The two day festival, a collaboration of the Beacon LitFest Committee and Howland Cultural Center, will feature a stellar line up of award-winning writers, poets, and playwrights, workshops, and cameo appearances by NYT and NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz and accomplished actor and producer Emily Mortimer.

The Beacon LitFest Committee and the Howland Cultural Center (HCC) in Beacon, NY, announce the inaugural Beacon LitFest scheduled for the weekend of June 17 and 18. Saturday will feature an all-day program of exceptional writers, poets, and playwrights and include provocative literary conversation, staged performances, and guest appearances by NYT and NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz and accomplished actor and producer Emily Mortimer.

A book-signing, first edition book gifts, and cocktail hour will follow. On Sunday, the Beacon LitFest@HCC will offer writing workshops with master instructors.

On Saturday June 17th, the main program begins at 11am and will end at 5pm, with a midday lunch break. It will feature special guest New York Times and NPR puzzler Will Shortz in conversation with bestselling author Danielle Trussoni. They’ll discuss her hotly anticipated thriller, The Puzzle Master, which has already garnered the 2023 Prix Bete Noire des Libraires and American Booksellers Association Indie Next awards, which Booklist calls “a sure-fire hit.”

Novelist Laura Sims will introduce her new, razor-sharp suspense novel How Can I Help You and discuss the development of her critically acclaimed novel, Looker, for television with her guest, the award-winning actor, screenwriter, and producer Emily Mortimer.

Poet and editor Martine Bellen will read from her new release An Anatomy of Curiosity and cultural activist, educator and anthologist Patricia Spears Jones will share work from A Lucent -Fire, Pain Killer and others.

Indran Amirthanayagam poet and translator will read from his latest Ten Thousand Steps Against the Tyrant. Nonfiction writers, Donna Minkowitz (Growing Up Golem, Ferocious Romance), Ginger Strand (The Brothers Vonnegut, Flight) and Jamie Price, PhD (The Call) will share sometimes subversive research methods when writing about major social and political topics.

Unique to the Beacon LitFest is the inclusion of playwriting as a literary art. Award-winning UK and US Playwrights Nigel Gearing and Charlotte Meehan will discuss the form and function of language in dramatic works.

A book signing will include a free first edition copy of Trussoni’s The Puzzle Master with any book purchase, and a cocktail reception will follow Saturday’s activities to allow writers and audience members to mingle.

June 18th Program for Beacon LitFest

On Sunday June 18, at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm, Beacon Litfest@HCC will offer three consecutive live writing and storytelling intensives, limited to 10 participants each. The workshops, led by notable Hudson Valley writers, include: Live Writing-A Poetry Project with poet and curator Ruth Danon, PhD; Is It Memoir? Is It Fiction? with journalist and memoirist Ken Foster; and From Stage to Page: Adding Drama to Narrative with Dramaturg, writer and producer, Shane Bly Killoran. “Our plan with this festival is to highlight Beacon’s growing literary community and expose audiences to fresh and thought-provoking work, says Dr Hannah Brooks, LitFest co-producer and Howland board member.

Lead-in LitFest programs have included sold out presentations of “The Vagina Monologues” staged in collaboration with Hit House Creative and “Hudson Valley Poets Present” produced with Live-Writing: A Project for Poetry.

Howland Cultural Center and BLF support diverse voices in panelists and audiences and are committed to inclusivity and access to cultural participation. American Sign Language translation is being provided for the main program and a percentage of tickets and workshop seats to community members of limited means. “Our goal,” says Howland President Theresa Kraft, “is building true community--the arts help us get there.”

The Howland Cultural Center, the city’s former library and known today as the ‘Jewel of Beacon,’ is located at 477 Main St in Beacon, NY. Tickets for the Saturday and Sunday events are available to the public at howlandculturalcenter.org or at the door.

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UPDATE: The opening night of 6/29/2021 is canceled due to forcasted heavy rain. Said the organizer: “Because it is going to rain pretty steadily tonight, we are cancelling Lit Lit in the interests of safety, because I think our crowd will be too large for the indoor dining room at Homespun. But no worries, we have rescheduled for NEXT Thursday, August 5 at 7 PM, when the weather forecast is no rain and we can read in the garden!”

The literary scene in Beacon was bubbling softly like a nice glass of effervescent wine before the pandemic hit. But all that went flat when the shutdown happened. Literary events were usually held in restaurants, like the Get Lit event in Oak Vino before that wine bar closed, sold, and has since reopened as a new delicious eatery.

Homespun was a restaurant who had newly shifted under new ownership, and was promptly shut down while New York State got a handle on the virus. New owner Joe Robitallie was new to owning a restaurant, but not to the written word, having earned his Masters of Fine Art in Poetry from Brooklyn College. While studying word rhythm, he worked as a sommelier in the city before starting a family and moving to Beacon.

Enter Donna Minkowitz, a writer based in Beacon, formerly of Brooklyn, who has organized a new literary open mic night for literary folks to gather to read pieces, perform their ideas, and connect with one another for growth that will happen once a month on Thursdays. "Beacon's writers and readers have been wanting to gather again for awhile,” Donna told ALBB. “As things have started to open up again, I thought the time was now (as long as we exercise reasonable caution).” As for any relation to the Get Lit group, Donna confirms: “We are not related to the former series Get Lit at Oak Vino, except that we take them as an inspiration, because we loved them!”

People are invited to tell stories or “perform” their work (playwriting, spoken word) if that applies to their genre. People are encouraged to sign up to be a reader by filling out this form, or can go to simply listen and experience. Signups are closed right now so as to make room for signups the night of the event. Some of the published authors who are expected to read at the first event are poet Ruth Danon, food writer Matt Clifton, playwright, fiction writer, and poet Peter Ullian (who was Beacon's poet laureate from 2019-2020), and Donna (the author of two memoirs, and a former writer for the Village Voice and the Nation).

The first Lit Lit will be Thursday, July 29 at 7pm in Homespun‘s back patio garden. Homespun is located at 232 Main Street. In the event of rain, the group can move inside.

Lit Lit will give a reason for Homespun to turn on the twinkle lights in the back patio and tend bar at the new Beer bar. Photo Credit: Homespun Foods — Lit Lit will give a reason for Homespun to turn on the twinkle lights in the back patio and tend bar at the new Beer bar.
*Photo Credit:* *Homespun Foods*

Joe spoke with ALBB to answer why he is looking forward to this new event: “It signals a return to normalcy and groups gathering outside to express their common interests. I am excited because we always imagined that we’d be able to use Homespun as a meeting place for the community, that it would be a safe space for people to gather and build community around their interests. I am excited to hear neighbors read their writing and find inspiration in one another. How writing communities work is always so fascinating, with people sharing through reading and how ideas get pushed forward. Finally I’m excited because it gives us a nice chance at Homespun to turn on the lights in the backyard, and have people enjoy an evening out there. Homespun: the Bar, for an evening.”

Homespun’s wine, beer, soft drinks, and perhaps some snacks will be available for purchase.

Editorial Note: Homespun is a sponsor of A Little Beacon Blog, but this article was done independently of that partnship.