Tag: Hudson Valley

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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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Lit Lit Mixer!

Hey, Lit Lit is having a mixer! At the great Happy Valley Bar at 296 Main St. in Beacon on Thursday, October 12 from 6-8 PM. We’ll be yakking it up in their beautiful courtyard.

The nice folks at Happy Valley have offered us a 10% discount at the bar. (Nonalcoholic beverages also available, and you can even order eats from MOD.) Also, everyone who is interested in writing and reading is welcome — you don’t need to have come to Lit Lit before!

 

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Sticky and Gooey

Hey, I’m going to get to do something fun at the Beacon Arts members show on Saturday, November 5! I’m going to read “Parker House Loaf,” a piece about food, class, status, luxury, and art. A few of you will remember my food writing from a few years back, so here’s the place to hear some more! Along with a performance by the great Donna Mikkelsen, and of course the fabulous art of the Beacon Arts members on the walls! At KuBe Art Center, 211 Fishkill Ave. in the old high school, 4-6 PM. See you then.

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Betsy Andrews at Lit Lit

Betsy Andrews (photo courtesy the author).

I’m thrilled to report that poet Betsy Andrews will be the featured author at Lit Lit next month, Friday, November 4! Betsy’s poetry is fierce and lyrical at once, all about the climate, the family, and the Anthropocene, edgy, political, and freaking gorgeous all at once.

Her latest, Crowded, is just out from Nauset Press, and Betsy will read from it and sign books at the November 4 Lit Lit at the Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main Street in Beacon, 7-9 PM. As Susan Tichy writes, “Private and planetary angers twist together in Betsy Andrews’ Crowded, rising and falling together in the drunken winds of violence we have come to recognize as home.”

Come hear Betsy — followed by our usual kickass Lit Lit writers. Betsy is the winner of the Brittingham Prize in Poetry and the 42 Miles Press Prize in Poetry, and also one of the best food writers around.

You can sign up at the door to read one of your own pieces of writing, up to 5 minutes in length! We will take all comers till we run out of time 😄

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A Few Delicious Things Coming Up

Hey everyone, two quick things to announce:  1) My next memoir workshop starts Wednesday, September 21 from 7 to 9 PM Eastern Time on Zoom. It will go for eight Wednesdays until November 16 (skipping the week of October 5 for Yom Kippur).

The focus is on craft, especially using emotion, sensuality, storytelling, lyricism, and voice. Everyone will get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere; class size will be small. The fee is $325.

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

2) We have a fabulous LIT LIT coming up for Friday, October 7 at the Howland Cultural Center! :-) Let me know if you want to read! For those of you who don’t know the drill, it’s 7 to 9 PM at the Howland, 477 Main Street in Beacon New York! Everyone who wants to can read their own writing of any genre of up to five minutes in length, until we run out of time. Because of the unique magic of Beacon, we get amazingly good memoir writers, novelists, poets, playwrights, and others!

I also keep a few slots so that people can sign up at the door. Or just come and listen. Lit Lit is a great place to meet Beacon writers and readers :-)

To sign up, please email me at litlitseries@gmail.com. The event is free, and soft drinks, wine, beer, and snacks are available by donation. Masks are required.