Mingle With Great Writers For The Holidays At LMHQ, December 10

It's that time. Holiday family gatherings. Maybe it's a time to catch up and feel the "holy" in the day, or maybe it's a disastrous example of the great American dysfunctional family. Join Terese Svoboda, Huda Al-Marashi, and Catherine Woodard as they contemplate-and celebrate- their honest, sometimes brutal, but always beautiful, writing about family matters. Readings will be followed by a moderated roundtable and audience discussion. Refreshments are complimentary.

Pen Parentis Salons are held in LMHQ's main event space on the 20th floor of 150 Broadway, three blocks south of Fulton Street. The event will be partially Livecast on Facebook.com/penparentis.

Featured Readers on Tuesday, December 10th at 7 pm:

Terese Svoboda has published 18 books of fiction, poetry, memoir, biography, and a book of translation. Winner of a Guggenheim, a Bobst Prize in fiction, an Iowa Prize for poetry, a NEH grant for translation, an O. Henry Award for the short story, the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, 3 NYFA fellowships, a Pushcart Prize for the essay, a Bellagio residency for a libretto, and the Jerome Foundation Award in video, she also wrote the libretto for the opera WET that premiered at L.A.'s RedCat Theater.

Catherine Woodard is the author of Opening the Mouth of the Dead, a story in poems published by lone goose press in two editions: paperback and limited-edition book art. She helped return Poetry in Motion to the NYC subways and is a vice president of the Poetry Society of America. Her poems have appeared in literary journals, anthologies and CNN online. A former journalist, Woodard is a member of the National Leadership Council of the News Literacy Project.

Huda Al-Marashi is the author of a memoir, First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story. Her work has also appeared in the Washington Post, the LA Times, Al Jazeera, VIDA Review, Refinery 29, the Rumpus, the Offing and elsewhere.

Pen Parentis is a 501c3 literary nonprofit that helps writers stay on creative track after starting a family. All writers presented at Pen Parentis Literary Salons have had children. Columbia MFA graduates, M. M. De Voe and Christina Chiu will moderate. There is no admission charge, though a voluntary $10 donation to Pen Parentis is warmly appreciated (waived for those in need and for supporting Title Members of Pen Parentis). We thank Poets & Writers and NYSCA for their continued support of these salons.

RSVP is strongly recommended: penparentis.org/calendar. Transportation info: 2/3 or 4/5 to Fulton Street

This PEN PARENTIS LITERARY SALON is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. All local nonprofits can apply for a Con Edison Bright Ideas Grant for use of LMHQ's tech-friendly meeting space as well as the Tesla, LMHQ's largest event space.