Writers Read: Fin Finley, Darlene Elias, John Sheirer

Writers Read is a monthly opportunity for an audience to come and listen to local writers in an intimate environment. Each second Wednesday of the month, three writers read from their work, followed by a discussion facilitated by Lindy Whiton. These discussions have been eye opening, touching, and inspiring. Audiences have left the venue ready to write.

C. Desirée Finley (Fin) writes poetry and short fiction focusing on nature and love.
 Her work is featured in Silkworm and The Brussels Review.
 Originally from NYC, she currently resides in western Mass.

John Sheirer’s most recent book is So Many Shapes and Sizes: Stories (Small, Medium, and Large). He lives in Northampton and teaches at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, CT. johnsheirer.com

Darlene Elias is the 2025 Strawdog Emerging Writer Fellow, a 2025/26 Valley Creates Capacity Building Artist, and a recipient of 2026 Mass Cultural Council Creative Individual grant for literature. She is a storyteller with roots in the barrios of the Bronx and Holyoke. She is drawn to the quiet spaces where memory, identity, and resilience meet. Through poetry, lyrical reflection and narrative fragments, her work explores the complexity of womanhood, generational memory, and the ways we transform pain into voice. At LAVA she shares pieces of a larger story~one rooted in survival, reflection, and the courage it takes to speak our truths out loud.

For more information, email [email protected].