It began two years ago as one writer invited another writer to read, and then that writer invited another writer. We’ve gone from the boroughs to the Midwest and back again, hitting a variety of fiction, and we have no idea where the next links will go. But it promises to be good!

Elise Blackwell, reading from An Unfinished Score
Heidi Durrow, reading from The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
Tod Goldberg, reading from Other Resort Cities
Matt Gross, the New York Times’ Frugal Traveler, reading from a novel
in progress

an evening of fiction, fact, poetry and chills.

SJ Rozan, Harold Schechter, Jason Starr, Gerald So, Seamus Scanlon

6 to 8pm

Allison Amend reads from Things That Pass for Love: Stories (debut collection that won an IPPY Award);
Wendy Lee reads from Happy Family: A Novel (debut novel). Simon Van Booy reads from Love Begins in Winter: Stories (won the Frank O’Connor Award).

Whether the characters in these stories are pursuing a partner, a family, or acceptance, love is always within reach—but only just.

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Allison Amend (“Things That Pass for Love: Stories”);
“The terrible impact of bodies falling from the sky, the shrill thwack of a golf ball hit out-of-bounds, the elusively tender caress upon a faithful dog’s head. Such tactile, sensory imagery infuses Amend’s lustrous collection of short fiction that celebrates the forlorn and isolated, the disgruntled and misunderstood, the least guarded and most apprehensive among us. . . In a world where husbands begrudgingly support wives and sisters inexplicably betray brothers, where lovers appear and disappear at whim, Amend’s dialogue is crisp and pure, her observations nuanced and keen, her understanding of the human condition buoyant and clear.”

Wendy Lee (“Happy Family”):
Lee’s debut novel is the heartfelt story of Hua Wu, a young Chinese immigrant who comes to New York City and serendipitously becomes a nanny to an adopted Chinese girl, Lily Templeton-Walker, after meeting her American mother, Jane, in the park. Hua becomes attached to the child and involved in the family, but is disturbed when she uncovers trouble in Jane’s marriage. She begins to snoop around her employers’ apartment hoping to discover the reason behind the turmoil; the more she finds the more she fears what will happen if Lily’s parents separate.

Simon Van Booy (“Love Begins in Winter (Five Stories)”)
The author continues to develop his highly original style and his overriding theme of isolation versus connection. …  In “The City of Windy Trees,” George Frack learns, seven years after the fact, that a one-night stand with a Swedish waitress has produced a child. He quits his job and flies to Sweden, eager to meet his child and to turn what might have been a nightmarish situation into the single most important thing that ever happened to him. More about what is felt than what happens, Van Booy’s stories pay beautiful homage to human connection

Mobile Libris will be selling books.

Both debut novels and paperback printings:
Greg Ames, BUFFALO LOCKJAW
Tania James, ATLAS OF UNKNOWNS
Sarah Rainone, LOVE WILL TEAR US APART
Felicia C. Sullivan, THE SKY ISN’T VISIBLE FROM HERE.

presents

Readings at the cell:

GRAPHIC VISIONS

From the familiar to the surprising, a monthly series of fiction, poetry, graphic novels and written or spoken word.

The Regular Reading Series

Graphic Novels, Comics, and Beyond: Michael Gallagher (“Cyrano da Burger Rat”); R. Sikoryak (“Masterpiece Comics”), Emily Blair (“Soap Opera”), and Sabrina Jones (“Isadora Duncan: a Graphic Biography”) read from and present selections from their work, ranging from comics to parody comics collection to fiction to biography, at the Cell Theatre, Nov. 16 at 5pm. Q&A to follow. Suggested Donation: $5

The cell’s Reading Series, directed by Karen Heuler, will meet monthly, except for December. For more information, contact Karen Heuler by email.