Writers Read ft. Jessamyn Smyth, Amy Dryansky, and Loren McGrail

Join us for Writers Read, on the 2nd Wednesday of every month. Coordinated by Lindy Whiton, the series brings in local writers and a couple of outside surprises. $5 suggested donation.

Reading in April will be Jessamyn Smyth, Amy Dryansky, and Loren McGrail.

Jessamyn Smyth’s books The Inugami Mochi (2016) and Gilgamesh/Wilderness (2021) are from Saddle Road Press: “A More Perfect Union” from The Inugami Mochi was selected as one of the “100 Distinguished Stories of 2005” in Best American Short Stories (2006). Kitsune is from Finishing Line Press New Women’s Voices Series (2013). Her poetry and prose have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Taos Review, Red Rock Review, American Letters and Commentary, Nth Position, Life & Legends, Wingbeats: Exercises and Practices in Poetry, and many other journals and anthologies. She is the recipient of fellowships, scholarships, and grants from the Robert Francis Foundation, Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, and others. Jessamyn was the founding Editor in Chief of Tupelo Quarterly, and Founder/Director of the Quest Writer’s Conference.

Amy Dryansky has two poetry collections; the second, Grass Whistle (Salmon Poetry) received the Massachusetts Book Award, and the first, How I Got Lost So Close to Home, won the New England/New York Award from Alice James Books. She teaches creative writing, most recently as the James Merrill Visiting Poet at Amherst College, and works as a grant writer for a regional land conservation agency.

Loren McGrail is a poet/writer, artist, and theologian. She lived for five years in occupied East Jerusalem and has put together an exhibit of her art and writings called Witness and Hope Reimagined. You can find it online at witnessandhopereimagined.blogspot.com. She is finishing a series of encaustic paintings and multi-media pieces with accompanying poems called Dawn at the Hive about the extinction of bees. She is also a UCC minister serving a church in New Jersey.