Photos and videos from the April 14 reading

April 18th, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

It’s official! Literary Firsts is in its fifth year! To help celebrate, we had a wealth of talent in the room on Monday night. Obehi Janice wowed us with three essays, Steven LaFond was a man on fire with short fiction, Ravi Shankar brought the room to a serene calm with his poems, and Lillian Medville stirred everything back up with her confessional tale. It was a thrilling event that made me so happy to be a part of this community and to have a hand in this series.

Obehi Janice reads her essays.

Steven LaFond reads his fiction.

Steven LaFond reads his fiction.

Ravi Shankar reads some of his poems.

Ravi Shankar reads some of his poems.

Lillian Medville regales the crowd with her confessional tale.

Lillian Medville regales the crowd with her confessional tale.

Photos courtesy of Randolph Pfaff (except the one of Lillian, which I may or may not have taken).

Videos can be viewed here.

Thanks a million to everyone who made it. Thanks to everyone who read. I can’t wait for July.

 

Tonight!

April 14th, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

Four readers! Four years!

Obehi Janice! Steven LaFond! Lillian Medville! Ravi Shankar!

Tonight at Middlesex Lounge at 7pm, Boston!

See you there!

lf_april

Obehi Janice

March 14th, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

Obehi Janice is a hard-won reward. (Photo Credit: Adrien Bisson)

Obehi Janice is a hard-won reward. (Photo Credit: Adrien Bisson)

Obehi Janice is an actress, writer, producer, and director. A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, her written work explores the power of voice in identity, politics, cultural exchange, and testimony.  Her plays have been produced by GAN-e-meed Theatre Project, Sleeping Weazel, MPAACT (Chicago), The One-Minute Play Festival, The Berkshire Fringe Festival, and The Boston Theater Marathon.  Her one-woman show, FUFU & OREOS, is receiving a workshop production on June 6, 2014 as part of the XX PlayLab (Company One/Boston Center for the Arts). Obehi is also an essayist and a sketch writer. Her latest comedic web project, BLACK GIRL YOGA, will debut this spring.

Obehi is the essayist for the April 14 reading.

Steven LaFond

March 14th, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

Steven LaFond is a tattoo in invisible ink.

Steven LaFond is a two-legged tattoo.

Steven LaFond is a writer in Cambridge, MA. His work has appeared in apt, Drum Literary Magazine, Little Fiction, and elsewhere. He was one of the authors of the Derby Shorts anthology. He received his MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars.

Steven is the fiction writer for the April 14 reading.

Lillian Medville

March 14th, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

Lillian Medville is a lemon drop dream.

Lillian Medville is a lemon drop dream.

Lillian Medville has been producing, editing, and starring in Lillian’s Test Kitchen, a web series about food and joy, for the past three years. She and her work partner make fun and engaging videos for non-profits and businesses that are doing good things in the world. She is currently working on a book about the emotional impact of change and changing your diet, but don’t ask her too much about it. Writing is hard. She is very nervous to be here.

Lillian is the confessional reader for the April 14 reading.

Ravi Shankar

March 14th, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

Ravi Shankar is a finely struck chord.

Ravi Shankar is a finely struck chord.

Ravi Shankar founded Drunken Boat, and has published or edited seven books and chapbooks of poetry. His next, a collection of ekphrastic and collaborative poems, entitled What Else Could It Be, will be out next spring. Along with Tina Chang and Nathalie Handal, he edited W.W. Norton’s Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from Asia, the Middle East & Beyond. He has won a Pushcart Prize, been featured in The New York Times, appeared as a commentator on the BBC, the PBS Newshour, and NPR, received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and has performed his work around the world. He is currently Chairman of the Connecticut Young Writers Trust, on the faculty of the first international MFA Program at City University of Hong Kong and an Associate Professor of English at Central Connecticut State University.

Ravi is the poet for the April 14 reading.

Literary Firsts is turning four years old!

March 14th, 2014 § 0 comments § permalink

lf_aprilJoin us on Monday, April 14 at Middlesex Lounge to celebrate the series’s fourth birthday!

Our readers will be Obehi Janice (as essayist), Steven LaFond (as fiction writer), Ravi Shankar (as poet), and Lillian Medville (as confessional reader)!

Can’t wait to see you there!

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