OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Center for the Arts will host an evening of short readings by nine members of Berlin’s “First Saturday Writers” group on Thursday, Sept. 12 from 6:30-8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.
Nine writers from the group will read original flash fiction, short stories, poetry and excerpts from books and work in progress during the Fall into Fiction evening.
Will Danaher of Bishopville is a graduate of Salisbury University and working on his first compilation of short fiction stories.
Gwendolyn Lehman of Ocean Pines taught English, Psychology, and Theater for 46 years at Stephen Decatur High School. She is best known for having initiated and developed the curricular SDHS Theater Program. Her awards include Maryland Drama Teacher of the Year, Worcester County Teacher of the Year, Maryland Outstanding Arts Educator, the Governor’s Arts Award, and a National Milken Educator Award.
Don Lehman of Ocean Pines has worked as a fine artist, educator, photographer, and partner in a marketing company. He has published three volumes of haiku and recently selected 28 short stories for a self-published paperback.
Al Shearman of Bishopville is an unexpected writer, semi-retired carpenter, and maintenance man who enjoys telling the story of Charlie as he dream-travels, soon to be published as “Dreams: Travels with Charlie.”
Cindy Roman of Ocean Pines is a retired Professor of Management and Human Resources in the School of Business Administration at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. She will read from her new fiction novella, “Desperate Trek: One Family’s Journey from Honduras to Texas.”
Ellen Krawczak of Ocean Pines is a transplanted New Yorker who loves to travel. She is a volunteer for Worcester County Family and Youth and also does some volunteer editing.
Bill Ellis of Ocean Pines is a former professor of English and American Studies at Penn State’s Hazleton Campus. He has written books and articles focusing on modern forms of folklore and is currently working on preserving family stories in creative non-fiction in his “Granny-Annie Stories.”
Carol Ann Ellis of Ocean Pines spent 40 years teaching English at Ohio State, the University of Puerto Rico, and Penn State, as well as editing and critiquing textbooks and articles. Egged on by her colleagues at the Courier newspaper in Berlin, she has written a series of stories about the fictional congregation of St. Robert’s Lutheran Church.
Jean Marx of Berlin is the co-leader of First Saturday Writers with Bill Ellis. In 2008, she started Time Flys, where she helps people get their special memories captured into book form, such as through compiling their memoir or through self-publishing stories they have written.
The First Saturday Writers’ Group was founded in 1990 by Mary Elizabeth Paterra, a successful writer, educator, and educational consultant who died in 2018. The group’s monthly meetings are held on the first Saturday of each month at the Worcester County Library in Berlin at 10 a.m. Writers bring a sample of their work each month to read followed by light critiquing.