Brookdale’s Visiting Writers Series Fall 2020 announced its lineup of award-winning and ground-breaking authors.
- Jeff W. Bens, Fiction writer and filmmaker and Meagan Brothers, Young Adult author and poet, on November 2 at 6:30 p.m.
- John Murillo, award-winning poet, on December 2 at 6:30 p.m.
All readings are free and open to the public on Zoom. No reservation nor passwords needed.
November Program – Monday, November 2nd @ 6:30PM
Fiction writer and filmmaker Jeff W. Bens
Jeff W. Bens is the author of the novels Albert, Himself and The Mighty Oak and director of the award-winning documentary film Fatman’s. His short fiction and essays are published widely. Bens was a founding faculty member of the School of Filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and has served on film festival juries around the world.
About The Mighty Oak: “Tim O’Connor is paid to be violent. He plays for the El Paso Storm in the West Texas Hockey League. People call him Oak. He’s been an enforcer for longer than his hip or shoulder or back have been able to hold together. He is a broken machine of gristle and rage. And he has been away from home for too long.”
– and –
Young Adult author and poet Meagan Brothers
Meagan Brothers is the author of Debbie Harry Sings in French, a 2009 ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and its prequel, Supergirl Mixtapes. Her most recent novel, Weird Girl and What’s His Name, was named one of Kirkus Review’s Best Teen Books of 2015. Brothers has also published poetry in numerous journals and anthologies.
About Weird Girl and What’s His Name: ” Brothers’ coming-of-age novel meets the demands of a new generation and is rich with many current issues: LGBTQ, inclusion, and equality, among others.” The piercing prose in this fresh LGBT Young Adult novel speaks to anyone who has ever felt unwanted and alone, and who struggles to find their place in an isolating world. Ages 14-up.
Review by Donna Lee Miele, “In this fresh-voiced YA novel, a pair of friends bonded through isolation begin the painful process of claiming their individuality. Author Meagan Brothers drags us back into adolescence unromantically (well—sometimes just a teeny, sweet bit romantically) and reminds us, with insightful world-building and bursts of clarity, that the all-too-human people accompanying us as we come of age are often both more and less than they seem.”
ZOOM LINK: https://brookdalecc.zoom.us/j/94190230190
Students and Public are FREE
In the Comfort of Your Home
December Program – Wednesday,December 2nd @ 6:30PM
Award-Winning Poet John Murillo
John Murillo is the author of the poetry collections, Up Jump the Boogie, a finalist for both the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Pen Open Book Award, and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry. His work is widely published and anthologized.
“Leave the idea that ‘poetry makes nothing happen’ to the poets whose poetry makes nothing happen. John Murillo will provide salvation to those who need poetry to save them.”- Martin Espada
ZOOM LINK: https://brookdalecc.zoom.us/j/94412030445
Students and Public are FREE
In the Comfort of Your Home
All readings are free and open to the public on zoom. No reservation nor passwords needed.
For more inforamtion call 732-224-2315
For previous readings, check out our archive.
