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Letter to the editor

Writers in paradise

By day, acclaimed authors teach students their craft. By night, they give readings that speak to us all.

By COLETTE BANCROFT, Times Book Editor
Published January 13, 2008

One of the most anticipated novels of 2008 is Lush Life, the latest by author and screenwriter Richard Price.

It won't be published until March, but Tampa Bay area readers can get a live preview when Price reads from the book Saturday night during the Writers in Paradise conference at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg.

Dennis Lehane, author of such bestselling novels as Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, is thrilled Price will be there, and not just because he thinks Lush Life is "a brilliant book."

Price, whose work includes the novel Clockers and the screenplay for The Color of Money, "is my primary influence," Lehane says. "He's the reason I wanted to become a writer." The two have worked together as writers for the HBO series The Wire.

Lehane, an Eckerd alumnus, is a founder and co-director of Writers in Paradise, with Sterling Watson, who directs Eckerd's creative writing program. Now in its fourth year, the conference offers an eight-day schedule of intensive workshops for writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, taught by acclaimed authors.

This year's sessions have 82 participants, Lehane says. "We pull a lot from our base, Florida, but we have people from China, Sweden, North Carolina, Maine, Wyoming, pretty much all over."

After the daytime workshops, the conference faculty will give readings in the evenings, which are free and open to the public. Price is new to the faculty this year, as is novelist and memoirist Ann Hood.

Hood's 2007 novel The Knitting Circle is based on her own experience of grieving for the death of her young daughter. "Writing this book was a very courageous thing to do," Lehane says, "and to do it with as little sentimentality as there is in this novel is pretty amazing."

Most of the conference faculty are returning from previous years, and they will be reading as well. Laura Lippman, a former newspaper reporter in Baltimore, is the author of the bestselling Tess Monaghan mystery series as well as standalone novels such as What the Dead Know.

Miami novelist and nonfiction writer Les Standiford, whose books include Bone Key and Last Train to Paradise, directs the creative writing program at Florida International University.

Former Eckerd professor Peter Meinke is a poet and fiction writer; his most recent book is a collection of short stories, Unheard Music.

Other readers will include poet Beth Ann Fennelly (Tender Hooks), novelists Tom Franklin (Smonk) and Roland Merullo (Breakfast With Buddha) and fiction writer Thisbe Nissen (Osprey Island).

Watson (Sweet Dream Baby) and Lehane will read as well. Price kicks off the readings this Saturday, and Lehane will be the other bookend on closing night, Jan. 26.

For the last several years, Lehane has been reading from a novel he's been writing for four years.

"It's not in progress anymore. It's done," he says happily. "It will be out in September.

Titled The Given Day, it will be Lehane's first novel since Shutter Island in 2003. He published a collection of short works, Coronado, in 2006.

The Given Day is a departure from his earlier novels, which were variations on the mystery-thriller form. This one is a historical epic focusing on the 1919 Boston police strike, which had a major impact on the labor movement and national politics.

"I've always been fascinated by it. It's one of those massive, seismic events that gets forgotten."

He's also enjoying the success of the second film based on one of his books, Gone Baby Gone. (Mystic River won two Oscars in 2004.) "I'm two for two so far," he says. A third novel, the dark thriller Shutter Island, begins filming in March, with Martin Scorsese directing and a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo.

But for now Lehane is focused on Writers in Paradise. "Come to these readings. Your mind will be changed. Your eyes will be opened."

Colette Bancroft can be reached at cbancroft@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8435.

Writers in Paradise author readings and signings

Each reading will be preceded by a book saleand followed by a book sale and author signing.All events take place in Miller Auditorium, EckerdCollege, 4200 54th Ave. S, St. Petersburg

Saturday: Book sale 7-7:45 p.m., reading by Richard Price 8-9, signing 9-9:45

Jan. 20: Book sale 7:30-8 p.m., reading by Beth Ann Fennelly and Sterling Watson 8-9, signing 9-9:30

Jan. 21: Book sale 7:30-8 p.m., reading by Tom Franklin and Roland Merullo 8-9, signing 9-9:30

Jan. 22: Book sale 7:30-8 p.m., reading by Peter Meinke and Thisbe Nissen 8-9, signing 9-9:30

Jan. 24: Book sale 7:30-8 p.m., reading by Ann Hood 8-9, signing 9-9:30

Jan. 25: Book sale 7:30-8 p.m., reading by Laura Lippman and Les Standiford 8-9, signing 9-9:30

Jan. 26: Book sale 7:30-8 p.m., reading by Dennis Lehane 8-9, signing 9-9:30

[Last modified January 9, 2008, 18:16:02]