The October 2024 edition of the Bridge Open Readings series and Open Mic will take place at the Open Books Pilsen store, 905 W. 19th St. on Saturday, October 6 from 3-5pm. This edition will convene a panel on the subject of Working With Small Presses.
Author panelists discuss and respond to questions about publishing books with small presses. With the consolidation of traditional publishing in the Big Five presses (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster), both established and emerging writers have turned to independent presses for freedom of expression, exploration, risk taking, experiment, and reaching diverse readers. The indies range from university presses like MIT to high literary ones like Graywolf to small presses. The small presses, like BRIDGE, sprout everywhere, sometimes devoted to genre like horror and fantasy or grit lit. Small presses, publishing roughly ten books a year, pay great attention to each book, and their authors devote themselves to readings, communities, and public appearances that go beyond the conventional.
As always, the conversation will be recorded and archived at bridge-chicago.org. No open mic this edition.
Please note there will be a separate launch party and readings event on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Printers Row Wine in the South Loop, 719 S. Dearborn
Starting at 2:00, Lavin, Bereaud, and Flores Anderson will give short readings from their new books, along with Mallory Qiu and Graciela Gonzales dueting, and Faylita Hicks reading from her new book, A Map of My Want (Haymarket Books). Wine bar open. Free sweets from Tropicake Bakery will be served during intermission and after the reading.
Melissa Flores Anderson is a Latinx Californian and an award-winning journalist who lives in her hometown with her young son and husband. A three-time Best of the Net and one-time Pushcart Prize nominee, her creative work has been featured in more than 40 literary venues and anthologies, including swamp pink, Chapter House, ELJ Editions and HAD. She is a reader/editor with Roi Fainéant Press. She has co-authored a novelette, “Roadkill,” (ELJ Editions) and a chapbook “A Body in Motion,” (JAKE). Follow her on Twitter and Bluesky @melissacuisine or IG/Threads @theirishmonths. Read her work at melissafloresandersonwrites.com.
François Bereaud is a husband, dad, full time math professor, mentor in the San Diego Congolese refugee community, and mediocre hockey player. His stories and essays have been published online and in print and have earned Pushcart, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fiction nominations. He serves as the fiction editor at The Twin Bill Literary Magazine and reads for Porcupine Literary. The Counter Pharma-Terrorist & The Rebound Queen is his published chapbook. San Diego Stories (Cowboy Jamboree Press) is his first full manuscript and the realization of a dream. Links to his writing at francoisbereaud.com.
A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, Maud Lavin writes creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. She has published in BULL, Cowboy Jamboree, Reckon Review, Copihue Poetry, BRIDGE, Heimat Review, Harpy Hybrid, Roi Fainéant, the Nation, Harper’s Bazaar, Slate, and other venues. One of her books, CUT WITH THE KITCHEN KNIFE (Yale UP), was named a New York Times Notable Book. Her other books include CLEAN NEW WORLD and PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, both MIT Press, and three anthologies. Her writing has appeared in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Dutch, Finnish, and Spanish as well as English. This fall Cowboy Jamboree Press will publish her chapbook SILENCES, OHIO, and, in May, From Beyond Press will publish her eco-novella MERMAIDS AND LAZY ACTIVISTS: A LAKE MICHIGAN TALE. She is a 4-H alumna and a Guggenheim Fellow. A professor emerita, she taught at the School of the Art Institute for 22 years, and before that part-time at UIC, UChicago, NYU, Hunter, Yale, and Queens. She works as a freelance editor and runs the READINGS series in Chicago’s South Loop, now in its 6th year.
Hosted by Bridge Editor-in-Chief Michael Workman.