We are so excited to host an extraordinary evening with bestselling author and beloved FAWC Summer Workshop Instructor Melissa Febos and author Lydi Conklin, who’ll read from and discuss their new books. 

Melissa’s new book, THE DRY SEASON: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex, is a profound examination of relationships and self-knowledge, and of the solitude, freedoms, and feminist heroes she discovered during a year of romantic abstinence. Recounting her year of celibacy, Febos delves into the complexities of independence and the surprising pleasures of living a life on one’s own terms, unmediated by romantic pursuits. Blending a candid personal account with wide-ranging cultural history, Febos challenges conventional understandings of relationships, redefines personal freedom, and invites readers to examine their own lives anew. THE DRY SEASON casts celibacy not as a lack or deprivation, but as a powerful path toward enlightenment, and toward a deepened relationship with oneself.

 Febos will be joined by close friend and fellow writer Lydi Conklin, who will read from their new and wonderful debut novel, Songs of No Provenance, which tells the story of Joan Vole, an indie folk singer forever teetering on the edge of fame, who flees New York after committing a shocking sexual act onstage that she fears will doom her career. A propulsive character study of a flawed and fascinating artist, Songs of No Provenance explores issues of trans nonbinary identity, queer baiting and appropriation, kink, fame hunger, secrecy and survival, and the question of whether a work of art can exist separately from its artist.

There will be a Q&A with Melissa and Lydi following their reading. This event will start at 6:00 PM in the Stanley Kunitz Common Room at FAWC, and is free and open to the public.