Southampton Writer's Conference heats up

A Writer's Summer at Stony Brook Southampton is in full swing, and readings by literary heavyweights Colson Whitehead (Sag Harbor) and Elizabeth Strout (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Olive Kitteridge") packed the house last weekend.

After a charming introduction by Melissa Bank ("The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing"), Whitehead took the stage and had the audience in stitches with his musings about how he ended up becoming a writer because of his thin wrists and delicate hands and his desire to sit all day.

And Strout was poised and elegant until one audience member asked the odd question of whether she still needed to work now that she was a successful author. After winning the Pulitzer, she said she did not. Whitehead, for his part, responded, "Well, I'm here."

Lots more exciting public events on the agenda between now and July 31, including a presentation by Alan Alda and a new play directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantello. Check out www.stonybrook.edu/writers for more information.