English Faculty at the Montclair Literary Festival
Posted in: Faculty News
The third annual Montclair Literary Festival runs from March 20 to 24 providing an opportunity to see panel discussions with writers the English Department.
Participating members of our full-time faculty include David Galef, Johnny Lorenz and Laura Nicosia. Part-time faculty involved in the festival are Kathy Curto, Jim Nicosia, and Mark Rotella. For complete details visit Succeed2gether’s Literary Festival website.
Johnny Lorenz
Saturday, March 23
10:15 to 11:15, Montclair Public Library, YA Room
Halfway There Reading Series
Apryl Lee and Nicole Haroutunian host this popular local reading series on a quarterly basis. At this year’s festival they showcase fiction from Marina Antropow Cramer (Roads) and Richard Klin (Petroleum Transfer Engineer); non-fiction from Dawn Raffel (The Strange Case of Dr. Couney); and poetry from Johnny Lorenz and Frank Rubino.
Jim Nicosia
Saturday, March 23
10:15 to 11:15, Montclair Public Library, Auditorium
The YA Phenomenon
Bestselling YA authors Gayle Forman (If I Stay Series etc.) and Arvin Ahmadi (Down and Across, Girl Gone Viral etc.) talk with Jim Nicosia about their hit novels and discuss who are the audience of Young Adult fiction and what are the secrets of its rapidly growing popularity. (Ages 12 and up)
Laura Nicosia
Saturday, March 23
1:30 to 2:30, Montclair Public Library, YA Room
Speaking Your Truth
Mark Oshiro (Anger is a Gift), Sara Farizan (Here to Stay) and e.E. Charlton-Trujillo (Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution) write novels that address bullying, bigotry, LGBTQ activism, and other issues of teen identity. Join them for a conversation about representation, activism and facing hard truths in fiction, with Laura Nicosia. (Age 12 and up)
Kathy Curto
Saturday, March 23
1:30 to 2:30, Montclair Public Library, Classroom
Mentors and Muses: We Don’t Write Alone
Writing may look and feel like a solitary, unaccompanied practice but is actually more communal than we think. Join authors Kathy Curto and Irene O’Garden in a conversation about the practical, creative, and spiritual value of writing communities, mentors, and muses. Short readings from the authors’ new books as well as a Q&A session will be part of this reminder about why we need one another more than we may sometimes realize.
Mark Rotella
Saturday, March 23
5:15 to 6:15, Montclair Public Library, Auditorium
The Cost of Survival
Two extraordinary true stories examine foreign policy, rescue missions, and the will to survive. The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast, is Michael Scott Moore’s memoir of his three years of captivity by Somali pirates, while Stephan Talty’s Saving Bravo: The Greatest Rescue Mission in Navy SEAL History tells the untold story of the most important rescue mission of the cold war. Mark Rotella moderates a conversation between the authors.
David Galef
Sunday, March 24
1:00 to 2:30 at Succeed2gether offices, 11 Pine Street, Montclair
Workshop- Getting the Last Laugh: Comedy in Fiction
What do comic techniques have to do with producing a good narrative? Everything from the old one-two-three to economy, precision, and proper timing! What do David Foster Wallace and Dave Barry have in common? How does noticing what’s out of place heighten the focus? In this craft talk, participants will learn about a variety of skills borrowed from comedy routines to produce stories that readers will remember long after they’ve finished the last page.
Taught by David Galef, creative writing program director at Montclair State, who has published humor in places ranging from the old British Punch and The Village Voice to McSweeney’s and The Satirist.
Tickets $35.
