Write On! NST Writers’ Circle holds inaugural event 18 North Shore Towers Courier n June 2015 BY STEPHEN VRATTOS The Writers’ Circle at North Shore Towers held its first public reading, “Who We Are,” to a packed room in the Coleridge Lounge last month on Wednesday, April 29th. Author and actress Zelda Kessner; and Robert Levine, a semiretired accountant, read personal essays explaining why they write. Marion Nemetsky read from her recently published collection of short pieces, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Aging.” Performance poet Grace Sells recited an animated “Swingin’ Widow,” while Priscilla Smith, a former therapist, presented two short short stories, one humorous, the other suspenseful. Writers Bunny Leyton and Roma Connable read from their collected essays about family history, and Vicki Mazel rocked the room with her rap memoir. The featured writers were followed by recognition of NST’s published authors, Zelda Kessner, Marian Nemetsky, and Robert Ricken, whose books may be purchased at Amazon.com. The event concluded with open mic presentations by NST residents. Mel Davis, read a moving prose poem written by his late wife, Bea; Haskell Stall and Harold Krainen read inspiring lyric poems, while Krainen wrote parodies of Mel Brooks’s and Carl Reiner’s skits and performed them, aided by Mel Davis. It was the first public event for the fledgling group, which is barely a year old. Overall, Writers’ Circle founder and open mic moderator Roz Newman was delighted with the featured writers’ presentations and the audience’s response, but the selfprofessed perfectionist admitted, “the program was too long. I’ll keep that in mind when I plan the next Writers’ Circle event.” A North Shore Towers resident going on twenty-seven years, Newman started the Circle little more than a year ago after a minor stroke forced an early retirement after a lifetime of instructing and helping others through writing. Newman spent twenty-five years teaching both High and Junior High students in the East Meadow School District. She was an English language volunteer The NST Writers’Circle (l. to r.) Vicky Mazel, Priscilla Smith, Robert Levine Marian Nemetsky, Founder Roz Newman, Grace Sells, Zelda Kessner, Roma Connable, Bunny Leyton for the East Williston Library and for three years ran a workshop for AARP, helping older workers, laid off during an economic downturn, develop resumes to help them re-enter the work force. “These were people who’d been with the same company for many years,” Newman explains. “They’d never had to write a resume before and didn’t know how.” Later she landed a job at Hofstra University teaching students to write. Although tremendously bright, her charges were lacking in English skills and resistant to learning. A year later, Newman’s program was elevated to an Honors Program in the Literature and English Composition Department, which was later split, those who wrote transferring into a new Writing Studies and Composition Department. Though blessed with a lifetime of enjoying what she was doing, Newman loved this latter stage of her career—working closely with young people—as her favorite and most rewarding. Unfortunately, the stroke intervened. “I had to give up what I loved so much to do,” she says. Newman was also forced to give up driving, the sudden limitations put on her life making her feel as if her world had shrunk, and she became depressed. Salvation came through her granddaughter, who confronted her with a journal while visiting one day. “She told me to write,” Newman says. The creation of the Writers’ Circle followed shortly thereafter. Originally twelve members, the Circle now stands at nine. During the year, Newman oversees periods of eight weekly meetings with breaks in between. Members are expected to write and present something new to the group every week. Newman introduces a topic on which the Circle may prepare something for the following meeting. The topics are broad, allowing for a vast array of interpretations. Some members embrace the themes, even those they may not immediately be fond of, accepting the challenge of penning something outside their comfort zones, something Newman strongly encourages. Others would rather ignore the suggested topic and stick with their Photos by Julie Weissman own flights of fancy, which is okay by Newman, who does not want the themes to be a burden, but rather a spark from which creativity might ignite. Each week, members share their latest pieces, which are then informally critiqued by the group. “The most important thing about writing is revision, revision, revision,” Newman explains. “The Circle helps members craft their voices.” Newman derives great joy from experiencing the each week’s topic as interpreted by different members. Though they’re writing on the same theme, they’re approaches are different. That’s when you can really begin to hear each member’s individual voice.” Writers’ Circle founder and open mic moderator Roz Newman addresses the crowd
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