Category Archives: Malvern Events

Wednesday Wonders

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Lucky ol’ Malvern enjoyed a rather splendid hump-day treat this week: we hosted a reading from the immensely talented Samuel Snoek-Brown and Zoë Miller. 

Samuel was visiting us from Portland, Oregon, to read from Hagridden, the hot-off-the-press novel that earned him an Oregon Literary Fellowship. And Zoe read an excerpt from a short story that appears in the latest issue of Fields Magazine (so if you want to hear the rest of her story… yep, come on down to Malvern Books and pick up a copy of Fields! It’s a very beautiful journal that showcases emerging writers, musicians, painters, poets, and illustrators.)

Samuel and Zoe

Hearty thanks to Zoë, Samuel, and everyone who came out on a sweltering night to enjoy a spot of literature-out-loud—and an extra cheers, mate to Samuel for giving us a Malvern first, the selfie-with-crowd! (For more Samuel selfies, check out the blog post he wrote about his time in Austin, aka “hot Portland.”) As always, we had our video camera at the ready to capture the action, and we hope you’ll enjoy checking out our footage from a wonderful night of prose.

Words and Music

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What better way to chill out on a sweltering summer night than with some super cool tunes and verse? Malvern Books had y’all covered last Friday, when we played host to local musicians and poets Harold Whit Williams and David Longoria.

They’re a mighty talented pair: Harold (below left) is guitarist for the rock band Cotton Mather and his latest poetry collection, Backmasking, won the 2013 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize. And as for David (below right), when he’s not writing poetry, he’s playing guitar and harmonica, and performing or touring with bands like Yo La Tengo, Fiery Furnaces, and Voxtrot.

Harold and David

They treated our foot-tappin’ audience to some fantastic music (Harold was ably accompanied by Jon Bookout), and then—but wait, there’s more!—the night got even better with a double dose of awesome poetry! Thanks to Harold, Jon, David, and everyone who came out to enjoy an evening of engaging words and music. Do check out our footage from the event below. And if you feel inspired to fill your summer nights with a few more literary escapades, well, you’re in luck—we have heaps of splendid stuff coming up!

The Well-Read Weekend

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It’s TGIF time, and we have a few first-rate recommendations for those of you in need of a little literary relaxation…

  • YouTube awaits! We’ve posted a couple of videos from Wednesday night’s wonderful reading with Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Zachary Schomburg, and Mathias Svalina, and you should most definitely hit play. Trust me, you need to hear “Building of Unseen Cats” and “Tennessee.”

  • Cup of coffee + sofa + Octopus = GOOD TIME. Founded by the aforementioned Zachary in 2003, Octopus is a brilliant and beautiful online literary magazine that’s well worth a read. I particularly like their Recovery Projects, brief essays that draw attention to overlooked books.
  • If podcasts are your bag, check out the episodes on literary history over at Stuff You Missed in History Class. Topics discussed range from the disappearance of Agatha Christie to the assorted misfortunes of the Brontës—and our store’s dangling swashbuckler was happy to learn that historic pirates also make a regular appearance on the show.
  • Last but certainly not least: no weekend of literary relaxation would be complete without a trip to Malvern! Stop by on Sunday afternoon to peruse our new titles and Staff Picks and catch a 2pm reading from local writers Ron Jaeger and Jan Marquart. We’ll look forward to seeing you there!

The Midsummer Mic

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On Friday we promised that the July edition of our Lion & Pirate Unplugged open mic would be extra special—and we keep our promises! We celebrated the twenty-fourth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in fine style, with wonderful performances from familiar faces, four fantastic debut acts, and a very special guest.

Our special guest was awesome Australian comedian and self-described “inspiration boner killer” Stella Young. If you’re in need of a little hilarity, you should most definitely watch Stella in action below. Topics discussed include the stupidity of race-walking (“that one that looks like they’re all busting to get to the same toilet”) and the perils of grocery shopping—and there’s also a little bit of wheelchair synchronized swimming thrown in for good measure!

We also enjoyed performances from some talented newcomers—let’s give a warm Malvern welcome to George Moreno, Wayne Napier, Katy Battistoni, and Amy Litzinger:

And we were thrilled to see the return of some ol’ Lion and Pirate favorites—Susie Angel, Shaniqua Esparza, Juan Munoz, and Felipe Archer:

Thanks to VSA Texas, Pen2Paper, Stella Young, and all the Lion and Pirate performers—y’all are a joy to host, and as always you brought a ton of energy and talent to our stage (even our hard-to-please pirate was caught nodding approvingly throughout the evening). Our next open mic will be on Friday, August 22nd… can’t wait to see you there!

Saturday Celebrations

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If the heat is getting you down (RealFeel® 473°?) and you’re in urgent need of an energizing weekend shindig, we’ve got just the ticket! Tomorrow night we’re bringing you an extra special edition of our monthly Lion & Pirate Unplugged open mic event…

Together with VSA Texas (The State Organization on Arts and Disability) and the Pen2Paper creative writing contest, we’ll be celebrating the 24th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Signed by President George H. Bush on July 26th, 1990, the ADA gives people with disabilities protections similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, age, sex, and religion. The ADA is a comprehensive piece of legislation—you can read the full text of the Act here—that assures equal opportunity for people with disabilities to access such necessities as employment, transportation, and government services.

And what better way to commemorate the anniversary of this landmark legislation than with a very special guest? We’re thrilled to announce that tomorrow’s open mic will be rocked by Australian comedian, journalist, and knitting enthusiast Stella Young. If you want a sneak peek of Stella in action, check out this recent TED talk, in which she explains why being in a wheelchair doesn’t automatically turn her into “a noble inspiration to all humanity.”

Yup, Stella will be a tough act to follow, but don’t let that discourage you from coming on down to Malvern Books and taking part. Musicians and writers of all ages and abilities will be warmly welcomed to our stage. (And, since we’re celebrating, cake will be warmly welcomed too. We like cake.) See you tomorrow at 7pm!

The Best of Texas

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We had a winning weekend here at Malvern Books. Or, more precisely, we had a weekend of winners—the winners of the Texas Association of Authors’ third annual Book Awards Contest stopped by on Saturday and Sunday to read from their victorious works and answer questions from curious audience members. 

On Saturday afternoon, general fiction winner Myra Hargrave McIlvain (below left) read from Stein House, the story of early settlers in Matagorda Bay, Texas during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods. Multi-cultural fiction winner Jedah Mayberry (below right) read from The Unheralded King of Preston Plains Middle, an intriguing and thoughtful coming of age novel.

Myra McIlvain and Jedah Mayberry

Civil War historical fiction winner Robert Stevens (below left) read from Master Robert, a suspenseful account of plantation life during the War. And poetry winner R. Flowers Rivera (below right) read from Troubling Accents, an honest and accomplished collection that deserves to be widely read. 

Robert Stevens and R. Flowers Rivera

Check out the footage of Saturday’s readers below—and for a glimpse of Sunday’s equally impressive award-winners, be sure to take a look at these videos (via the Texas Association of Authors’ YouTube channel), in which the authors ponder the question, “Why do I write?” You can also visit us on Facebook for more photos from Saturday’s event. Congratulations to all these deserving winners, and thanks to y’all for sharing your wonderful work with us.