Who gets called to be an artist?  What does the call sound like?  How do we mentor young artists, and how can adults continue to lead creative lives?  

If you’ve ever had any of these questions or are curious about the role MacDowell plays in the nurturing of artists, please come to December’s MacDowell Downtown.  This installment of the annual series will present the following four writers in a roundtable discussion on “The MacDowell Colony and the Call to Be an Artist”.  There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions, not to mention interact with the writers and browse their books afterward.  Holiday refreshments will be served; as always, MacDowell Downtown is free and open to the public. Why not take a break from your holiday shopping and join us?

Kelly Link is the author of two collections, Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners. Her stories have appeared in Conjunctions, Fence, and Best American Short Stories 2005.

Baltimore-based James Magruder is a playwright and translator who has recently begun to write fiction. His translations of Moliere, Marivaux, Lesage, Labiche, and Gozzi have been produced on Broadway and across the country. He teaches translation and adaptation at the Yale School of Drama, and his stories have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Harrington Quarterly, and Bloom. 

Thisbe Nissen is the author of two novels, Osprey Island and The Good People of New York; a story collection, Out of the Girls’ Room and into the Night; and coauthor of The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook.  A native New Yorker and a graduate of Oberlin College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Thisbe now lives, writes, teaches, gardens, and collages in Iowa City.

Lisa Shea is the author of the novel Hula, which received a Whiting Writer's Award.  Shea, who has worked primarily as a freelance journalist and adjunct teacher of creative writing, is currently at work on her second novel, Offspring.