COME BRIGHTEN YOUR NEW YEAR ON JANUARY 25TH!

I can feel the excitement begin to build! Another  reading is coming up at the Cornelia Street Café, and I can hardly wait. I’ll be reading on Wednesday, January 25th (less than two weeks away!) with Laura Spence-Ash, and if you’re free that evening for an hour  or so, come on by to this all-fiction post-inauguration-weekend respite. You will need a respite, won’t you? And bring some friends, if you’d like. I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it!

I first became acquainted with Laura through her very fine work in One Story magazine a couple of years ago. Then, after meeting her at a gathering, I learned that she had also been to Sirenland, that magical writing workshop in Positano, Italy that I attended in 2011. She is indeed a talent, and I am happy to be sharing the stage with her very soon.

I’ll be reading short pieces from three works, first from Problems of Translation, the novel I published in April of 2015, which is becoming a hit in certain circles. (Among the 100 notable books of that year by one measure, its full title is Problems of Translation, or Charlie’s Comic, Terrifying, Romantic, Loopy Round-the-World Journey in Search of Linguistic Happiness.) Plus, there’ll be a piece from the not-yet-published novel I just completed, called The Condor’s Shadow. But wait, there’s more! As a bonus treat, there’ll be the first couple of pages of a short story I began only very recently–yielding a shocking glimpse, perhaps, into one writer’s mind, and how it (sometimes) works!

Some of my excitement stems from what Laura will be reading, which will be a surprise to me, and I’m eager to hear it. In addition to the wonderful short story mentioned above, Laura is currently working on a novel (unnamed as yet) and a collection of linked stories (ditto; she keeps her cards close to her vest). Besides that, she writes for the very well-known and respected journal Ploughshares a blog called “Fiction Responding to Fiction,” where she reveals insights into important writers’ literary relationships, two at a time. Amy Hempel and Grace Paley, for example. Or John Cheever and Raymond Carver. Or Flannery O’Conner and Alice Munro. Exciting stuff, so Laura Spence-Ash is herself a writer to watch.

So please come if you can to the Cornelia Street Café on Wednesday, January 25, from 6-7:30 pm to enjoy our program of good reading and listening. It’s at 29 Cornelia Street in the Village (between Bleecker & West 4th), and the Café’s cover is only $10 (cheap enough when you consider you get a free drink along with the reading)! Further details are available at corneliastreetcafe.com. Dress warm, but with any luck, you won’t even need snowshoes!

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