7th Annual Author Showcase

Join Straw Dog Writers Guild and Forbes Library for an online Author Showcase on Wednesday, September 8 at 6:30pm
Brief readings from new books by members of Straw Dog Writers Guild: Dusty J. Miller, Eileen P. Kennedy, Howie Faerstein, Kathryn Holzman, Meg Thacher, Jane McPhetres Johnson, Celia Jeffries, Rebecca Hart Olander., J.A. McIntosh, Lesléa Newman, Ellen Meeropol, Stephanie Shafran.

Registration required. To register, click HERE.
This event is co-sponsored by SDWG and Forbes Library.

Meet the Authors

Dusty J. Miller is an internationally published author and speaker. After publishing five nonfiction books, including Women Who Hurt Themselves, she wrote the Alice Ott mystery series, now in its second edition. She has recently published her fifth Alice Ott mystery, Danger Within. Dusty is a member of the Raging Grannies in MA and Central Florida. She is a pickleball instructor and volunteers with hospice. For information on her books, go to: https://www.dustyjmiller.com

Eileen P. Kennedy is the author of two collections of poetry: Banshees (Flutter Press, 2015), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won Second Prize in Poetry from the Wordwrite Book Awards, and Touch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021.) Her poetry has appeared in more than 25 literary journals and anthologies. She has published nonfiction widely. More at EileenPKennedy.com.
Links to Touch My Head Softly: at Finishing Line Press, Amazon, Goodreads.

Howie Faerstein’s latest collection is Out of Order (Main Street Press). His previous books, Dreaming of the Rain in Brooklyn and Googootz are available from Press 53. His poetry can be found in On the Seawall, Nine Mile, Nixes Mate, Banyan Review, Rattle, upstreet, Verse Daily and Connotation. Howie is co-poetry editor of CutThroat, and lives in Florence, Massachusetts. https://howiefaerstein.com The 2 full-length books can be purchased from www.press53.com/poetry-collections/ and mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/out-of-order-howard-faerstein/,  or contact Howie directly at hfaerstein@aol.com

Kathryn Holzman’s short fiction has appeared in over twenty online literary magazines and print anthologies. She is the author of a collection of short fiction, FLATLANDERS, Shire Press 2019. Her first novel REAL ESTATE was published by Propertius Press in Fall, 2020. She received the Grand Prize in the 2020 Eyelands International Short Story Contest. Links to her work can be found at kathrynholzman.com. Link for purchase info: https://www.propertiuspress.com/our-bookstore

Meg Thacher teaches astronomy at Smith College, where she has also taught physics and writing. In 2012, inspired by a half-formed picture book idea, she joined SCBWI (the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). Since then, she has published 30 articles in children’s magazines like Highlights, Muse, Ask, and Cricket. Meg loves to share the wonders of the night sky with kids and their grown-ups. She lives in West Springfield in a newly empty nest. Sky Gazing is her first book. Go to the Book Shop to purchase. 

Jane McPhetres Johnson: War Baby. Boulder CO principal’s daughter. English teacher. Married a C.O. musician. Quaker. Arrested at W’s White House. Humanities programmer for libraries. Got hearing aids when one son started talking. Got my Goddard MFA the day my second son was born. Moved into Amherst cohousing after Transition Town awakening. Raging Granny. Got twin grandchildren 2017. Published my first book during a pandemic: Maven Reaches Mars! Finally. BUY: www.levellerspress.com (Both e-book and paper).
NOT AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. EVER!

Celia Jeffries’s work has appeared in numerous newspapers and literary magazines including Westview, Solstice Literary Magazine, and Puerto del Sol, as well as the anthology Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper. She has received grants from Turkey Land Cove Foundation, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, and La Muse. BLUE DESERT is her first novel. For more information see her website:  www.celiajeffries.com

Rebecca Hart Olander’s poetry has appeared recently in Jet Fuel Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Tinderbox, and her collaborative work has been published in multiple print and online venues. She has a chapbook, Dressing the Wounds (dancing girl press, 2019), and a full-length collection, Uncertain Acrobats (CavanKerry Press, 2021). Rebecca teaches writing at Westfield State University and is editor/director of Perugia Press. https://www.cavankerrypress.org/product/uncertain-acrobats/

J. A. McIntosh, author and recovering attorney, writes the Meredith, Massachusetts novels, about imperfect people seeking justice. The second book in the series, Judge Hartwell, was published in March 2020 and the third installment, Grampa Leary, is due in the fall of 2021. Crimes happen in her novels, but the emphasis is on how people define and dispense justice. You can purchase her work on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and from Stillwater Press.

Lesléa Newman has created 78 books for readers of all ages including the double memoir-in-verse, I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father; and the children’s books, Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale With A Tail; Sparkle Boy; and Heather Has Two Mommies. She has received poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation and is a past poet laureate of Northampton.  https://lesleanewman.com/books-for-adults/poetry/i-wish-my-father/

Ellen Meeropol is the author of the novels Her Sister’s Tattoo, Kinship of Clover, On Hurricane Island, House Arrest, and The Lost Women of Azalea Court (forthcoming in 2022) and recent essays in Lilith, Ms. Magazine, and Lit Hub. Her work has been honored by the Sarton Women’s Prize, Women’s National Book Association, and the Massachusetts Center for the Book. To purchase Elli’s books:  https://www.broadsidebooks.com/book/9781597098441

Stephanie Shafran lives in Western MA. Her writing has appeared in several anthologies and journals. An active member and officer of Straw Dog Writers Guild, Stephanie is also a Florence Poets Society member. She published Awakening in 2020. “After ‘Story’ by Richard Blanco” was recently published in the anthology “A 21st Century Plague: Poetry from a Pandemic,” edited by Elayne Clift. Stephanie’s chapbook is available from Broadside Books. Her website is stephanieshafran.wordpress.com.