Ch-ch-ch-changes, make that Transition. That’s our theme for June 13. What will remain the same at Why There Are Words is the quality of the readers. Join us for the following writers and authors reading from their works. Doors open at 7 pm; readings begin at 7:15. $10. You’ll want extra cash for books and booze.
Melanie Abrams is the author of the novel Playing. She teaches creative writing at UC Berkeley and received her MFA from UNC Greensboro. Her novel has been translated in Italian, French, German, and Hebrew.
Jon Boilard was born and raised in Western Massachussetts. He has been living in Northern California since 1986. More than 50 of his short stories have been published in literary journals in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. A River Closely Watched is his first novel, which has been shortlisted for the Northern California Book Award.
Seth Harwood’s new novel In Broad Daylight (Thomas & Mercer) features a new character for him, FBI agent Jess Harding. In the novel, she chases a vicious serial killer’s bloody trail across the summer planes and white nights of Alaska. He has also published three other crime novels—Young Junius, This Is Life, and the bestselling Jack Wakes Up – as well as a collection of stories, A Long Way from Disney. He holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and teaches creative writing at Stanford and CCSF. Serialized versions of his work as free audio podcasts have been downloaded over one million times via iTunes, Podiobooks and at his website.
Jen Michalski is the author of the novel The Tide King (Black Lawrence Press, 2013), the short story collections From Here (Aqueous Books 2013) and Close Encounters (So New 2007), and a collection of novellas, Could You Be With Her Now 2013). She is the founding editor of the literary quarterly jmww, a co-host of The 510 Readings, and also is the editor of the anthology City Sages: Baltimore, which Baltimore Magazine called a “Best of Baltimore” in 2010. She lives in Baltimore and tweets here.
Andrea Pitzer is the author of The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov (Pegasus Books, 2013). She founded and edited Nieman Storyboard, the narrative nonfiction site of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Her writing has appeared in many places, from Slate and USA Today to McSweeney’s and Poet Lore. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two children.
Vicente R. Viray’s writing has appeared in the Greensboro Review, California Northern, Stymie: A Journal of Sport & Literature, Chelsea Station, Tattoo Highway, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA from the University of San Francisco. He lives in San Francisco with his partner Paul and is currently working on a short story collection.
Jon Wells is a designer, writer, and filmmaker living in Mill Valley. In his life he has been a soldier, a Marine, a mountaineer, a rock climber, a white water kayaker and a sailor. His film, At the Epicenter of the Epidemic, concerning the HIV/AIDS crisis in Honduras was accepted at the Tiburon International Film Festival. He is an alum of the Squaw Valley Community of writers. He Died All Day Long is his first novel.
Rob Yardumian received his MFA from Warren Wilson College in 1997. The Sound of Songs Across the Water is his first novel. His short fiction has been published in The Southern Review, The New Orleans Review, The Antioch Review, The Madison Review, Sycamore Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, and Porcupine Literary Arts. Before receiving his MFA, Rob spent ten years in the music business, including stints as director of marketing for a record label and creative director for a publishing company. Currently, he lives in Portland, OR.
Mariah K. Young was born in San Leandro, and spent her childhood in the East Bay and in Lahaina, Hawai’i. She graduated with an English degree from California State University East Bay, where she won the inaugural RV Williams fiction prize. Her first short story collection, Masha’allah and Other Stories, received the James D. Houston Award in 2012, honoring books by writers whose voices reflect humane values and a thoughtful literary exploration of California, Hawai’i, and the West. Mariah currently lives and teaches writing in Los Angeles, and is hard at work on a novel.
Why There Are Words celebrated its third year in January 2013, takes place every second Thursday of the month, and is the brainchild of curator Peg Alford Pursell.
