First Tuesdays Presents Deborah Emin

When: November 11, 2014
Where: Terazza Cafe, 40-19 Gleane St. Elmhurst, NY 11373.
Time: 7:00 — 8:30 PM (open-mic sign up at 6:30)
Cost: $5 suggested donation.
More Information: Richard Jeffrey Newman

Deborah Emin is the author of the Scags Series, a 4-volume set of first-person accounts of her eponymous character’s journey through different awakenings on the road to knowing who she is. Set in 4 seasons, in four different first-person voices and at four different ages, the stories all reveal a struggle Scags goes through to understand her life and its meaning. Deborah is also the founder/publisher of Sullivan Street Press, a small publishing company that has set itself the rather challenging task of helping the world to better itself. The press currently has 4 titles in print and 3 scheduled for this year. Here’s an excerpt from Emin’s novel, Scags at 7:

Pops pops into the kitchen, home from work in the city. He says, Scaags, and then scoops me up, lets my feet touch the ceiling, while my dress falls in my face, and down I come and I set my feet on top of his shoes and we dance that way to his place at the table. Pops sits down and I crawl onto his lap.

I love the smell of his breath—coffee, cigars and the magic of so many words that escaped from between his lips today, each of them leaving their scent in his mouth. Mmm. Yes.

I say, Pops, your breath is mine. I can hold it in my nose for a long, long time. Pops’ breath isn’t like any other adult’s. He doesn’t smell old or candied. Mama is always sucking on a mint that does not do anything to get rid of the pack of Marlboros she smokes all day, leaving them burning in the kitchen for Odessa to put out.

This event was funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc. through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.