This weekend two Los Angeles writers will be appearing at Vermin on the Mount at 3rdSpace in University Heights: Sean Carswell and Justin Maurer.
Both writers have read at Vermin events in L.A. In fact, Sean Carswell appeared at the second VOTM event way back in 2004. Nine years later he’s coming to S.D. to help celebrate nearly a decade of filth and fury at our ninth anniversary bash. Carswell is the author of the novels Drinks for the Little Guy, Train Wreck Girl, and his latest Madhouse Fog. He wrote the short story collections Barney’s Crew and Glue and Ink Rebellion. He co-founded the independent book publisher Gorsky Press and the music magazine Razorcake. He has been a regular contributor to Flipside, Ink 19, and Clamor. His writing has appeared in diverse places: the skateboarding magazine Thrasher, tiny zines like Zisk, and prestigious literary journals such as The Southeastern Review and The Rattling Wall. He currently teaches writing and literature at California State University Channel Islands.
Justin Maurer is no stranger to punk rock. He was born in L.A. but came of age in the Great Pacific Northwest where he recorded three albums and embarked on world tours with his storied punk band Clorox Girls. After a decade of nonstop touring, the band fell apart and he worked and lived in Madrid and London. In Europe he formed the band Suspect Parts before a full-circle return to L.A. Maurer’s first book Don’t Take Your Life (Future Tense Books) was published in 2006. His new book Seventeen Television is now available from Vol. 1 Brooklyn. He currently sings for the punk/’60s pop band L.A. Drugz and plays guitar in punk/glam band Maniac.
VOTM: What’s the strangest experience you’ve ever had at a literary event?
CARSWELL: I once read at the Texas Blues Bar in Longview, Texas. Some highlights of the night included playing pool with a Texan dressed like he’d just climbed down from his deer stand. He told me he was there to see some “literature and shit.” He was very competitive and wanted to bet on the pool games. He was also under four feet tall, so he could barely reach the table to shoot. I didn’t let him win, but I didn’t bet with him either. When I took a break from pool, another strangely intense Texan pulled me aside and said, “Hey, man. I know you know Ian Mackaye. Is he gay?” So much seemed to ride on my answer. I read between punk bands. My new dwarf buddy peppered all my pauses with the type of call-and-response I’d only heard in holy-rolling churches: Uh-huh! Amen! No she di’in! After I finished reading, a barroom brawl erupted. The one definitive loser of the brawl left the bar in the back of an ambulance. He’d broken his leg. I’m still not sure how he broke his leg. As soon as the fight started, I slid off to the non-fighting room. My wholly-unsatisfactory answer to the Ian Mackaye question, by the way, was, “I don’t know. I never tried to fuck him.”
MAURER: The strangest thing I ever saw at a literary event was a bartender refusing to turn the house music down when there was a reading in progress. Lame.
Come see Justin and Sean at 3rdSpace on Saturday, August 24 at 7pm.