Category Archives: Malvern Events

Larry Brill & The Next Chapter

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On Sunday afternoon we played host to something rather… Brill-iant (sorry, you knew it was coming): an afternoon with author Larry Brill and the frolicsome folks from the Next Chapter improv group. Let’s take a look at some footage from their assorted escapades…

First up, Larry Brill introduced us to his new novel, The Patterer, a satirical tale set in the murky world of 18th-century London journalism. Brill spent twenty-five years as a news anchor, and his experiences in the newsroom inform his comic take on Dickensian media mores. The main character of the novel, the excellently named Leeds Merriweather, is the eponymous “patterer,” someone who sells newspapers by standing on a busy street corner shouting out the horrifying headlines of the day to passersby. To read the part of Mr. Merriweather, Larry called on his friend Bobby Post, who did a suitably tip-top job of channeling the charming Leeds.

Next up, our team of intrepid improvisers explained their process: writers in the audience would be selected at random to read a short excerpt from their work, and Next Chapter would then improvise a skit inspired by the material. First name out of the lucky red cup? Austin icon John Kelso, who has been writing a humor column for the Austin American-Statesman since 1977.

For rounds two and three, please welcome Lester Morris, followed by Janet Christian.

And last but assuredly not least, we have Angela Smith, who read from her forthcoming book, Women Drummers (working title: Badass Lady Drummers). Her piece focused on the legendary Teresa Taylor, aka Teresa Nervosa, a drummer for the Butthole Surfers. It’s safe to say Next Chapter had a lot of fun with their take on Ms. Nervosa…

Bigger Than Ever

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One doesn’t like to play favorites concerning installments of one’s reading series, so let’s just say that this month’s Everything is Bigger shindig was especially good. Here’s the post-match report…

EIB 5

We had three lovely readers join us for Wednesday’s event: Tim Earley, Jess Stoner, and Will Clark (pictured left to right above, with host Tyler Gobble in red). You can check out more photos on Facebook, and watch all three of them in action below. You may notice that our camera person places the lens cap back on the camera at the start of Jess’ reading—please rest assured that this was not an act of arrant madness. You see, Jess had to come to the reading straight from work, wearing her Postal Service uniform, and apparently USPS workers are not supposed to be filmed while in official garb. Photos are allowed, though, so here’s one of Jess mid-reading, so you can get an idea of the set up:

Jess Stoner

And of course it wouldn’t be a Bigger reading without the giving away of assorted whimsical raffle prizes. Sadly, this month’s sack of swag did not include the coveted homemade Everything is Bigger tank-top—the dye ran on the lettering of Tyler’s latest creation, producing an “ErrrtBrrrisigger” tank-top, which did not meet his exacting apparel standards. Fortunately, we still had a whole heap of whatnots to dispense to lucky winners, including a dice game called “Spicy Farkel” (“a silly game played by silly people,” says one reviewer); a Whoopie Pie! candle (an often overlooked prize pick, despite being described on the Yankee Candle website as “Mmmmm! Creamy vanilla frosting meets moist, rich, chocolate for a treat that is so real you may want to lick your fingers!”); and, best of all, steak coasters! Coasters shaped like steaks!

Steak Coasters

But enough about prizes! Go watch some videos—and stay tuned for news of future Biggers. (We may or may not be taking a summer hiatus; our Events Calendar will keep you in the loop.)

Hothouse In The House

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On Sunday afternoon we were delighted to host a lively reading from the charming folks at Hothouse Literary Journal (including Malvern staff member Schandra, pictured below with a hot-off-the-press Hothouse and our ever watchful pirate).

Hothouse Sign

Hothouse CrowdHothouse is the official literary journal of UT Austin’s English department. It’s lovingly assembled by a team of English majors, who manage every step of the production, from layout to choosing submissions. And they’ve done an exceptional job—the journal is beautifully designed and chock-full of fantastic poetry and prose by talented students (including Clarissa Riojas, pictured above, reading to a full house). We were thrilled to see them launch their Spring 2014 issue on our fair stage, and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing their work.

Robinson & Reitberger

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With National Poetry Month behind us, we decided it was time to add a lil’ prose to our busy reading schedule…

Adeena

On Saturday we welcomed Austin writer (and coeditor of the excellent American Short Fiction) Adeena Reitberger to the Malvern stage. Adeena read from a story in progress called “Dreamers” (which, as she noted, is a name with some historical significance to Malvern Books).

Adeena was joined by Gregory Robinson, who read from All Movies Love the Moon, a collection of prose poems that explores how silent movies made use of words. (All Movies is published by Rose Metal Press, a fantastic indie publisher that specializes in hybrid genres and more experimental work… ask us about them next time you’re in the store!)

Gregory

For more prose and poetry, be sure to join us next Wednesday, when Tyler Gobble returns to host another round of Everything is Bigger. This month’s indomitable readers are Tim Earley, Jess Stoner, and Will Clark. 

The Picks of Poets

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Last Tuesday we said a fond farewell to Poetry Month with Malvern’s first-ever Poets Picking Poets extravaganza. The event was organized by our very own Tyler Gobble (host of Everything is Bigger, which returns on May 14th), who assembled a sterling bunch of poets and then asked them to make a few difficult decisions…

Poets Picking Poets

Here’s how it worked: Tyler staged two poetry flights, with each flight consisting of four readers (much like a whiskey flight, a poetry flight offers an invigorating sampling of the good stuff—but with zero unpleasant next-day consequences). The two flights were led by Malvern employee Katherine Noble and W. Joe’s Poetry Corner host W. Joe Hoppe. They each read four poems: two of their own, a favorite poem by someone else, and then a poem by the poet they picked to follow them… and then the poet they picked to follow them would take over and read four poems… you get the drift? If not, the videos below will do a fine job of conveying the joyful and generous logic of Poets Picking Poets (and, as always, we also have a few photos up on our Facebook page). Sincere thank-yous to all the poets who took part—your picks were impeccable, and your generous sharing of such superb work was a fitting conclusion to an awesome month of poetry.

Celebrating Poetry (And Donkeys)

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Two very exciting things happened in Austin on Saturday: Eeyore celebrated his birthday, and poets Samira Noorali and Nicolas Hundley gave a reading at Malvern Books! Alas, we don’t have any footage of everyone’s favorite anhedonic ass blowing out his (51!) birthday candles, but we do have a few clips of Samira and Nicolas treating our audience to a wonderful night of poetry. And if watching these videos makes you feel like a bit of a nitwit for missing out, fear not: this Saturday we’re playing host to writers Gregory Robinson and Adeena Reitberger, so you’ll have another chance to fill your weekend with readerly fun.