Writers Read puts storytelling and the craft of writing on stage

The personal essay enjoys a rich history in the annals of literary expression, going back hundreds of years.

But something happens when you put constraints on this classic genre—limiting each essay to 650 words and having the writer read the finished piece in front of a live audience.

That’s the premise behind Writers Read, which curates and produces live events centered on authors delivering their personal stories on stage. For the first time, the Hudson Valley nonprofit is putting together a show in Albany and has invited 16 Capital Region writers to read their stories at The Linda this Sunday. There will be a cocktail hour after the show where audience members can meet and mingle with the writers. You can get tickets here.

For Writers Read founder Edward McCann, the focus is always on good storytelling and the craft of writing. But a big part of the magic is seeing the writer take something that exists only on the page and bring it to life in front of a raptured audience.

“When writers take their essay to the stage, they put themselves into it,” McCann said in an interview with The 518. “You hear things that you didn't see on the page. Presenting the work publicly changes your relationship to the material.”

This transformation is what makes Writers Read events so captivating, and why McCann chooses to focus only on personal narratives rather than fiction.

“We're after a direct experience, something that you’ve experienced, that affected or changed your life or your perspective in some way,” he said. With a background in television writing and producing, McCann has a sense for these dramatic moments. But he avoids what he calls “trauma porn.”

To produce each show, every piece is screened by a five-person editorial board. Then the chosen writers rehearse reading their pieces, working out the kinks. Six hundred and fifty words works out to roughly five minutes on stage. It’s five minutes of emotive storytelling that often elicits laughter or tears, or both.

Sunday’s show is being held in Albany at the invitation of the New York State Writers Institute, which wanted to spotlight writing talent in the Capital District. Since it’s June, the afternoon’s theme will focus on summer camp—a classic wellspring for transformative, coming-of-age stories.

“This is our first geographically targeted submission call,” McCann said. “We sought out writers from Camp Chingachgook south to Coxsackie, and east of Amsterdam to Hoosick Falls.”

In all, there will be 16 writers from 11 Capital Region counties. Many will not be professional writers—just someone with a good, honest story that needed to be told.