DAMASCUS, PA— Farm Arts Collective has a new literary series as part of the 2026 season of programs in farming, art, food, and ecology. My Bookish Friends is an intimate literary series featuring book readings and in-depth conversations with authors we admire and love. On Sunday May 31 at 2 PM, award-winning author Darcey Steinke will read from her new book on the body entitled, This Is the Door: The Body, Pain, and Faith.  Local humorist and writer Bizzy Coy will read from her book entitled Personal Space. Meet two authors who embody art, the body, intellect, humor, and spirit. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can or a $10 suggested donation at the door. Address is 38 Hickory Lane, Damascus, PA 18415. More information can be found on the Farm Arts Collective website:  www.farmartscollective.org/calendar.

About the Books and Writers:

This Is the Door: The Body, Pain, and Faith, by Darcey Steinke
This memoir explores the experience of physical and spiritual pain through personal narrative, research, and interviews, examining how suffering connects to faith, the body, and the self, drawing on her own struggles with chronic back pain and the experiences of others. The book blends history, philosophy, and pop culture to investigate pain's transformative power, featuring figures like Frida Kahlo and Kurt Cobain, and exploring locations like Lourdes.

Darcey Steinke is a Brooklyn-based writer who has written five previous novels: Up Through the Water (New York Times Notable Books of the Year), Suicide Blonde, Jesus Saves, Milk, and Sister Golden Hair.  Steinke has written extensively on art and literature and has contributed to Spin Magazine. She also served as a lecturer at Princeton University, Columbia University, Barnard College, and the New School. 

Personal Space, by Bizzy Coy-- A con artist juggling motherhood. A witch sick of doing all the chores. A first date that ends in disaster. A hilarious collection of 20 bite-sized stories, as first published by The New Yorker, McSweeney's and more. With illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Lia Strasser and cover artwork and design by artist Catherine Chesters. 

Local writer Bizzy Coy is a local treasure who keeps everyone laughing. She publishes humor writing and cartoons in The New Yorker. Her short fiction appears in Salamander, Pithead Chapel, Stone Canoe, Grand Journal, Litt Magazine and The Catskiller. Recent honors include a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, MacDowell residency and Fulbright scholarship. She holds an MA in creative writing from Dublin City University and has called Sullivan County home since 2013.