510 Readings: The Fourth Season Commenceth on January 15th!

Welcome to the fourth season of the 510 Readings, and we've got a terrific first reading lined up for you on January 15th: Robin Black, Ken Sparling, Shya Scanlon, and Megan McShea. Thank you for being so good to us for the past three years, Baltimore, and we hope, with our amazing lineups of readers, that we've been good to you right back. Let's celebrate the new year together on the 15th!


Robin Black's debut collection, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This (Random House, 2010) was a finalist for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize, a San Francisco Chronicle and Irish Times Best Book of 2010, and a pick on the O Magazine and Huffington Post Summer Reading Lists. The book has also been published or is forthcoming in six countries overseas. Her nonfiction essays have also been recognized and anthologized. Robin is currently at work on her first novel. She lives in Philadelphia with her family.


Pedlar Press has published three novels by Ken Sparling, the most recent being BOOK, and will release a new novel by Ken in May 2011. Artististically Declined Press released a tenth anniversary edition of Ken's handmade novel, HUSH UP AND LISTEN STINKY POO BUTT in 2010. Mud Luscious press will re-issue Ken's first novel, DAD SAYS HE SAW YOU AT THE MALL, in 2012. Ken also has work in New York Tyrant and Sententia, as well as at corium and at jmww.


Shya Scanlon is the author of the poetry collection In This Alone Impulse (Noemi Press, 2010), and the novel Forecast (Flatmancrooked, 2010). He received his MFA from Brown University, where he was awarded the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction.


Megan McShea lives in Baltimore. She's put out two chapbooks, "Recipes for Greatness" and "Yarn!" as Thingy Press. Her writing has appeared in the i.e. reader (Narrow House Press), Topograph (Novello Press), and the Shattered Wig Review (Shattered Wig Press).

On Holiday

The 510 Readings is on holiday until January. See you next year.

November 20th Highlights

Thanks for attending the last 510 Reading of 2010. You were there. We saw you:



Four amazing women writers rocked the house, first of whom was Amber Sparks. She read two pieces, including "The Monstrous Sadness of Mythical Creatures," which can be found in the April 2010 issue of matchbook.



Jenny Hollowell was up next, and she read from her debut novel, Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe (Henry Holt & Co., 2010).



Jen Michalski, 510 cohost, led off after the break. She read excerpts from May-September, which won first place in the 2010 Press Open Awards (novella) and appears in the anthology of the same title.



Janice Shapiro capped the evening with a story from her debut collection, Bummer (Soft Skull Press, 2010).


Join us in 2011 to kick off our first reading of the year. It promises to be excellent: Ken Sparling, Shya Scanlon, Megan McShea, and Robin Black read on January 15th.

The Season Finale: November 20th @ 5pm @ Minas

The season three finale of the 5ive:ten Readings is November 20th with Jenny Hollowell, Amber Sparks, Jen Michalski, and Janice Shapiro. Janice Shapiro will be reading from her new book of stories, Bummer. Jenny Hollowell will be reading from her novel, Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe. Jen Michalski will be reading from her new novella, May-September. And Amber Sparks will be reading from work that will surely be collected into a book in the near future. Plus, there will be prizes.

Jenny Hollowell’s short fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train, Scheherezade, and the anthology New Sudden Fiction, and was named a distinguished story by Best American Short Stories. She received an MFA from the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow in Fiction and recipient of the Balch Short Story Award. She has received fellowships from Ledig House International Writers Residency and the Vermont Studio Center, and was a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the 2007 Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Her debut novel, Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe, was published by Henry Holt & Company in June 2010. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

Amber Sparks's work is featured or forthcoming in various places, including New York Tyrant, Unsaid, Lamination Colony, The Collagist, Annalemma, and PANK. She is also the fiction editor at Emprise Review. She lives in Washington, DC with two beasts and a husband, but most days you can find her here.



Jen Michalski's first collection of fiction, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, is available from So New (2007), her second is forthcoming from Dzanc (2013), and her novella MAY-SEPTEMBER (2010) will be published by Press 53 in October as part of the Press 53 Open Awards. Her chapbook CROSS SECTIONS (2008) is available from Publishing Genius. She also is the editor of the anthology CITY SAGES: BALTIMORE (CityLit Press 2010), which won a 2010 "Best of Baltimore" award from Baltimore Magazine. She edits the literary quarterly jmww, and is cohost of the monthly reading series The 510 Readings in Baltimore.


Janice Shapiro studied film at UCLA where she won first prize in The Samuel Goldwyn Screenwriting Competition. The short films she directed were screened widely at film festivals around the world and she was a recipient of an AFI Filmmakers’ Grant. She has written scripts for numerous studios and independent producers including the cult film, Dead Beat that she co-wrote with her husband, Adam Dubov. Janice’s short stories have been published in The North American Review, and The Santa Monica Review. A graphic memoir of hers was included in the anthology, What Were We Thinking? Another graphic memoir appeared in The Seattle Review. She is currently working on a novel, Bad Baseball, a second collection of short stories, a collection of food essays entitled, Eat Like Me, and a book length graphic memoir, Crushable – My Life In Crushes From Ricky Nelson to Viggo Mortensen. Janice lives in Brooklyn with her husband, son and dog. Bummer and Other Stories is her first book.

The Great October 510

I started off by reading some things that had been written on a piece of paper.










Then Matt Bell read from How They Were Found, the very first reading from the actual book, and the 510 felt honored.










Then Joanna Howard read the first story from On the Winding Stair and the syntax was intricate and beautiful. We were all caught up in it.









Then we took a break while Brian Evenson signed books and Alphonso Lingis (the great philosopher) said the truest things.






Then Carolyn Parkhurst read from her new novel, The Nobodies Album, which is a novel that denies it is in fact a novel while also containing seven other novels.





And then Brian Evenson read a story with a title I don't know how to spell, but it was good.

And then we went to Frazier's.

The Great October Reading

You don't want to miss this one--Brian Evenson, Carolyn Parkhurst, Matt Bell, Joanna Howard.

Brian Evenson is the author of ten books of fiction, most recently the limited edition novella Baby Leg, published by New York Tyrant Press in 2009. In 2009 he also published the novel Last Days (which won the American Library Association's award for Best Horror Novel of 2009) and the story collection Fugue State, both of which were on Time Out New York's top books of 2009. His novel The Open Curtain (Coffee House Press) was a finalist for an Edgar Award and an IHG Award. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Slovenian. He lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island, where he directs Brown University's Literary Arts Program. Other books include The Wavering Knife (which won the IHG Award for best story collection), Dark Property, and Altmann's Tongue. He has translated work by Christian Gailly, Jean Frémon, Claro, Jacques Jouet, Eric Chevillard, Antoine Volodine, and others. He is the recipient of an O. Henry Prize as well as an NEA fellowship.

Joanna Howard is the author of the story collection On the Winding Stair and the chapbook In the Colorless Round, with artwork by Rikki Ducornet. She teaches at Brown University and lives in Providence, RI.


Matt Bell is the author of How They Were Found, a collection of fiction from Keyhole Press. His fiction has been anthologized in Best American Mystery Stories 2010 and Best American Fantasy 2. He is also the editor of The Collagist.

Carolyn Parkhurst is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels "The Dogs of Babel" and "Lost and Found," as well as the new novel "The Nobodies Album." Her first children's book, Cooking With Henry and Elliebelly, will be published later this month. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two children.

September 25th Readings, Baltimore Book Festival

Thanks for visiting us at the Baltimore Book Festival! We had a great group of readers to kick off the fall and great weather as well. Here, Michael Kimball emcees and also reads an excerpt from a work-in-progress:



Jen Michalski reads an excerpt from her novella, MAY-SEPTEMBER (Press 53, 2010)



Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch read a selection from their co-authored book, Ten Walks/Two Talks (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2010)



Paula Bomer reads a story from her forthcoming story collection, Baby (Word Riot Press, 2010)



Justin Kramon reads an excerpt from his novel, Finny (Random House, 2010)



Aryn Kyle reads a story from her collection, Boys and Girls Like You and Me (Scribner, 2010)



Next month (October 16th), we'll be back at Minas Gallery. Don't miss Brian Evenson, Carolyn Parkhurst, Joanna Howard, Matt Bell!

Live Preview of Unsaid #5

We had a live preview of Unsaid #5 at the 510 Readings. The issue will be with us soon. In the meantime, I started the live preview by holding up Unsaid #4 and talking about what a behemoth it is. Then I introduced myself and read from Dear Everybody because I left the pages for the new thing that I was going to read at home on my desk. People called out years and subject matter (tornado, pancakes) and I found pieces that matched.


Next up was Kate Wyer who read four shorts, including work from Unsaid #5 and a new piece that reminded us "to press where it hurts." I think I've messed up the line, but the sentiment stands.






Then we took a break and people talked with each other.

Then Kim Calder read five pieces of work, the first of which is called "After Adorno" and is so good that it was distracting in that I couldn't stop thinking about it, trying to rehearse the lines so that I didn't forget them.




The live preview of Unsaid #5 ended with Andy Devine giving a reading unlike any that you have ever heard before unless you have heard Andy Devine read before. It was amazing.

September 18th: An Unsaid Reading

Sure, we took the summer off, but we want you to know that we missed you and that nothing has changed between us. The first episode of the Fall 510 is going to feature readers from Unsaid Magazine, one of the greatest literary magazines ever published. The September line-up features Michael Kimball, Kim Calder, Kate Wyer, and Andy Devine.

Michael Kimball’s third novel, DEAR EVERYBODY, is now in paperback in the US, UK, and Canada. The Believer calls it “a curatorial masterpiece.” Time Out New York calls the writing “stunning.” And the Los Angeles Times says the book is “funny and warm and sad and heartbreaking.” His first two novels are THE WAY THE FAMILY GOT AWAY (2000) and HOW MUCH OF US THERE WAS (2005). His three novels have been translated (or are being translated) into many languages. His work has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and in Vice, as well as The Guardian, Prairie Schooner, Post Road, Open City, Unsaid, and New York Tyrant. He is also responsible for Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard)—and two documentary films, I WILL SMASH YOU (2009) and 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES (2010).

Kim Calder lives in Los Angeles, but keeps leaving to study creative writing and literature in other places. Currently, she is an MFA student at the University of Maryland.



Kate Wyer is a mental health interviewer for the public health system of Maryland. Her work has most recently been published in Unsaid, PANK and The Collagist. Wyer is the recipient of the Elisabeth Woodworth Reese award. FENCE magazine granted her a fellowship to attend the Summer Literary Seminars in Lithuania. She heads the collaborative book project And, Afterward. Wyer supports the Understanding Campaign.

Andy Devine’s alphabetical fiction and essays have appeared in a variety of literary magazines, including New York Tyrant, Unsaid, elimae, Everyday Genius, and Taint. In 2002, Devine was awarded the Riddley Walker Prize (for a work that ignores conventional rules of grammar and punctuation). In 2007, he published his first chapbook, “As Day Same That the the Was Year” (Publishing Genius). In 2009, Devine was awarded The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Award (for fiction in the face of adversity). WORDS (2010, Publishing Genius) is his first book. Andy Devine Avenue — in Flagstaff, Arizona — is named after him.

September 25th Readings (at the Baltimore Book Festival)

We're back after a summer hiatus (miss us?) and will open our fall 2010 schedule at the Baltimore Book Festival, September 25th, 5-6:30 pm, CityLit Tent. You can find information about the Baltimore Book Festival here. you can find out about our amazing lineup here:

Paula Bomer is a writer, the co-publisher at Artistically Declined Press, and the supervising editor at the literary journal, Sententia. Her collection of stories, BABY, is available from Word Riot Press (2010).


Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch are the authors of Ten Walks/Two Talks (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2010). They recently completed another collaborative manuscript called Conversations over Stolen Food. Fitch’s Not Intelligent, but Smart: Rethinking Joe Brainard is forthcoming from Dalkey Archive. Cotner lives in Brooklyn, NY; Fitch, in Laramie, WY, where he’s an assistant professor in the U. of Wyoming’s MFA Program.

Michael Kimball’s third novel, Dear Everybody, was recently published in the US, UK, and Canada. The Believer calls it “a curatorial masterpiece.” Time Out New York calls the writing “stunning.” And the Los Angeles Times says the book is “funny and warm and sad and heartbreaking.” His first two novels are The Way the Family Got Away (2000) and How Much of Us There Was (2005), both of which have been translated (or are being translated) into many languages. His work has been on NPR’s All Things Considered and in Vice, as well as The Guardian, Prairie Schooner, Open City, Unsaid, and New York Tyrant. He is also responsible for Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard) and the documentary films, I Will Smash You (2009) and 60 Writers / 60 Places (2010).

Justin Kramon is the author of the novel Finny (Random House 2010). A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has published stories in Glimmer Train, Story Quarterly, Boulevard, Fence, TriQuarterly, and others. He has received honors from the Michener-Copernicus Society of America, Best American Short Stories, the Hawthornden International Writers' Fellowship, and the Bogliasco Foundation. He teaches at Gotham Writers' Workshop in New York City and at the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. He lives in Philadelphia.


Aryn Kyle is the author of the internationally bestselling novel The God of Animals (Scribner, 2007) and the short story collection Boys and Girls Like You and Me (Scribner, 2010). Her fiction has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, Best American Short Stories 2007, and elsewhere. Aryn is the recipient of an American Library Association's Alex Award, a Rona Jaffe Award, and a National Magazine Award in fiction. She lives in New York City.

Jen Michalski's first collection of fiction, Close Encounters, is available from So New (2007), her second is forthcoming from Dzanc (2013), and her novella May-September (2010) will be published by Press 53 in October as part of the Press 53 Open Awards. She also is the editor of the anthology City Sages: Baltimore (CityLit Press 2010) and edits the literary quarterly jmww.

Summer Break

The 510 Readings will be on summer break until September.

June 19th Readings

Thanks for attending the June 19th edition of the 510 Readings. We'll be on hiatus until September, so here's what happened if you weren't there:

Readers visited us this month from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. A sizable and appreciative crowd was on hand:



Laura Ellen Scott read selections from her collection in progress of "creepy" flash fictions. Although it would be cheap to call them haunting, what else can you say about a story with a baby crib inside a bedroom wall? (We hope the B&W photo helps you get in the mood.) Anyway, be on the lookout for this collection sometime soon!



Timothy Gager followed, describing the perils of using high-wattage light bulbs in Easy Bake ovens. If you want to find out more, check out his latest collection, Treating a Sick Animal: Flash and Micro Fictions.


After the break, Bill Black mesmerized us with a true cruel story of youth, which can be found in the latest issue of The Southern Review.



To close, Curtis Smith treated us to some essays from his upcoming collection of essays, The Agnostic's Prayer.


I am sorry you missed out on such wonderful readings (and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, courtesy of Timothy Gager). But you can catch us twice in September—9/18 at our regular haunt (Minas) and 9/25 at the Baltimore Book Festival. See you then!

June 19th Readings: Laura Ellen Scott, Timothy Gager, Bill Black, and Curtis Smith

Laura Ellen Scott teaches fiction writing to undergraduates at George Mason University, and in 2009-2010 published 19 short stories in print and online, including work selected for The Wigleaf Top Fifty and Barrelhouse magazine's Futures issue. Her work was nominated for Dzanc's Best of the Web 2010 anthology twice, and she is currently Fiction editor of Prick of the Spindle.

Timothy Gager is the author of eight books of short fiction and poetry. His latest, Treating a Sick Animal: Flash and Micro Fictions (Cervena Barva Press), features over 40 stories, many previously published in various literary magazines. He hosts the Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, Massachusetts, every month and is the co-founder of Somerville News Writers Festival. He has had over 200 works of fiction and poetry published since 2007, of which eight have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Timothy is the current Fiction Editor of The Wilderness House Literary Review, the founding co-editor of The Heat City Literary Review, and has edited the book OUT OF THE BLUE WRITERS UNITE: A BOOK OF POETRY AND PROSE FROM THE OUT OF THE BLUE ART GALLERY.

Bill Black's work has appeared in The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, Hotel Amerika, The Black Warrior Review, Short FICTION, and elsewhere. He has taught literature and creative writing at Western Washington University, Ohio University, and The Johns Hopkins University, and is currently Writer-in-Residence at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania. He a founding Co-Director of the Pages & Places Book Festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania.


Curtis Smith's stories and essays have appeared in over 60 literary journals and have been cited by The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, and The Best American Spiritual Writing. Press 53 has released his last two story collections (THE SPECIES CROWN and BAD MONKEY); Casperian Books has published his last two novels (SOUND AND NOISE and TRUTH OR SOMETHING LIKE IT). This fall, Sunnyoutside will publish his essay collection, THE AGNOSTIC'S PRAYER.