Ryan Griffith in San Diego

VOTM: What’s the most unusual experience you’ve had at a reading?

GRIFFITH: In 2005 I went to see in interesting reading at a bar in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where my friend read and then a Belorussian band took the stage and performed dressed as a group of insects.  Following the show, we all gathered at another bar where the band of insects approached my friend and began to verbally assail him in Russian, accusing him of wearing a fake beard, which evidently was a serious breach of decorum and grounds for a fight.  Soon our friends entered the mix and a huge “beard brawl” nearly ensued, but my bearded friend slipped out the door and, once the offending facial hair was out of sight, cooler heads prevailed.

Ryan Griffith served as resident storyteller for The Lounge on KPBS radio, where he read from his acclaimed series, The Midnight Pharmacy. His stories and poems have also appeared in a variety of literary journals such as elimae, Night Train, and NANO Fiction.  He teaches at Grossmont College and during the 2015-2016 school year, he took sabbatical to work on his novel while living abroad in Iceland, Russia, Turkey, and other countries. His current project is a multimedia narrative installation, “Relics of The Hypnotist War,” which is now on display at Space4Art studios in downtown San Diego.

Come see Ryan read at La Bodega Gallery in San Diego on Saturday, April 28 at 7pm.

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