Literary Firsts

Monday night’s reading was not to be missed. Dolan Morgan kicked us off with a surreal and hilarious excerpt from his recent collection, That’s When the Knives Come Down; Wesley Rothman shared some surprisingly sensual poems; Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich read a portion from her work-in-progress, featuring a slew of intriguingly dangerous characters; and Sam Cha read a delightfully masochistic confessional essay.

Just in case you couldn’t be there, you can still check out the photos below and the videos here.

Dolan Morgan reads from THAT’S WHEN THE KNIVES COME DOWN.

Wesley Rothman reads some poems.

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich reads from her work-in-progress.

Sam Cha reads his confessional essay.

A million thanks to the readers and everyone who came out. It was a fantastic evening and I can’t wait to see everyone in January!

Sam Cha is pretending incredulity.

Sam Cha recently completed his MFA in poetry at UMass Boston, where he was the 2011 and 2012 recipient of the Academy of American Poets Prize. He’s a poetry editor for Radius. His work (poems, essays, fiction, translations) can be found at Amethyst Arsenic, anderbo, apt, ASIA, Banipal, The Bakery, decomP, Gravel, Memorious, Paper Scissors, Printer’s Devil Review, and shufPoetry. Also, in two anthologies: Knocking at the Door: Poems About Approaching the Other, and The &Now Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing. He lives and writes in Cambridge, MA.

Sam is the confessional reader for the October 13 reading.

I’m so excited for the next round of readers.

Can’t wait to see you there, Boston!

AWP was a frenzied rush of visitors and last-minute plans–weather-related and otherwise.

But at least it ended with a bang. On Saturday night, we convened at Middlesex Lounge for a reading worth celebrating.

The photos are below. The videos can be seen here.

This was one of my favorite readings ever, Literary Firsts or otherwise. As you’ll see from the videos, the readers brought an arsenal.

Thanks to them. And thanks to you, lovely listeners.

Melissa Febos

James Tadd Adcox

Elisa Gabbert

Adrian Todd Zuniga

Robert Kloss

Sam Cha

Vanessa Veselka

John Cotter

See you next month for the 3-year anniversary reading!

Finally, the AWP reading is tonight! Be there at 5:30pm for the literary force that is James Tadd Adcox, Sam Cha, John Cotter, Melissa Febos, Elisa Gabbert, Robert Kloss, Vanessa Veselka, and Adrian Todd Zuniga!

And, while you’re here, check out the Phoenix interview with founder and host, Carissa Halston.

Sam Cha is a turn in the tide.

Sam Cha is an MFA candidate at UMass Boston. His poems, essays, and translations have appeared in apt, Amethyst Arsenic, Anderbo, ASIA, Banipal, decomP, Opium Online, Printer’s Devil Review, and Radius. He was a finalist for the 2007 Anderbo Poetry Prize and the 2012 Memorious Art Song Contest, and he was awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize at UMass Boston in 2011 and 2012. He lives and writes in Cambridge, MA.

Sam is part of the March 9 AWP reading.

For those of you who were at Literary Firsts on Monday night, you probably remember that I ended the evening by mentioning our next event. I said it would be special (on a Saturday!), and twice as long (eight readers!), and it would feature the following writers, each of whom are suffused with literary know-how:

James Tadd Adcox
Sam Cha
John Cotter
Melissa Febos
Elisa Gabbert
Robert Kloss
Vanessa Veselka
Adrian Todd Zuniga

Those things are all still true and now even better because we have a promotional image!

So please join us on Saturday, March 9 at 5:30pm at Middlesex Lounge. This reading will involve the return of former LF readers Elisa Gabbert and John Cotter (with John as confessional reader!). This reading will bring together collaborators James Tadd Adcox and Robert Kloss. This reading will showcase the work of writers both near and far, some so far away from Boston that it would be silly to ask them to travel such a distance. To sum up: this reading will result in nothing short of elation.