Category Archives: Malvern Events

An Extraordinary Start To Your Week

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Our bookstore might be closed on Mondays, but that’s no reason to forgo your daily dose of Malverny goodness! In fact, we recommend starting each and every week with at least thirty minutes of literary loveliness, brought to you by everyone’s favorite pirate-approved bookshop. So top up your cup of coffee and plump up those sofa cushions in preparation for something rather extraordinary—Noelle Kocot reading her “Poem for the End of Time.”

Pretty astounding, huh? Last Thursday we teamed up with the New Writers Project to host an evening with the exceptionally accomplished Noelle. It was a moving and mirthful event, and I recommend you check out the additional footage below. And may I also remind you, in a gentle but quite firm voice, to visit our Events Calendar from time to time, as we’re constantly adding readings, discussions, and other engrossing shenanigans. Next up? On March 19th we’re hosting a positively Spring-like edition of Everything is Bigger, with readers Trey Moody, Nick Courtright, and Thomas Courtney Vance. You won’t want to miss it!

Streckfus and MacDonald

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Streckfus and MacDonaldMalvern played host to a very moving and memorable event on Tuesday night: a reading from the immensely talented Peter Streckfus (left) and Rob MacDonald (right). Peter is author of The Cuckoo (selected by Louise Glück for the Yale Series of Younger Poets) and the hot-off-the-press Errings, while Rob is editor of the acclaimed online journal Sixth Finch and has books forthcoming from Rye House Press and Racing Form. Thanks to both of them for taking a turn upon our stage, and thanks to everyone who came out for a listen… we trust these two brilliant blokes did not disappoint!

As always, we had our video camera at the ready, and we hope you’ll enjoy checking out some footage from a fabulous night of poetry.

Stocking Up in Seattle

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We’re busy getting our stage all spiffy for tonight’s reading with poets Peter Streckfus and Rob MacDonald. It’s going to be awesome—they’re two seriously talented blokes—and we’re looking forward to seeing y’all there!

Joe and Stephen

We’re also recovering from our assorted tote-bag-toting escapades at last week’s AWP shindig in Seattle. We stole several (highly caffeinated) pre-conference moments to play literary tourist, visiting a few of the city’s fantastic small bookstores and gawping admiringly at the beautiful (and beautifully functional) public library. And as for the conference itself? We had a blast! We caught up with a ton of bookish pals (pictured above is Dr. Joe, Malvern’s curmudgeon-in-chief, with Smartish Pace founder Stephen Reichert), made some new friends, and stocked up on some very exciting books. Coming soon to a Malvern shelf near you, we have titles from a bunch of wonderful small presses, including (pictured below, from top to bottom) Bloof Books, Coconut Books, The Overlook Press, Forklift, Ohio and Typecast Publishing, and University of Pittsburgh Press.

Bloof Books

Coconut Books

Overlook Press

Forklift Ohio

University of Pittsburgh Press

Meet W. Joe & Friends

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If you haven’t stopped by Malvern Books for W. Joe’s Poetry Corner, you’re missing out on something quite special. W. Joe Hoppe’s monthly reading series is more than just a poet-reads-from-pages affair (not that there’s anything wrong with that!)—it’s a chance to really get to know a writer and learn more about the messy/maddening/magical work of making verse. With just one poet per Corner, there’s plenty of time to hear a decent selection of their work—and there’s also time for each unsuspecting guest to be thoroughly grilled interviewed by W. Joe (and y’all get to ask questions too, of course).

MinglersIn January, W. Joe introduced us to poet and visual artist David Thornberry, and last week he played host to the brilliant Cindy St. John (pictured below with W. Joe).

Cindy and W. Joe

Cindy read from her forthcoming collection, I Wrote This Poem (Salt Hill), and gamely answered questions from W. Joe and assorted audience members. If you’re curious to hear more, check out our footage below—and be sure to mark your calendar for our next up-close-and-personal poetry night with W. Joe (March 25th!)

Two-For-One Tuesday

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I hope your holiday Monday was chock-full of good books, strong coffee, and assorted Presidential celebrations. Today we’re helping to banish the post-long-weekend blues with not-one-but-two! splendid recommendations—we’re generous like that.

Recommendation #1: You should come to Malvern Books tonight at 7pm to hear poet Cindy St. John read from her forthcoming collection, I Wrote This Poem. W. Joe is hosting, and will be taking questions from the audience as well as asking a few of his own.

Recommendation #2: If you’re in need of some startlingly smart reading material, Malvern staff member Taylor Jacob Pate would very much like to press into your hands a copy of the brilliant Bluets by Maggie Nelson. Here’s what Taylor has to say…

1. Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color…

BluetsBluets by Maggie Nelson is a love story like many love stories; a thrilling ride of magic that can only be described as: blue: derelict: tarp flapping in the wind on a rooftop in a gray sky: a grey sky beaten first purple then blue: a tiny cheap locket: salt tears: trinket after trinket: memory of what never happened: what happened:

In a deft & passionate voice readers experience falling in love with the color blue through a series of numbered sections that jolt the reader from Geothe’s Blue to Joni Mitchell’s to Mallarme’s.

This is the dysfunction talking … this is the deepest blue talking, talking, always talking at you.

The intensity & voracity creates a whirlwind that sucks readers in & tosses them about in a mess of confession, sex, love & rock-n-roll.

Academically speaking this book of {what many consider to be} poems proves the value of research & close reading, though as a love story Maggie Nelson stalks the color blue in its physical form as well as in the abstract & theoretical realms. Happy, sad, crazy, lovely, human, human, human this collection is a gem.

229. I am writing this down in blue ink, so as to remember that all words, not just some, are written in water.

232. Perhaps, in time, I will stop missing you.

The Return of Bigger

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Happy Valentine’s Day, book nerds! Two other February 14th events of note: the lovely chemical element Lawrencium was first synthesized at the University of California on this day in 1961. And this here book blog bunged up its first post a year ago today! I’m not sure how one celebrates a blogiversary or the discovery of element No. 103, but I’m thinking pie is probably called for?

EIB#2

And speaking of all things festive and pie-worthy, on Wednesday night we hosted the second installment in our Everything is Bigger reading series (you can read our EIB #1 recap here), and I think we can safely say it was a triumphant return. Tyler Gobble (above, far right) reprised his role as Host Extraordinaire and gave away many a fine raffle prize, including a graphic novel version of the 9/11 Commission Report. And our readers, Claudia Smith, Dan Boehl, and Laurel Hunt (above), made for a thoroughly engaging literary trifecta.

EIB crowd

A hearty thanks to the three of them, and to all of you who stopped by to listen attentively and cheer raucously. And since today is also YouTube’s 9th birthday (more pie, yeah?), it’s only fair we share some YouTube footage with you! (Our apologies to Dan, whose fine reading we failed to capture on film thanks to the somewhat tempestuous nature of our video camera.)