A success by any measure besides documentary photography: Michael Martone’s reading at the Antenna Gallery
First off, thanks to everyone who came out to Thursday’s reading. Second, if there’s anyone out there who knows how to use a camera and would like to take pictures of Room 220 events, please drop a line to nathan [at] press-street.com, because I apparently have no idea how to make a picture. You’ll get photo credits, free drinks at the events (though, they’re free anyway), and much love.
Other than that, the initial installment of the Room 220 “Live Prose at the Antenna Gallery” fall lineup was a resounding success, with over 70 attendees, rollicking readings by Michael Martone and The Brothers Goat (Michael J. Lee and Christopher Hellwig), and good times had by all. Hellwig and Lee, who read stories together on which they collaborated, disturbed and amused the audience with well-wrought tales of crime, paranoia, despair, and a very unnerving black-eyed dog. Martone was hilarious, reading from his collection of fictional contributor’s notes, Michael Martone, his fictional travel guide to Indiana, The Blue Guide to Indiana, and his new collection of short fiction, Four for a Quarter, including a piece titled “The Sex Lives of the Fantastic Four.”
This month, the Live Prose continues with the release party for Mark Yakich’s new novel, A Meaning for Wife, on October 27. Yakich, an accomplished poet and Loyola professor, will be reading along with Laura Ellen Scott, whose new book is set in New Orleans and concerns, among other things, resurrecting Elvis. In November, Room 220 is very excited to host The Paris Review‘s Southern editor, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Nathaniel Rich. More details here.