City Sages Reading at Normal's, Wed. August 25th

On Wednesday, August 25th, Normal's took its turn celebrating CityLit's first publication - City Sages: Baltimore. The book came out a few months ago, but we wanted to wait until the new improved Red Room was done being spiffied up.


On hand to read were Michael Kimball, Susan McCallum-Smith, Joseph Young and myself. Plus Goodloe Byron to sing a few graveyard tunes and to ruminate on Poe's "The Black Cat" which appears in the anthology of legendary dead Baltimore writers, living ascending stars and those of us thrashing in literary limbo.

Jen Michalski who edited the book emceed the reading.

Goodloe Byron, author of The Abstract and Revisions Of bookended the readings with two songs of darkness.

Susan McCallum-Smith whose collecton of short stories Slipping The Moorings was published by Entasis Press in 2009 read from her piece "High Rise".

Professor Joseph Young, author of the wildly popular Easter Bunny assures the crowd that there is no improvisation involved in his reading, displaying to the audience his text.

Goodloe Byron started out doing a straight reading of Poe's story, but ended up having a conversaton with it.

Michael Kimball, whose novel Dear Everybody was excerpted in City Sages, said he'd been reading from that novel for three years and that this evening would be his last time doing so. He then read portions of an unnamed novel in progress he's currently working on, correcting typos with his pen as he did so. The strange blue around his right eye was not administered for theatrical effect for his engagement at The Red Room, but was caused somehow when I used the "Red Eye" feature in my photo library.

City Sages: Baltimore Reading At Normal's - Wednesday August 25th

City Sages: Baltimore, the first publication from CityLit, edited by hard working Jen Michalski, has won "Best Anthology" from this year's Baltimore Magazine's Best Of issue. The anthology collects pieces from dead and legendary Baltimore authors like Mencken, Poe and Gertrude Stein, the living and famous like Anne Tyler, Laura Lippman and Madison Smart Bell and the young and young(ish) turks like Michael Kimball and Adam Robinson.

To celebrate and publicize the release various bookstores around town have been holding readings and due to our honored Red Room getting a makeover from our proactive new landlord, Normal's is now ready to host ours.

The date is Wednesday, August 25th. The readers so far are Michael Kimball, Susan McCallum-Smith, Joe Young and myself. But perhaps we'll be able to lure our old customer John Astin back into town to read "The Black Cat" Poe selection. We'll see.....the reading starts at 8pm. Copies of the 316 page tome will be available for sale.

Shattered Wig News

My publisher, young Adam Robinson, the Howard Hughes of Baltimore, has informed me that the second printing of The Origin of Paranoia As a Heated Mole Suit has gone out of print. Such sweet mixed emotions. He has tossed enough copies into the garbage (no, recycling, he is a good man) to make me feel good about myself. But, on the other hand, my baby is gone! If for some odd reason, someone happens to hear about it and wants to check it out it will be no more, like tennis shoes that are not like space stations but do have support.

He has given me the option of the book going into a third printing or doing up a whole new book altogether. I am a writer, which is after all, just about all I wanted from life, other than a quick feel of Bobbie Gentry, since I was 12 and tried writing my mother's biography but instead penned the novel Gang Fight. Which I'm proud to say got passed around school so much that pieces of it disappeared forever. I don't think there were xerox machines back then, just mimeographs that only teachers with upswept neo-beehives had access to.

Other good news is I got in the anthology City Sages: Baltimore with the likes of Mencken. F. Scott, Poe, Gerty Stein, Laura Lippman and Mad Bell.

This Saturday is the annual huge fundraiser for AWP. It's taking place at the G-Spot. Shattered Wig Press got asked to participate so I asked Chris Mason and Shelley Puhak to go to bat for us. Here is the lowdown on the event:

Start Time:	Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 7:00pm
End Time:	Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 12:00am
Location:	G-Spot, the Audio-Visual Playground, 2980 Falls Road

Description

Join Baltimore writers, musicians, and artists at Baltimore's Literary Cabaret -- Saturday, May, 8, one night only -- for a fun-filled fundraising evening in celebration of creative writing!

Flash readings of poetry and fiction
Meet area publishers and authors
Music headliners Victoria Vox and Greg Holden
Fantastic music by other Baltimore favorites, including novelist Madison Smartt Bell singing the blues and Flannery O'Connor award-winner Geoff Becker and his blistering band
Buy books and music signed by the artists and authors
Great food & drink (cash bar)
Rafael Alvarez auction!
Tickets: $15 general, $12 students

All proceeds go to the Association of Writers & Writing Programs

I Got My Ass Whupped By Gertie Stein

Well I am happy to say I'm included in the new City Lit anthology - City Sages: Baltimore with the likes of Poe, Mencken, Michael "Hot Lips" Kimball, Joe "Swan's Neck" Young, Laura Lippman, Mad Bell and many other fantastic Baltimore writers living and dead, but I had to eat humble pie or crow pie or gelatinous bladder legume when the Baltimore Sun Read Street blog decided to promote the publication by pitting the book's authors gladiator style in a popularity contest.

I am happy and proud to say I appeared up against my old inspiration and mentor Gertrude Stein, pictured above in front of Old Glory which she actually sensibly left behind for the sensual pleasures of France. My favorite story of her and Alice in France was that when young Paul Bowles came star struck to meet them Gertrude would have him wear shorts and lederhosen each morning and then have him wash their poodle Basket and afterwards run Basket up and down the yard to dry him (or her) while Gertrude and Alice watched giggling from an upstairs window. Much more perverse and fun than Poppa Hemingway's need to go off into the wilds of Africa to shoot big beautiful things.

Anyway, I got my ass kicked in the voting. Gerty got in the twenties and I got four. And the salt in the wound is they used this photo of myself from an old Sun article about Normal's where they had me pose nerd-like on a stool hovering moon-like. I had submitted to them my recent author photo in a bandana astride my Harley, but I suppose the lighting was off on it.

But to be fair to myself, I have to say I didn't vote and my beloved Everly thought the voting was today, not yesterday, so her vote wasn't tallied. But then again the sacred and profane art of writing isn't about getting done up in gowns and singing on a gaudy stage for rich fatcats in slipping dentures, damnit!!! We struggle and create alone in darkness in order to squeeze out a few sparks of lasting pulchritude and then we keel over from eating poorly and our relatives sell our junk at a yardsale and discuss how our toenails at the time of our passing resembled long curling tendrils of banana peels.

I think the living writer who got the harshest deal in this cruel event was Michael Kimball who was up against Frederick Douglass for Christ sake! Not only up against a time tested author of moving historical tracts, but the representative of an entire Freedom Struggle. Yowch.

Here is the link to more info on City Sages: Baltimore, which won't be in stores until May:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2010/04/citylit_festival_this_weekend.html

I love you Gerty and Fernhurst Q.E.D. and Others changed my life.