The reading at Malaprop’s was great fun. My workshop is an excellent, funny group, and it was gratifying & meaningful to read with them. Age range in our group goes from low 20s to high 70s, and everyone’s working on a different form of long-term project, including essays, memoirs, short stories and novels, so lots of variation & voices.

We had a packed house — one of the benefits of having 10 readers, I guess. My mom was in the audience, which added a recital-like patina to the proceedings for me. I think it was the first time she’s seen me perform since 9th-grade band. Back then, I played bass clarinet and my solitary goal for the final concert was to get through “Stars and Stripes Forever” without my lips falling off. For this reading, my goals were 1. to not trip over my purse on the way to the podium, and 2. in the event that I did trip over my purse, to not use that as an excuse to bolt from the bookstore, forcing our writing program’s director Tommy Hays to announce over the microphone, “It looks like we have a runner, y’all.”

Neither of those things happened, so I say: success!

Alas, Lowell was unwilling to wear the gold-spangled blazer, black knee socks, sunglasses and accordion I had laid out for him on the bed, so I had to nix my own planned outfit (see top — even if you’ve already looked once, it’s a picture that rewards repeated viewing).

Related Link: As an end-of-semester present, our instructor, Elizabeth Lutyens, gave us copies of her favorite short story of the year, Ian McEwan’s “On Chesil Beach.”

This Sunday, I’ll be reading with my writing-workshop classmates at Malaprop’s as part of the Writers at Home series. The reading starts at 3, and should last about an hour (additional details here). We’re reading firedrill style with everyone confined to 5 minutes or less, so there’ll be minimal deadly droning. It’s a great bunch of writers — and if you live in Asheville, I hope you’ll be able to join us.

I don’t know what I’m going to wear, although I’m leaning toward one of these outfits (especially the very, very top one).

Short notice but Malaprop’s is hosting some great readings this week:
• Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, 7 p.m.: Matt Lee and Ted Lee are here for The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, which, despite some deep reservations re: chow-chow, was Tingle Alley’s favorite gift to give over the last holiday. (Ted was a friend in college; of course back then he went by “Lucky,” spoke with a thick Jersey accent, and frequently ducked class to go to the dog races. Good old Lucky Lee, it’s nice to see he’s made something of himself.) Event details.

• Friday, April 13, at 7 p.m.: Gary Shteyngart reads from Absurdistan. Gary Shteyngart! In Asheville! It seems so unlikely, like we should present him with a ceremonial jar of chow-chow or something. Event details.

• Saturday, April 14, at 7 p.m.: Ron Rash reads from his new collection, Chemistry and Other Stories. I’ve heard Rash read before and he’s an unusually good & thoughtful reader. Recommended. Event details.

A heads-up reminder to Asheville readers that the weekend of June 24-26 features three fantastic readings at Malaprop’s Bookstore downtown. All readings start at 7 p.m.

On Friday, June 24, “Modern Fabulists” Kelly Link, Christopher Rowe, and Maureen McHugh. I am counting down the days to the release of Link’s second short-story collection, Magic for Beginners (Small Beer Press). Her first collection, Stranger Things Happen, was — um, what’s the critical phrase I’m looking for? — well, it rocked my world and remains one of my favorite books to give people as a present. Christopher Rowe’s fiction is currently up for a Hugo and was a finalist this year for the Nebula. Maureen McHugh also has a short-story collection coming out that I’m eager to read, it’s called Mothers & Other Monsters and it’s also put out by Small Beer Press. You can read “Oversite,” a story by McHugh over at the Ruminator that features hyperlinks to author commentary.

Ms. Bond plans to be at this reading too, and it should be great fun.

Saturday, June 25, George Singleton. As worthy as they are, I have to admit I’m normally not a big fan of attending readings. Because I … find . it … irresistible … to . talk … in . a … certain. cadence… afterward …. But George changes that — he’s pretty funny and, whenever he reads at Malaprop’s, an electric charge in the air seems to cause some sort of loony event to transpire. This time around he’s reading from his new novel, which is called Novel. I haven’t yet read it but mean to as his short stories are incredible (I recommend The Half-Mammals of Dixie). You may have also seen George talking about hangover cures in the Food Issue of the Oxford American, which if you haven’t yet picked it up You Really Should.

I’m guessing Tommy Hays and people from my writing class will be at this reading — George is a popular fellow with that gang.

• Sunday, June 26, John McManus. This reading is exciting as my friend Mr. Dan Wickett (currently to be found over at Conversational Reading) has been exclaiming about McManus’s work for some time — and has nothing but raves for his novel Bitter Milk (just released from Picador).

Here is Dan’s review of Bitter Milk, and here is an interview with McManus. As Dan might Say It: Go See McManus!!

From Beat to Black Mountain
A celebration in poetry and music with a tribute to poet Robert Creeley
Friday, June 10, 8:00 pm
Admission: $7/$5 BMCM+AC members and students w/ID

Please join us Friday, June 10, at 8:00 pm for another in our series of evenings devoted to poetry and music. “From Beat to Black Mountain” will explore the interconnections and cross pollination that occurred between the Beat writers and the poets associated with Black Mountain College such as Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Ed Dorn and Robert Duncan. The Black Mountain College poets had a quieter immediate impact than the Beats, but it was a profound and persistent one.

There will be special attention paid to the work of Black Mountain College poet Robert Creeley who died in March of this year. Creeley’s influence has been immense as a poet, editor, teacher and mentor, and the evening will include a tribute to his productive life.

The poets/performers list includes: Thomas Rain Crowe (poet, publisher, and author of the new memoir Zoro’s Field); Jeff Davis (poet and former student of Robert Creeley); Lee Ann Brown (once Allen Ginsberg’s apartment mate, now resident of our very own Madison County); Gillian Coats (owner/proprietor of The Reader’s Corner bookstore in Asheville); Massachusetts poet John Landry; and Western North Carolina poets Sebastian Matthews, Mendy Knott, and Jaye Bartell-all of whom will be proving that the legacy of the Black Mountain poets is alive and kicking by reading some of their own work as well as that of their predecessors. Musical accompaniment will be provided by Jeff Johnson and friends.

The doors open at 7:30, and performances begin at 8:00 at the Center, which is at 56 Broadway in downtown Asheville. Refreshments will be available at the performance, and there’s a suggested donation of seven dollars at the door, or five dollars for members and students. For additional information, contact BMCM+AC at 350-8484, or see the web site.

Speaking of my book club, one of our other members, the writer Lori Horvitz, organizes the “F-Word Film Festival” at UNCA each year. The two-night festival is “A Celebration of Images By and About Women But For All Audiences.” It’s held in the Humanities Lecture Hall, and starts at 7 pm. It’s free and open to the public. (I’ve been before and it’s fun.)

The festival started yesterday, but I was a punk-ass and forgot to mention it on this blog. But Ashevilleians, you can still go tonight … and see these fine films:

Under the Skin Game
by Diane Nerwen
1996
18 minutes

Visually and politically provocative, Under the Skin Game combines images from instructional films, 1950’s melodrama, and the nightly news to show how contraceptive implant Norplant is being used as an instrument of social control. Linking Norplant’s prescription by state agencies to America’s history of forced sterilizations and unethical Pill testing, Nerwen convincingly argues that a woman’s right to control her reproductive destiny is still based on social status.

Ferry Tales
by Katja Esson
2003
40 minutes

Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short, Ferry Tales exposes a secret world that exists in the powder room of the Staten Island Ferry–a place that brings together suburban moms and urban dwellers, white-collar and blue-collar, sisters and socialites. For 30 minutes every day, they gather around mirrors to put on their makeup – talking not as wives, mothers, or professionals, but just as themselves. Sassy and honest, they dish on everything from sex scandals to stilettos, family problems to September 11th, leaving stereotypes at the door and surprising viewers with their straight-shooting wisdom.

Summer of the Serpent
by Kimi Takesue
2004
27 minutes
This beautiful short drama exquisitely explores the unlikely bond that develops between two people from different worlds. Eight-year old Juliette sits at the side of the local pool waiting for another lonely summer day to pass when an unexpected pair of Japanese newcomers arrives. Fascinated by the mysterious black-clad woman and her yakuza assistant, Juliette transforms an ordinary day into an imaginative adventure, embarking on a surreal journey of discovery. Tender, provocative and beautifully hypnotic, Summer of the Serpent raises questions about difference and desire and provocatively explores representations of Asians on film, Asian masculinity, and cross-cultural encounters through the story of one young woman’s burgeoning sexuality.