The August edition of the new Bridge Open Readings series and Open Mic will take place at the Open Books Pilsen store, 905 W. 19th St. on Saturday, November 18th from 3-5pm. Readings and open mics will be recorded and archived at bridge-chicago.org. Readers for our August edition are:

Parker Young's debut short story collection, Cheap Therapist Says You're Insane, was released on May 24 from Future Tense Books. His stories have appeared in Always Crashing, Autofocus, Juked, No Contact, X-R-A-Y, HAD, and elsewhere. He lives in Chicago.

Cheap Therapist Says You’re Insane is a debut collection of stories that announces a startling new talent in American storytelling. Parker Young’s short stories and flash fictions combine humor, anxiety, and pathos as they walk a razor’s edge between the absurd and compelling human stakes. Young’s total command of voice and style makes for stories sure to linger in the haunted air of your subconscious.

Cecily Chen (she/her/her) is a PhD student in English and gender and sexuality studies at the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on experimental Asian American literature, fucked up Chinese women, Marxist aesthetics, and bad sex. She has a chapbook out with Inpatient Press, CHEATING: The Early Works of Yin Lichuan. When she is procrastinating her dissertation—which is always—she also edits poetry for Chicago Review. 

Jessie McCarty is a writer and cataloger. They are Co Artistic Director of the Runaways Lab Theater. They have written two chapbooks, The Bovine Huff (Track and Field) and Our Fairy Diary (I Read Stuff Bookstore).

Hosted by Bridge Editor-in-Chief Michael Workman. Readings start at 3, and the open mic after. For the open mic portion, please plan on reading no more than 10-15 minutes, max. All readings will be archived and available for streaming at the Bridge website in the readings archive.

Readings from 3-4pm; walk-in readers welcome from 4-5pm