The Coastal Dunes Branch of the California Writers Club is kicking off California Writers Week with an afternoon of literary exploration on Sunday, October 13 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Santa Maria Public Library. The event is free and open to the public.
Featured speakers include prominent voices in contemporary writing, including California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick, screenwriter Gerald DiPego, memoirist Mary Firestone, and best-selling fiction authors Lida Sideris and Mara Purl. Author Catherine Kitcho, founder of CWC’s Coastal Dunes Branch, hosts.
Herrick is the tenth California Poet Laureate and the first Asian American to serve in the role. Born in Korea and raised in Fresno, he is the author of four books of poems including Scar and Flower, a finalist for the 2020 Northern California Book Award. He is co-editor of The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit.
DiPego, who shares screenwriting credit with Nicholas Sparks for the film Message in a Bottle, offers insights from his illustrious career in film and television. He also has written five novels, several short stories and plays, as well as the guidebook Write! Find the Truth in Your Fiction.
Firestone, a survivor of the 2018 Montecito mudslide, explores resilience and healing in her book, Trusting the Dawn: How to Find Joy After Trauma. A graduate of Princeton University, she has an MA in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University.
Sideris went to law schools and worked as an entertainment attorney for a movie studio, but is known for her fiction. She is a recipient of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America Scholarship and is a two-time Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award finalist.
Purl, the best-selling author of the Milford Haven series of novels, novellas, and novelettes, was named Fiction Author of the Year by The Authors Show, and her series has won more than 60 book awards.
This opportunity to connect with fellow literature enthusiasts also features the launch of Splash, the chapter’s fifth anthology of prose and verse from its members. Refreshments will be served.