Mission Creek Lit Crawl: BAP & Poetry magazine

Brooklyn Arts Press is collaborating with Poetry magazine for Mission Creek Festival's Lit Crawl this Friday, April 3. I'll be reading between 5–5:45 pm at NoDo Downtown along with Erika Jo Brown, Robert Fernandez, Robyn Schiff, Mary Hickman, BJ Love, and Emily Brown.

February Reading at Prairie Lights

I'm excited to read from The Story of How All Animals Are Equal & Other Tales at Prairie Lights later this month. If you're in Iowa City, come join me on Wednesday, Feb 18 at 7 pm!

August Readers in Transit

This Tuesday marks the third and final installation of August Readers in Transit, a reading series designed to take advantage of the turnover that happens in Iowa City during the month before the academic year starts. I'll be joining C.S. Ward and Sara Majka, and will be reading stories from The Story of How All Animals Are Equal & Other Tales, my book forthcoming from Brooklyn Arts Press. All this in a twilit back yard: 7 pm at 115 N. Dodge St.

Finally: 'The Taco Group' Slide Show

I created a page last year commemorating a performative reading I gave of my short story 'The Taco Group' at the Headlands Center for the Arts. I went a little batty, though, trying to sync up its slideshow, so I posted a transcript as a placeholder, then forgot about it. Well, I finally had time to struggle through iMovie and make the slideshow, as well as tidy up some of the page's design. Here's a description of the project: 

'The Taco Group' tells of infighting among the members of a sinister kaffeeklatsch, a group whose goal is to build a utopia out of the remnants of the post-functional city in which they live. As I wrote the story, I realized my aim was similar to that of my characters': I was doing a lot of scavenging in an attempt to make something perfect. I processed this a little in an artist's statement, and used recycled materials to construct slides of the utopian city's streets, as well as fixings for a taco buffet. I also letterpress printed the Taco Group's progress report. All these elements came together to form a not-quite-reading/not-quite-installation. 

Check out the updated page here. The story will be featured in my fiction collection forthcoming from Brooklyn Arts Press, so stay tuned.

Broadside with Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay is reading this Tuesday as part of Iowa City's Mission Creek Festival, along with John D'Agata and Andre Perry at Prairie Lights. I collaborated with Roxane on this broadside featuring her short story, "What Long Legs Mean," which will be available for sale at the reading. Printed using handset type at the UI Center for the Book, the broadside is printed on repurposed manila folders and posterboard. To see other broadsides I've printed, click here. The reading starts at 7 and is free.

New story in > kill author's final issue!

After three years, it's time to say goodbye to the online journal, > kill author, and I'm excited to be included in its farewell. Click here to read my very short story, "Dawn In the Afternoon," and listen to a recorded reading. The rest of the work included here is really great, so be sure to stop a second and look around!

The Taco Group now posted!

I finally posted my short story "The Taco Group," along with all its bells and whistles from a performance I gave last year at Headlands Center for the Arts. The piece tells of infighting among the members of a sinister kaffeeklatsch, a group whose goal is to build a utopia out of the remnants of the post-functional city in which they live. As I wrote the story, I realized my aim was similar to that of my characters': I was doing a lot of scavenging in an attempt to make something perfect. I processed this a little in an artist's statement, and used recycled materials to construct slides of the utopian city's streets, as well as fixings for a taco buffet. I also letterpress printed the Taco Group's progress report. All these elements came together to form a not-quite-reading/not-quite-installation. Is it something we could call a book? See for yourself!

Video from WTAW!

There is video up on Vimeo of me reading at WTAW in Sausalito last week. I read several short stories: "The Drift" (which I posted on Flash Wednesday week before last),  "The Hare" (which first appeared on BOMBlog), and "Tammy and the Amaranth" (which first appeared in The Collagist).

Reading this Saturday at SOMArts!

I'll be reading as a part of Gathering the Embers: a Día de los Muertos Tribute Show this weekend. It's a stellar lineup of writers and performers including Fredrick Cloyd, Carolina De Robertis, Jennifer Derilo, Kenji Liu, Vickie Vértiz, Amanda Vigil, Natalia Vigil, and more. It happens this Saturday, October 22, from 7-9:30 pm at SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St. San Francisco. Tickets are $5 in advance or purchase at the door.