Editor’s Pick: ‘Living, Out Loud’ Reading at Nassau County Museum

Story by Adina Genn

It may be standing room only at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn, when the “Living, Out Loud” tour – a group of established essayists – take the mic at 3 p.m. 

They’ll read from true-life essays, sharing moments that promise to be funny, provocative and sometimes heartbreaking.

Event producer and writer Claudia Gryvatz Copquin, a Northport resident, says the writers bring “a unique point of view that audiences can relate to.”

And the venues – like the Nassau County Museum – “provide intimate backdrops for the kind of personal interaction that’s missing in our online social media world,” she noted.
 
Essayists take turns at the microphone reading an original work before a live audience. Some stories have been previously published in magazines and newspapers while others are premiering on stage for the first time. Audience Q & A follows.

In addition to Copquin, a frequent contributor to Newsday’s lifestyle pages and the author of three books, participating writers include New York Times “Modern Love” writer and memoirist Paula Ganzi Licata of Bellmore, two-time New York Emmy award-winning writer Iyna Bort Caruso of Rockville Centre and speechwriter and essayist Robin Eileen Bernstein of Melville. 

Each event also features a rotating roster of special guest essayists. The tour has already hit Guild Hall in East Hampton in February and brought full houses to Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor, Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington and The Half King in Manhattan. 

The Roslyn museum offers a new experience for the writers, Copquin says. 

“We couldn't be more excited to be reading our works at this gorgeous Georgian-style mansion,” she said. “It's especially fitting time-wise, with the recent release of The Great Gatsby, because the grounds and structure that make up the Nassau County Museum of Art truly exemplify the Gold Coast of the late 19th century.

Sunday's performance is free with the price of museum admission ($4-$10), so come early, and enjoy the current exhibit, Abstract Expressionism Reconsidered, and the sculpture garden. 

Upcoming performances also include Cornelia Street Café in Manhattan on July 10.

More information at Facebook.com/LivingOutLoudEssays and on Twitter @EssaySlam.