Coffee with the Authors: The Letter League

Coffee With The Authors is a live, conversational interview with local and regional authors about the craft and process of writing. The 2024 series kicks off April 6, 1 am at the Glen Arbor Arts Center with Heather Spooner, owner of Ampersand Lettering Lab, an art and hand lettering business in Traverse City. Spooner will talk about The Letter League, an adult pen pal project she created to encourage writing letters by hand during the COVID pandemic. Sarah Bearup-Neal, GAAC gallery manager, leads the conversation.

The Letter League is the story of finding human connection during the pandemic. When Spooner launched the idea in April 2020, the response was immediate, and enthusiastic. In that time, Spooner has connected more than 550 letter writers from around the world with one another. The Letter League also caught the attention of Los Angeles filmmaker Michelle Boyaner of Greenie Films, and a documentary about “stories of connection in a disconnected time” was created. During Coffee With The Authors Spooner will talk about hand-written letters sent by the post office, and the documentary’s April 27, Traverse City premiere at the Dennos Museum Center.

This Coffee With The Authors interview is part of the GAAC’s By Hand project, an exploration of making and creating by hand in a time of machine dominance. The project runs March 29 – May 30. Read more about By Hand at GlenArborArt.org /EXHIBITS. Coffee With The Authors is supported by the Cottage Book Shop and the Glen Lake Community Library. It is offered without charge. The GAAC is located at 6031 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor.