The Future Spoke. We Listened.

On Thursday, June 7, the performance space at Writers & Books came alive with the voices of 10 area high school students who shared their short works as part of the second annual Listening to the Future event. It was a wonderful evening showcasing some amazing talent. This year’s readers were nominated by their teachers in May following a call for participants, and we greatly thank them for taking the time to introduce us to their students. It was obvious from the repeated hearty applause that the large audience was liking what they were hearing, and what they were hearing were the voices of the future — voices we’ll be hearing from again down the road.

Lineup for Listening to the Future, Thursday 6/7/2018 at Writers & Books:
ImMATURE Teen — Ja’Miah Smith (School of the Arts, nominated by Marcy Gamzon)
A Cave — Isabell Moyer (Pittsford Sutherland HS, nominated by Amanda Marshall)
An excerpt from Destiny’s Assassin — Lucy Qian (Victor HS, nominated by LeeAnne Birkemeier)
Crash and Burn — Ilsa Kloiber (Victor HS, nominated by LeeAnne Birkemeier)
The Beast — Liv Davenport (Greece Odyssey Academy, nominated by Donna McLaughlin)
Delusion — Evan Kashtan (Pittsford Sutherland HS, nominated by Evvy Fanning)
Evelyn — Jacob Purdy (Victor HS, nominated by Jeremy Hawkinson)
Tainos Enchantment — Mariangelis Gonzalez (School of the Arts, nominated by Marcy Gamzon)
Miseducation — Mardasia Ashford (Pittsford Sutherland HS, nominated by George Steele)
I Am Not a Love Poet — Phoofa Walton-Carter (Greece Odyssey Academy, nominated by MaryBeth Patton)

Special Thanks To:
Sally Bittner Bonn and the Staff of Writers & Books for their invaluable assistance and for co-sponsoring the event.
Wendy Low for her nomination (who unfortunately couldn’t attend).
Martin Petrella for photographing the event.
Rebecca Haskins for making popcorn and selling T-shirts.