Female/Winter Edition

The next installment of the Writer’s Showcase at the Olde Brick Theater in Scranton will take place on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. This one will be the annual all-female Showcase, featuring live readings of poetry and prose by Kimberly Boland, Aurora Bonner, Rachael Hughes, Laurel Radzieski, and Alyssa Waugh.

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Author bios:

Kimberly Boland writes poetry, prose, and drama. She is a recent graduate of Keystone College, where she received her bachelor’s of arts degree in Communication Arts and Humanities, and she’s continuing her studies at Gonzaga University where she has just begun her master’s of arts degree in Communication and Leadership Studies. She lives in North Abington Township in her beloved farmhouse home with her cherished, loving family, and her hobbies include tabletop board gaming, swing dancing, listening to audio dramas, and being active in her synagogue’s community. Her first prose poetry chapbook, titled Maybe This Is It, an analysis and reflection on overcoming destruction, told through a feminist lens, came out in 2017 and she hopes to follow it up with a sequel of equally autobiographical poems soon.

Aurora D. Bonner is an environmentally driven writer and artist living in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. She is a regular review contributor for the Colorado Review and her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Brevity, Assay: Journal of Nonfiction, Under the Gum Tree, and Hippocampus Magazine. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. Follow her @aurora_bonner or aurorabonner.com for more information.

Rachael J. Hughes writes with retractable, comfort-grip PaperMate Ink Joy pens in groovy hues. She was founder of Word Fountain and earned her Creative Writing MFA at the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University. She strives to make the world laugh, heal, and love books. She is the author of Us Girls: My Life Without a Uterus. She writes and resides in Central Pennsylvania with her family, including four cats. Check out her musical musings at: http://kindalikeapoet.wordpress.com.

Laurel Radzieski’s debut poetry collection, Red Mother, was published by NYQ Books in 2018. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College and her BA from Keystone College. She has been a Writer-in-Residence at the Wormfarm Institute and is a poetry editor for Clockhouse. Laurel’s poems has appeared in The Golden Key, Really System, The Slag Review and elsewhere, including on roadsides in rural Wisconsin. She has worn many hats in the theatre and can often be found writing on-the-spot poems for strangers at local events. Laurel lives in Scranton with her husband and a fish named Buddy.

Alyssa Waugh is the editor of I AM STRENGTH: True Stories of Everyday Superwomen and the author of Hell’s Laughter and Other Spooky Tales. Her short stories have been published in Beyond Science Fiction Literary Magazine, her poetry has been featured on Writing in a Woman’s Voice, and she won first place in Inkitt’s Running Scared Horror Writing Contest. She is a manuscript reader for the James Jones Novel Writing Competition, a copy editor for Etruscan Press, and teaches creative writing classes at King’s College and fiction workshops at Wilkes University where she received her M.F.A. These days she spends most of her time as the Editor in Chief of Blind Faith Books and trying to write without her cats stealing her pens. You can learn more about her at alyssawaugh.com and blindfaithbooks.com.

Check out the Facebook event page for additional info.

Summer Events/Readings

I hope that everyone is enjoying mid-summer! I’m going to be doing a few events around northeastern, Pennsylvania that I wanted to share. If you’re local, I hope that you can attend some of these.

Saturday, July 22 7 P.M.

Just Words: An Evening with NEPA Poets

Loose Leaf Pages Bookstore, Honesdale

I will be reading with Daryl Sznyter and Nancy Dymond.

Facebook event page here.

Saturday, July 29 9-3 p.m.

2017 Authorfest at the Dorflinger Factory Museum

I will be on a poetry panel in the morning and then selling books.

This is a free event and a means to network and meet other writers.

Aug. 4-5 Pennsylvania Writers Conference at Wilkes University

I will be on a panel entitled Pressing the Issue: Working with an Independent Press.

Our panel actually runs both days! Natasha Tretheway will give the keynote address on Saturday evening.

For more info or to register, go here.

So, if you’re in NEPA, there are a lot of literary events coming up. I hope that you can attend! Special sidenote: I really encourage people to shop at Loose Leaf Pages in Honesdale. Let’s give this new independent bookstore and tea house all the support that we can!

 

Upcoming Poetry Events/Readings

If you live around NEPA and you’re looking for some upcoming literary events, then you’re in luck! April is National Poetry month, and here are some events happening in the region:

Sunday, April 3 6-9 p.m.

Jazz/Poetry Reading

Featuring: Lawrence Pugliese, Amanda J. Bradley, Brian Fanelli, and the Doug Smith group

The Olde Brick Theatre

126 W. Market Street, Scranton

Facebook event page

Wednesday, April 6, Wednesday, April 13, Wednesday, April 20 6-7:30

Poetically Speaking Poetry Workshops

This is a three-part workshop series for teens. I will host a writing workshop on April 6. Alicia Grega will host a performance/public speaking workshop on April 13, and the workshops will conclude with an open mic night on April 20! This event is free for teens.

Osterhout Free Library

71 S Franklin St, Wilkes-Barre, PA

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Saturday, April 9

Scranton Radical Bookfair

The bookfair will feature a number of vendors and talks. The poetry reading will run from 6-7 p.m. and feature Daryl Sznyter, Amanda J. Bradley, Maggie Gilbertson, Sarah Zane Lewis, and I. The event is free.

Nazareth Student Center, Marywood University

Facebook event page

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If you know of any other upcoming literary events in the area, feel free to comment and let us know about them!