NEWPORT — The MAC Center for the Arts will be participating in the Newport is for Booklovers Event, on September 24.
Five of the eight authors that belong to MAC will be reading from their original works. Award-winning authors: Lynda Graham-Barber, Tanya Sousa, Patty Oliver-Smith, Jerry Johnson and Cat Holm will share the spotlight as follows:
11:00 a.m. – Cat Holm – Reading from Voice Lessons. Award-winning author Catherine Holm’s writing ranges from literary fiction to cat-themed memoir and fantasy fiction. She is a freelance writer, life coach, and yoga instructor and loves gardening, outdoor recreation, and the thrill of new experiences and new places. She lives in Norton.
11:15 a.m. – Tanya Sousa – Reading from The Starling God. Sousa writes books, short stories, essays and articles that promote empathy. Her books and essays have received awards, accolades and excellent reviews – including her most recent novel, “The Starling God”, which made the short-list for the national “Green Earth Book Awards.” Tanya was raised and still lives, in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
11:30 a.m. – Patty Oliver-Smith – Reading from Martha’s Mandalas. Martha (Patty) Oliver-Smith was born in Rhode Island into a family of writers, artists, and scholars. She spent most of her childhood moving between her grandmother’s home in Peace Dale, RI and living in New York City. In 1972, she moved to the west coast to begin her teaching career and raise her family. She returned to the east in 2002 to live and work in Vermont. She earned an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2006. After 36 years of teaching college and high school literature and writing courses, Oliver-Smith retired to complete the biographical memoir Martha’s Mandala based on her grandmother’s life as an artist who struggled with mental illness. She lives with her husband, two cats, one dog and six chickens in Albany, where she is working on a second memoir.
2:00 p.m. – Lynda Graham Barber – Reading from her children’s book SAY, BOO. Lynda Graham-Barber lived for over two decades in New York City, where she worked as a free-lance magazine writer, children’s book editor, and writing teacher. The author of 14 books, 12 for children, Lynda lives in a stone cottage on 160 wooded acres in the Northeast Kingdom with her artist-husband, David, and their rescue dog, Biscuit.
2:15 p.m. – Jerry Johnson – Showing a DVD of Children’s Book – Noah’s Song. Author of Up the Creek Without a Saddle, Noah’s Song and A Bed of Leaves. In Jerry’s own words: “I was blessed when Jon Gailmor and Pete Sutherland, two legendary Vermont master musicians, took a number of my poems in Up the Creek Without a Saddle and set them into song for a beautiful CD album to accompany the book.
The three additional authors featured at MAC are Internationally renowned photo journalist/author – Diana Henry, Women on the Move and new release – Through the Photographer’s Eyes; and works carried posthumously by John Stevens – Woodshed Wisdom, More Woodshed Wisdom, and Memorable Fish and Fisherman; and Phyllis Joy Hammond aka P.J. Hammond – Traveling with Flowers (from Newfoundland to Alaska); Through the Eyes of Children (traveling with the Artist), and Iceland (a Second Visit…a Necessity).
This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, MAC Center for the Arts, 158 Main Street, Newport VT 05855 802-334-1966 www.maccenterforthearts.com
