April 21st, 2012 § § permalink
We were standing-room only last Monday and, if I may be so bold as to speak for complete strangers, everyone was thrilled to be there, sitting or no. A hundred thanks to all our friends, old and new, who came out for our second anniversary and heaps more gratitude for the readers. Photos below, videos thereafter.
Kimberly Duncan-Mooney reads her fiction.
Randolph Pfaff reads his poems.
Kate Sloan reads her essay.
Timothy Patrick McCarthy reads his confessional essay.
For those of you who couldn’t be there, you can watch the videos here.
I love running this series. I love bringing these stories together. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
April 18th, 2012 § § permalink
–this is what happened:
Photos and videos are on their way.
April 16th, 2012 § § permalink
April 16! 7pm! Middlesex Lounge!
Kimberly Duncan-Mooney!
Randolph Pfaff!
Kate Sloan!
Timothy Patrick McCarthy!
The second anniversary of Literary Firsts!
April 11th, 2012 § § permalink
The crew over at The Boston Phoenix chose Literary Firsts as one of their Editors’ Picks this week!
“Does the thought of standing up in front of a roomful of people and recounting the tale of your very first sexual experience sort of make you want to hurl? Assuming you’re like us, and didn’t swagger out of the womb a muscled stud muffin with moves like Jagger to spare, it likely does. Well, that’s why none of us are participants in the quarterly reading series Literary Firsts. The “sexiest reading series” isn’t all about doing the nasty, though. The featured performers read poems, stories, essays, and monologues about any number of personal experiences; sex just happens to factor prominently. The titillating series turns two years old this month, for which they’re having a special anniversary event on Monday April 16, featuring fiction writer Kimberly Duncan-Mooney, poet Randolph Pfaff, essayist Kate Sloan, and confessional writer Timothy Patrick McCarthy.”
And don’t forget that we’re raffling* off three copies of the latest issue of apt!
See you Monday!
* – by “raffling,” I mean giving-away-for-free-an-action-for-which-there’s-no-quick-and-easy-verb
April 2nd, 2012 § § permalink
Lovely readers, in less than two weeks, Literary Firsts will be two years old!
Be there on Monday, April 16 when Kimberly Duncan-Mooney, Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Randolph Pfaff, and Kate Sloan will help us ring in our third year!
Also–everyone who attends April’s reading will be eligible to receive a free book! By the end of the night, we’ll give away three copies of the second print issue of our literary journal apt. The only catch is that you’ll need to be there to get them, so we’ll see you April 16!
March 14th, 2012 § § permalink
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In observation of our impending second anniversary, we’ve decided to add a splash of color to this April’s promotional images.
To that end, stop by Middlesex Lounge on April 16 to help us celebrate! On Monday, April 16 at 7pm, Kimberly Duncan-Mooney, Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Randolph Pfaff, and Kate Sloan will share their words and work and you’ll love every minute!
So be sure to be there and help us kick off our third year right!
(Also, last year, there were cookies–perhaps balloons this year?)
March 14th, 2012 § § permalink
Kimberly Duncan-Mooney is a tidy fortune.
Kimberly Duncan-Mooney has been writing for what feels like ages, ever since she figured out that black roller ball pens hold the key to creativity. An editor for the past eight years, she has worked on projects that range from picture books about a child who shrinks and is sucked down the drain, to retellings of Homer, to guidebooks on how not to die in the White Mountains. She holds an MFA from UMass Boston and a BFA from Emerson College. She lives in Cambridge with her wife and nearly-one-year-old son.
Kimberly is the fiction writer for the April 16 reading.
March 13th, 2012 § § permalink
Timothy is shining like a new dime.
Timothy Patrick McCarthy teaches history, literature, and public policy at Harvard University, where he also directs the Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has published four books–The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the American Radical Tradition (2003); Prophets of Protest: Reconsidering the History of American Abolitionism (2006); Protest Nation: Words That Inspired a Century of American Radicalism (2010); and The Indispensable Zinn: The Essential Writings of the People’s Historian (2012). His forthcoming book, Stonewall’s Children: A Modern Story of Liberation, Loss, and Love, will be published by the New Press in 2013. A frequent media commentator, Timothy has published his work in The Daily Beast, Boston Globe, and The Huffington Post, and is a regular blogger for The Nation. He lives in Cambridge with his husband and their adorable black lab puppy, Jeter, who is named for the best shortstop of the best baseball team in history.
Timothy is the confessional writer for the April 16 reading.
March 13th, 2012 § § permalink
Randolph is a literary aristocracy of one.
Randolph Pfaff is a writer, editor, and visual artist. He lives in Boston where he edits for a magazine called apt and a small press called Aforementioned. He also writes and edits professionally for a small liberal arts college he has tricked into paying him in exchange for words. Please don’t blow his cover. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Destroyer, Rufous City Review, Metazen, Thunderclap!, and Open Letters Monthly, among others.
Randolph is the poet for the April 16 reading.
March 13th, 2012 § § permalink
Kate Sloan is the bandana on your wrist.
Kate Sloan was born and raised in Michigan. Before moving to Boston, she attended Michigan State University (known in other parts of the country as not U of M) where she edited The Red Cedar Review, illicitly climbed her first fire escape, and earned a degree in English and creative writing. She currently spends her time getting paid to edit textbooks she vaguely understands while writing things she loves for free on the Internet. To derail her steady income, she’s currently applying to grad school. She writes occasionally on comics and life for The Idler and keeps a blog at staycutegirl.com.
Kate is the essayist for the April 16 reading.