Happy New Year sweet readers! Have you been reading anything good, or just floating around on a graham cracker raft in a sea of egg nog? I’ve been busy recovering from surgery and have been reading nonstop in the absence of anything else to do besides “heal.” Feel free to send me a pillow with an inspirational message on it if you like, OR just tell me what to read next.

Top Picks

Here are my top picks from an array of genres: Garments Against Women by Anne Boyer (poems); Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh; Bluff by Jane Stanton Hitchcock; The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner; Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister; and I reread the still-transformative Women Who Run With the Wolves for good measure (by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.). And I’m reading Dr. Dolittle with my kids in anticipation of the movie coming out next week. It’s still funny. Chapter 8 is basically a feminist manifesto.

What is ALBB up to in the reading department these days? Well, magazine devotee Katie Hellmuth Martin is turning those mags into 2020 foresight with Vision Boarding at the A Little Beacon Space. Check back for more workshop dates!

Happening In January

On Saturday, January 11, there’s another amazing edition of The Artichoke at the Howland Cultural Center. It promises to be “a superb evening of storytelling with Sam Dingman (The Moth Grand Slam Winner & host of Family Ghosts), Micaela Blei (The Moth Radio Hour), Erin Barker (The Story Collider), Sandi Marx (Stories from the Stage), Mike Cho (Risk!) and Beacon's own Mike Burdge (Story Screen).” 8 pm; $17.50 in advance, a cool $20 at the door.

On Saturday, January 25, the Spring Street series kicks off the new year at Atlas with an evening of international writers and translation. “The writers are: Mercedes Roffe, whose wonderful book Ghost Opera was translated by Beacon's own Judith Filc. Also appearing that night are Pierre Joris, whose translations of Celan and Adonis will be featured along with his own work. Jeanne Bonner will be reading her translation of the amazing work by a Hungarian writer who actually wrote in Italian, and, following up on the terrific discourse on cheese in The Odyssey at our last food fest event, we have Charles Stein, who will be presenting from his translation of The Odyssey and maybe even the Iliad.” 6:30 pm; donations appreciated.

Writing Workshops Galore!

Did you resolve to write more, even at the risk of harming your social standing and neglecting your family? Well, we support you 100 percent! There are a number of workshops you can join that are starting soon. Find a group to make you accountable!

Danielle Trussoni, writer and organizer of the fantastic Newburgh Literary Festival in October, is leading a writing workshop that will begin Sunday, January 26, 4 to 6 pm, and go for six weekly sessions. “This course is a reprisal of the sold-out course that I taught at Hudson Valley Writers Center, in 2019. It was designed to offer another opportunity to participate - especially for the people in and around Newburgh who could not make the trip, or were closed out.” RSVP to danielle@danielletrussoni.com to reserve a spot.

Ruth Danon is offering live writing poetry-centric workshops beginning in early February. She’s planning to run a “six-week session, take a break and then run another six-week session, the second of which would culminate in a reading by the workshop participants. The fee for the six-week session is $250 and will include private conferences.” Email Ruth for details about time and day: ruthdanonpoetry@gmail.com.

Also in Beacon, Donna Minkowitz is offering a memoir-writing workshop starting Wednesday, January 22, at 7 pm and it “goes for eight Wednesday nights, [until] March 11. The focus is on craft, especially on using the senses, lyricism, emotion, critical thinking, and storytelling to create meaningful and relatable works of memoir. Students get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere, and all levels of writers are welcome.” The cost is $275, and people who are interested can write her at Minkowitz46@gmail.com. 

Split Rock Books in Cold Spring is rolling into 2020 with a cute new baby, some great book clubs and events and a writing workshop with Lynn Seeger Strong, author of Hold Still. The course is described as a “hybrid craft and reading seminar/workshop.” Spend the first three weeks reading short stories and excerpts, and generating work. The second half will be a more traditional writing workshop: Each student will submit up to 25 pages of work and get written feedback from the instructor as well as from the class. Cost: $395 for six weeks. Meets consecutive Mondays. Capped at 12 people. Sign up at the store. Check out their website (www.splitrockbks.com) for book club info!

Coming In February!

In Beacon, Binnacle Books continues to tempt me with all their beautiful instagram photos of books I want, as well as the promise of a book release event for Jenny Offill (author of Department of Speculation) and her new book Weather. She'll be in conversation with Lynn Seeger Strong, leader of a workshop above. It'll be in the evening of Saturday, February 15, and we’ll be writing more in depth about that soon.

No. 3 Reading Room is wisely hibernating for the rest of January, but you can make an appointment or get in there in February to check out works by a legion of talented artists and writers, as well as the latest book of poetry by Edwin Torres and photobooks by Ronnie Farley, both of whom reside in Beacon.

Deeper into the winter we go, my loves; let’s leave a trail of bookmarks behind us.