Wondering about the process of taking your ideas from the page to the publisher?

Come to the Central Library and hear how these 3 writers managed both the writing and publishing process as part of a collective group. Learn about their books and hear how they formed the Page Six Writers Group and how it became an invaluable resource. You will learn about the structure of their group, and other possible structures if you'd like to create your own, as well as how they evolved to address concerns raised by group members and to accommodate the different phases of writing.

You will also learn how they worked through the process of publishing and marketing their books. There will be a question and answer period at the end of the discussion.

About the Authors:

• Laura Beretsky is an author and community activist, with published essays Health Story Collaborative and the National Library of Poetry, and WBUR’s Cognoscenti. She lives in Somerville with her husband, children, and two cats where she’s active on the local community preservation committee and high school parent-teacher-student association. Laura is a part- time grant writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Introduction to Technology, Engineering, and Science department. When she’s not working, spending time with family, or working on local issues, she collects material and writes stories for her All Things Epilepsy blog, with the goal of increasing awareness about epilepsy, its impacts on those who have it, and the need for expanded epilepsy funding and research. Published in November, Seizing Control is her first book. More info: https://lauraberetsky.com/book-release-coming-soon/

• Bev Boisseau Stohl is a nonfiction writer with published essays in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the MIT Press, Stethoscopes and Pencils, Chomsky.info, and on Reddit and other social media. Chris Lydon interviewed Bev on his Open Source radio show. Bev, Chomsky, and her dog Roxy have been featured in graphic novels, and were animated in Michel Gondry’s 2013 film, Is the Man who is Tall Happy? Bev has performed stand-up and improv comedy, and appeared on TV news shows talking backward and performing her own short skits. She is an active member of Boston’s GrubStreet writing community. Her book, Chomsky and Me: A Memoir, was released in hardcover on July 11, 2023. It can be ordered in paperback now from the publisher, OR Books. More info: https://www.orbooks.com/bev-boisseau-stohl/

• Jean Duffy, is a nonfiction writer with essays appearing in the Boston Globe, Concord Monitor, PBS Next Avenue, WBUR Cognoscenti, and other publications. Published in May, Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023) is her first book. Jean can be found on the soccer field in Lexington, Massachusetts where her team, the Lexpressas, have been playing for some twenty years. When she’s not attacking the keyboard or flubbing a shot on goal, she might be consulting with nonprofits, helping people downsize, or doing crossword puzzles with her husband at their home in Somerville, Massachusetts. More info: https://jeanduffy.com/

*Books by each author will be available for sale

Questions? Contact Kerry: keodonnell@somervillema.gov