O n Friday, June 24, at 7:30 p.m.,Upstairs at The General will host Common Stories, a literary event designed to bring readers and writers together. The new author series, created by local writers Rich Marcello and Hollis Shore and presented in partnership with the Lancaster-based Seven Bridge Writers’ Collaborative, is designed to give writers a chance to read from their work and connect with readers face to face, an intimacy that is often lost in the virtual world. Those who attend this literary evening will be able to mingle with other booklovers over food and drinks purchased at the General, ask the authors questions during the Q&A sessions following each reading, and purchase signed copies of books from the authors themselves.
“Hearing an author read aloud, with all the inflection points and emotion that was meant to be conveyed, is really the best way to hear a book,” said Marcello, one of the co-creators of the event. He believes the readings will draw many longtime fans, but he encourages people to come even if they have never heard these writers’ works before. “I think it will be a wonderful introduction to these writers. All three are very strong, and listeners will find some extraordinary stuff they might want to read afterwards,” he said in an interview this week.
Three writers
For this inaugural event, Common Stories will feature three writers from the young adult (YA) genre: Nancy Werlin, Kristin Cashore, and Annie Harnett. Both Werlin and Cashore are established, award-winning authors whose work has appeared on The New York Times bestseller list, and Harnett is an emerging author whose debut novel is forthcoming in 2017. All three live and work in the Boston area.
Marcello noted that YA is an extremely popular genre these days, widely read by adults and young adults alike. “There’s a universal appeal to a coming-of-age story, a young adult going on a journey. You look at all those very successful YA books, there’s a Joseph Campbell element to it. When it’s done well, it does appeal to a much wider audience.” But Marcello admits they timed the event specifically to reach the young adults these authors were writing for. “The reason we chose June is because it sets up summer reading. I hope teenagers will come.”
When putting Common Stories together, it was important to Shore and Marcello that the series feature both established and emerging authors. Including new writers will give the event an “up and coming feel,” said Marcello, and those more well-known names will draw out readers who want to meet with famous writers whose work they have enjoyed reading for years. But for both established and emerging authors, the most important selection criteria for an author to be included in the series was good writing. “[We were looking for] a new, unique, exciting voice, someone we think is worth a lot of people hearing,” said Marcello.
Readings and sales
The Common Stories author series, which will run four to six times a year, hopes to join the ranks of other popular literary events previously hosted in Harvard. Many might remember Fresh InkK, an arts and literary initiative whose last salon-style event was held in October 2014. “I loved Fresh InkK, and when it went away, there was a gap,” said Marcello. “The main difference is Fresh InkK didn’t believe in selling books. The authors we talked to wanted the ability not only to read their material, but also have the opportunity to sign books and sell them. They won’t be pushing them, but there will be a table in the back where people can buy them if they’d like to do that.”
Working with Seven Bridge Writers’ Collaborative is one of the ways Marcello hopes the Common Stories series will be part of establishing a robust writers community in central Massachusetts. Marcello believes Harvard has a special role to play regionally as a cultural hub for music, literature, and art, and he hopes the Common Stories series will help mark the town as a literary destination for a wider community of both readers and writers. “We are advertising at schools and libraries, and all over Worcester County. We are hoping to fill the place up,” he said.
“When you go to a bookstore to hear a reading, you can’t sit and eat,” said Marcello. “This has a feel of going to an event, and hearing three authors together lets you spend a few hours. People can sit, drink a little wine, eat what they want to eat, and listen to the readers. It’s spacious upstairs, and allows for a whole Friday night out.” Admission to the reading will include a $5 cover charge, and there will be food and beverages available for purchase. To keep updated on future Common Stories events, you can follow the group on Facebook or look for updates at sevenbridgewriters.blogspot.com.
