A Day of Readings

This past Tuesday was a Spoken Interludes kind of day. In the morning, there was the graduation event for the boys at Abbott School from Spoken Interludes Next, the outreach writing program for at-risk children. Here is the first brave young man reading while the other students listen and wait their turn.

The boys at this school are all in the foster system, and have had to endure hardships that would test the sanity of most adults, much less children in these tender years. The stories they wrote were brave and funny and imaginative and observant. We had a big feast set out for them before and I had the best time serving them apple juice and making sure they weren't too shy for seconds (and thirds and fourths!). It was a wonderful, moving morning. Next few weeks: graduations events at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls, and Blythedale Childrens Hospital.

Then that night, I had a Spoken Interludes at the fabulous and yummy Chutney Masala. Navjot, the owner, made this divine fish dish that I've been dreaming about all week. And I have tilapia to make for dinner tonight and somehow know it won't be half as good. Jonathan Dee was there reading from his new novel, The Privileges, Dani Shapiro read from her moving and wonderful memoir, Devotion, and Tad Friend of The New Yorker read from his hysterical memoir, Cheerful Money.
xo