ROSEMARY BEACH — The rain came, finally, on Friday evening. Refreshing and cool after the long dry spell. And walking through the rain and the flickering electric sunset, about 40 people gathered in the Town Hall at Rosemary Beach. Lightning clattered outside as they settled into wooden beach chairs to hear the weavers unwind their tales.
John Dufresne read from his novel “Love Warps the Mind a Little,” Lynne Barrett read from a short memoir piece (part of a series she’s working on based around memories that involve articles of clothing), and Michael Lister read from his award-winning novel “Double Exposure.”
The free event was the culminating moment for the Rosemary Beach Writers Conference, which had started on Wednesday. (Another conference is planned for September.)
John had the audience alternate laughing at his off-beat narrator’s stream of consciousness joking, or gasping at the poetic turns that took you completely by surprise. Ms. Barrett’s story of a date-that-wasn’t-really-a-date and that almost went violently wrong kept the listeners spellbound on the edges of their seats. And Michael’s colorful descriptions wrapped in terse prose placed any parent in the shoes of his protagonist.
It was also nice to meet (and put a face with the name) Malayne DeMars, with whom I had spoken on the phone and corresponded via email about the conference.
I stopped in for directions to the Town Hall at The Hidden Lantern, the new bookstore at Rosemary Beach that opened last week. Check out that site for a look at the inviting space.