Grotto Nights at the Library: A Conversation with Writers

Grotto Nights is a monthly series at the Library featuring The Writers Grotto members who will showcase and discuss their writing around a theme of their choice. This month features Eleanor Vincent, Audrey Ferber, Sabina Khan-Ibarra, and moderator Sophia Raday writing about marriage. The authors will discuss their work and take questions from the audience. 

Audrey Ferber’s essays and stories have appeared in the NY Times, LILITH Magazine, First Person Singular, New World Writing, the Cimarron Review, Best Women's Travel Writing and elsewhere. She is at work on a collection of essays about marriage and caretaking. She teaches at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Writers Grotto, of which she is a proud member.

Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a writer, poet, and teacher currently focused on completing her chapbook, New Vocabulary, and her novel, The Poppy Flower. Her work has been featured in various journals and anthologies, including Non-White and Women, Taboos and Transgressions. She’s is a member of the Writers Grotto and currently works as the Director for Rooted and Written, the only tuition free writers conference. She served as Communications Director at MuslimARC (Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative) for ten years and continues to be involved as a member. Sabina has taught Creative Writing at SFSU and is now teaching at the Grotto. She resides in Half Moon Bay, California, with her husband, two children, and two cats, Twyla and Aslan. 

Eleanor Vincent’s new memoir Disconnected: Portrait of a Neurodiverse Marriage is forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press. It tells the story of her gradual discovery that her husband was on the autism spectrum, and of how she tried to survive a loveless marriage. Her debut memoir, Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story, poignantly describes the death of her 19-year-old daughter in a horse-riding accident and the subsequent donation of Maya’s organs to strangers in need. It is a New York Times e-book bestseller and was nominated for the Independent Publisher of the Year award. Her essays have been published in several collections, including Creative Nonfiction’s anthology, At the End of Life, and This I Believe: On Motherhood. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Mills College and has taught there and at the Writers Grotto. She lives in Walnut Creek, California.

Sophia Raday is at work on a mystery featuring a group of women cops going through middlescence in the Bay Area. In the meantime, she celebrates the joy and power of women of experience through her SheFlexx social media accounts. Her book Love in Condition Yellow: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage was selected for the American Bookseller Association’s Indie Next List and as an Indie Hardcover Favorite. Sophia’s work has also appeared in various outlets including The New York Times, Slate, and Politico. 

Connect: 

Sabina Khan-Ibarra - X

Sophia Raday - Instagram

Eleanor Vincent - Instagram / Eleanor Vincent - Facebook / Eleanor Vincent - X