#YeahYouWrite
THE RESULTS ARE IN!
- Winner: Heather Orlando, The Jezebels (See the first page below.)
- Runners-up:
- Tammie Painter, The Timekeeper
- Kate Risse, Notice Something Beautiful in Nature Today
- Lynn Jorgenson, Bent But Not Broken
Congratulations, all! Heather will read when we reschedule our event with Salt Cay alums and Newport MFA. Date to be announced.
Jeff Kleinman of Folio Literary Management chose our winner and three runners-up. We had a terrific response to our contest, and hope to do this again in the future.
Meanwhile, keep writing! And be careful out there...
Novel~Memoir First-Page Contest
Read Heather Orlando's Winning Page
Heather Orlando is a publicity assistant at Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan. She is an MFA candidate in creative writing at the University of Central Florida and a graduate of The Columbia Publishing Course at The Columbia Journalism School.
Prior to teaching language arts and creative writing, she worked with publications such as National Geographic and TV Guide, in film production and marketing respectively. Most recently, Heather was an editorial intern at The Florida Review.
She lives with her husband and two mischievous cats in Manhattan.
moreViral Thinking: Dispatches from the Quarantine
Authors' thoughts/experiences/reactions during this very strange time.
IS THERE A SILVER LINING? Jacob M. Appel MD
I am struggling to find the silver lining behind covid-19. As an emergency room physician and bioethicist, I have already witnessed the horrors of the disease—and I am regrettably confident that matters will grow far worse before they get any better, that whatever humor morons might find in videotaping themselves licking subway poles or coughing on fruit will rapidly dissipate. Don’t get me wrong: to survive a day in the hospital, one needs a bit of dark humor. I make a point of reminding people that optimism saved General Custer and I wander the wards pitching my new mutual fund that will invest only in casket manufacturers, online pornography services and looting equipment. Yet on a more serious note, I remain hopeful that once this calamity is behind us—and we will get through it, somehow—we have the potential to learn three valuable lessons….
...
moreTestimonials: Authors Speak
"Here's a toast to #YeahYouWrite—one of the most welcoming and ingenious literary reading series I've ever enjoyed. Don't miss it!" —Terry Blackhawk, poet and founder of InsideOut Literary Arts Project
"In a packed basement at Bo’s Restaurant, the paradigm of the traditional literary reading is being revamped. Now you can watch as the author stands on stage sampling a specially mixed drink, answering rapid fire questions about writing practice, telling an anecdote about a bad review, and, oh yes, reading a few pages. This is the wave of the future." —Said Sayrafiezadeh, author, When Skateboards Will Be Free
"Thank you for the excellent time last night. Dinner was superb; my Watch Me Drink This drink was delicious; everyone was so darned NICE! Truly, one of the best lit events I've attended in a long time."...
morePOSTPONED: Tuesday, March 17 @ 6:30 #YeahYouWrite & The Gold Foundation with editor of Bellevue Literary Review, Danielle Ofri, MD, and contributors to the journal, Francine Prose, Sheila Kohler, & Rachel Hadas
Contributors to Bellevue Literary Review: Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, Francine Prose, Sheila Kohler, and Rachel Hadas
morePOSTPONED: Monday, May 4 @ 6:30pm Salt Cay Writers' Retreat with Tracey Enerson Wood, Kris Waldherr & Pamela Dae, and the Newport MFA Program with Ann Hood and Katie Hughes-Pucci
Ann Hood, instructor at Salt Cay and director of the Newport MFA program will read, along with MFA candidate Katie Hughes-Pucci. Tracey Enerson Wood, Kris Waldherr, and Pamela Dae, alums from Salt Cay Writers Retreat where #YYW founders Lisa Kristel and Robin Martin met, will have a reading reunion.
Also joining us will be founding partner and literary agent Jeff Kleinman from Folio Literary Management to judge our Novel~Memoir First-Page Contest. See below for details on how to enter your first page to win a chance to be critiqued by Jeff and read at #YeahYouWrite on May 4!
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Past #YYW Events:
Find out what happened...go to the "more" links below (but ignore this word "more" right here –>)
moreTuesday, February 11, 2020 @6:30 with Cynthia Manick and contributors to Soul Sister Revue: Rio Cortez, R. Erica Doyle, Roberto Carlos Garcia, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, & José Olivarez
Soul Sister Revue Readers: (top, L to R) Special guest Rico—writer, artist, and designer of Soul Sister Revue Compilation cover art, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, R. Erica Doyle, Rio Cortez, editor Cynthia Manick, (bottom) Roberto Carlos Garcia, José Olivarez.
moreSeptember 17, 2019 with Téa Obreht, Laurie Stone, Crystal Hana Kim, & Ryan Chapman
Who doesn't love Rapid-Fire Q&A?
moreMonday, April 15 with Suzanne Matson, Susan Henderson, Kem Joy Ukwu, and Marcia Butler
Left to right, first 4 photos: Marcia Butler, Suzanne Matson, Susan Henderson, & Kem Joy Ukwu
moreTuesday, February 26: #YeahYouWrite & Kweli
Laura Pegram, Editor in Chief, and contributors to Kweli, including: Jennifer Baker, Cynthia Dewi Oka, Cynthia Manick, Princess Perry, Jodi Savage, and Vincent Toro. Click to see reader bios!
moreJune 26, 2018 with J. Robert Lennon, Simeon Marsalis, Minna Zallman Proctor, & Dan Sheehan
Four authors, three novels, one essay collection, and hundreds of laughs.
moreMay 22, 2018 with Julia Glass, John Freeman Gill, Maureen Brady, & Rae Delbianco
Check out photos of our event:
moreApril 21, 2018: #YeahYouWriteMONTAUK with Téa Obreht, Susan Bruce, Matthew Quinn Martin, Céline Keating, & Alice Kaltman
#YeahYouWrite travels east to South Edison Restaurant
moreMay 10, 2017: Geeta Kothari, Jami Attenberg, Peter Gethers & Ashley Warlick
Martinis, Gibsons, and moose, oh my!
moreApril 11th, 2017: Reed Farrel Coleman, Jonathan Santlofer, & Dan Fesperman
Crime pays. Well, when it's crime fiction. Take a look at these fellas!
moreFebruary 22, 2017: Said Sayrafiezadeh, Carolyn Murnick, Dani Shapiro, & Marcia Butler
#YeahYouWrite welcomes Aspen Words Memoirists
moreJanuary 10, 2017: Susan Bruce, Irina Reyn, Wendy Lee, Noah Isenberg
Here's what happens when authors ask each other questions...
moreNovember 15, 2016: Jonathan Papernick, Alice Kaltman, Anna Solomon, Shelly Oria
Incredible authors entertain with their glowing answers to our rapid-fire questions
moreSeptember 20, 2016: Tayari Jones, Christopher Cerf, Katherine Vaz, Leslie Jamison, & Charles Bock
Fabulous faculty from the Disquiet International Literary Program, held each year in Lisbon, Portugal, took the stage this month.
moreAugust 10, 2016: Nicole Dennis-Benn, Rebecca Schiff, Tony Tulathimutte, & Daniel José Older
Catapult Workshop Instructors have written some amazing stuff . . . and they read it at #YeahYouWrite!
moreJune 14, 2016: EJ Levy, Angela Woodward, Kate Angus, & Jonathan Lee
E.J. Levy, Angela Woodward, Kate Angus, & Jonathan Lee answer our Rapid Fire questions. Not sure who came up with the answer here, but it was definitely entertaining.
moreMay 10, 2016: Question: How many authors can you fit on a stage?
Answer: Five, but just barely.
It was also difficult to contain the enthusiasm these Community of Writers at Squaw Valley alums put forth for us this month. Pictured during the Q&A from left: Lisa Kristel (host), Matthew Thomas, Matt Sumell, Frederick Reiken, Julie Chibbaro, & Mark Wisniewski
moreApril 12, 2016: Julia Glass, Ruth Danon, & Kelly Fordon
Ruth Danon and Kelly Fordon react to the ever-entertaining Julia Glass as she tells the story of her worst-ever review (eventually vindicated when she received the National Book Award).
more3/8/16: Imani Sims, Victoria Redel, with Evalyn Lee, Mina Samuels, George Farrell
I'll have what she's having! Imani Sims and Victoria Redel taste their custom #literarycocktails—Wonderland and Make Me Drink This, respectively—before the reading. Martha Hughes, editor of Letting Go, and her essayists Evalyn Lee, Mina Samuels, and George Farrell sipped the Let It Go. Spirits seem a good way to prepare before taking the stage. For other photos, click:
moreFebruary 17, 2016: Karen Heuler, Austin Ratner, & Sandra Newman
Authors Karen Heuler, Austin Ratner & Sandra Newman share the stage. They each presented their custom literary cocktail, read to a packed house, and answered many questions. A new highlight of the evening: sharing their worst rejection letters and reviews. Brave souls, our readers! Click more for photos and details:
moreJanuary 13, 2016: Jacob M. Appel & Sara Lippmann
This month our authors Jacob M. Appel & Sara Lippmann read to a full house in the Lounge. We added a specialty cocktail called Stardust in honor of David Bowie—who once said his idea of perfect happiness was reading—and played a short video of images from his life. We had four wonderful readers at Late Night Mic . . . will you read next month? Photos:
moreNovember 10, 2015: Téa Obreht, Dan Sheehan & David Ebershoff
Authors: Dan Sheehan, Téa Obreht, & David Ebershoff
At our first #YeahYouWrite event, we had the privilege of listening to both Téa and Dan read from yet unpublished works, she from her second novel, and he from his collection of short stories. David read the opening of The Danish Girl after we watched the trailer for the critically acclaimed film, starring Eddie Redmayne, based on the novel. We've since learned it's been nominated for four Academy Awards.
At left,Téa describes her literary cocktail, The Tiger, made with Dolin Blanc vermouth, plum, hibiscus syrup, and rakija, the potent spirit oft consumed in her first novel, The Tiger's Wife. David's drink was The Lili, as lovely and sparkling as its namesake Danish girl, with its akvavit, earl grey tea, lime and prosecco. We had no other choice but to offer Dan straight-up triple distilled Irish whiskey, but not just any whiskey: the special Jameson...
moreClick here to see: #YeahYouWrite in Images: 2015-2018
Photos & Video by Robin Martin / Music by Brett Beats Bailey.
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