Category: Events

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“The Woman Who Farted in the Bible”: How to Tell Radical Versions of Traditional Stories

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know that I will be telling “radical versions of traditional stories” at the Newburgh Fringe Festival on Friday, October 16, and I’m pleased as punch!

I wanted to explain a little bit about WHY I’m telling “radical versions of traditional stories,” and what it all means.

I will perform four of these—two ancient Greek stories and two Bible stories that I will tell against the grain, queerly, and arising out of my own vision of holiness, justice, sexuality, and gender.

Why? I LOVE traditional stories — by which I mean myths, fairy tales, folktales, or any other stories that at some point arise from an oral tradition — and I’ve been learning how to tell them over the past 25 years. I love them for many reasons, and I believe they are the primary vehicle through which human brains make meaning of the world. Even our contemporary movies and novels are often versions of these deep, classic stories.

It’s not that “there’s nothing new under the sun.” Rather, these stories are so capacious, profound, and powerful that we make them new all the time — which is what my October performance is about.

One of my other favorite things about stories is that they have no fixed meaning (or “moral,”) but are endlessly suggestive and pregnant with meaning. Throughout human history and prehistory (absent political repression), we individual storytellers have always been able to tell them in our own way, with our own emphases and our own political predilections. That’s why there are so many different versions of myths and fairy tales, and many versions contradict one another. Even in religious traditions, many stories contradict one another, and their meanings are unremittingly disputed.

On Friday, October 16 at 6 PM, at the ADS Back Gallery in Newburgh NY, I’ll be telling my own versions of four stories that have fascinated and/or haunted me since childhood (in two cases) and adolescence (in the two other cases). I will tell two ancient Greek myths (the story of Dionysus, and Aristophanes’ myth about the origin of love), and two weird-ass Bible stories (Samson and Delilah, and Achsah, the woman who farts for the sake of justice in the Book of Judges). As you might expect, gender, sexuality, violence, and control (or lack of it) will come up a lot. So will the power that human relationships intrinsically have to fight the powers that be.

I’d love to see you there! You can buy $15 tickets at this link:

https://safeharborsofthehudson.thundertix.com/events/271223

I’m especially happy that there will be a talkback after the show so you can tell me what you think!

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Memoir Writing Workshop Starts September 23

Beacon, New York

Hi my friends. Just wanted to let you know that my next memoir writing workshop begins Wednesday, September 23, 2026 on Zoom. The class goes for eight weeks, until November 11, and meets from 7 to 9 PM Eastern time. Class size is small, limited to 8 people.

Let me know if you are interested!

The focus is on craft, particularly on using emotion, sensuality, storytelling, lyricism, and voice. Students will get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere. The fee is $325.

Writers at all levels are welcome. For more information or to register, please contact me at minkowitz46 AT gmail.com.

A quick bio for me: Donna Minkowitz has taught memoir writing for 27 years, at venues ranging from the 92nd Street Y and the Mt. Chocorua Writing Workshop to the JCC of Manhattan, the New York Writers Workshop, and The Kitchen. Her autobiographical novel DONNAVILLE was published last year. Her most recent memoir, Growing Up Golem, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and the Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award, and was republished in 2026 after 13 years. She won a Lambda Literary Award for her first memoir, Ferocious Romance. She has also won a GLAAD Media Award, an Exceptional Merit Media Award, and has been inducted into the Saints and Sinners LGBTQ Writers Hall of Fame. A former columnist at The Village Voice, she has also written for Slate, The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, New York magazine, and Salon.

I’m happy to answer any questions!

All best – Donna

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CHALLENGE ACCEPTED plus free cocktail!

Lit Lit: an open mic for writers every first Friday, 7-9 PM. Denning's Point Distillery in Beacon, New York, 10 N. Chestnut St.

Dear local friends,

TL; DR: so as not to conflict with your Labor Day weekend plans, we have switched September’s Lit Lit to Friday, September 11.

Longer version: LIT LIT NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT.

A local business has decided to go after our community-based event by precisely copying our format, but offering it on THE SECOND FRIDAY OF THE MONTH and giving readers SIX minutes instead of five.

I think this is really shitty of them.

This business, incidentally, is making lots of money, doing well enough to expand into an insanely expensive, massive space on Main Street later this year.

As you know, Lit Lit has always been a community-based event for writers and readers. I’ve never made a cent from it, and I never will. We have offered readers and writers a home in Beacon, intended to be as welcoming as possible, for five years.

I’m asking all of you to PLEASE ATTEND OUR SEPTEMBER EVENT at Denning’s Point Distillery to show your support. Even if you haven’t been to Lit Lit in a while, we would really appreciate seeing you. Denning’s, our new location at 10 N. Chestnut St. right off Main Street, is wonderfully offering a free cocktail (or nonalcoholic cocktail) to everyone who reads in September.

Of course, Beacon is big enough for a variety of literary events and venues. But going after Lit Lit by directly aping our format and even our night of the week? When we are a completely unfunded community organization? Not cool.

Those who know me, know I like a challenge. So I say, BRING IT ON. Hope to see all of you at Lit Lit on Friday, September 11 from 7-9 PM.

You know the drill; sign-ups begin at 6:30. Come read your beautiful work, and grab a free drink.

With love from Donna

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Carnivals of Love

So much happened this month, and so much is about to be here! Lit Lit, the giant open mic for writers that I host in Beacon, NY, had its fifth anniversary, and I couldn’t be more proud. This democratic, ultra-grassroots event where 20 writers at a time get up and read their writing every month got written up in the Highlands Current, the mid-Hudson Valley’s paper of record. Then we had our actual anniversary event, where around 30 folks in a carnivalesque atmosphere performed music, dance, theater, and, yes, writing, while dining on cakes, candy, and champagne contributed by members. The event was dedicated to our brother Addison Goodson, a Beacon poet and towering spirit who we lost two weeks ago. The event drew over 100 people.

Addison Goodson

Next up: the Beacon book launch for my republished memoir Growing Up Golem, which mashes up a bad-mom memoir with high fantasy. The great science fiction writer Terry Bisson called it “Rich and wild, dark and funny, as fearless as her legendary journalism and as scary as a fairy tale. A serious writer at the top of her game. I love this book!” I would love to see you at this reading and party Thursday, May 21 at the Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St. at 7 PM. I’ll be talking about the book with Ruth Danon, poet laureate of Beacon and Dutchess County, signing copies, and serving you delicious tidbits and booze.

Stay tuned for some traditional storytelling events I am planning for the fall (think queer and radical versions of Greek myths and Bible stories). And the next Lit Lit is June 5! If you didn’t get to read at the anniversary Lit Lit and wanted to, talk to me! Hope to see you at some of these events soon.

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Beacon Belching Contest Feb 27!

Yes, I am organizing a Beacon Belching Contest to raise funds for two vital community organizations in Beacon NY, Indivisible 845 and Fareground. The contest is also intended to raise our spirits in this hideous time, and to Keep Beacon Weird.

Adults, children, and teens are welcome to sign up as belchers. And everyone is welcome to attend! All entrance fees of $10 (more if you can, less if you can’t) go to Fareground and Indivisible 845. We will have a distinguished panel of judges rating the belchers.

To sign up, email litlitseries@gmail.com.
Details: Friday, February 27 at 7 PM at the Beahive, 6 Eliza St.
Our deep thanks to the Beahive for donating the space!

 

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Made/Up at the Newburgh Fringe Festival!


Hey, I’m thrilled to let you know that I’ll be performing a hyper-interactive show, Made/Up, in the very first Newburgh Fringe Festival, Saturday, October 24 at 1 PM! Tickets are $10 (plus $2 facilities fee). Location: The Ritz Theater, 107 Broadway in Newburgh, N.Y.

Made/Up combines writing by me about my life with writing by YOU, the audience. Those of you interested in memoir writing might especially want to come to this!

What stories do we tell about ourselves, and what happens when we want to change those stories? In this highly interactive performance, memoirist-turned-fiction-writer Donna Minkowitz reads selections from all three of her “defiant, playful, dark and funny” books (Kirkus), and invites the audience to come up with on-the-spot micro-memoirs and micro-fiction stories about themselves.

My students (or people who have been my students) are especially invited to come.

This is the show for you if you’ve ever wanted to write about your life and wondered how to go about it. It’s ABSOLUTELY for you if you’ve ever thought about writing a fairy tale about yourself, or imagining yourself as an inanimate object. (The Port Authority Bus Terminal? A poisoned peach? A subway train? The Vietnam War? A vibrator?)

For tickets, click here:

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/newburghfringefestival/event/madeup/

(You can also get tix with $12 cash at the door.) Would love to see you there!
Donna

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Rainbow Book Fair!

Hey, I’m thrilled that I will be one of only two featured readers at the Rainbow Book Fair, the largest LGBTQ literary event in the country!

Come see me read from DONNAVILLE at length and answer your questions on Saturday, May 10 at 3 PM at the LGBTQ Center, 208 W. 13th Street in New York City! The Chills at Will podcast recently called DONNAVILLE “a master class in worldbuilding… deft, with vivid imagination.”

Looking forward to seeing you there.<3

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Updates During A Coup



Hi friends. I haven’t updated you here in a long time, and I have lots of news for you!
Of course, this email is being sent out in the midst of a brazen attempt at an authoritarian coup in the United States, which really puts my small bit of writing and publishing news into, as they say, perspective.
Before I get to the latter, JOIN ME IN FIGHTING BACK!
Go to indivisible.org and any demonstrations you can.
Trump, of course, hates oppositional queer writing by women (among others), so maybe this newsletter from me is topical after all!
My novel DONNAVILLE is going like gangbusters. I’m thrilled that I will be one of four featured writers at this year’s Rainbow Book Fair in Manhattan, Saturday, May 10 at the LGBTQ Center, 208 W. 13th Street.
The WROTE podcast did a really fun interview with me about DONNAVILLE, which is up right now. Hosts Vance Bastian and Baz Collins zeroed in on the role of mythology in the book, and asked if its structure had anything to do with Joseph Campbell, which… DING! DING! DING! Yes, it does :-) I love the hero’s journey (which is both less hokey and less sexist than some think), and I love myth even more. The WROTE podcast hosts got it, and I was over the moon.
Meanwhile, I did ANOTHER interview with the Chills at Will podcast, which is “a celebration of the visceral beauty of literature.” I loved host Peter Riehl’s questions, and I can’t wait till that podcast is up.
Watch for a DONNAVILLE reading this summer at Blue Heron Books in High Falls, New York… Also watch for a summer memoir writing workshop from me.
In two weeks, I’m appearing for the first time at the Saints and Sinners Festival in New Orleans, an LGBTQ writing conference I have always wanted to go to. Delighted that I will be on a panel on “nurturing your writing habit” with Michael Cunningham, Jewelle Gomez, Jonathan Alexander, and Joan Larkin, greats all! on Saturday, March 29. I will also be giving a writing workshop Friday, March 28 on writing that straddles memoir and fiction…
Back in New York, I’ll be lecturing on Gnosticism, my favorite religion of all time, at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Sunday, April 20 from 12:30 PM to 2 PM, 269 4th Avenue. (Don’t worry, I won’t be talking for that whole time, there will be some other things on the program besides me, like music :-) ) Come on down and learn about this radical ancient religion that hated the idea of a jealous, worship-demanding patriarchal god. Some of their medieval adherents thought that, ahem, queer sex was more holy…
DONNAVILLE is now available as an e-book in addition to a paperback. You can get the e-book here and everywhere!
Finally, the next Lit Lit, the monthly open mic for writers I host in Beacon, NY, will be Friday, April 4 from 7 to 9 PM. We are open to all, including non-locals! Check out our new poster by artist Samantha Palmeri. For a fabulous evening with over 20 writers of all genres, come to the Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main Street. If you’d like to read your work (five-minute time limit) get there by 6:30 to sign up.
That’s all I’ve got. Take part in nationwide protests on April 5.
I love you — Donna