Writers Lauren Acampora and Shulem Deen

Denison’s Beck Series welcomes Great Lake’s College Association (GLCA) prize winners Lauren Acampora and Shulem Deen. Acampora’s debut collection of linked stories, “The Wonder Garden,” was named a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and an Indie Next selection, and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Amazon and NPR. It won the GLCA New Writers Award and was a finalist for the New England Book Award. Lauren’s short fiction has also appeared in publications such as The Paris Review, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, New England Review, Antioch Review, and Day One. She is a graduate of Brown University and holds an master’s degree in fine arts from Brooklyn College.

Deen is the author of the GLCA New Writers award-winning memoir “All Who Go Do Not Return.” He is a former columnist for The Forward, and in 2015 was listed in the Forward50, an annual list of American Jews with outsized roles on political and social issues. His articles have appeared in The New Republic, Salon, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. He serves as a board member at Footsteps, a New York City-based organization that offers assistance and support to those who have left the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. He lives in New York City.