For years there have been multiple opportunities on Island for poets to partake in a variety of reading settings. For prose writers, not so much. Recently writer Niki Patton decided to address this inequality, and launched a series of readings for writers of any and all genres — aside from poetry.
Once a month Ms. Patton hosts an open-to-the-public event called Writers Read at the West Tisbury library. Writers of all levels — from established authors to neophytes — are welcome to present short readings from their works in progress, fiction or nonfiction, for a fixed amount of time.
The series began in February and so far, a dozen writers have participated. The genres offered have ranged from memoir to snippets of novels, to essays, to monologues, to science fiction. Among the writers have been successful published authors like Holly Nadler and Suzanna Sturgis, and relative newcomers like Amelia Smith and Ed Merck.
“We’ve had a good, broad range,” says Ms. Patton. “People can read for up to seven minutes. The idea is to keep it short enough so that there are enough different types of work to listen to.”
For the maiden outing in February, only four writers showed up to read. There was enough time to solicit feedback from the audience. Last month, the number of readers did not allow for discussion, but Ms. Patton encouraged people to stay after the hour-and-15-minute allotted time to talk to the writers.
“What I’m hoping to do is develop a format where writers can feel safe to ask for what they want from the audience,” says Ms. Patton. “There are people who hate positive feedback, and other people who really live by [writer’s workshop leader] Nancy Aronie’s method — letting the writers know what works and what they really loved. There’s a third, more neutral approach where people ask the writer a question about their work which will further the inspiration of the writer and help them to decide what they want to develop further. I want it to be the author’s call.”
Ms. Patton has been toying with the idea of a prose reading event for years. An accomplished writer, actor, and monologuist herself who, in a former life, worked as a media producer in New York City and wrote a successful book on windsurfing, Ms. Patton has participated in a number of random readings on the Island, but she wanted to provided a regular forum for people who are not necessarily part of a writers’ group.
“We have so many poetry readings on the Island,” she says, “I realized that we were missing out on prose. I missed hearing prose and prose writers’ voices. When I sat and started listening to these pieces, I was in heaven. Everything was so good.”
For the initial event in February, Ms. Patton read a snippet from a monologue. She is happy to contribute if there is a shortage of writers, but will primarily serve as host. “I love reading my work, but I’m happy to serve as facilitator,” she says. “I’m a proletarian at heart. We have a lot of great writers on the Island. I wanted to do this to give play to the people who aren’t names. I want to make this available to everyone.”
Writers who would like to read from any work in progress (excluding poetry and screenplays) can contact Niki Patton at Gaia1muse@aol.com or call 508-693-430.
Writers Read will be held monthly at the West Tisbury library. The next and third Writer’s Read event will take place Monday, April 13, at 7 pm.