Life in Verse

For the last two weeks, I have been in book-lover's heaven. The Open Book was lucky enough to be asked to be the bookseller for the Southampton Writers Conference. Jessica and I carted a ton of books to the Stony Brook - Southampton campus and set up a little satellite bookstore stocked with books by the faculty of the conference.

As we took turns taking care of the mini-bookstore we saw some talented and amazing authors wander through: Elizabeth Strout, Colson Whitehead, Meg Wolitzer, Melissa Bank, Julie Sheehan, Roger Rosenblatt, Peter Hedges, Elena Gorokhova, Helen Simonson, Justin Kramon, Ursula Hegi and Jules Feiffer just to name a few. Oh, I know I

am name dropping but I was totally star struck by these people who have given me many happy hours with their books. I tried not to stammer as I sold books to people who put their hearts into the books that I sell. The conference participants, aspiring writers and poets, were full of creative energy - interesting and friendly. I cannot wait to sell their work.

One of the highlights of the conference for me was the chance to hear Billy Collins speak and read from his work. I love poetry and I love Billy Collin's poetry especially. Some of his poems make you laugh out loud and others bring a fuzzy nostalgia for love long past. It was a special treat during a busy summer.