All posts in Interviews

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

PASHLEY: I once read to a packed house in NYC when the one guy I knew in the audience (another writer) got up and rushed out following a series of text messages from a woman he was trying to date. He disappeared until long after the reading was over. But when he came back, he was super manic, and took to me to dinner and to the Waldorf Astoria where he proceeded to tuck himself into bed to cry about all the “beautiful, damaged women” he knew. I left at 2am, and a young custodian who told me he “sure would like to get my number,” hailed me a cab.

Raised in Syracuse, New York, by an accordion virtuoso and a casket maker, Jennifer Pashley is the author of two short story collections, States, and The Conjurer, and the novel, The Scamp. Her stories and essays have appeared widely, in Mississippi Review, PANK, SmokeLong Quarterly, The Butter, and Spectre Magazine, among others. Jennifer has been awarded the Red Hen Prize for Fiction, the Mississippi Review Prize for fiction, and the Carve Magazine Esoteric Award for LGBT Fiction. The Scamp is her first novel..

Come see Jennifer read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, August 21 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30pm.

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

O’NEIL: I was at LitCrawl in San Francisco preparing to read an essay about a horrible sexual encounter that went very wrong (think bruised, broken, and swelling male genitalia – mine!) when the woman from the very same said sexual encounter walks into the reading…  And yes, I read the essay.

Patrick O’Neil is a former junkie bank robber and the author of the memoir, Gun Needle Spoon (Dzanc Books), and the excerpted in part French translation, Hold-Up (13e Note Editions). His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including: Juxtapoz, Salon.com, The Weeklings, Razorcake, The Nervous Breakdown, and Out of the Gutter. He is an editor for the NYC-to-California-transplant-post-beat-pre-apocalyptic art, writing, and music anthology: Sensitive Skin Magazine. He has been nominated twice for Best of the Net, and is a regular contributor to the recovery website AfterPartyMagazine. Patrick O’Neil holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, lives in Hollywood, California, and teaches at AULA’s inspiration2publication program, and Los Angeles Valley College.

Come see Patrick perform at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, August 21 at 7:30pm.

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

MAHIN: My father-in-law fell asleep sprawled out across the banquette at the mmHmm Room at the Standard during the panel reading at my recent book launch. One minute he was running around clustering people into groups to snap photos and then…he needed a nap. I didn’t find out about it until afterwards. I’m not mad. It’s too bad, because he missed out on a stellar performance by David Francis, in character as a young lad from the Australian bush who came to Hollywood to be an actor and fell into porn instead. I laughed so hard my face hurt. Then Sam Dunn spilled an entire glass of wine down my dress. That part wasn’t really so unusual, though.

Shanna Mahin is a high school dropout with a fierce desire to disprove her 9^th grade English teacher’s prediction of “a lifetime of wasted potential.”  She mourns his passing, in part for the missed opportunity to point out her PEN Center USA Emerging Voices fellowship, her MacDowell and Norman Mailer Colony fellowships, among others, and her first novel, Oh! You Pretty Things, just out in hardcover from Dutton.

Come see Shanna read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, August 21 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30pm.

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

MOHR: i read in oakland this past saturday, and a probably off-her-meds woman cornered me at the break, saying that in 1979 i trashed her band on the internet and what’s my fucking problem? when i stupidly suggested that i was 3 in 1979 and there was no internet, per se, she told me to stop “pissing on her online platform.”  then i apologized and bought her a soda water.

Joshua Mohr is the author of five novels, including Damascus, which The New York Times called “Beat-poet cool.”  He’s also written Fight Song and Some Things that Meant the World to Me, one of O Magazine’s Top 10 reads of 2009 and a San Francisco Chronicle best-seller, as well as Termite Parade, an Editors’ Choice on The New York Times Best Seller List.  His novel All This Life was recently published by Counterpoint/Soft Skull.

Come see Joshua read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, August 21 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30pm.

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

ORTIZ: The host got tired of reading the writer’s bios in full and just started letting them trail off into “etc., etc.” and “yadda yadda yadda” like endings. 

Wendy C. Ortiz is the author of Excavation: A Memoir (Future Tense Books, 2014), Hollywood Notebook (Writ Large Press, 2015) and the forthcoming Bruja (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Her work has appeared in The New York Times, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Hazlitt, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and The Nervous Breakdown, among other places. Wendy co-founded the Rhapsodomancy Reading Series, which she’s curated and hosted since 2004 in Los Angeles.

Come see Wendy read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, August 21 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30pm.

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

DOYLE: My most unusual experience at a literary event was the night I had to stop reading and work my way through a crowded bar to break up a fight and then make my way back to the microphone to finish my story. No blood was spilled.

Sean H. Doyle lives in Brooklyn, New York. He works hard every day to be a better person and is learning how to love himself more. His book This Must Be the Place was published by Civil Coping Mechanisms in 2015. His writing has appeared in No Tokens, The Atlas Review, The Rumpus, Everyday Genius, and other places.

Come see Sean read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, August 21 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30pm.

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

BARRIOS: My first reading was at Dirty Laundry Lit in LA. Probably 100 people attending, most of whom had had a couple of drinks before things got started. I thought I was used to talking in front of crowds, and I felt great until I was introduced and walked up to the mike. I looked up and saw everyone’s eyes and my knees began to wobble. I couldn’t stop them. I started reading and heard my voice waver – not good when the story is about a hardened druggie’s dark journey to meet his dealer.

I managed to collect myself and finish my seven minutes. Back at my seat the sweat I’d generated turned cold under my arms. I commenced beating myself up for blowing the opportunity. Then a young guy approached me and shook my hand.

“Man,” he said, “I wish I could write like you do.” For two minutes he talked to me about my work, then thanked me. “You fucking rock!”

He disappeared into the crowd and an addiction was born.

After 35 years as an ad agency creative, network news producer, industrial filmmaker and tech product strategist, Emile Barrios could no longer ignore the urge to write stories. His memoir, Nub: Story of an Ex-Cripple was published in 2008. His work also has appeared in Vestal Review, Concho River Review, and Every Writer Stories. He’s currently working on a novel about the Cajun culture of south Louisiana. Emile is originally from Baton Rouge, and has lived in San Diego nearly three decades.

Come see Emile read at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.

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

KHAKPOUR: A man proposed to me after a reading last year! He kept insisting he was serious! I declined.

Porochista Khakpour is a novelist, essayist, journalist, and professor. She is the author of the forthcoming memoir SICK (HarperPerennial, 2017), and the novels THE LAST ILLUSION (Bloomsbury, 2014)—a 2014 “Best Book of the Year” according to NPR, Kirkus, Buzzfeed, Popmatters, Electric Literature, and more—and SONS AND OTHER FLAMMABLE OBJECTS (Grove, 2007)—the 2007 California Book Award winner in “First Fiction,” one of the Chicago Tribune’s “Fall’s Best,” and a New York Times “Editor’s Choice.” She has had fellowships from the NEA, Yaddo, Ucross, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Northwestern University, the University of Leipzig, and many others. Her writing has appeared in or is forthcoming in Harper’s, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera America, Slate, Salon, Spin, The Daily Beast, Elle, and many other publications around the world. She is currently Contributing Editor at The Offing, a channel of the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Writer in Residence at Bard College. Born in Tehran and raised in Los Angeles, she lives in New York City.

Come see Porochista read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, June 12 at 7:30pm.

VOTM: What’s the most unusual experience you’ve had at an art show?

VARELA: A few years back I went to a Raymond Pettibon show inside of Shepard Fairey’s gallery in Los Angeles. This was also one of OFF’s more earlier shows. I was pumped to have gotten tickets to this show but sucked that I had to wait about an hour in the rain to actually get in. By this point, I was kinda over it and all I really cared about was the free PBR. I didn’t have any cash on me to tip the bartender so every time she would bring me a beer, I’d make this half looking fist into the jar so it looked like I was dropping cash – it worked for most of the night. The place was packed, it was ok, I’d made a little spot for myself between the bar and restroom, I couldn’t see any of the art but watching some of these characters walk in and out of the restroom was worth it. That’s where I would bump into Drew Barrymore, well not really bump into her, she was digging her pointy little shoulders into everyone, making her way to the restroom, I didn’t want to lose my spot so I held my ground. Wet, drunk and anxious to get the fuck out, I was now in the front of the gallery and just as we were about to head out, I hear the Ramones playing. Shepard Fairey was the DJ and there was a big dance circle forming that Drew had started – I had to stay, in hopes of catching one of those party moments she was known for more. She didn’t disappoint, like a drunk ballerina she danced all over the gallery, hugging, grinding and kissing on people. Up until then, free beer and cheese had been the highlights of the art shows I’d been to, and to he honest, most of the ones I go to now will never live up to that night with the drunken ballerina.

The Imperial Valley will always be home for 33 year old native David Varela. Born and raised in El Centro, David struggled academically as he trudged through the El Centro Elementary School District, but acknowledges the support he found in the Migrant program and the teachers that fostered his love for art. In 2000 he graduated from Southwest High School and with little hesitation sought higher education in the arts outside of El Centro. With much determination, family support and financial difficulties he earned a degree in Graphic Design, only to find himself traveling back home to a position at the Imperial Valley Press. After a few years of building experience, David seeked to expand his artistic abilities, leaving the Valley to work for both the L.A. Times and then Viejas Casino, before situating himself at the prestigious Sixteenfifty Creative Ad Agency in La Jolla where he currently works as a Graphic Designer.  Having accomplished much of what he had set out to do for himself, David now looks to support and give back to his community back home. Along with Alex Tamayo, a childhood friend and native to the Valley, he founded the nonprofit organization Starts with Arts Foundation.

Since its inception in 2012, Starts with Arts has continued to raise awareness for Arts Education and the educational benefits the arts has in the classroom. David opened an art studio in El Centro, hosting free art workshops to teachers, kids and parents. Starts with Arts also continues to support and embrace local art talent and culture by participating and sponsoring year-around community events.

Check out David’s poster he created for the events at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, June 12 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.

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

EVANS: I had to leave AWP a day early this year to celebrate my eldest’s 8th birthday, and I missed the Paper Darts reading featuring a few of my favorite writers. It was late that night, and I was home in San Diego, baking a birthday cake, when my friend Ryan sent me this text: “Lindsay Hunter is reading CANDLES from Don’t Kiss Me right now. Read along.” So I did. I sat with her book, on the kitchen floor, covered in cake flour, full of angst, and I read along with Lindsay Hunter.

Julia Dixon Evans is a writer and works for So Say We All. Her work can be found in Hobart, Swarm, Black Candies, Like The Wind, and elsewhere. Find her on twitter at @juliadixonevans

Come see Julia read at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.

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

CARRETE: My most unusual experience during a reading was over Skype. I was in San Diego and the event was in Chicago. I read and by the time I finished, the host kept my window open so I could talk to people. It was mostly me staring at a house party. People would walk by and look at the screen. I should’ve hung up quicker but didn’t. 

Ana Carrete is the author of Baby Babe. She teaches Spanish to preschoolers in a French school in Texas.

Come see Ana read at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.

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

MALONEY: I was in the audience at the Lil Bitch Tour reading in Portland, Oregon in 2012. The event was outdoors in a public park. At one point a naked homeless man walked up behind the stage holding a plastic garbage bag over his crotch. He hung out for a while and then the cops came and arrested him and hauled him off to jail. This all played out while the readers (Scott McClanahan, Elizabeth Ellen, and Chelsea Martin) were performing. Being the pros that they are, they just powered through, giving the evening a feeling of surrealist urban theater.

Kevin Maloney was born in Portland, Oregon in 1976. He lived for a time in Vermont but currently resides in North Portland with his girlfriend and daughter. At times a TJ Maxx associate, grocery clerk, outdoor school instructor, organic farmer, apprentice electrician, student teacher, and teddy bear salesman, he currently works as a web developer and writer. His debut novel Cult of Loretta was published by Lazy Fascist Press in May. His stories have appeared in Hobart, PANK, Monkeybicycle, and a number of other literary journals.

Come see Kevin read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, June 12 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.

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

LEMBERGER: Given the nature of readings, the unusual is never entirely unexpected, so here’s one story: at the very first reading I went to after moving to LA, I sat near a man and woman who came in together. He looked too cool for school. She was drop dead gorgeous. So when we struck up a conversation afterward and he asked me for my address so that he could send me *something* about poetry in LA, that’s all I gave him (because I was an idiot). He wrote me a letter. She was just a friend.

Michal Lemberger is the author of the short story collection, After Abel and Other Stories. She’s published poetry in The Rattling Wall, The Bellevue Literary Review, and other publications, and was thrilled to have one of her poems featured on Daily Poetry. Her prose has appeared in Slate, Salon, The Smart Set, and other publications that begin with the letter “S.” Originally from New York, she lives in LA, and—20 years later—still kind of can’t believe it.

Come see Michal read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, June 12 at 7:30pm.

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

GABRIEL: My wife is a poet and has been involved in running reading series’ for ten or fifteen years. So, yeah, I’ve seen some stuff. Readings outside (locked venue; no key).  No-show readers. Late-show readers. Readers too nervous to stand up. We once moved an entire audience several blocks to another venue, because—what?—oh, I can’t remember. The strong smell of paint? Maybe no key again. I’ve seen people pass out on stage, people drunkenly ramble; I’ve seen introducers offend the reader with slights about their age (again, drunkenly). But perhaps the most unusual (or at least the most wonderful) thing I ever saw at a reading turned out to not be a reading at all. This non-reading occurred when Tillie Olsen came to my university to read a day or two, as it happened, after the acquittal of the officers who had beaten Rodney King, just as the riots in Los Angeles and elsewhere were gaining a full head of steam. She stood on stage in front of hundreds of people and began to talk about her life fighting for social change in the 1930s, anecdote after anecdote, encounters with police, times in jail. She was a masterful storyteller, and we all sat completely rapt. It was cathartic and hopeful to have someone contextualize the events the country was heading in to. On my way out of the auditorium, I bumped into a teacher of mine, a faculty member presumably responsible for bringing Olsen to campus. “She didn’t even read anything!” she hissed. Only then did this fact occur to me.

Jerry Gabriel’s first book, Drowned Boy (Sarabande, 2010), won the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. It was a Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” selection and awarded the 2011 Towson Prize for Literature. His second book, The Let Go, a collection of long stories, was published in May by Queen’s Ferry Press. He lives in Maryland, where he teaches at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and directs the Chesapeake Writers’ Conference. 

Come see Jerry read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, June 12 at 7:30pm and at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.

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

STEFANO: I’ve had too many strange experiences at readings to choose just one, but here goes: at the Bread Loaf conference last year, a woman read a beautiful poem which ever-so-briefly mentioned (gasp!) small breasts. Immediately post-reading, everyone skedaddled into the dining room for chow time. The woman and I stood at the salad bar heaping romaine onto our plates when a man elbowed in and said (with great enthusiasm, I might add), “My wife has small breasts, so I could really relate to your poem!!” It was so utterly random and weird, and well –how does one reply to such a remark? The poet paused and eventually replied to the effect of, “Uh. Thanks?” And the man disappeared, seemingly pleased with himself for having paid this fine compliment. Maybe that’s a salad bar story and not a reading story, but I’m just saying: it was really fucking strange and consequently, it was really fucking funny.

Karen Stefano is the author of the story collection, The Secret Games of Words. She is Fiction Editor for Connotation Press, and her stories have appeared in The South Carolina Review, Tampa Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, Epiphany, Lost In Thought, Metazen, Green Mountains Review, Gloom Cupboard, and elsewhere, Her story, “Seeing,” was nominated for the XXXVIII Pushcart Prize.

Come see Karen read at 3rdSpace in University Heights on Saturday, June 13 at 7:30pm.