So, which of our members had a torrid affair with Leonard Cohen? Oh, you weren’t at the Irish American Writers and Artists’ Salon Tuesday evening? Then I guess you’ll just have to come to the next one on Tuesday, September 6 to learn who that person is.
Another fun evening of readings, friendship and good times. John Kearns, Kevin McPartland and Michelle Woods read from their novels in progress. John read form “Worlds,” Kevin from “Brownstone Dreams,” and Michelle from “Ire.”
Honor Molloy read from her novel in progress—although in my eyes when Honor reads it’s better described as “More than just a novel; a one woman show.” Honor brings her acting skills, enthusiasm, and warmth to everything she does.
Honor, as well as Kathy Callahan, joined Sheila Walsh in a hilarious reading from Sheila’s one act play-in-progress, “Tattoo.” Sheila brought tea and oranges all the way from China, too.
I closed out the first half of the program with a personal essay entitled, “The Death of Baby Florence: Resolution.”
The second half of the evening began with John Lee reading from his Huffington Post blog post, “Obama in Ireland Gets Pint’s Worth of Coverage in U.S.” This is the first time I’d ever see someone do a “reading” from a cell phone. Not only can the man write some witty prose, he’s facile with a phone as well.
Kevin Holohan stepped up next and read from his novel, “The Brothers’ Lot” I can imagine attending an Irish Christian Brother’s School might be fodder for a provocative novel; however, I never would have guessed it could be humorous as well. It appears Kevin’s pulled it off.
Nothing like wit and humor to close out the evening and that’s exactly what we got from Kathy Callahan’s personal essay, “Don’t Get Whitey” a laugh-out-loud reading from a personal memoir in progress.
The Irish American Writers and Artists’ salons are held on the first Tuesday of each month at The Thalia Café located in Symphony Space on Broadway at 95th Street in Manhattan. For more information on joining the IAW&A or attending the Salons you can contact Charles Hale at chashale1@yahoo.com. The next Salon will be held Tues., Sept. 6 starting at 7 PM.
A special thanks to Gwen Orel for the photos.