Brad Kessler, who grew up in the river towns of Westchester and now lives in New York City and Vermont, has had his work published widely and is the author of several award-winning children's books. He has now had his first novel published. Lick Creek is set in West Virginia in the late '20s when coal and the coming of electricity held enormous power over people's lives. Early in the story, a coal mine explosion kills the father, brother, and special friend of the novel's heroine, and before long, new and not always positive relationships shape her future. Annie Dillard calls the novel "crisp, clean, beautiful. (Kessler) captures a whole world on the page, and embodies the heart of his young heroine as if he'd been born to her. His book about love, tragedy, and electricity is a call for exultation."
Hayan Charara's first book of poems, The Alchemist's Diary, reflects his Arab-American background, his hometown of Detroit, MI, his complex and strong family relationships, and his unflinching view of his world. From the first two poems, "Jabir Ibn Hayyan, the Alchemist" and "Jesus Turns Asphalt into Bread," through "On the Murder of the Ice Cream Man" and "My Mother Cooking Squash in the Kitchen" to the final "Memorial Day, Two Years After My Mother Died," we inhabit Charara's heart and environment. His work has been widely published in anthologies and in literary journals such as Chelsea and The Kenyon Review, and he is the editor of the annual literary anthology, Graffiti Rag.
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This series made possible in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Westchester Arts Council with funds from Westchester County Government, corporations and individuals and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. Additional funding has been provided by the Gannett Foundation and the Bydale Foundation.