Writers celebrate 'It was a dark and stormy night' Nov. 20

The public is invited to join members of the Rehoboth Beach Writers' Guild and musician Stuart Vining from 7 to 8:15 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 20, for a free event that is part reading and part open mic. Each brief reading or song will include, explore, refer to or respond to the phrase, "It was a dark and stormy night."

To be held at Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats in Rehoboth, the event will feature a random sampling of short essay excerpts, humorous anecdotes, poems, novel excerpts and songs that touch on the theme.  RBWG Executive Director Maribeth Fischer will emcee the event .

Included in the cast of readers will be young writer Shane Lally (featured in the November issue of Delaware Beach Life); poet and University of Delaware professor Anne Agnes Colwell, along with a few of her creative writing students; award-winning poet Gary Hanna, a recent recipient of a fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts; and humorists Sarah Barnett, Paul Dyer and Irene Fick.

Also featured will be RBWG member Fran Hasson, who is celebrating the release of her first novel, "Allawe," an intriguing mystery set in Fenwick Island and St. Croix. Hassan started the novel at a Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild Free Write when the facilitator of the writing group brought in a box of ashes that someone had left in his trash. He asked the writers to imagine the story behind the ashes, and Hasson did just that.

Although this event is free and open to anyone, RSVPs are greatly appreciated. Dogfishhead Brewings and Eats will be serving throughout the event.

The RBWG also hosts four free Free Writes each week for aspiring and professional writers, a book club for writers, and ongoing classes in fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. These events are made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information go to www.rehobothbeachwritersguild.com.