Future Montauk Anthology Calls For Submissions

There’s Joey “Flapjaws,” Kenny “No Neck” and Tommy “The Lep.” The sea captains, the cattle drives and the firing guns of yore.

The nicknames are tradition. The Montauk memories are beloved. And unless they’re preserved, they will soon be forgotten.

That is where editor and novelist Céline Keating and Ed Johann, who leads the Montauk Writers Group, come in. Together, they are seeking fiction, poetry and nonfiction that reflects Montauk’s landscape, nature, people, work, recreation, history and spirit of place for an anthology they aim to publish in 2016.

“We can’t let these stories disappear,” Mr. Johann said. “I came out here 30 years ago for my wife, and it was like I stepped into Cannery Row. We’d run into all these guys—Kenny “No Neck,” and Victor, who was a World War II prisoner of war—and they’d have all these stories. They were part of ‘end-of-the-line syndrome.’ They went as far as the train went, got off and found a job. Made lives for themselves.”

These are the kinds of stories Mr. Johann and Ms. Keating both seek, as well as more contemporary pieces. All submissions are due by March 30, and contributors will receive two copies of the book, a chance to participate in a reading, and the “glory” of it all, they said, by simply telling what they know of their salty home in an articulate, captivating way.

“There’s something about being at the edge of the universe—that sense of desolation, isolation and, of course, the ocean,” Ms. Keating said. “And the air, the light. It’s similar to whatever drew people to the East End visually, too. And it’s also the characters. It seems to draw unusual people—people who are just a little bit different from the norm. Maybe that’s a romantic notion, but that’s just me.”

What remains to be seen is whether Montauk will retain its charm and vibe with “the onslaught of money and artificial culture” thrown its way, Mr. Johann said, “or whether the price of land value will change it permanently.”

“We’re in the midst of that,” he continued. “It’s a good time to wonder who is ever going to write a story about Joey ‘Flapjaws.’”

For more information about the Montauk anthology, email Ed Johann at avedonia@aol.com, or Céline Keating at celine_keating@earthlink.net.