This Bright Darkness Book Launch 2019

Kevin and I went to Sarah McKinstry-Brown's book launch party for This Bright Darkness at the B-Side of the Benson Theatre in Omaha. She read from the collection and then answered questions. After we were able to get a signed copy and talk with the party-goers, a lot of whom either work with Kevin or graduated from the grad program he's directing now. I'm looking forward to reading the collection!

Big crowd!

Sarah answering questions from Liz and the audience

Sarah and Liz

Cake with book cover image on it- very cool

Imaginary Gardens Reading 2018

On Tuesday, Liz Kay and Kevin had a reading at Mr. Toad's. Liz read from her novel, Monsters: A Love Story, and Kevin read from his short story collection. He read one of my favorites, "The Third Prophet of Wyaconda.

 

Liz Kay reading from Monsters: A Love Story

 

Nice crowd

Kevin reading from We Were Flying to Chicago

Roxane Gay Reading 2018

Our idea of an awesome date night is going to a Roxane Gay reading. On Friday, she read at UNO from her essay collection Hunger and answered a lot of questions. I'm a big fan of Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist and Hunger books. I recommend them.

She's very tall

Reading from her moving essay collection

UNO WW Reading Series- Todd 2018

Writer's Workshop Reading Series- Todd Robinson, Poetry:

 

Todd works in the UNO WW

Great attendance!

Miles Waggener Reading 2018

Kevin went to the undergraduate program director, Miles's reading at Mister Toad's monthly "Imaginary Gardens Reading Series." I asked him to snap a picture.

 

Miles reading

Imaginary Gardens Reading Series at Mister Toad's

Julie Buntin at PWR Reading 2017

Julie Buntin read from her novel Marlena at Stony Brook!

Julie reading

Kevin is the reading series coordinator

Small part of very engaged-looking audience

Erika Swyler at PWR Reading 2017

On Wednesday, Erika read from her book, The Book of Speculation, at Stony Brook University for the Program in Writing and Rhetoric's Reading Series. This is the reading series that Kevin created and organizes at work. It went really well!

Reading in the Shared Faculty Lounge

Erika reading

Students listening attentively

PARP Night at Kindergarten 2017

Kevin took James to Parents As Reading Partners Week (PARP Week) last night. I had to stay and put Miranda to bed. Oh well, looks like it was fun!

Cat in the Hat, aka the principal

Dr. Seuss joy

Caris and Darin

The auditorium

Reading One Fish, Two Fish

Trying to make musical instruments?

Real instruments

James playing bingo.

Abby playing bingo

Principal reading

Green screen picture

Local Author Fair at Smithtown-Nesconset 2016

Last Saturday, both Erika S. and Kevin participated in a local author fair at the Smithtown-Nesconset library. They spoke about their books, the writing and publication processes. I was mostly watching the kids in the children's section of the library, but I did get a few pictures.

Pre-fair set up- Kevin and Erika sitting by the windows

Pre-fair set up

Pre-fair set up

Erika speaking to the audience

Poster

Erika's Book of Speculation Reading 2016

dI got to actually hear Erika read and talk about her novel The Book of Speculation last week. Even though I read her book in May, and the short story prequel in June, and loved both, this was the first opportunity I had to attend a reading. It added a lot to what I got from the book. For example, I had never considered either the symbolism or the realism of the crabs... but it was fascinating to reconsider them.

Erika reading from her book

A nice size audience!

Since the book took 10 years to write, it was really cool to hear about how her life progressed as she wrote the book. It's so enjoyable to listen to talented and thoughtful people talk. I wish I'd taken more advantage of how easy it was to go to readings and author talks when I was childless and lived right next to Book Court in Brooklyn. 

You can see the back of my head. Haha.

Signing copies for people

The posters because they're exciting

Kevin watched the kids for me and since he was dropping me off anyway, they all enjoyed the playground and gorgeous children's reading room at the Neconset/ Smithtown Library.

Coloring

PJFL Local Writers Panel 2016

The library asked Kevin to participate on a panel of local writers - his short story collection We Were Flying to Chicago came out in 2014 and got great reviews. Erika Swyler, a local novelist who wrote “The Book of Speculation” that came out this year was the main featured author on the panel. Her novel has received national attention and was featured as part of Barnes & Noble’s Discover program, and it was also named one of the best books of 2015 by both Amazon.com and Buzzfeed.

Ralph Brady, Thomas Whaley, Erika Swyler, Kevin, Joe Beck

The panel also included award­-winning children’s book writer Thomas Whaley; journalist, playwright and author Joe Beck; and non­fiction writer, novelist and history buff Ralph Brady.

 

Erika and her husband Rob, James and Kevin.

James and Miranda enjoying some post-panel refreshments

Catherine Lacey Residency 2015

Last year, Kevin applied for and won a grant for the Creative Writing Program at his university. The grant, the President’s Visiting Artists Series Award, is for bringing practicing artists to campus to work with students and faculty.

He brought Catherine Lacey, author of Nobody is Ever Missing, a Granta New Voice in 2014, awarded an artist’s fellowship from New York Foundation for the Arts in 2012, and has taught in the Creative Writing Program at Columbia University.

She gave a public talk on the craft of writing on Wednesday. Throughout the week she hosted fiction and creative non-fiction workshops with undergraduates at Stony Brook, and MFA candidates in Southampton.  But most fun for me, I got to go to dinner with her on Monday night. Her book is awesome so it's no surprise that so is she.

Public lecture about the craft of writing on Wednesday, November 4

Personal essay workshop

Reading at James's Nursery School 2015

At the beginning of March, Kevin was a mystery reader at James's nursery school. He read two of James's current favorites PRETEND by Jennifer Plecas and BOY AND BOT by Ame Dyckman.

 

Kids made him this thank you card!

He said it was fun and James was pretty excited, so I went in on Friday and read. The weather was nicer so I got to read outside. it's a nature school so there's lots of animals around. The kids were pretty good but I was heckled by a rooster. Seriously. I read The Curious Garden by Peter Brown, a fictional account of the Highline Park and my favorite story in Frog and Toad (the one about a letter) by Arnold Lobel.

Huge scary dinosaur about to eat me.

Reading The Curious Garden

WWFTC Reading at VA Festival of the Book 2015

Kevin read at the Virginia Festival of the Book last week. His read with Clifford Garstang (editor, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction From a Small Planet) during a panel called "Short Stories: Great Fiction in Small Bites" at New Dominion Bookshop.

Kevin all set before the reading

The reading was upstairs.

Kevin read the title story and the reading went really well. He had a good rhythm and the crowd understood and liked the story. Kevin had some different answers to the questions this time.

Or so I'm told. I couldn't stay to the end because the kids were being kind of disruptive. The reading space was weird because it was upstairs and pretty narrow. There was some seating downstairs, which is where I had to park it because I had Miranda in the stroller. This turned out to be somewhat fortuitous as I could escape with bothering too many people.

James entertaining himself by reading some kids books

Miranda napping at the reading

[Not pictured: James whining, Miranda tearing all the books off the shelves.]

After the reading. (Photo by Pat Jarrett, VFH staff)