The Pell Center at Salve Regina, Rhode Island Center for the Book and Ocean State Media have partnered together to bring you a “Seaside Chat” with Alison Espach on August 11, 2026, 6:30 p.m. on the Rear Lawn at Ochre Court.

Espach is the bestselling author of The Wedding People, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a Today Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick, a Barnes and Noble Book Club Pick, and a #1 Indie Next Pick. The Wedding People spent several dozen weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and will be published in over 35 countries. She is also the author of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, a Chicago Tribune and NPR “Best Book of the Year,” as well as The Adults, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Barnes and Noble Discover Pick. Her fictional audio series In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People is an Audible Original. She has written for McSweeney’s, Vogue, Outside, LitHub, Joyland and other places. She lives and teaches creative writing in Rhode Island.

Espach received her MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. She has been a writer-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation for the Arts, Millay Arts, The Wassaic Project, the Cuttyhunk Writers Residency and the San Miguel Literary Sala.

The “Seaside Chat” will be followed a cash bar reception. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

This event will be held outside on the lawn of the Ochre Court. Please bring your beach chair and/or blanket for sitting. In the event of inclement weather, this discussion will be held inside Ochre Court.