Book Tour/Reading Series Database

November 10th, 2009 / 4:44 am james yeh—

i live in new york — brooklyn to be exact. personally, i feel like it’s almost to the point of oversaturation. which is fine, for people looking for something to do, to either read or listen. sometimes though, in the midst of a particularly bad reader, at a particularly bad reading, i will feel personally affronted by the inconsiderateness of everyone involved. why do you subject us to this? do you think we actually like going to these? everything i do and care about seems to suddenly become questionable. i do not respond favorably to questioning of this sort.

my favorite readings are ones that involve music, or video, or some kind of alternate context, or incorporate a theme, or are so short you don’t have time to get bored. if it’s dealing with sex, that’s usually good too. funny is a bonus, but trying too hard to be funny is just as bad as boring, and in certain cases, even worse.

one of the best ones is the opium literary deathmatch, which is a monthly event run by opium magazine. todd zuniga puts a lot of energy into making this an enjoyable, non-painful experience. one of the few reading serieses (serii?) that i go to consistently. but even at these i find myself getting bored sometimes.

litcrawl nyc is a great event as well because each reading is limited to a 45-minute program and each program is different and usually somehow thematic or innovative, in some way.

i liked the “i had it bad” reading series run by lisa locascio that used to go on at happy ending in the LES. they did some cool things. mostly involving the sex-related theme and the audience participation segment of the night which featured free drink tickets. lisa moved to LA though, so maybe that’ll happen there now.

a really good reading i went to (and participated in) was the elimae microreading which featured around 20 readers, all reading 3 minutes or less. i think part of why that was good was the mix and the quality of the readers. if they were all bad readers, it could have easily been unbearable. the nice thing about having strict time limits is that, if it’s someone good, you’re left wanting more; if it’s somebody bad, at least they’ll be done quickly.

there’s this reading series called “the moth” storytelling series that’s apparently kind of well-known. i went to it once; it was kind of like a mix between a stand-up routine and a personal essay competition. which is to say, at its best, kind of funny and inspirational; at its worst, preening and nervous. most of the performers weren’t very literary but at least they knew not to be boring.

the readings i hate are the ones that feature a ton of shitty readers and let them go on forever.

here’s a question: is it possible to do a reading series where nobody is bored and everyone is engaged the entire time?

November 10th, 2009 / 4:45 am james yeh—

sorry, that was really long

November 10th, 2009 / 4:50 am Ryan Call—

NANO Reading Series @ Kaboom Books in Houston (monthly)
Gulf Coast Reading Series @ Brazos Bookstore in Houston (monthly)
Poison Pen Reading Series @ Poison Girl Bar in Houston(monthly)
Cheryl’s Gone; a reading and perfomance series at Big Bear Cafe in Washington DC (monthly)

November 10th, 2009 / 5:03 am Blake Butler—

amy and i and jamie iredell do Solar Anus in Atlanta, monthly, sometimes 2x a month

November 10th, 2009 / 5:22 am Michael Kimball—

There is the 510 Readings in Baltimore, a monthly fiction reading series — http://510readings.blogspot.com/

November 10th, 2009 / 5:28 am Ryan Call—

i think elizabeth ellen has started one in MI?

November 10th, 2009 / 6:06 am Tony Perez—

The Portland contingent of Tin House has recently started a quarterly reading series at Disjecta (a non-profit art gallery/organization). We have two readers and a band, plus booze and really really good french fries. We look to have some representation from our books division or magazine, but it’s not exclusively our authors (Last time we had Zak Smith, Jon Raymond, and Quazi. Next time we’ll have Curtis White, David Biespiel, and Adrian Orange).

Loggernaut in Portland is consistently good as well.

November 10th, 2009 / 6:07 am KevinS—

I would love to come to Houston and Atlanta. I already have a pretty generous list though, so I doubt I’ll be able to.

Here are the series I know of (most you can google for more info):
Portland–Loggernaut, Spare Room, The Tangent, 1,000 Words, and sometimes I host a thing called Booty Call. My girlfriend co-hosts a ridiculously popular storytelling show here called Back Fence PDX.
San Francisco has the Rumpus series, Writers With Drinks, Radar, and Porch Light (another storytelling thing).
Chicago has Bookslut, the Parlor, Quickies, and sometimes the Dollar Store.
LA and New York both have In the Flesh. LA also has Vermin on the Mount. NY also has the new Largehearted Boy series, the Mixer at the Cake Shop, the Guerilla Lit series, and of course the great Happy Ending.
I don’t think Seattle has a reading series (prove me wrong, Simmons!)

November 10th, 2009 / 9:07 am Gabe Barber—

I have a list of the reading series in the Portland metro area available on the Reading Local: Portland site, which you can see here.

Also, you can get a sense of the reading series in the Seattle area via Matt Briggs’ coverage of them on hereReading Local: Seattle.

Hope that helps.

November 10th, 2009 / 9:08 am Gabe Barber—

I have a list of the reading series in the Portland metro area available on the Reading Local: Portland site, which you can see here.

Also, you can get a sense of the reading series in the Seattle area via Matt Briggs’ coverage of them on Reading Local: Seattle.

Hope that helps.

November 10th, 2009 / 10:36 am Joseph Young—

Baltimore

510 Series @ Minas Gallery (Michael Kimball, Jen Michalski)

Atomic Fiction Series @ Atomic Books (Kathy Flann)

ie reading series @ The LoF/t (Michael Ball)

November 10th, 2009 / 3:04 pm sarah m.g.—

Milwaukee: Red Letter Reading Series (poetry) @ Woodland Pattern + they just started a New Prose reading series

November 10th, 2009 / 3:18 pm Shane Jones—

Albany has a series called Yes, Reading! that brings people in once or twice a month. It would be nice if more people from NYC, Boston, and surrounding “real” cities got involved. http://yesreading.wordpress.com/

November 10th, 2009 / 3:35 pm Nate—

I just started a reading series in Fargo-Moorhead called The Wood Chipper Reading Series. There’s one reading scheduled so far for December. The problem is people being able to get here. http://woodchipperseries.blogspot.com/

November 10th, 2009 / 3:36 pm Nate—

I’ve just started a reading series in Fargo-Moorhead called The Wood Chipper Reading Series. There’s one reading set up for December, but I’d like to set up at least one more for the spring. The problem is that Fargo is out of the way for a lot of people. http://woodchipperseries.blogspot.com/

November 10th, 2009 / 3:37 pm John Dermot Woods—

Athens, GA: VOX Series @ Cine. (Hosted by University of Georgia Creative Writing Program.) I’m reading there tonight – it’s an awesome space in a fancy indie film house with a full bar.

November 10th, 2009 / 3:46 pm Shya—

it’s just “series” – for singular and plural.

November 10th, 2009 / 3:49 pm Shya—

Seattle used to be home to the Monkeybicycle reading series–which was always amazing. And I say as an unbiased observer.

November 10th, 2009 / 4:57 pm Rachel—

Booktour.com is pretty comprehensive. If we want more indie series on there, we can add them. And “indie” Kevin is touring with a HarperCollins book. I have no problem with this, but he’s certainly not limited to underground venues…

November 10th, 2009 / 5:11 pm ce.—

it would be great to have a Book Your Own Fucking Life of places to read. i was just talking to a friend about reading tours the other day. both of us grew up playing music and booking DIY tours and both agreed that if/when we get books published, we’ll tour the shit out of them, just like we did when we played music.

November 10th, 2009 / 5:15 pm Walser and Company—

MA has several that fit James’ rightly steep criteria:

All Small Caps (Wendell, MA) http://allsmallcaps.blogspot.com/

http://thedeepmoatreadingseries.blogspot.com/ (Pierre Menard Gallery in Boston)

celansalon.wordpress.com (Schoen Books in S. Deerfield MA)

In Raleigh, NC (formerly in MA): http://www.thesoandsoseries.blogspot.com/

Slope Reading Series at the Rendezvous (Turner’s Falls, MA) home also of the Montague Brain Exchange, which includes music, film, etc.

as do, in NY,

hermitagebeacon.com

http://www.myspace.com/mixernyc

Also good in NY:

http://supermachinepoetry.com/

Ladder Series at Dixon Place

@ Unnameable Books

And everywhere: http://wheneverwefeellikeit.blogspot.com/

This is not exhaustive. I’ll add more later.

November 10th, 2009 / 5:18 pm ce.—

Indy has next to nill as far as reading series:

the Butler reading series (generally bigger names, and booked well in advance, not a monthly thing)

Evening with the Muse (i hate that fucking name, and it’s emceed by an 80-something year old lady with a walker, but it’s had some good readers. happens every 2nd sunday of the month.)

i was just talking to one of the editors of Booth Journal about getting something else going here in Indy besides EwtM.

November 10th, 2009 / 5:40 pm Mather Schneider—

November 20th and regularly scheduled at Ruta Maya, 3601 South Congress Avenue, Austin TX. Hosted by David Bates of Interior Noise Press.

November 10th, 2009 / 5:48 pm Ben Segal—

There is a website called ‘Do DIY USA’ (www.dodiyusa.org) that is a directory of diy/house spaces. The site is mainly for music, but many if not most of these spaces are open to programming a variety of events, including readings. I used that database to help book a multi-media reading/music/physics demonstration tour with a few friends.

Reading in spaces that are not primarily for readings is awesome. You meet a lot of people who wouldn’t normally attend a reading. I prefer reading with bands or filmmakers if only for the kind of crowd it draws.

November 10th, 2009 / 5:58 pm Mather Schneider—

That’s a coincidence because about five minutes ago something got through my spam filter by DIY Publications, a pyramid scheme or some kind of scam, which locked my computer up until I rebooted.

November 10th, 2009 / 6:18 pm Nate—

I started a series here in Fargo-Moorhead called The Wood Chipper Reading Series. There’s one event scheduled for December, but it’d be great if I could get more. The problem is that Fargo is a bit out of the way for most :/

November 10th, 2009 / 2:18 pm Nate—

I started a series here in Fargo-Moorhead called The Wood Chipper Reading Series. There’s one event scheduled for December, but it’d be great if I could get more. The problem is that Fargo is a bit out of the way for most :/

November 10th, 2009 / 6:21 pm Nate—

I’m going to be coming back for X-Mas break and would like to get in on a reading or two while I’m home. I’m all for more readings in Naptown.

November 10th, 2009 / 6:56 pm KevinS—

Amelia Gray runs a series in Austin that combines readings with music.

November 10th, 2009 / 7:51 pm Clapper—

I’ve been wanting to set up a database like this for a while, and intend to in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, I’ve written up a few of them at the Underground Library (http://undergroundlibrary.info). Will re-visit this thread to grab more of ’em for articles there.

November 10th, 2009 / 8:59 pm Roxane—

Indeed, she has: http://www.greatlakesgreattimes.net/

November 11th, 2009 / 12:37 am steven—

As far as I know, Carrie from Black Ocean has the most complete Wiki. It’s been around for a while now, but it still seems unknown to most readers.

http://carrieo80.wiki.zoho.com/

s-

November 11th, 2009 / 2:15 am jackie corley—

new yinzer reading series – pittsburgh – http://tnypresents.blogspot.com/

dire reading series – cambridge, mass. – http://www.direreader.com/

river read – red bank, nj – http://www.johnpetrolino.com/Frank_Talk/

November 11th, 2009 / 2:24 am jackie corley—

also, earshot – nyc – http://www.earshotnyc.com/calendar.html

mike & jen’s 510 reading series is a great time. also? baltimore bartenders have a heavy thumb.

william walsh runs good readings out of providence, ri

November 11th, 2009 / 4:57 am Matt Briggs—

This is a great thread. Thanks for sharing this info. Another resource besides Reading Local: Seattle in Puget Sound area is http://www.poetswest.com.

When I was trying to set up reading for my novel, Shoot the Buffalo, in 2005 things were pretty grim in terms of “indie” readings. I could not find a place, for instance, to read in Baltimore. Atomic Books said no. Normals only had one reading a month and were booked for months. The regional manager of Borders responded to my query by phone and said to me that there would not be sufficient interest in all of Baltimore for a book set in the Pacific Northwest for me to read at their store. My “alma mater, JHU, wouldn’t even let me have a room to read in. I asked Red Emma’s, an anarchist book store, if I could read there. And they brought it up at a committee meeting and decided it was against the policy of the anarchist collective to host fiction readings. (The irony of that made it kind of worth being rejected.) So I ended up reading on the sidewalk which actually worked out okay. All you really need is a GPS location and a date. You can send our press releases with the location.

But things seem better now.

November 12th, 2009 / 7:03 pm Walser and Company—

Forgot one of the very best, Gabe Durham’s Gather Round Children Variety Show:

http://gatherroundchildren.wordpress.com/?s=variety+show

November 14th, 2009 / 7:21 pm gabe—

Thanks, Nat! I’d be happy to get on some kind of list–I’m interested in bringing in more out-of-town acts for future variety shows so it extends beyond friends entertaining friends. People can email me if they’re coming through western MA.

Book Tour/Reading Series Database

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