A Bit of Flash in Greenwich Village

 It was a clear, warm spring evening. A gentle breeze blew through the open doors of the Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village where members of The Women's National Book Association congregated. It was Open Mic Night for the New York City chapter. Fourteen of its members read aloud from their novels, memoirs, essays, poems and short stories. The words and wine flowed through the Café's intimate dining room, a scene from the 1950s sans cigarette smoke.

I had the pleasure of reading my flash fiction, Dry Bandages, published in the April 2016 edition of Foliate Oak Literary Magazine. What is Flash Fiction you ask? A complete story generally under 1,000 words. Dry Bandages comes in at 552 words. Click on the video on the right and you can pretend you're in the cafe with us. Pour yourself a glass of wine, it'll seem more real, then sit back and listen. 

The picture on the left, the cover of the program for this Open Mic Night, is from the WNBA (books not basketball) Dinner Dance at the Hotel Pennsylvania on March 18,1938. Yes, the organization has been around for a long time - almost 100 years. It was established in 1917 in America before women even had the right to vote.

The Women's National Book Association is a vibrant organization with some 800 members from nine cities across the country, a broad-based non-profit organization granting three distinguished national awards annually and a history of lively events. For more information on the organization, upcoming events and membership go to www.wnba-books.org. And for the coveted list of  novels and memoirs perfect for book clubs, visit their Great Group Reads site at www.nationalreadinggroupmonth.org. I'll be back with more info on Great Group Reads in the fall. October is National Reading Group Month.