Iris Smyles News Today

Joan Baum is a recovering academic from the City University of New York, who spent 25 years teaching literature and writing. She has a long career as a critic and reviewer, covering all areas of cultural history but particularly enjoys books at the nexus of the humanities and the sciences.With an eye on reviewing fiction and nonfiction that has regional resonance for Connecticut or Long Island, Joan considers the timeliness and significance of recently published work: what these books have to sa...

Writer Iris Smyles hails from Long Island. However her scant on-line biographies identify her place of residence as, “somewhere”. That will give you a sense of her quirky and whimsical writing style. Book critic Joan Baum read her latest work, “ Droll Tales.”

From Acapulco to Red Lobster, mushrooms to Middle Eastern Studies, new short fiction puts the tensions of modern life on full display.

Springs writer and humorist Iris Smyles’s third book, “Droll Tales,” will be published next month, and to celebrate she’ll host The Droll Ball, the inaugural summer fundraiser for The Church, Sag Harbor’s new venue f