McEneny Wins Prestigious Award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The son of Jack McEneny, retired New York State Assemblyman, notable local historian and friend
of the Writers Institute, has received an important playwriting award at Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

From a Times Union article by Amy Biancolli:

A play written and directed by John McEneny, son of the recently retired Albany state assemblyman, has won a prestigious Bobby Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The winning play: “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” an adaptation of the H.G. Wells tale of an island occupied by a madman and his half-human, half-animal monstrosities. It originated at Brooklyn’s Piper Theatre, where McEneny serves as artistic director, and includes an original score performed live by composer Lucas Syed.

More:  http://blog.timesunion.com/localarts/play-by-john-mceneny-the-younger-wins-award-at-edinburgh-fringe/29481/

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Salon.com Editor to Read in Rensselaerville, 8/16

Joan Walsh, editor-at-large of Salon.com, headlines this year’s Rensselaerville Festival of Writers as a keynote speaker Saturday August 16, at 8:00 p.m.

Walsh will read from her 2012 book What’s the Matter with White People: Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was.

The acclaimed celebration of arts and literature takes place this year August 15 – 18 in several venues throughout the idyllic Helderberg hamlet of Rensselaerville, NY. Walsh’s appearance promises a riveting highlight in the festival’s rich schedule of readings, workshops, and receptions.

For more:  festivalofwriters.org.

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"This Upstate Life" in Rensselaerville

Local authors will present their work at the annual Rensselaerville Festival of Writers, August 15-18, 2013
.
"This Upstate Life"

Local writers will read their own work, poetry, fiction, personal essay, or cross-genre and experimental work specifically rooted in the upstate New York region.

Tom  Corrado -  Middleburgh       Carol Graser - Galway

Anne Decker  - Albany                   Susan Jefts – Saratoga Springs

Sarah Giragosian - Albany             Howard J. Kogan Stephentown

Marea Gordett - Cohoes              Marion Menna - Glenmont

John Worth Gordon - Albany      Mary Cuffe Perez - Galway

Dan Wilcox - Albany

 

Himanee Gupta-Carlson – Greenfield Center

For more info:  www.festivalofwriters.org

 

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Fracking Panel at Festival of Writers in Rensselaerville

The Festival of Writers in Rensselaerville will open today 7/26 with a panel on fracking that will feature New York Times blogger Andrew Revkin of the "Dot Earth" blog. Revkin is also the author of the 1990 book, The Burning Season: The Murder Of Chico Mendes And The Fight For The Amazon Rain Forest, the basis of a 1994 HBO film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Raul Julia.
Other panelists are Stu Gruskin, former Deputy Commissioner of NYSDEC and Dr. Erik Kiviat, Executive Director of Hudsonia. Robert Moore, Executive Director of Environmental Advocates of New York, will moderate.  More.

Full schedule of events:  http://www.festivalofwriters.org/schedule/

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Rensselaerville Festival of Writers, July 26-29

The 2012 Rensselaerville Festival of Writers will feature Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell, Writers Institute friend and retiring New York State Legislator Jack McEneny, UAlbany English professor Tomas Urayoan Noel, Lizz Winstead who co-created the Daily Show with John Stewart, and many others.

No doubt there will also be spontaneous tributes to Rensselaerville's best-loved resident, the late Andy Rooney, who passed away last November.

Other attractions include hiking in the Huyck preserve and the village itself.

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