Write On! Young Adult Writers’ Salon Showcases Talents

Eight young Newtown authors read their works to friends and family gathered at the 5th Annual Young Writers’ Salon, Sunday afternoon, December 9, at the C.H. Booth Library. Each year this program showcases the work of young authors in grades 6 to 10, some of whom participate in the library’s young adult creative writing programs during the year.

The Young Adult Council transformed the library meeting room into a coffeehouse for the afternoon, with small tables and low lighting. The Newtown Woman’s Club provided refreshments to the audience  and the program was filmed for Cable Channel 21, by Margot Isaacs and Andrew Shugarts.

From describing the moments when she first wakes up from a dream, to helping a friend through a tough time, to getting everybody into a holiday mood, each piece reflected much thought and care, said young adult librarian, Margaret Brown.

Emcees, Nicole Lang and Ryan Murphy, introduced each reader and expressed the collective appreciation of the roomful of admirers. The audience rewarded the readers with a poetry-reading tradition, finger-snapping, in lieu of clapping.

As Tori Mead, one of the readers and also the teen mentor to the creative writing poetry group, said, “It gives the youth a venue to show their hard work and talent, and gives the community a chance to see it for themselves.”