Local authors take the stage at Water Street Writers event
The first Water Street Writers event of the season will be held on Sunday, Sept. 21, featuring the talents of Sandra Marchetti, Donna Latham, Heather Lynn, and Cathy Borders.
The doors open at 5 p.m., with the show starting at 5:30 p.m. at Water Street Studios, 160 S. Water St. in Batavia. Everyone is welcome. Suggested donation is $5. All proceeds pay the authors.
• Marchetti is the 2023 winner of The Twin Bill Book Prize for Best Baseball Poetry Book of the Year. She is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, “Diorama,” from Stephen F. Austin State University Press (2025), “Aisle 228” (SFA Press, 2023), and “Confluence” (Sundress Publications, 2015). Marchetti is also the author of four chapbooks of poetry and lyric essays. Her poetry and essays appear widely in Mid-American Review, Blackbird, Ecotone, Southwest Review, Subtropics, and elsewhere. She is Poetry Editor Emerita at River Styx Magazine. Sandy earned an MFA in Creative Writing-Poetry from George Mason University and now serves as the assistant director of academic support at Harper College. Find out more at sandramarchetti.net.
• Playwright, author, and history geek Donna Latham’s over the moon to be back at Water Street Writers. Her plays have been produced coast to coast and around the world. “And We Will Share the Sky” received the Kennedy Center Mark David Cohen Playwriting Award, and “All the Way Back” received the Prize for Climate Justice. Latham grew up in a haunted house in the wilds of the Chicago area and has been obsessed with spooky stuff forever. She’s a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. Learn more at donnalatham.com.
• Heather Lynn is an interdisciplinary artist who combines writing, dance, visual art, myth, and ritual. She has written and directed the musical “Templehead” and the play ?Genesis & Nemesis.“ She has been self publishing her writing for over 30 years, most recently “Divine Hustle” in 2023 and “Love Letters for Nesting Dolls” in 2024.
• Cathy Borders is the author of “The Tarot for Writing Project” and “A Suburb of Monogamy.” Her latest, “Robin Williams Is My Uncle: And Other Stories We Possess,” is a work of autotheory about alienation, the uncanny, and epigenetics told through the lens of Robin Williams’s children’s movies, fairy tales, feminism, and the death of her beloved cat. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School in New York and a Bachelor’s degree in English literature and critical theory from the University of Iowa. She is a book midwife, story therapist, and also the founder of The Republic of Letters and Water Street Writers. Find out more at CathyBorders.com.
In addition to fine literary entertainment, you may purchase signed copies of the authors’ books. Refreshments will be available from Water Street Studios’s bar.
Visit the link to hear past shows and learn more, including submission guidelines: waterstreetwriters.com
Submissions are open. They pick from the slush pile each and every event. Multiple submissions are okay. Our next upcoming events will be on Nov. 2, Feb. 1, and April 19. Submit to become a featured reader at waterstreetwriters@rolreadlocal.com. When you submit, if you can't make one of those dates, let them know.
Water Street Writers is sponsored by The Republic of Letters, which is committed to connecting the writing community and supporting its talents by showcasing local authors. Are you a local author? Become a member and join the Local Author Directory! Memberships directly fund Water Street Writers and other events like Writers’ Networking. F0r information, visit rolreadlocal.com/water-street-writers/ or facebook.com/waterstreetwriters/.