Triple Book Launch in May!

The long-awaited reading by our own Glenn Bowie, who had to cancel the first time with some cockamamie story about being in the ER with a punctured lung.... he was joined by Michael Keith and Lori Desrosiers.

Not to make this about me or anything, but I do take the worst pictures,

and Glenn was busy being a feature... so most of these lovely shots are courtesy of

my good friend Joy Martin! Thanks, Joy! 

Also, I like to mention the food... what was special this day was

the key lime pie cookies! O M G.

Okay, so we began with Michael Keith, whose new book, 

Bits Specks Crumbs Flecks just came out. His usual great writing,

but this was the first time I got to sit and hear him read at length.

He was red hot! 

Next up was our darlingest Glenn Bowie, who read from

his new poetry collection, Into the Thorns and Honey.

As if that wasn't enough - and by golly, doncha think

it oughta be??? we had the lovely Lori Desrosiers

reading from her latest collection, 

Sometimes I Hear the Clock Speak.

Adding to the special-ness of the day was my friend

Jonathan Furman, who was visiting from California!

He was so impressed with everyone!

OUR FIRST OPEN MIC!

What took us so long to do one? We do not know! But we will definitely be doing more. There is something magical about the center after dark... all the softly lit lamps... the dim ambiance... me saying I HAVE TO TURN THE LIGHTS ON BECAUSE NONE OF MY PICTURES ARE COMING OUT GOOD.

Anyway, it was a blast to have so many participants... some familiar faces, and (hooraaay!) some new!

The usual yummies. 

I was SO delighted to see my new friend Ann Doyle there... she and I met in Boston a couple of weeks earlier when we read our poems at Boston City Hall. I hope she'll become a regular!

She even brought some friends: this is Cheryl Savageau.

Daniel Hudon is a bit of a rarity in these parts, so it was completely great to have him join us. 

My favorite performance poet, Harry Mishkin!

Couple fellow poetry group partners, Keith Tornheim....

and Rachel Greenberg.

And of course Christopher Reilley! 

Great friend, the poet Richard Fox.

Someone named Russ... can't remember his last name, but he was great!

My dear dear friend Ruth, who came from far to join us... she read one of my all-time favorite poems - it's included in the Best of Boston Literary Magazine Anthology.

She and Chris have been enjoying a new friendship on Facebook, and finally got to meet!

The only person not pictured is my darling friend Joy Martin - and that's because she took all these pictures. Seriously, all of mine sucked big time. Thanks, Joy, SO much! 

See you all at the next Open Mic! 

BIG FAT QUADRUPLE BOOK LAUNCH

On March 26 we hosted a huge book launch with FOUR features from far-away places like California and New York and Pennsylvania! Before you get too excited, no, there was NO CAKE... the bakery's printer was down! We made do with other stuff...

Yeah, so there were some writers there, too ! I can't remember what order they went in (it was SO last month) but I seem to recall that Amye Archer was first, reading from her phenomenal memoir, Fat Girl, Skinny. Big Table Publishing has nominated this one for a PULITZER PRIZE because uh huh, it's that good! 

Lots of people know the story of how I was extremely loving and supportive of  Amye after she signed on with an agent and  then with another publisher; but not everyone knows that I was only being nice so that in case some miracle happened and that contract fell through, she would let me publish the book. And somehow... that's exactly what happened! 

Tony Press is another author I nagged  encouraged for a long long long time to publish with Big Table. I have been a HUGE fan for years... and finally he couldn't stand the pressure agreed that he was ready! He flew across the WHOLE country to be here, and meeting him was such a blast, I can't even tell you!! Here he is reading from his collection of shorts, Crossing the Lines.

Our next guest was one of Boston Literary's Darlings, Tina Barry... I admire her writing so much, and was SO thrilled when she submitted a manuscript to Big Table! I'll be honest - I didn't actually read it before I accepted. I wanted to say YES before she sent it to someone else! When I read it the next day, of course I loved it! Nyaah Nyaah, other publishers! She's ours! She kept us spellbound as she read from her new collection, Mall Flower.

And finally, a local author I've had my eyes on for a while... Nadine Ryan is warm, funny, brilliantly talented, and did I mention funny? Her novel, She Came from Beyond is terrific! The writing is great, but to hear her read from it was even better. (Nadine, want to come to my house and read the whole thing to me? Call me!) 

The following pictures came from Amye Archer and our Center's photographer, Glenn Bowie... I have discovered that although I have a sparkling personality that delights everyone, I can't take pictures for shit.

Christopher Reilly and Glenn Bowie

Nadine, Chris, Moi, and Glenn

Phil Temples, Glenn, Tony, and Michael C. Keith

Seriously... could we BE any cuter? Sorry, Tony, that you had to be flanked by babes!