FINAL THURSDAY READING SERIES

Thursday, November 17, 2005
*****One week earlier than usual*****
Vibe Coffee House, Cedar Falls

Featured Reader: John Bresland

Before the reading, join the Cedar Valley’s longest running creative writing open mic. Signup for the open mic begins @ 7 p.m. on a first come, first served basis.  Limited slots are available, so readers are encouraged to sign up early and read your best five minutes of poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction.  Singer-songwriters are also welcome.  The open mic begins at 7:30 p.m.  The featured reader takes the stage between 8:00 and 8:30 (depending on how many open mic readers there are). After the reading, there will be a brief question and answer session.

John Bresland works in radio, video, and print. He has built homes, sold used cars, and translated French video games into English for a living. Currently, he teaches writing. Several of John Bresland’s radio essays have aired on public radio, including NPR’s Weekend America, and his video essay “The Seinfeld Analog” (2005) is being screened throughout the Midwest. His print essay “The Horns You Get” recently appeared in the North American Review, and his commentary appears regularly in Midwestern editorial pages. He is currently working on a nonfiction novel titled “How to Be a Man.”

John Bresland's work can be seen below and on his website: http://www.english.uiowa.edu/nonfiction/media/bresland.htm

  Vibe is located at 909 W. 23rd St. in Cedar Falls on the second floor of Bought again Books.  Persons needing access accommodation should call 266-7115 by the day before the event.  For more information, contact Jim O'Loughlin.

Read Work by

Past Featured Readers

Eula Biss

Scott Cawelti

Karris Golden

Vince Gotera

Paul Hedeen

Harvey Hess

Dave Hoing

Kathleen Kelly

Jerry Klinkowitz

Catherine A. F. MacGillivray

Nate McKeen

Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure

Cherie "Chillin'" Nelson

James P. Roberts

Susan Rochette-Crawley

Ron Sandvik

Ann Struthers

Jonathan Stull

John Wilson Swope

Grant Tracey

Ray A. Young Bear

from How to Be a Man

by John Bresland

Ours was an aluminum Starcraft. It was small and light, and you were likely to see as many of them floating on Lake Michigan as alewifes gone belly up.  What set it apart was the 140-horse Johnson outboard—the same engine used to drive double-decker houseboats. Holstered in our little Starcraft, that Johnson was obscene in all the right ways. The guy at the marina refused to install it. He said it would be like strapping a jet engine to a Volkswagon Beetle. I thought, Why not? Why not do that? My father seemed to agree, and did the job himself. On account of the engine’s heft, the boat floated unevenly, ass-down, nose-up, and passengers were invited to ride in the front for ballast. So equipped, the boat’s top speed was unknown, just a tantalizing theoretical number beyond the reach of the speedometer. And that, my father said, was real top speed. The speed you didn’t have the guts to go.

Now Available from Final Thursday Press

Kyrie

Poetry by Jonathan Stull

Ghost Wars

Poetry by Vince Gotera

***Winner of the 2004 Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry***

Laugh.  Damnit.

Poetry by Ahkos

Bad Men

Microfiction by Jim O'Loughlin