The Pen Parentis Literary Salon is a unique Downtown series that shatters parental stereotypes as it celebrates the diverse creative work of writers that are also parents. On the second Tuesday of each month September through May, join us at the Hideout at the historic Killarney Rose in lower Manhattan (secret entrance on 80 Beaver street, door marked Hideout at the top of the stairs on your left!). Each night begins with networking over happy hour drinks ($4 craft beers, $6 vodka well drinks, no minimums). Readings are followed by Q&A moderated by Pen Parentis founder M. M. De Voe and Salons curator Christina Chiu. Each event ends with mingling and book signings. Come join the fun! Pen Parentis Literary Salons are a great place to meet book-loving neighbors as well as industry notables. You don’t have to be a parent or even a writer to enjoy these events – join us!
See below for details of who is reading next and to RSVP!
What if you’re a playwright and you happen to have kids? How do the demands of family life work with a life writing for theater? What are the ways that playwrights manage — and how do they work in general? What’s the difference of process between a fiction writer and a playwright?
- Charlie Schulman writes and produces plays and musicals. His collaboration with composer/lyricist/producer Michael Roberts includes THE FARTISTE (Outstanding Musical International/NYC Fringe and Off-Broadway at Under Sofia’s) and GOLDSTEIN (Nominated for Best New Musical by The Off-Broadway Alliance.) Other Off-Broadway credits: ANGEL OF DEATH, THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT and THE GROUND ZERO CLUB (Dramatists Play Service.) Regionally he has premiered new work at New Jersey Rep, The Magic Theater (San Francisco) and Theater J. (Washington D.C.) Charlie is a three-time winner of The Avery Hopwood Award for Drama from The University of Michigan He is a recipient of The Charles MacArthur award for Comedy from The National Playwrights Conference at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. He received the Walton Fellowship from Arena Stage (Washington D.C.) for his play THE GREAT MAN. Charlie also writes for film and television. He teaches Playwriting and Screenwriting at New York University and is on the MFA faculty at Spalding University’s, low residency, Creative Writing Program.
- Internationally produced and recognized playwright Elana Gartner was a PlayLab playwright at the Great Plains Theatre Conference. Monologues from her work have been published in “Audition Monologues for Young Women #2” by Gerald Ratliff. Elana has served on the board of the International Centre of Women for five years and helped to found their 50/50 Applause Awards, recognizing those theatres that demonstrate gender parity in a given season. Elana’s son and daughter have grown up with playwriting intertwined directly with their lives, in their livingroom, where Elana often holds one of her two playwriting groups.
- Victoria Z Daly‘s plays include Doppelgänger, The Sam Play, Demeter and Polly, Invisible, Far North, On the Cross Bronx, Circling the Globe, and Rockaway Park. Her work has been presented at the Actors Studio, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, ATHE Conference, Gi60 Festival (NYC and UK,) Warner International Playwrights Festival, Alliance for Jewish Theatre, Berrie Center, Spokane’s KPBX-FM (NPR,) 1:One UAE Theatre Fest (Dubai,) and Edinburgh Festival, among other venues. She is a Faculty Member in the Dramatist Guild Institute’s Plays in Progress Program. Vicki founded and directs The 9th Floor, a New York City writers/actors’ collaborative, currently in its eleventh season. She has been a television producer at Lifetime Cable Television, script consultant at Warner Brothers, and executive at ABC. Education: MFA in Dramatic Writing, NYU/Tisch; A.B. and M.B.A., Harvard; Certificat d’Etudes in theater from L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq. Member, Dramatists Guild of America; Actors Studio Playwrights and Directors Workshop; Playwrights’ Center of Minneapolis; International Centre for Women Playwrights.
In continued celebration of their Tenth Anniversary of Literary Salons in Lower Manhattan, Pen Parentis presents these three writers at our new location: the Hideout at Killarney Rose (80 Beaver Street) on Tuesday February 12th from 7pm to 9:30pm. The playwrights will present short readings of their works, and Q&A will follow, centering around work-life balance. All authors presented at Pen Parentis are also parents – the series aims to shatter the stereotype of what parents write by presenting the creative diversity of high quality work by professional writers who have kids.
Columbia MFA graduates, M. M. De Voe and Christina Chiu will moderate. Killarney Rose offers a full bar menu and happy hour pricing on drinks. There is no admission charge, though a voluntary $10 donation to Pen Parentis, the literary nonprofit that organizes these salons, is warmly appreciated.
The Pen Parentis mission is to provide resources to writers to help them stay on creative track after starting a family. The general public (21+ only) is encouraged to attend! The long-running reading series has recently won a Creative Engagement Grant from New York City and New York State, administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. You do not have to be a parent or a writer to enjoy these neighborhood-friendly book events. RSVP is recommended: penparentis.org/calendar
Transportation info: Take the 2/3/4/5/J/M to Wall Street. Salons take place in THE HIDEOUT, a cozy lounge room on the second floor of Killarney Rose (hidden entrance to the Hideout is on 80 Beaver Street, up a flight of stairs).
Please buy your tickets through this link (all funds go to Pen Parentis to maintain programs).