On January 25, we celebrated our 4th anniversary. Each reading we’ve hosted since 2013 has been a blast in it’s own way, but the anniversary events are always an incredible pleasure. That’s because unlike our “normal” readings, where we pick what will be read, on our anniversaries, we invite back a handful of writers to surprise us with new work. And we’re always wowed by what they choose to read.

This year, Jen Levitt, Rebecca Bates, Kayla Rae Whitaker, Sarah Wang, and Paula Bomer gave us poetry, novel excerpts, and creative non-fiction, respectively. Though each writer approached the theme “If only we had known we were going to get played…” in their own way, the work they presented shared the kind of compassionate and deep reaching wit that reminds you why you read in the first place. Photos from the night below. (Top to bottom: Jen Levitt, Rebecca Bates, Kayla Rae Whitaker, Sarah Wang, and Paula Bomer).

The Other News Part: Our next reading is May 2nd and the theme is: “Don’t throw it all away because of your ’emotions’…”

We’re accepting submissions though April 15th.