Liza Engesser, President of Irish American Writers & Artists, and her younger son, Logan Reyes, hosted the salon at the Ellington on May 5. Liza is an archivist and historian, involved with Irish American Studies at Queens College with a focus on New York oral history. Liza worked on IAW&A’s filmed oral documentary, “Crossing the Waters,” interviewing Malachy McCourt amongst others. Logan Reyes is a poet of the nether. His work can be seen at Logansruminations.carrd.com.
Terrence Dwyer was first to read. He is a Bronx native who served over 24 years in law enforcement. He spent several years as an attorney representing police officers. When he is not writing, Terry is a tenured professor teaching legal studies at Western Connecticut State University. His latest book, “The Badge Between Us,” provides an insider perspective on how long-term undercover criminal investigations develop, and the physical and psychological toll upon police officers, within a fast-paced narrative. In a surprising episode we heard him interview a prisoner in an “unequal relationship” as he shared witness to the tranquility of a serial killer - David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam.
Karen Hudes is a writer, editor and game designer who has taught creative writing at Hunter College. Her work has appeared in Tin House, the New York Times and New York Magazine, among others, and a personal essay is online at ThomasPynchon.com. "Diode" centers on a transformative state she experienced in the 1990s. Karen’s energy unblocked thoughts about writing and writing about thoughts as she skimmed a frisbee under this sheltered sky of The Strauss Room’s umbrella in The Ellington.
Adam Reyes was up next and he prefers the nature of his work to remain non-Newtonian. You know - like custard or blood. So, you had to be there for that.
Emerging art pop princess Ciara Emmanuel aka Hired Girl - has released her maiden studio album “The Bubblegum Witch (Delux)” via her independent record label Flabbergasted LLC. She was a riot and sang with accompaniment from John Munnelly who is a folking songwriter – with a slant to profanity, but only for emphasis. They took turns to blow us away with their hot sauciness.
Visit www.HiredGirl.com to learn more about Ciara.
You can listen/read John’s stuff at “Munnelly Mutters” on Substack and taste his wares at Hattwood.com. John rocked us to the interval with his newsy blues.
Paper Lanterns.
After the break guess who turned up? Only Derek Dempsey.
If you don’t know, Derek is a Dublin-born singer, songwriter, musician, producer, entertainer and talk-show host. He was raised in Crumlin, like Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott. Derek read a short chapter from his new novel, just published. “Anthony’s Aria” is the story of a working-class opera god. Derek also gave us a tuneful treat with his trembling tremolo and guitar skills. What a guy! He does it all and he smells nice, too.
Dane Thomsen is a mixed media creative from Queens, New York, whose primary interest is in the discovery of self, truth and purpose through expression and reasoning, using data collection in different avenues of life. It was pure poetry tonight. Dane looked and read sharp.
And then Paper Lanterns. Hailing from the river towns of upper Westchester - Donnovan, Luke, and Lauryn blend their roots as music teachers with a shared love of all things folk and rock. Inspired by artists like Dylan, Cohen and Fleetwood Mac, their acoustic sound carries forward the timeless tradition of the Folk Revival. The harmonies from these guys were like Woodstock in the room. We were Mama-ed and Papa-ed to our core. It was a big bear hug of an ending to the night. Let’s do it again.
