Book Markers: 03.20.14

New BookHampton Book Group

    The newest of BookHampton’s locations, at 16 Hampton Road in Southampton, is now offering a lunchtime book group. Led by Mary Braverman, late of Rowdy Readers in East Hampton, it meets every other Wednesday at noon at La Parmigiana restaurant, down the street from the bookstore.  For this Wednesday, the 26th, the title is “Three Strong Women” by Marie NDiaye.

    You say you can only do weekends? Another group will gather at the store at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 30. The book up for discussion then will be Andy Weir’s “The Martian.” In either case, participants can take 15 percent off purchases at BookHampton.

Writers Conference Deadline

    A reminder for scribes: April 1 is the deadline for applications to this year’s writers and children’s literature conferences at Stony Brook Southampton. Conference dates are July 9 to July 20. Among instructors, Roger Rosenblatt (memoir), Billy Collins (poetry), and Meg Wolitzer (fiction “troubleshooting”) are back. Frederic Tuten, the author, most recently, of “Self-Portraits: Fictions,” will lead a five-day intensive course on fiction, and Patricia Marx, a contributor to The New Yorker, is offering one called “Writing Funny.” Dan (“Oswald”) Yaccarino will be one of the children’s lit participants.

    Also new this year are two “Get Your Feet Wet” options. One is for those starting out or unsure of their abilities or the direction to take with their writing; the other, “The Listener’s Pass,” is designed for literature lovers who would like to sit in on sessions but have no desire to write. Applications and more information can be found on the college’s website or by emailing [email protected].