Malvern Books

Join us for the inaugural event in our new Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works:

Two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

To kick things off in fine style, B. Alan Bourgeois will be reading from his novel Extinguishing the Light, and Joe Milazzo will be reading from Crepuscule w/ Nellie.

Join us for an evening with poets Paula Cisewski, Katy Chrisler, and Stephanie Goehring (pictured below, left to right).

Paula Cisewski’s second poetry collection, Ghost Fargo, was selected by Franz Wright for the Nightboat Poetry Prize. She is also the author of Upon Arrival (Black Ocean), of the chapbooks How Birds Work and Two Museums, and the co-author, with Mathias Svalina, of Or Else What Asked the Flame. Paula has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, and the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts. Her work appears regularly in literary magazines such as Conduit, A Handsome Journal, failbetter, Revolver, and REVOLUTIONesque. A poem was recently included in Privacy Policy: The Anthology of Surveillance Poetics. She teaches, both academically and privately, and curates artful literary events in the Twin Cities.

Katy Chrisler recently received her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and was a participant in the Land Arts of the American West traveling residency program. Previous poems of hers have appeared in Tin House, Poor Claudia, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and Octopus Magazine. She currently works at The Contemporary Austin as the Publications Coordinator and lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Joaquin and son, Ruby Rio.

Stephanie Goehring is co-author, with Jeff Griffin, of the chapbook I Miss You Very Much (Slim Princess Holdings) and author of the chapbook This Room Has a Ghost (dancing girl press). A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she lives in Austin, Texas.

Join us for refreshments and readings from local poets, with Raw Paw hosts Wade Martin and A.R Rogers. This month’s readers are: Carie Juettner, Jack Brannon, and Tina Posner.

Presenting W. Joe’s Poetry Corner, in which our host W. Joe Hoppe interviews a poet, who will then give a reading and answer questions from audience members. This month, Joe will play host to François Pointeau, author of the chapbook Beer Songs for the Lonely.

François Pointeau was born in Brittany, France, and moved to the US with his family at the age of ten. He started writing poems in San Francisco when he first began learning English. He has always written in English, at first to help him learn the language, later to try and figure out what was going on in his brain, and then finally to communicate small, intense narratives with the world. He first self-published Beer Songs for the Lonely in 2006. It was the bestselling book of poems at Book People for two years straight. He completely rewrote the collection in 2013-2014, and republished it in October 2014. He works as a bartender and wine dude at Whip-In in South Austin, and is the producer and host of KOOP Radio’s Writing on the Air every Wednesday from 6-7pm at 91.7FM. Pointeau lives in Austin, Texas with his dog Brutus.

The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin is a monthly get-together to dive into the depths of James Joyce’s greatest, weirdest, and most notorious masterpiece.

The process is to take turns reading aloud from the text, which allows its musicality to flow forth. Then we all discuss our interpretations and the many meanings and themes contained within the selection we’ve read.

We’ll read 2 or 3 pages of the book, depending on how many people are there and how much time we spend discussing the content.

This event is FREE and open to everyone. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Joyce or Finnegans Wake is required, just have an open mind—and be prepared to read aloud in front of strangers.

For more information, please visit the reading group’s website.

A representation of the book’s structure by Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

In association with VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities), we’re delighted to present an inclusive (mic-less) open mic for writers and musicians. Join us for this fun and friendly evening suitable for performers of all ages and abilities!

Footage from previous Lion & Pirate open mic events can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1m7v4L8.

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

Join us for an afternoon with poets D.R. Goodman, Cyrus Cassells and Lisa Huffaker.

A native of East Tennessee, D.R. Goodman now lives in Oakland, California, where she is founder and chief instructor at a martial arts school. Her poetry has appeared in such journals as Crazyhorse, Notre Dame Review, Texas Review, Cold Mountain Review, Whitefish Review, and many others; in the anthology, Sonnets: 150 Contemporary Sonnets, edited by William Baer; and now in her full-length volume, Greed: A Confession, newly released from Able Muse Press. She is also the author of The Kids’ Karate Workbook: A Take-Home Training Guide for Young Martial Artists (North Atlantic/Blue Snake Books); and an illustrated chapbook, Birds by the Bay.

Cyrus Cassells is the author of The Crossed-Out Swastika (Copper Canyon Press, 2012); More Than Peace and Cypresses (Copper Canyon Press, 2004); Beautiful Signor (Copper Canyon Press, 1997), which won the Lambda Literary Award; Soul Make a Path Through Shouting (Copper Canyon Press, 1994), which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; and The Mud Actor (Henry, Holt & Co., 1982), which was a National Poetry Series selection. Cassells is the recipient of a 1995 Pushcart Prize, the Peter I.B. Lavan Younger Poets Award, and fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He teaches poetry at the Texas State University-San Marcos for the MFA in writing program.

Since winning Southwest Review’s Morton Marr Poetry Prize in 2008, Lisa Huffaker’s poems have been published or are forthcoming in Southwest Review, Poet Lore, Measure, Southern Poetry Review, Mezzo Cammin, The Texas Observer, Able Muse, and Southern Humanities Review, which recently nominated her for the Pushcart Prize. Lisa’s primary background is classical singing; she holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory, and has sung with The Dallas Opera since 1999. She teaches creative writing at Yavneh Academy of Dallas.

Join us for an evening with writers Danielle Sellers, Greg Brownderville, and Ricardo Acevedo (below, left to right). We’ll also have live music from guitarist Christopher Petkus.

Danielle Sellers is from Key West, Florida. She has a BA in English from UT Austin, an MA from The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, and an MFA from the University of Mississippi where she held the John Grisham Poetry Fellowship. Her poems have appeared in River Styx, Subtropics, Smartish Pace, The Cimarron Review, Poet Lore, and elsewhere. Her first book, Bone Key Elegies, was published by Main Street Rag. She teaches English at Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, Texas.

In 2011 Greg Alan Brownderville published his first collection of poems, entitled Gust (Northwestern University Press/TriQuarterly), which made the Poetry Foundation’s Best-Seller List and was included among “Top Picks” by the Library Journal. In 2012 Brownderville published Deep Down in the Delta (Butler Center Books), a collection of folkloristic poems based on fieldwork he conducted in and around his home community of Pumpkin Bend, Arkansas. Deep Down also features paintings by outsider artist Billy Moore, of Memphis, Tennessee. Brownderville’s third book, a collection of poems entitled A Horse with Holes in It, will be released by LSU Press on Dave Smith’s Southern Messenger Poets series in the fall of 2016. Brownderville has been awarded prizes and fellowships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, New Millennium Writings, and the Porter Fund. Since 2012 Brownderville has been an assistant professor of English at SMU in Dallas, where he teaches creative writing, primarily poetry. He has also taught poetry workshops at Ole Miss, Hendrix College, and Lincoln University. Brownderville holds an MFA from Ole Miss.

Born of Yaqui-Mexican and Scottish decent, Ricardo Acevedo was raised in Southern California. He began writing seriously while taking course work at the San Francisco Art Institute in Performance Art, 3D Design, and Video Art. He was published in many local poetry/literary zines and performed with other authors such as Kathy Acker at San Francisco’s annual Poetry on the Water event. Ricardo moved to Austin in 1998 and established himself as a photo-based graphic artist. On the writing front, Ricardo’s poetry and essays have been published regularly in Harold McMillan’s Downtown Arts Magazine, and read often at Chicano poet Raúl R. Salinas’ Cafe Libro. His second prose collection, Sonambulo, was released by DiverseArts Press in 2003. Ricardo was published in the Texas Poetry Festival collection in 2010 and performed improvisational poetry with Austin’s Word Jazz LowStars from 1999-2013. In 2011 Ricardo published a book of his photography and prose entitled Interloper, followed by Night in 2013. He is also part of Christopher Carmona’s “Beats in Texas” project soon to be published by UT Press. Now he is hard at work on his biography and a series of Sci-Fi Noir novellas, and makes his living as a graphic artist and photographer.

Join us for the Raw Paw reading series, which celebrates the release of a new issue of their poetry imprint, Mind Maze. With refreshments and readings from local poets, and hosted by Wade Martin and A.R Rogers.

This fifth Mind Maze poetry chapbook release will be a mystic, animated, and pondering collection from poetry faun and people connector Montsho Jarreau Thoth. This collection includes new poems written between his chemotherapy treatments. All profit from sales of this Mind Maze will go to the necessary cost of keeping this Austin treasure alive and writing. Joining Montsho on our stage will be Ash Smith and Joe Brundidge/Element615.

(And if you’d like, check out these other opportunities to help.)

Raw Paw was founded in Austin, Texas, in 2010. Their new poetry title, Mind Maze, is released every month and showcases twenty poems by one of Austin’s best—all wrapped in a patterned, screen-printed cover designed by Nicole Carleton.

Join us for the second event in our Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works: two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

This month Ernie Wood will read from his novel One Red Thread, “a tale of time travel and its consequences,” and Howard A. Schwartz will read from his novel Flight of the Crow.

A native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Ernie Wood received his AB in English Literature from Hamilton College in New York, returned to his home state to work in newspaper and magazine journalism, and arrived in Austin in 1984. Over a long career, he has been an award-winning writer of non-fiction books, documentary film scripts, advertising and journalism, which he has taught at Austin Community College. One Red Thread is his first novel. Writing in the Austin American-Statesman, Charles Ealy said of the book: “Wood has an easy style and knows how to unravel a complicated tale that keeps your interest.”

Howard A. Schwartz was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota and worked in real estate for thirty-one years. He now enjoys a second career as a writer and lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Margaret, and fox terrier Bailey. Flight of the Crow is his first published novel. He’s currently working on the sequel and it should be published sometime in 2015.

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin is a monthly get-together to dive into the depths of James Joyce’s greatest, weirdest, and most notorious masterpiece.

The process is to take turns reading aloud from the text, which allows its musicality to flow forth. Then we all discuss our interpretations and the many meanings and themes contained within the selection we’ve read.

We’ll read 2 or 3 pages of the book, depending on how many people are there and how much time we spend discussing the content.

This event is FREE and open to everyone. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Joyce or Finnegans Wake is required, just have an open mind—and be prepared to read aloud in front of strangers.

For more information, please visit the reading group’s website.

A representation of the book’s structure by Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Join Anthony Carson, Clyde Sunrise, and Fritz for an evening of poetry and meditation, accompanied by atmospheric guitar music. Everyone is welcome for this hour of poetic relaxation and contemplation!

Join the Fun Party crew for a reading with Noah Eli Gordon, Lisa L. Moore and Ryan Bender-Murphy (below, left to right).

Noah Eli Gordon‘s most recent book is The Word KINGDOM in the Word Kingdom, published by Brooklyn Arts Press in early 2015. Other recent titles include The Year of the Rooster (Ahsahta Press, 2013), The Source (Futurepoem, 2011), and Novel Pictorial Noise (Harper Perennial, 2007), which was selected by John Ashbery for the National Poetry Series and subsequently chosen for the San Francisco State Poetry Center Book Award. An advocate of small press culture, he co-founded (with Joshua Marie Wilkinson) Letter Machine Editions, penned a column for five years on chapbooks for Rain Taxi: review of books, ran Braincase Press, was head reviews editor for The Volta, and co-founded the little magazine Baffling Combustions. His essays, reviews, creative nonfiction, criticism, and poetry appear widely, including journals such as Bookforum, Seneca Review, Boston Review, Fence, Hambone, and in many anthologies. He currently lives in Denver with his boo Sommer Browning.

Lisa L. Moore is professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Her writing has been awarded the Lambda Literary Foundation Award, the Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award, and the Art/Lines Juried Poetry Prize, and recognized as a Split This Rock Poem of the Week. She is the author or editor of four scholarly books and her poems have appeared in journals and anthologies including Ostrich Review, Lavender Review, Sinister Wisdom, and Codex Journal. She is a member of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

Ryan Bender-Murphy is the author of First Man on Mars (Phantom Limb Press, 2013). His poems have also appeared in Better, Everyday Genius, FLAG+VOID, Front Porch, Phantom Limb, Spork, and other mysterious places. He is the editor-in-chief of Hardly Doughnuts, a new literary journal that aims to showcase challenging and experimental narrative poetry and micro fiction.

Hosted by Lindsay DeWitt, The Modern Library Reading Group is a book club organized around the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Usually, the book we read will be the lowest-numbered book that no one in the group has read. Our first book will be I, Claudius by Robert Graves, #14 on the list. 

Barring any unforeseen scheduling conflicts, The Modern Library Reading Group will meet every fourth Sunday at 2pm. All are welcome, though you are encouraged to finish the chosen book prior to the meeting.

Join us for an evening with writer Christine Fischer Guy, who will be reading from her recently released debut novel, The Umbrella Mender. We’ll start the night off in fine style with live music from Harold Whit Williams & Jon Bookout.

Christine Fischer Guy’s fiction has appeared in journals across Canada and has been nominated for the Writer’s Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. Her debut novel, The Umbrella Mender, was published in September 2014. She’s a fiction critic for the Globe and Mail, contributes to The Millions, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Ryeberg, and teaches creative writing at the School for Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto. She is also an award-winning journalist. She has lived and worked in London, England, and now lives in Toronto.

Join us for a reading from author Valentin Sandoval’s new poetic novel, SOUTH SUN RISES. Valentin will be joined by writer Daniel Apodaca.

Valentin Sandoval hails from the desert metroplex of El Paso, Texas. His novel, SOUTH SUN RISES, is a poetic narrative of a pursuit of the American dream on one of the world’s most compelling and dangerous international borders, El Paso/Juarez. Leaving behind her life in Juarez, Sandoval’s mother finds herself isolated and alone in the gritty projects of El Paso. Most days, the hardship of working hard hours while being both the mother and father to four children, she’d find herself fending off the dangers of the projects, with its predators, drug dealers, and junkies. She was resilient enough to search for the best setting for her to raise her children. Through tremendous persistence and effort, she managed to become a US citizen in the midst of raising her children on her own. The book adopts poetics as a form of familial understanding, a surreal kind of folklore in order for the writer to understand the life cycle in which he finds himself.

Jacob Daniel Apodaca is an environmentalist who has been monitoring the quality of the water in the Colorado River for the past 25 years for the City of Austin and the Lower Colorado River Authority. His avocations are writing, playing guitar, applying stucco, creating mosaics, and making masks. He was born in El Paso, Texas in 1964. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and anthropology from Baylor University in 1986 and a master’s degree in anthropology and Latin American Studies from The University of Texas at Austin in 1991. Apodaca hosted a monthly poetry open mike for Raúl Salinas at Resistencia Bookstore on East 6^th Street in Austin, Texas from 1989 to 1992. He is currently working on a novel titled Fire: La Lumbre Adentro, and he continues to write poetry.

Presenting W. Joe’s Poetry Corner, in which our host W. Joe Hoppe interviews a poet, who will then give a reading and answer questions from audience members. This month’s guest is Ash Smith.

Ash Smith is the author of the chapbooks Water Shed (Dos Press), Come Such Frequency (Dusie), and various other publications and ephemera. She was, until recently, a managing editor for the small press and journal Little Red Leaves. She is working on a collection called Pigeon of Tears and tumbles about politics of sound and pop cultural depictions of decapitation at Opened By Customs.

Join us for an evening with Monofonus Press and William Z. Saunders, Grant Cross, Karen Davidson, and Morgan Coy (below, left to right). William will be launching his new memoir, Bad Jobs III.

William Z. Saunders is a writer. His material is words, not just the sounds and meanings, but their layers, values; social, philosophical, psychological. It looks/sounds simple enough, but it is freighted. Speed-read at your own risk.

Grant Cross writes haiku to make sense of the madness He loves swimming best arrived in Texas day after his first birthday born in Illinois grew up in the burbs moved to the Northwest, moved back will die in the sky writes to stay alive works only when he has to wiggles & wiggles

Karen Davidson holds an MFA from The University of Texas at Austin where she was a James A. Michener fellow in Screenwriting and Fiction. Through her work as a screenwriter, she has garnered numerous writing awards including selection as an Emerging Narratives finalist at the IFP Market in NYC. She is currently at work on her first novel.

Morgan Coy is a writer, musician, and founder of the multi-media imprint Monofonus Press. He wrote the Shadow Healer graphic novel with Karen Davidson and directed the short movies that act as dreamy prequels to the novel. He lives in Austin with his family.

In association with VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities), we’re delighted to present an inclusive (mic-less) open mic for writers and musicians. Join us in celebrating the first anniversary of our fun and friendly open mic!

Footage from previous Lion & Pirate open mic events can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1m7v4L8.

Join us for an afternoon with Scott Wiggerman, Paul Licce, and Joe Blanda. We’ll be launching Scott’s new poetry collection, Leaf and Beak: Sonnets; Paul will be sharing his Mueller Lake photography; and Joe will get the event off to a great start with live guitar music.

Most mornings for the past decade, Scott Wiggerman has walked the trails at Mueller Lake Park, an urban space created on land that once held the city’s airport. Awake to the landscape as he walked, Wiggerman stopped from time to time and jotted a word or phrase for a poem that would come later. Leaf and Beak is the product of these walks, of the poet’s ever watchful eye, of the discipline he learned mastering the sonnet. 

Scott Wiggerman is the author of three books of poetry: Leaf and Beak: Sonnets; Presence; and Vegetables and Other Relationships. He is the editor of several volumes, including Wingbeats: Exercises & Practice in Poetry; Lifting the Sky: Southwestern Haiku & Haiga; and the new Wingbeats II. Recent poems have appeared in Decades Review, The Road Not Taken, Pinyon Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, and the anthologies This Assignment Is So Gay and Forgetting Home: Poems about Alzheimer’s. He is chief editor for Dos Gatos Press in Austin, Texas, publisher of the Texas Poetry Calendar, now in its eighteenth year.

In 1967 Paul Licce got a Polaroid Swinger for an eighth-grade graduation gift. Ever since then he’s been hooked on looking at the natural world through the lens of a camera. In April Paul created a photography exhibit at Cement Loop entitled “Mueller Fog.” During the 2014 East Austin Studio Tour, Paul exhibited a series of photographs entitled “Summer Dragons”—a set of dragonfly photographs taken at Mueller Lake Park. Paul completely understands Scott Wiggerman’s fascination with the park at Mueller.

Joe Blanda makes a living editing technical stuff and playing music, both as a solo artist and with the trio Folkwine. His poems have appeared in various regional publications such as the Texas Poetry Calendar, Borderlands, and The Enigmatist as well as the recent anthology Lifting the Sky: Southwestern Haiku & Haiga.

Join us for an evening with poet Laurie Saurborn Young, who will be launching her new collection, Industry of Brief Distraction (Saturnalia Books).

Laurie Saurborn Young is the author of the poetry collections Carnavoria (H_NGM_N BKS) and Industry of Brief Distraction, as well as a chapbook, Patriot (Forklift, Ink.). Her poems, fiction, essays, reviews and photographs have appeared in such publications as American Microreviews & Interviews, Denver Quarterly, jubilat, The American Reader, The Rumpus, and Tupelo Quarterly. A 2015 NEA Creative Writing Fellowship recipient, she teaches creative writing at UT Austin.

Join us for the Raw Paw reading series, which celebrates the release of a new issue of their poetry imprint, Mind Maze.

This month’s title is Birds and Flowers by John Herndon. The title refers to a genre of Chinese paintings which actually includes fish and insects and is closely associated with Buddhism. In the current atmosphere, holding a mirror up to nature is a subversive act. With readings from John Herndon, Charles Darnell, and Ejede Okogbo, and hosted by Wade Martin and A.R Rogers.

Raw Paw was founded in Austin, Texas, in 2010. Their new poetry title, Mind Maze, is released every month and showcases twenty poems by one of Austin’s best—all wrapped in a patterned, screen-printed cover designed by Nicole Carleton.

Join us for the third event in our Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works: two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

This month Thomas McNeely will read from Ghost Horse, his debut novel, which Library Journal describes as “sensitive, beautiful, and ominous throughout … as if Cormac McCarthy and Denis Johnson teamed up to write a 1970s Texas YA novel that went off the rails somewhere—in a very, very good way.” And Mike Freedman will read from his debut novel School Board, a “darkly comic and charming as heck” allegory.

A former Wallace Stegner and National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, Thomas H. McNeely has published fiction in the Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, and The Virginia Quarterly Review, and non-fiction in Ninth Letter; his stories have been included in textbooks and anthologies including What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers, and Best of the South: Stories from the Second Decade of New Stories from the South, and shortlisted for the Pushcart, O. Henry, and Best American Short Stories collections. He teaches in the Stanford Online Writing Studio and the Emerson College Honors Program, and lives near Boston with his wife and daughter.

Mike Freedman lives in Houston, where he was born and raised. Upon graduating from Tulane University, Freedman volunteered for the Army and served in the Special Forces as a Green Beret. He graduated from the Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business in 2014. In his first novel, School Board, a rabble-rousing high school senior class president takes on the school board incumbent, a senior executive at an Enron-like company. Mike is currently working on his second novel.

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

Join us for an evening with writer Dave Oliphant, who will be reading from his new poetry collection, The Cowtown Circle (Alamo Bay Press). Jazz guitarist Margaret Slovak will open the night with live music.

Dave Oliphant was born in 1939 in Fort Worth, Texas. Host Publications has published two of his 13 collections of poetry, Memories of Texas Towns & Cities (2000) and Backtracking (2004). His Maria’s Poems (1987) won an Austin Book Award. Host has also published three books that he translated from the Spanish: Enrique Lihn’s Figures of Speech (1999); Oliver Welden’s Love Hound (2006), winner of best book of poetry at the 2007 New York Book Festival; and Nicanor Parra’s After-Dinner Declarations (2009), winner of the 2011 translation award from the Texas Institute of Letters. KD: A Jazz Biography, his verse biography of Texas trumpeter Kenny Dorham, was published in 2012 by Wings Press, and The Pilgrimage: Selected Poems, 1962-2012 appeared from Lamar University Press in 2013. His latest collection, The Cowtown Circle, was published in 2014 by Alamo Bay Press. He was with the University of Texas at Austin for 30 years, as an editor and a senior lecturer. He and his wife Maria live in Cedar Park.

Join us for an evening with writers Layne Ransom, Gail Aronson, and JD Scott (below, left to right).

Layne Ransom continues to exist. She has an online chapbook out on H_NGM_N and is a poetry MFA candidate in the New Writers Project. She is an aspiring moon princess and loves Sting’s solo career. Those are probably related somehow.

Gail Aronson is a fiction editor for Omnidawn Publishing. She lives in Tuscaloosa, where she is an MFA candidate at the University of Alabama. She is searching for the best waffle recipe and is taking suggestions.

JD Scott is the author of Night Errands (YellowJacket Press, 2012) and FUNERALS & THRONES (Birds of Lace Press, 2013). He has work forthcoming in Best American Experimental Writing 2015.

The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin is a monthly get-together to dive into the depths of James Joyce’s greatest, weirdest, and most notorious masterpiece.

The process is to take turns reading aloud from the text, which allows its musicality to flow forth. Then we all discuss our interpretations and the many meanings and themes contained within the selection we’ve read.

We’ll read 2 or 3 pages of the book, depending on how many people are there and how much time we spend discussing the content.

This event is FREE and open to everyone. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Joyce or Finnegans Wake is required, just have an open mind—and be prepared to read aloud in front of strangers.

For more information, please visit the reading group’s website.

A representation of the book’s structure by Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Join us for an evening with poet and video artist Steve Roggenbuck. Steve will be celebrating the release of his new book of stories, and will be joined on our stage by readers/performers Lizzy Ball, Wallace Barker, Rachel Bell, Chris Dankland, Lesley Dixon, Michael Gomez, No Glykon, Davis Land, Oliver Mol, and Pepito Wheezy.

Steve Roggenbuck is a poet and video artist whose work explores the new forms that literature and humor might take on the Internet. His work has been covered by the New York Times, Gawker, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, NPR, The Fader, and The New Yorker. His videos are currently on exhibit in the New Museum’s 2015 Triennial. He has published five collections of writing, and he is the founder of Boost House, a small press and co-op house currently located in Tucson, Arizona.

In association with VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities), we’re delighted to present an inclusive (mic-less) open mic for writers and musicians. Join us for this fun and friendly afternoon suitable for performers of all ages and abilities!

Footage from previous Lion & Pirate open mic events can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1m7v4L8.

Presenting W. Joe’s Poetry Corner, in which our host W. Joe Hoppe interviews a poet, who will then give a reading and answer questions from audience members. This month’s guest is David Jewell.

David Jewell has been living in Austin and doing poetry shows for about thirty years. He has published books, performed in multi-media shows, opened for Laurie Anderson at the Paramount Theater, appeared in a movie called Waking Life, and had a poem appear in a movie called Before Sunrise. Both movies were directed by Richard Linklater. Basically, David Jewell is very grateful to be here right now, exploring this mystery of the mysteriousness of everything.

Join us in celebrating the release of Ken Fontenot’s fourth book of poems, Just A Trace of Moon (Pinyon Publishing).

Ken Fontenot received an MA in German Language and Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. During the school year 1986-87 he was awarded a DAAD fellowship to study in Freiburg, Germany. Author of the novel For Mr. Raindrinker set in 1970s New Orleans and published by Slough Press, he also published three books of poems, the second of which won the Austin Book Award, the third In a Kingdom of Birds having won the 2013 Texas Institute of Letters award for best poetry book in Texas. His translations of contemporary poems from the German have appeared widely. He has recently translated a novel from the German writer Wilhelm Genazino called Women Softly Singing which is currently seeking a publisher. A native New Orleanian, he lives and works in Austin, Texas.

Hosted by Lindsay DeWitt, The Modern Library Reading Group is a book club organized around the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Usually, the book we read will be the lowest-numbered book that no one in the group has read. This month we will be reading and discussing The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, #17 on the list.

Barring any unforeseen scheduling conflicts, The Modern Library Reading Group will meet every fourth Sunday at 1pm. All are welcome, though you are encouraged to finish the chosen book prior to the meeting.

Join us for an evening with David Abel and David Longoria. David A. will perform a kind of hybrid reading, which comes out of such traditions as concrete poetry, sound poetry, and minimalist music, and which involves performative poetic pieces, some entirely aural, as well as short projections.

David Abel is the proprietor of Passages Bookshop, which has just moved into new quarters in the Towne Storage Building in Portland’s Central Eastside. At the same location, he co-curates monthly exhibitions at The Gallery with Adam Davis and Kate Schaefer of Division Leap, and offers editorial services and teaches writing through the Text Garage. His recent books of poems include Float (Chax Press), a collection of collage texts spanning twenty-five years; Tether (Barebone books), a chapbook of poems; and Carrier (c_L Books), a hypergraphic visual sequence. He is also the author of many artist’s books, most recently While You Were In (disposable books) and dual coup (press-press-pull). With Sam Lohmann, he publishes the Airfoil chapbook series, and from 2002–12 he published twenty-four issues of the free broadside series Envelope. Over the past decade he has devised more than thirty performance, film, theater, and intermedia projects, both solo and with a wide range of collaborators; he also organized the exhibitions Chax Press: Publishing Poetics for PNCA and Object Poems for 23 Sandy Gallery. He is a founding member of the Spare Room reading series, now in its thirteenth year, and an inaugural Research Fellow of the Center for Art + Environment of the Nevada Museum of Art. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

David Longoria was born in Houston, Texas. He is a singer, songwriter, and poet living in Austin, Texas. Influenced by the songs of Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Hank Williams, etc., Longoria plays guitar and harmonica. In 2002 Longoria formed The Black, a country rock band performing with as few as two and as many as ten members. He has performed or toured with the Trail of Dead, Yo La Tengo, James Hand, Deertick, Fiery Furnaces, Joe Ely, Shiva’s Headband, The Sword, and Voxtrot.

Join us for an evening of speculative fiction (both science fiction and fantasy) with Eugene Fischer, Janalyn Guo, and Jessica Reisman. Eugene Fischer will be reading from his novella The New Mother.

Eugene Fischer is a Texas-native science fiction writer whose work focuses on how biological and technological factors influence social and self-definition. He graduated from Trinity University with a B.S. in Physics, then studied at the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop in San Diego. Most recently he was a Teaching-Writing Fellow and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he earned his MFA and developed an undergraduate curriculum for science fiction writing. A recently arrived Austin resident, he spends his days working on the novel sequel to his Asimov’s cover story novella, The New Mother.

Janalyn Guo grew up in China, Hawaii, and Houston, and currently lives in Austin, Texas. Her fiction has appeared in Interfictions, The Bat City Review, Birkensnake, Lit, Tarpaulin Sky, and other places. If she were to think really hard about it, her writings often feature slivers of displacement psychology, robotic devices, dogs in cones, and hair. But ultimately, her stories are more like little markers of time and space. She received a BA in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA in Literary Arts at Brown University, where she taught fiction courses and walked with many dogs. Nowadays, she splits her time between Denton and Austin for work and reads lots of comics.

Jessica Reisman’s stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, with work recently in Phantom Drift and the anthology Rayguns Over Texas. She has stories upcoming in PS Publishing’s PostScripts and the anthology 100 Lightnings. Her first novel, The Z Radiant, described as “thinking reader’s sci-fi,” was published by Five Star Speculative Fiction.

Join us for the Raw Paw reading series, which celebrates the release of a new issue of their poetry imprint, Mind Maze.

Raw Paw was founded in Austin, Texas, in 2010. Their new poetry title, Mind Maze, is released every month and showcases twenty poems by one of Austin’s best—all wrapped in a patterned, screen-printed cover designed by Nicole Carleton.

Join us for the fourth event in our Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works: two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

This month Drew Hayes will read from The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant, the first novel in a planned trilogy, and David Heymann will read from his debut novel My Beautiful City Austin, a “bildungsroman about a young architect in Austin.”

Drew Hayes is an author from Texas who has written several books and found the gumption to publish a few (so far). He graduated from Texas Tech with a B.A. in English, because evidently he’s not familiar with what the term “employable” means. Drew has been called one of the most profound, prolific, and talented authors of his generation, but a table full of drunks will say almost anything when offered a round of free shots. Drew feels kind of like a D-bag writing about himself in the third person like this. He does appreciate that you’re still reading, though. Drew would like to sit down and have a beer with you. Or a cocktail. He’s not here to judge your preferences. Drew is terrible at being serious, and has no real idea what a snippet biography is meant to convey anyway. Drew thinks you are awesome just the way you are. That part, he meant. Drew is off to go high-five random people, because who doesn’t love a good high-five? No one, that’s who.

David Heymann is an architect, contributing writer for Places Journal, and a University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Professor. He is interested in what people want from nature. Heymann has been a writer in residence at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Dora Maar House, the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center, and the Bogliasco Foundation Liguria Study Center; a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome; and a participant in The Arctic Circle program. His architectural work has been variously published and recognized with design honors, including selection for Emerging Voices by the Architectural League of New York.

An inclusive open mic presented by VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities). Join us for a unique open mic that is open to people with and without disabilities. We welcome writers, acoustic musicians, dancers, and performers of all kinds. Our focus this month is poetry as we are included in the Austin International Poetry Festival. So bring your own poetry to read, or choose a selection from our hosts at Malvern Books.

Footage from previous Lion & Pirate open mic events can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1m7v4L8.

Join us in celebrating the winners of the Texas Association of Authors’ fourth annual Book Awards Contest. We’ll have readings and book signings with the winners, including:

Andrea Stehle – Gods of Arcadia – Best Fantasy Sci/Fi Fiction
David Alkek – The Doorway – Best General Poetry
Kimberly E. M. Beasley – Revelations of My Heart – Best Spiritual Poetry
Jan Sikes – The Convict and the Rose – Best Biography Fiction
Maryann Miller – Doubletake – Best Mystery Fiction
Mary B Stafford – A Wasp in the Fig Tree – Best Historical Fiction
RC Knipstein – Paradise Forbidden – Best General Fiction
Art Anthony – Return to Sulphur River – Best Western Fiction
J.C. Hulsey – The Traveler Series (Angel Falls, Texas) – Best Western Series Fiction
Jeffery Allen Mays – The Former Hero – Best Suspense/Thriller Fiction

Join us for an evening with author Douglas Trevor, who will be reading from his new novel, Girls I Know.

Douglas Trevor is the author of the novel Girls I Know (SixOneSeven Books), which won the 2013 Balcones Fiction Prize. He is also the author of the short story collection The Thin Tear in the Fabric of Space (University of Iowa Press, 2005). Thin Tear won the 2005 Iowa Short Fiction Award and was a finalist for the 2006 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for First Fiction. His short fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, Glimmer Train, Epoch, Black Warrior Review, The New England Review, and about a dozen other literary magazines. He lives in Ann Arbor, where he is an Associate Professor of Renaissance Literature and Creative Writing in the English Department at the University of Michigan.

The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin is a monthly get-together to dive into the depths of James Joyce’s greatest, weirdest, and most notorious masterpiece.

The process is to take turns reading aloud from the text, which allows its musicality to flow forth. Then we all discuss our interpretations and the many meanings and themes contained within the selection we’ve read.

We’ll read 2 or 3 pages of the book, depending on how many people are there and how much time we spend discussing the content.

This event is FREE and open to everyone. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Joyce or Finnegans Wake is required, just have an open mind—and be prepared to read aloud in front of strangers.

For more information, please visit the reading group’s website.

A representation of the book’s structure by Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

Join us for a bilingual reading and discussion with Ecuadorian poet Santiago Vizcaíno and translator Alexis Levitin (pictured together below, with Vizcaíno on the right).

They’ll be discussing Vizcaíno’s first collection, Devastación en la tarde (winner of the Premio Proyectos Literarios Nacionales of the Ministerio de Cultura of Ecuador in 2008), which has been translated by Alexis Levitin and will be published bilingually in 2015 as Destruction in the Afternoon (Lavender Ink/Dialogos Books).

Translation is like all communication, an act of faith. One hopes and believes that one understands the original writer. One hopes and believes that someone will understand one’s translation. And one hopes that both original and translation resonate with a shared feeling, a shared vision of the human condition. —Alexis Levitin

Join us for a reading and celebration as participants of the Free Minds writing workshop and students of the Class of 2015 share their original works of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction.

Members of the Free Minds writing workshop meet over the course of 8 weeks to produce and share writing in a supportive group environment. These workshops are founded on the principle that each person has a unique and powerful voice which deserves to be heard. Our spring workshop has been led by Free Minds Director Vivé Griffith, poet and graduate of UT’s Michener Center for writers. Students in the Free Minds Class of 2015 will share excerpts from personal narratives, developed with guidance from Charlotte Gullick, creative writing chair at ACC. All are welcome to attend!

Free Minds is a collaboration between Foundation Communities, UT Austin, and ACC which offers educational and creative opportunities to adults who have faced barriers to higher education. To learn more about our free community writing workshops or our two-semester course in humanities, visit Free Minds Austin or call 512.610.7961.

We’re celebrating National Poetry Month with a very special edition of W. Joe’s Poetry Corner… it’s poetry karaoke time!

Here’s how poetry karaoke works: you roll a lettered die and then select a poem by a poet whose last name starts with the letter the die landed on—and then you read this poem aloud for everyone to enjoy! Poems can be chosen from a book on our shelves, or from one of the anthologies we’ll provide.

Everyone is welcome to take part, but please note that participants can’t read their own poetry—poetry karaoke is all about introducing people to the poems and poets that have inspired you.

Join us for an evening with writers Daniel Wolff and Bob Ayres, with live music from acclaimed guitarist David Pulkingham. Daniel will be introducing his new poetry collection, The Names of Birds, a field guide to perception that explores how we see the natural world. Singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo will also be a guest reader at this event!

Daniel Wolff has published numerous well-received non-fiction books, including a national bestseller that won the Ralph J. Gleason Award for the best music book in 1985. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2003 and was named Literary Artist of 2013 for Rockland County, New York. He has also collaborated on documentary films with Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs), pop songs, and performance pieces. He has published poetry in The Paris Review, Partisan Review, and Three Penny Review, among others.

“Traveling the seasons with Daniel Wolff’s stunning poetry collection is indeed a great gift. Big questions collide with nature’s majesty here, moving us closer to see not just ‘how the nest is attached to the tree’ but how we are attached (or dis-attached) to ourselves. The narrator of the poem ‘Eastern Screech-Owl’ declares that he is not an ancient poet, but there is so much heart and Art in these pages to show that neither he nor Wolff have to be. We are more than grateful for all they have already offered.” —Edwidge Danticat

Robert A. Ayres is the author of Shadow of Wings, a chapbook published by Main Street Rag Press. Ayres has published poems in Laurel Review, Marlboro Review, and Southwestern American Literature, among other magazines. Anthology publications include The Four Way Reader 2, Is This Forever or What?, and Urban Nature. He was the winner of the 2013 Littoral Press Broadside Contest. His essay “The Devices and Desires of Our Own Hearts: Reflections on Blessing and Curse in the Psalms of Ascent” appeared in Poets on the Psalms, published by Trinity University Press. Ayres received his MFA from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. A native of San Antonio, he has lived in Austin since 1985.

From 2002-2012 David Pulkingham toured internationally as the right hand man of the famed Texas troubadour, Alejandro Escovedo. He was also the musical director of the Alejandro Escovedo Orchestra. This lead him to performances on such stages as Carnegie Hall and to share the stage with such icons as Bruce Springsteen. In December 2012 he was asked to be the bandleader and guitarist for two shows with Robert Plant and Patty Griffin, and went on to tour with Patty Griffin in 2013. In 2011 he released a solo instrumental album entitled David Pulkingham Plays Guitar. In 2012 he released a 5-song EP of originals and in 2014 he released a third volume of David Pulkingham Plays Guitar. David currently tours with Patty Griffin and plays internationally under his own name.

Join us for an evening with poets Lucas Jacob and Michael Anania. Lucas will be releasing his debut chapbook, A Hole in the Light (Anchor & Plume Press).

Lucas Jacob has had work in several dozen journals, including Southwest Review, Barrow Street, Chautauqua and Anchor & Plume’s Kindred. He teaches writing and administers readings and workshop events for young writers at Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, Texas.

Michael Anania is a poet, essayist, and fiction writer. His published work includes twelve collections of poetry, among them Selected Poems (l994), In Natural Light (1999), Once Again, Flowered (2001) and Heat Lines (2006). A new collection, Continuous Showings, is due out this year. His poetry is widely anthologized and has been translated into Italian, German, French, Spanish and Czech. He has also published a novel, The Red Menace, and a collection of essays, In Plain Sight. Anania was poetry editor of Audit, a quarterly, founder and co-editor of Audit/Poetry, poetry editor of Partisan Review, a contributing editor to Tri-Quarterly, and poetry and literary editor of The Swallow Press. He also served as a panelist for the NEA, the NEH and the Illinois Arts Council. Anania has taught at SUNY at Buffalo, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago, and is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He lives in Austin, Texas and on Lake Michigan.

Hosted by Lindsay DeWitt, The Modern Library Reading Group is a book club organized around the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Usually, the book we read will be the lowest-numbered book that no one in the group has read. This month we will be reading and discussing Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, #19 on the list.

Barring any unforeseen scheduling conflicts, The Modern Library Reading Group will meet every fourth Sunday at 1pm. All are welcome, though you are encouraged to finish the chosen book prior to the meeting.

Join us for an afternoon with cartoonist, artist, and activist Issa Nyaphaga. Issa will be discussing his latest collection of political cartoons, Art Stronger Than Hate (Alamo Bay Press). And we’ll get the afternoon off to a lively start with Mae Stoll and DrumForFun, a group of hand drummers who play and celebrate West African rhythms on traditional West African instruments.

Issa Nyaphaga is a renowned artist, activist, and educator who addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier this year on the subject of freedom of artistic expression. After exile from his native country of Cameroon, he lived in Paris for ten years, where he worked at Charlie Hebdo. He now lives in Santa Fe, teaching at the community college and the Tarnoff Art Center.

Join us for an end-of-semester celebration hosted by Pterodáctilo, the bilingual journal and blog run by graduate students in the department of Spanish and Portuguese. The event, in collaboration with Teatro Taburete, will feature poetry and monologues, and will be in English and Spanish. Tamales will be provided.

The current lineup includes:

Teatro Taburete
Marilén Loyola
Ignacio Carvajal Regidor
Arno Argueta

Join us for a reading from poet Dr. Sybil Pittman Estess, who will be introducing her latest collection, Like That, published by Alamo Bay Press.

Poet Dr. Sybil Pittman Estess was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and has degrees from Baylor University, the University of Kentucky, and Syracuse University. She is the author of five books of poetry: Maneuvers; Labyrinth; Seeing the Desert Green; Blue, Candled in January Sun; and her most recent work, Like That. She has also written a collection of criticism on Elizabeth Bishop, Elizabeth Bishop and Her Art, and has co-written a multi-genre creative writing textbook, In a Field of Words. She has published in over 150 literary critical essays, reviews, and editorials in journals, magazines, and newspapers including Paris Review, The Texas Review, descant, Concho River Review, Louisiana Literature, Shenandoah, Borderlands, Southern Poetry Review, The Southern Review, Manhattan Review, The Mississippi Review, The Jewish Herald Voice, and The Houston Chronicle. Estess has lived in Houston with her spouse, Dr. Ted L. Estess, for thirty-seven years. She is the mother of one son, Benjamin Barrett, and the grandmother of two granddaughters, Himma Lynn Estess and Zollie Be Estess, both of whose mother is Briana Jane Bassler.

Join us for a reading to celebrate the launch of the latest issue of Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review! The keynote poet is Celeste Guzman Mendoza, author of Beneath the Halo (Wings Press, 2013). This new issue also includes a special section by the CantoMundo Fellows.

An engaging photography series, ‘Wonder World’ by Rebecca Dietz, is showcased in Issue 42 and is on exhibit at Malvern Books from April 25th-May 9th.

Borderlands is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.

Join us for a reading with writers Santiago Vaquera-Vásquez and Ire’ne Lara Silva. Santiago will be introducing One Day I’ll Tell You the Things I’ve Seen, his new short story collection that explores Chicano/a and migrant identity.

Santiago Vaquera-Vásquez is also the author of Algún día te cuento las cosas que he visto and Luego el silencio. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico.

ire’ne lara silva is the author of furia (poetry, Mouthfeel Press, 2010) and flesh to bone (short stories, Aunt Lute Books, 2013), which won the 2013 Premio Aztlan. In 2015, Aztlan Libre Press will publish her second full length collection of poetry, blood sugar canto. ire’ne is the recipient of the 2014 Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award, the Fiction Finalist for AROHO’s 2013 Gift of Freedom Award, and the 2008 recipient of the Gloria Anzaldua Milagro Award. She and Moises S. L. Lara are currently co-coordinators for the Flor De Nopal Literary Festival.

An inclusive open mic presented by VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities). Join us for a unique open mic that is open to people with and without disabilities. We welcome writers, acoustic musicians, dancers, and performers of all kinds.

This month we have a special guest, Jeff Moyer, a 21st-century renaissance man and songwriter who has created a range of music that entertains, educates, and inspires, with topics on general and disability history.

Footage from previous Lion & Pirate open mic events can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1m7v4L8.

Join us for a reading with poets Noel Crook and Kirk Wilson. Noel will be introducing her new collection, Salt Moon (Southern Illinois University Press).

Noel Crook is the author of Salt Moon (Southern Illinois University Press), winner of the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry first book award, and the chapbook, Canyon (Red Dragonfly Press). Crook’s poems have appeared in Best New Poets, New Letters, Shenandoah and other journals. She is the poetry editor for Sun Editions and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Kirk Wilson’s work has recently appeared in Confrontation, Eclipse, Folly, The Langdon Review, Meridian, Midway Journal, The New Guard Literary Review, River Teeth, Soundings East, The Wordstock 10 anthology, and Valparaiso Fiction Review. A chapbook of poetry, The Early Word, was published by Burning Deck press. Kirk’s nonfiction book Unsolved, an investigation into ten high profile murders, has been published in six editions in the US and UK. He lives in Austin.

Be the first to get a FREE copy of this year’s Hothouse Literary Journal! As the official literary journal of UT’s Undergraduate English Department, Hothouse is a collection of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction written by UT English majors and Creative Writing students. Join us for readings by the authors and feel free to take a copy of the journal with you! This is a literary event you won’t want to miss!

This all-women reading features writers from the Revolution Writing Workshop led by Abe Louise Young. Join us for poetry and prose about mothering, queer and straight parenting, being mothered and unmothered, sex, Mother Earth and more!

Featuring Abe Louise Young, Adrienne Anemone, Angeliska Polachek, Carol Gilson, Carrie Kenny, Drema Dial, Emily Jane Steinberg, Jamie Harris, Katie Matlack, Margaret Halpin, Surabhi Kukke, and Vivian Newdick.

Austin Writers Roulette features a different monthly theme and line up of artists who love to perform their original written works such as poetry, essays, spoken word, singer-songwriting, or excerpts from novels for 5-8 minutes (1200 words or fewer). Interested artists who would like to perform for an upcoming event can email their submission to mathdreads@yahoo.com. Or you can show up during the day of the event and sign up for the open mic after all the featured artists perform. And of course, performance art lovers are always welcome!

This month’s theme is “Forgotten Queens” and the featured artists are: EL GUAPO, MAGIC JACK ATX, BIRDMAN 313, PATRICIA FISKE, ELIJAH MCLAUGHLIN, ALLYSON WHIPPLE, DANIEL DAVILA, LILA MCCALL, TERESA  Y. ROBERSON & THOM THE WORLD POET.

Visit the Austin Writers Roulette website for more information.

Join us for the Raw Paw reading series. This month’s readers are Ebony Stewart, Tony Cartlidge, and Laura Guli.

Ebony Stewart is the only three-time Slam Champion in Austin, Texas. She has shared stages with Buddy Wakefield and the late Amiri Baraka. Her books are The Queen’s Glory & The Pussy’s Box and Love Letters To Balled Fists. She used to be a sexual health teacher; now, she’s a full time touring artist, writing because she has to and eating cupcakes for fun. Texas raised, “the South is in her.”

Tony Cartlidge is a former marketing and communications writer from Liverpool, England, currently living in exile in Central Texas. At the age of forty, Tony realized he had become only intermittently employable and returned to school where he turned his attention to creative fiction, having shown some talent while writing local news stories and corporate press releases. He approaches the art of writing with the verve and élan of a rat at a cheese typewriter. He hopes one day to fool a publisher into picking up one of his crumbs. Tony shares his Round Rock home with some fish, three dogs, and one wife.

Laura Guli is a poet-psychologist who creates and resides in Austin. Her chapbook, A Fiery Grace, was a finalist in the 2009 Finishing Line Press New Women’s Voices chapbook competition. Her poetry has been published in a number of literary journals, including Kalliope and Lilliput Review. Laura grew up on the east coast and has been writing poetry since age 11. Her poetry is inspired by nature, culture, relationship, and personal musings.

Join us for the fifth event in our Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works: two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

This month Richard Kendrick will read from Déjà Vu and Gary Hobbs will read from Access to Capital.

Richard Kendrick spent more than a decade living and traveling in Africa and Asia. He has worked as a teacher, an editor, a publisher, directed several short films, and presented avant-garde jazz and classical music on FM radio for more than six years. Rick Russo describes Richard’s debut novel, Déjà Vu, as “a rare book that combines modernist formal experimentation with excellent post-modernist content and prose.”

Gary Hobbs has spent more than three decades in a variety of businesses, including real estate finance. His first novel, Access to Capital, is set in the 1980s as government policy drives the consolidation of banks, the southwest economy collapses from declining oil prices, and the roles for women are changing. One of the first reviewers stated “If you lived through this time in the financial industry or even if you didn’t, this book will reach out and pull you in as a real page-turner.”

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin is a monthly get-together to dive into the depths of James Joyce’s greatest, weirdest, and most notorious masterpiece.

The process is to take turns reading aloud from the text, which allows its musicality to flow forth. Then we all discuss our interpretations and the many meanings and themes contained within the selection we’ve read.

We’ll read 2 or 3 pages of the book, depending on how many people are there and how much time we spend discussing the content.

This event is FREE and open to everyone. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Joyce or Finnegans Wake is required, just have an open mind—and be prepared to read aloud in front of strangers.

For more information, please visit the reading group’s website.

A representation of the book’s structure by Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Join us for an afternoon with conceptual poets Angela Genusa and Stephen McLaughlin.

Conceptual poetry is an early 21st century literary movement, self-described by its practitioners as an act of “uncreative writing.” In conceptual poetry, appropriation is often used as a means to create new work, focused more on the initial concept rather than the final product of the poem. In its extreme form, such works are process-oriented and non-expressive.

Angela Genusa is a writer and artist, formerly of Austin, Texas. She is the author of THRONE (publisher TBA, 2015), No Expert (publisher TBA, 2015); Twentysix Gasoline Station Prices (TBA, 2015); Composition (Gauss PDF, 2014), Twentysix Wikipedia Articles (PediaPress, 2013), Musée du Service des Objets Trouvés (PediaPress, 2013), and Spam Bibliography (Troll Thread, 2013), among others. Her writing and art has been published in Action Yes Quarterly, The Claudius App, McSweeney’s, The Continental Review, Printed Web #2, West Wind Review, and WORK, among others. Her work has been featured in Jacket2, Frieze Magazine, and The New Yorker, and has been exhibited in SLOPES Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. Her work has been anthologized in &NOW Awards Vol. 3 (Northwestern University Press) and Best American Experimental Writing 2014. She is a member of Collective Task: Cycle 4, an international group of artists and writers with over 35 participants. Some excerpts of her two of her forthcoming books are published in Printed Web #3.

Stephen McLaughlin is a PhD student at the School of Information at UT Austin and a senior editor at the PennSound poetry archive. His work has appeared in Jacket2, Gauss PDF, The Volta Blog, and Against Expression: An Anthology of Conceptual Writing. Steve hosts the podcast “Into the Field,” a series of interviews with poets.

Please join us for a celebratory reading by the writers of S. Kirk Walsh’s nine-month Fiction Writing Workshop (Sept-May). Short excerpts from novels and stories will be read.

Participating writers include Dena Afrasiabi, Kalli Angel, Nicole Beckley, Jack Kaulfus, Amy Lowrey, Katherine Moore, Victoria Rossi, Rose Smith, Ashley Whitaker, Kirk Wilson, and Karen Valby. This accomplished group of writers features published fiction and nonfiction writers, book critics, and MFA graduates. For the past nine months, they have participated in an intensive fiction workshop, drafting and revising novels and short stories throughout the year. Come celebrate their wonderful work and distinctive voices with this end-of-the-workshop reading.

Refreshments and sweets will be served.

Join us for an evening with poets Chip Dameron and Robert Okaji. We’ll be celebrating the release of Chip’s new collection, Waiting for an Etcher.

Chip Dameron is the author of seven collections of poetry and a travel book. His poems and essays on contemporary writers have appeared in such periodicals as Mississippi Review, Southwestern American Literature, San Pedro River Review, Puerto del Sol, Texas Quarterly, and many other journals and anthologies, as well as publications in Canada, Ireland, Nigeria, India, China, Thailand, and New Zealand. Dameron has co-edited two literary magazines, Thicket and Chachalaca Poetry Review, and served on the editorial board of four others. A two-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize in poetry and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, he lives and writes in Brownsville, Texas.

Robert Okaji lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, two dogs and some books. His work has appeared in Boston Review, Clade Song, Four Ties Lit Review, Extract(s) and Prime Number Magazine, among others, and his 2015 chapbook, If Your Matter Could Reform, was Dink Press’s initial offering in its National Poetry Month series.

Join us for an afternoon with Sandra Storey and Frank Pool. We’ll be celebrating the release of Sandra’s recent poetry collection, Every State Has Its Own Light.

Sandra Storey’s first full-length collection, Every State Has Its Own Light, a finalist for the May Swenson Poetry Award, was published by the Word Poetry imprint of WordTech Communications in 2014. Her poems have been published in various literary magazines, including the New York Quarterly, Friction (UK), THEMA and New Millennium Writings. Storey was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand and lived in Southeast Asia from 1968 to 1972. Formerly editor and publisher of two Boston neighborhood newspapers, she is now a newspaper columnist. She wrote poetry from 1980 to 1988 and resumed in 2004. She has been a featured reader at many Boston-area venues.

Frank Pool has published poetry, reviews, and literary criticism in a variety of venues. He writes a weekly column on language and other topics for his hometown newspaper, the Longview News-Journal. He edited several issues of the Youth Anthology for the Austin Independent Poetry Festival. He enjoys reading poetry aloud, both his own and others’. He was the chairman of the board of directors for the Austin International Poetry Festival for five years. A retired teacher, he has recently returned to writing and publishing poems.

Join us for a Raw Paw reading, featuring Elizabeth Bayou-Grace Lewis, Charlotte Gullick, and Nathan Brown.

Join us for the sixth event in our Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works: two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

This month Christopher Brown will read from his short story in the Rayguns Over Texas anthology and Kelly Hitchcock will read from Portrait of Woman in Ink: A Tattoo Storybook.

Christopher Brown writes science fiction and criticism in Austin, where he also practices technology law. He was nominated for the World Fantasy Award in 2013 for Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, the anthology he co-edited with Eduardo Jiménez Mayo. His stories and essays frequently focus on issues at the nexus of technology, politics, and economics. Notable recent work has appeared in The Baffler, the MIT Technology Review anthology Twelve Tomorrows, Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas, 25 Minutos en el Futuro: Nueva Ciencia Ficcion Norteamericana, Castálida, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Rayguns Over Texas.

Kelly I. Hitchcock is an up-and-coming writer in the Austin, Texas area. She is author of various poems about the randomness of life, several short stories, random creative nonfiction works, and the coming-of-age novel The Redheaded Stepchild. She is world-renowned among a readership of five people and growing. Raised by a single father in the small town of Buffalo, Missouri, Kelly has fond memories of cash-strapped life in the Ozarks that strongly influence her writing and way of life. When she’s not writing API documentation for money or writing poetry and fiction for unmoney, Kelly enjoys catering to the whims of a high maintenance rescue dog, frequenting Austin’s many concert venues with her husband, and breaking things (in no particular order). She is an avid volunteer and fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

In association with VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities), we’re delighted to present an inclusive (mic-less) open mic for writers and musicians. Join us for this fun and friendly evening suitable for performers of all ages and abilities!

Footage from previous Lion & Pirate open mic events can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1m7v4L8.

Austin Writers Roulette features a different monthly theme and line up of artists who love to perform their original written works such as poetry, essays, spoken word, singer-songwriting, or excerpts from novels for 5-8 minutes (1200 words or fewer). Interested artists who would like to perform for an upcoming event can email their submission to mathdreads@yahoo.com. Or you can show up during the day of the event and sign up for the open mic after all the featured artists perform. And of course, performance art lovers are always welcome!

This month’s theme is “Train Wreck Adventures.” All aboard to hear the adventures of ROBERT BAYLESS, EL GUAPO, STEPHANIE WEBB, JASON HODGE, DONNA DECHEN BIRDWELL, BROOKE LANCASTER, LILA MCCALL, ALLYSON WHIPPLE, & TERESA Y. ROBERSON.

Visit the Austin Writers Roulette website for more information.

It’s Bloomsday! Join us for a celebration of the life of writer James Joyce. Featuring live Irish music from Aidan, readings from Ulysses with an introduction by Joyce aficionado Peter Q, the moderator of the Finnegans Wake Reading Group, plus spirited discussion (audience participation welcome!)… and suitably Irish snacks.

Bloomsday, named for Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses, is observed around the world on June 16th, as this is the date during which the events of Ulysses are relived (16th June, 1904). Fun fact: Joyce apparently picked June 16th as it was the date of his first date with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle.

The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin is a monthly get-together to dive into the depths of James Joyce’s greatest, weirdest, and most notorious masterpiece.

The process is to take turns reading aloud from the text, which allows its musicality to flow forth. Then we all discuss our interpretations and the many meanings and themes contained within the selection we’ve read.

We’ll read 2 or 3 pages of the book, depending on how many people are there and how much time we spend discussing the content.

This event is FREE and open to everyone. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Joyce or Finnegans Wake is required, just have an open mind—and be prepared to read aloud in front of strangers.

For more information, please visit the reading group’s website.

A representation of the book’s structure by Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

Get your cones ready for Malvern Books’ newest FREE summer reading series, I SCREAM SOCIAL, hosted by Malvern’s own Annar Veröld & Schandra Madha.

Featuring young women poets from the Austin community, this month’s I Screamers are Maggie Ilersich, Shelby Newsom, & Alana Torrez. Following the reading, there will be a (mic-less) open mic. Bring old stuff, new stuff, silly stuff, whatever stuff. Just read stuff to us. And there will be ice cream. Duh.

Can’t make it this time around? No worries. I Scream Social is every fourth Friday all summer long.

Hosted by Lindsay DeWitt, The Modern Library Reading Group is a book club organized around the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Usually, the book we read will be the lowest-numbered book that no one in the group has read. This month we’ll be reading Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow, number 21 on the list.

Barring any unforeseen scheduling conflicts, The Modern Library Reading Group will meet every fourth Sunday at 1pm. All are welcome, though you are encouraged to finish the chosen book prior to the meeting.

Join us in celebrating the launch of David Thornberry’s new poetry collection, Climb Down. Featuring readings from David Thornberry and W. Joe Hoppe.

David Thornberry is a painter and poet, alternating between the two art forms. He continues to make, publish and show art, both literary and visual, in the Austin area.

Join us for the seventh event in our Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works: two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

This month Mark Davis will be sharing his late father’s work and reading from Midnight Road and talking a bit about his life and work. Phil Hewitt will be reading from his first novel, The Mariscal Canyon Dead.

Mark Davis was born and raised in Texas, and studied at the University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University. For the last 20 years, he has worked as a business consultant. He is the co-author, with Richard Torrenzano, of Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks (St. Martin’s Press, 2011). His op-eds have appeared in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to The Washington Post. Mark recently completed two epic science fiction novels, Darwin’s Arrow and Bruno’s Relic, now out on Kindle and Kindle Select. But tonight, he turns his focus to his father, Jada Davis, who wrote several noir and coming of age novels in the 1950s.

Phil is the same kind of Texan that Sam Houston and David Crockett were—from Tennessee. He grew up in Memphis (he actually met Elvis) and came to Austin to complete a Ph.D. in history. A year later he took a summer job at the Institute of Texan Cultures, the state’s exhibit at HemisFair. He is a teacher, a former magazine owner, museum consultant, and former truck driver. Phil is currently working on the second and third books in the series: The Head in the Laundromat and Santa Elena Floater: Confederate Gold and Carlotta Silver. He lives in Austin, where he gardens (poorly), fishes (avid but mostly inept) and kayaks when he can get time. And he has recently taken up learning to play the piano.

Join us in celebrating the launch of Walter Basho’s first novel, Old Green World. With readings from Walter Basho, Paige Britt, and Susan Schorn.

Walter Basho grew up in Kentucky and attended Transylvania University in Lexington before moving to Austin, Texas in the 1990s to attend graduate school in English. His master’s thesis focused on queer writers associated with the West Coast “New Narrative” movement, while his dissertation, Fiction Networks, explored the structures of story universes from DC Comics to Star Wars. Like his scholarly work, Basho’s fiction sits between popular genre fiction and literary exploration, and uses story as a vehicle to work through larger questions of culture, narrative theory, perception, sexuality and gender. He has practiced Buddhism for nearly ten years, and his fiction is strongly influenced by the day-to-day experiences of his practice. Inspired by the new access to publication and distribution available to self-publishers, Basho set a goal to self-publish fiction at a level of quality on par with commercial presses, and assembled a talented team of editors and designers to contribute to the production of Old Green World. While in graduate school, he was swept up in the first of many Austin technology booms, and took on work as a software engineer for an education start-up. He continues to develop educational software today, and lives in Austin with his husband.

Paige Britt grew up in a small town in Texas with her nose in a book and her head in the clouds moodling. She studied journalism in college and theology in graduate school, but never stopped reading children’s books for life’s most important lessons. She now lives in a slightly larger town but can often still be found either reading or staring out the window, making up stories about things that aren’t there. Her first book, The Lost Track of Time, was released in 2015 from Scholastic Press.

Susan Schorn is a writer, martial artist, and self defense advocate. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two children, and trains and teaches at Sun Dragon Martial Arts and Self Defense. She writes “Bitchslap: A Column About Women and Fighting” for McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Her first book, Smile at Strangers: Lessons in the Art of Living Fearlessly, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in May 2013. (Photo at right by Larissa Rogers.)

Austin Writers Roulette features a different monthly theme and line up of artists who love to perform their original written works such as poetry, essays, spoken word, singer-songwriting, or excerpts from novels for 5-8 minutes (1200 words or fewer). Interested artists who would like to perform for an upcoming event can email their submission to mathdreads@yahoo.com. Or you can show up during the day of the event and sign up for the open mic after all the featured artists perform. And of course, performance art lovers are always welcome!

This month’s theme is “Cosmic Casino.” Our cosmic line up of players is: GEOVANI ZAMBRANA, BIRDMAN 313, ALLYSON WHIPPLE, LILA MCCALL, STEPHANIE WEBB, TERESA Y. ROBERSON & THOM THE WORLD POET. Visit the Austin Writers Roulette website for more information.

The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin is a monthly get-together to dive into the depths of James Joyce’s greatest, weirdest, and most notorious masterpiece.

The process is to take turns reading aloud from the text, which allows its musicality to flow forth. Then we all discuss our interpretations and the many meanings and themes contained within the selection we’ve read.

We’ll read 2 or 3 pages of the book, depending on how many people are there and how much time we spend discussing the content.

This event is FREE and open to everyone. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Joyce or Finnegans Wake is required, just have an open mind—and be prepared to read aloud in front of strangers.

For more information, please visit the reading group’s website.

A representation of the book’s structure by Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

Get your cones ready for the second edition of Malvern Books’ FREE summer reading series, I SCREAM SOCIAL, hosted by Malvern’s own Annar Veröld and Schandra Madha.

Featuring young women poets from the Austin community, this month’s I Screamers are A.R. Rogers, Aza Pace, and Natalie Ruiz. Following the reading, there will be a (mic-less) open mic. Bring old stuff, new stuff, silly stuff, whatever stuff. Just read stuff to us. And there will be ice cream. Duh.

Can’t make it this time around? No worries. I Scream Social is every fourth Friday all summer long.

In association with VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper Creative Writing Contest (a project of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities), we’re delighted to present an inclusive (mic-less) open mic for writers and musicians. Join us for this fun and friendly evening suitable for performers of all ages and abilities!

Footage from previous Lion & Pirate open mic events can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1m7v4L8.

Hosted by Lindsay DeWitt, The Modern Library Reading Group is a book club organized around the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Usually, the book we read will be the lowest-numbered book that no one in the group has read. This month we’re reading Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara, #22 on the list.

Barring any unforeseen scheduling conflicts, The Modern Library Reading Group will meet every fourth Sunday at 1pm. All are welcome, though you are encouraged to finish the chosen book prior to the meeting.

Join us for a reading from poets Grant Cross and Stephanie Goehring.

Grant Cross writes haiku / to make sense of the madness / He loves swimming best / writes to stay alive / works only when he has to / wiggles & wiggles

Stephanie Goehring is co-author, with Jeff Griffin, of the chapbook I Miss You Very Much (Slim Princess Holdings) and author of the chapbook This Room Has a Ghost (dancing girl press). A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she lives in Austin, Texas.

Austin Writers Roulette features a different monthly theme and line up of artists who love to perform their original written works such as poetry, essays, spoken word, singer-songwriting, or excerpts from novels for 5-8 minutes (1200 words or fewer). Interested artists who would like to perform for an upcoming event can email their submission to mathdreads@yahoo.com. Or you can show up during the day of the event and sign up for the open mic after all the featured artists perform. And of course, performance art lovers are always welcome!

This month’s theme is “Show & Tale,” just in time for back-to-school season for the 18+ crowd! The line-up of featured artists is: Birdman 313, Aimee Mackovic, Donna Dechen Birdwell, Robert Bayless, Teresa Y. Roberson, and Thom The World Poet. Visit the Austin Writers Roulette website for more information.

Join us for the eighth event in our Novel Night series, a monthly celebration of all things prose! Here’s how it works: two published authors will read from their books and there’ll be an audience Q & A. We’ll then have an open mic for writers who have signed up to read from their unpublished short stories or novels. And finally, we’ll have “Book Talk,” in which an intrepid Malvern staff member will introduce you to one of our favorite prose titles and invite questions from the audience. Also worth noting: there will be snacks!

This month Donna Birdwell will be reading from her new novel, Way of the Serpent, and Steven Metze will be reading from The Zombie Monologues.

Donna Dechen Birdwell is an anthropologist whose curiosity about what makes human beings tick propelled her to travel widely, listening to the stories of many different cultures and eventually coming up with a few of her own. As a writer, her intention is to take readers on a lively adventure and leave them with something to think about. Donna is an artist, poet, and photographer as well as a novelist. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from Southern Methodist University and previously taught at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. She now writes, paints, and photographs in Austin.

Steven E. Metze is the author of The Zombie Monologues, as well as numerous role-playing-game and miniatures war game rulebooks and sourcebooks, including Über RPG Steampunk. He is a member of Mensa and the Writer’s League of Texas. He graduated from West Point and continues to serve with over 26 years of military service, including 10 years as a military journalist, and also has an MFA in Film and Video production. He is currently publishing a serial web comic at www.godsoftheaether.com based on his steampunk novel, Gods of the Aether.

“We read all types, we take all types. Aim to keep things light and fun.” Hosted by Jon Meador. Please visit Austin Book Club for more information.

Join us in celebrating the launch of David Parsons’ new poetry collection, Reaching for Longer Water. We’ll also enjoy live music from jazz guitarist Margaret Slovak.

David M. Parsons, 2011 Texas State Poet Laureate, is a recipient of many honors, including an NEH Dante Fellowship to SUNY Geneseo, the French-American Legation Poetry Prize, and the Baskerville Publisher’s Prize from TCU for an outstanding poem published in their literary journal, descant. He holds eight writing awards from Lone Star College System and was inducted into The Texas Institute of Letters in 2009.

Parsons grew up in Austin, graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School. After which, he joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve, where he served as a Squad Leader in a rifle company and later as a Recon-Scout Boat Team Leader. He attended The University of Texas and Texas State University, where he holds a BBA. After several years in business, advertising, teaching Marketing and coaching basketball and baseball at Bellaire High School, Parsons received his MA from the University of Houston’s Graduate Creative Writing Program. He teaches Creative Writing and Racquetball/Handball at Lone Star College-Montgomery. Parsons has four grown children and lives with wife Nancy, an award-winning Artist and Graphic Designer in Conroe, Texas.