Join the celebration!
Writers Read turns 10!
Stories, Food, Wine & More!
October 20, 2024
1 - 4 pm (Doors 12:30 PM)
The Loft at City Winery
25 11th Avenue / Pier 57, New York City
Come celebrate with founder
Ed McCann, event co-chairs
Karen Dukess and Annabel Monaghan,
and honoree Steven Lewis.
Steven Lewis
Honoree
A former Mentor at SUNY-Empire State College, current member of the Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute faculty, and longtime freelancer, Steve is Writers Read’s senior editor. His work has been published widely, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, LA Times, Ploughshares, Narratively, Spirituality & Health and—with 7 kids and 16 grandkids—a biblically long list of parenting publications. His books include Zen and the Art of Fatherhood, Fear and Loathing of Boca Raton, a chapbook of poems, If I Die Before You Wake, and four recent novels, Take This, a generational sequel, Loving Violet, A Hard Rain, all from Codhill Press, and a new novel, The Lights Around the Shore, published by Moonshine Cove. A poetry collection, Fire in Paradise, was co-authored with daughter Elizabeth Bayou-Funk.
Karen Dukess
Event Co-Host
Karen Dukess is the author of The Last Book Party (Henry Holt 2019), which was an IndieNext and Discover New Writers pick. Her new novel, Welcome to Murder Week, will be published in Summer 2025 by Scout Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. Karen is also the host of The Castle Hill Author Talks, a series of virtual and in-person interviews with some of today’s most exciting authors. Karen has been a tour guide in the former Soviet Union, a newspaper reporter in Florida, a magazine publisher in Russia and, for nearly a decade, a speechwriter on gender equality for the United Nations Development Programme. She has blogged on raising boys for The Huffington Post and written book reviews for USA Today. She has a degree in Russian Studies from Brown University and a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. She lives with her family near New York City and spends as much time as possible in Truro on Cape Cod.
Annabel Monaghan
Event Co-Host
Annabel is the national bestselling author of Summer Romance, Same Time Next Summer and Nora Goes Off Script, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. She says writing these love stories has probably been the most fun she’s ever had. Pre-Nora, she wrote fiction for young adults and a regular column for not-so-young adults, collected in a book titled, Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? Annabel grew up in Los Angeles, and nearly all her relatives still live in Southern California. She studied English at Duke University, earned an MBA from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania and had a brief history as an investment banker. She also used to teach novel writing at the The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. Annabel now lives in the suburbs of New York City with her family, including a little dog who sheds.
Edward McCann
Founder, Host
Ten years ago, Edward McCann, an award-winning writer and producer, was at an uninspired public reading and thought: Why not create a new kind of literary event that gathers a select group of talented writers to present five-minute—or 650 word—takes on a single topic? The idea became Writers Read, which creates performance opportunities for writers and celebrates the spoken word. For a decade, Ed and a team of dedicated volunteers have worked to present hundreds of stories at dozens of carefully curated, high-quality events in association with partners like Carnegie Hall, Vassar College, Bryant Park, and the National Arts Club and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Today, Writers Read engages audiences with regular live shows at City Winery’s flagship location in New York, and with a regular half hour podcast. Ed’s own writing has appeared in many journals and magazines, including Country Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, The Irish Echo, and The Sun, and he’s a regular contributor to Milieu, a magazine about design.
