Friday, June 10 | 5-6 PM | Free

Guest Speakers: John Kane, Beth Kanter, Melanie Smith

Craigardan | 9216 NYS RT 9N, Elizabethtown, NY 12932

John Kane is an author, college professor, and visual artist. He has degrees in fine art, education, and leadership studies with a focus on innovation and disruptive technology. His book, The Last Seat in the House: The Story of Hanley Sound, was published by University Press of Mississippi and is becoming widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive publications on the subject of concert sound reinforcement during the early years of the music industry. His previous book, Pilgrims of Woodstock, was published to much acclaim by Indiana University Press.

Beth Kanter’s fiction and creative non-fiction have appeared in an array of publications including McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Bright Flash Literary Review, Idle Ink, Kveller, The Writer, the Chicago Tribune, and This Is What America Looks Like: The Washington Writers Publishing House Anthology. She also has a story forthcoming this fall in Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine. Beth was awarded a James Kirkwood Literary Prize for her novel-in-progress, Paved With Gold, and was the winner of the 2020 Lilith magazine fiction contest. She also has written six non-fiction books about Washington, DC, including No Access DC. Beth earned an MSJ from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and currently is a member of the Craigardan Bookgardan Cohort.

Melanie S. Smith is a 2019 graduate of the GrubStreet Writers Memoir Incubator and a writing instructor at Boston University. She has been published in Ruminate Magazine, Windhover Journal, and Blue Mountain Review, among others, and has enjoyed residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Elizabeth Bishop House in Nova Scotia.