Thursday, November 30,
2006
Bought again Books
Cedar Falls
Book Release Reading by
Grant Tracey
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FINAL THURSDAY READING SERIES *downstairs in Bought again Books* |
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Thursday, November 30,
2006
Book Release Reading by |
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This month, the Final Thursday Reading Series takes place in Bought again Books, downstairs from Vibe Coffee House. Vibe will be open for espresso drinks. Come early to browse the stacks at BaB.
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.
Grant Tracey is the Pushcart Prize-nominated author of Playing Mac: A Novella in Two Acts and Other Scenes and the short story collection, Parallel Lines and the Hockey Universe (both published by Pocol Press). He is the Fiction Editor of the North American Review and teaches fiction writing and film studies at UNI. You can read a sample of his work below: |
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Read Work by Past Featured Readers
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from Playing Mac by Grant Tracey
This is a closing excerpt of a scene in Playing Mac (page 65). Stan’s son Peter is in trouble with the law and Stan seeks advice from Jean, whom he still loves even though she wants a divorce. The scene takes place at her house in Cobourg, Ontario.
“Community theater. It’s no big deal. It’s fun. The people, I don’t know, it’s just a family, you know?” “I think that’s great.” She opened the door. Outside the sun was a dim glimmer behind a covering of gray clouds. “When does the show open? I’ll come up and see it.” “Next Monday, March 15th. We play two nights. Take two off, and then close the following weekend. I’d love it if you’d come see it.” The neighbors across the way were playing hockey in the driveway. One of the aluminum nets listed to the left—it looked like it had been sat on—and all four kids were wearing knit caps. A pink ear on one of the hockey players poked out from under faded blue. “Take it easy on Peter.” Stan taught Matt to play hockey, taken him to see his first game at Maple Leaf Gardens when the kid was only four, but somehow, with Peter, Stan had missed the whole hockey experience. They never slapped a ball around on a driveway, or skated over the rough-ribbed kinks of a backyard rink. Maybe by then the job, the failing marriage, and the drinking had worn him out. Peter didn’t go to the Gardens until he was nine. “I’ll try. I really will.” Hockey sticks slapped against the pavement with hollow scratches and hands were raised as one of the kids scored, the ball puffing the net’s worn twine. Jean held out her hands and he held them, gently shaking her arms. They said their good-byes and as finger rubbed free, unclasping, Stan couldn't feel a slight bump and he realized that she was no longer wearing her ring.
Now Available from Final Thursday Press
Poetry by Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure
Poetry by Jonathan Stull
Poetry by Vince Gotera ***Winner of the 2004 Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry***
Poetry by Ahkos
Microfiction by Jim O'Loughlin |
| updated Nov. 17, 2006 by Jim O'Loughlin |
Vibe
is located at 909 W. 23rd St. in Cedar Falls on the second floor of
Bought again Books.