Contact: Rebekah Fraser at 203-606-2929 or Emmett McMullan at LocalLitAtLOTTA@gmail.com
Going remote during the pandemic, Local Lit @ LOTTA will host its last event and its first-ever online reading and critique on Tuesday, June 2nd.
For the first time, New Haven’s literary fans will hear new works in the comfort of their home or car. In return, the authors will enjoy the benefit of fresh perspectives on the writing process from audience members.
The theme of Local Lit @ LOTTA Virtual is—fittingly—love and connection in extraordinary circumstances. “We selected the stories in January before we had even heard about the pandemic,” said event founder and co-organizer Rebekah Fraser. “Who knew we’d all be struggling with trying to connect in extraordinary circumstances at the time of the reading?”
The program’s final event, which will be accessible to the general public via YouTube Live, will feature mind-bending works from local authors Robert Beech and Mackenzie Hurlbert.
Beech is a practicing psychiatrist and a faculty member at the Yale School of Medicine, and sometimes author of odd bits of fiction. In his third performance for Local Lit @ LOTTA, he will read Love, Eternal.
Hurlbert is a Connecticut-based writer whose previous publications appeared in “Hofstra’s Windmill” and the anthology We Walk Invisible. She received an honorable mention in “Writer’s Digest” Popular Fiction Awards for her story Milk Teeth, which she will read for the audience of Local Lit @ LOTTA Virtual.
After each reading, Fraser will lead a lively discussion about the piece with the audience while the authors listen. Questions will be submitted through live text chat on YouTube and from on-camera guests of the event.
The final Local Lit @ LOTTA will occur online on Tuesday, June 2nd. The livestream will be available starting at 6:30 PM, for informal visiting. The event commences at 7:00 PM on YouTube Live at bit.ly/locallitatlottayt.
Since its inception in 2018, Local Lit @ LOTTA has hosted readings on the first Tuesday of every other month in the gallery at The Range at LOTTA Studio in New Haven’s historic Westville neighborhood.
“I’m sorry to see the series come to an end,” said Fraser, who founded the event in February 2018. “We’ve hosted some wonderful authors, heard and discussed some fascinating stories, and built a little community around local literature. That’s been incredibly meaningful to me, and I think to a number of people. We’ve had a great run.”
The event will be free and open to the public at bit.ly/locallitatlottayt. For more information about the series and previous events, visit https://locallitatlotta.com.
Local Lit at Lotta 