Women of Letters (Joe’s Pub at The Public Theatre)

This monthly showcase of talented, interesting women reading letters that they have written on a theme is something that my friends and I get to as often as our calendars will allow.

This month’s theme was “A letter to my Surprise”.  Though the list of guests is available on the website, you are asked by the hostess, Sofija Stefanovic, not to record or film the readings.  This has the effect of making the couple of hundred seat Joe’s Pub take on the feeling of a girlfriend’s living room in which you are all sharing often extremely personal memories.  The women who present just happen to be sharing in beautifully literate, humorous and fantastic ways.

I will say that one of the performers, the writer Tara Clancy, with whom I was unfamiliar, was so funny that I immediately bought her memoir, The Clancys of Queens.  I devoured it within 48 hours.

It is a comfort and a joy to know that not only is the art of letter writing not lost, but it is flourishing on Lafayette Street.