A Community of Stories: The Making of a Short Story Collection and Writing Your Own Story

Local author and poet Glenn Armocida recently published his first book, Tales of East and West Sparrow and Other Stories (Atmosphere Press, October 2025), a collection of Christian-themed short stories centered on fictional communities in the Pennsylvania Wilds of Northern Appalachia. In the first half of his presentation, Mr. Armocida will briefly discuss his journey in becoming a published author, offer insights in the making of the book, and he will read select passages from the collection. In the second portion of the gathering, Mr. Armocida will present his vision of the relationship between the writer, the narrator, the characters, and you, the reader. This will include a summary of the three main narrative perspectives (first-, second-, and third-person narrators), followed by a simple exercise to help you begin to write your own short story! Join us for an afternoon of lively and engaging participation in the delights of writing and reading.