Event

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PICS: Joe Pan and Carey McHugh’s Launch Party in Review

Last Wednesday, Augury Books hosted a launch party for Joe Pan’s Hiccups and Carey McHugh’s American Gramophone. The turnout at Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop was great, and we are thankful to all who came. As you can see, there was barely any room left to stand!

Debora Kuan and an amazing crowd! Photo: Ian Lloyd

Our first reader of the evening was Debbie Kuan. She shared with us a selection of her poems, telling the story of the pigeons in her building, and her perpetually blue toe. She then introduced Joe Pan, telling us she had been a fan of his since the moment they met, and how she had found out he took his last name from his wife.

Joe Pan reading from Hiccups. Photo: Ian Lloyd

Joe Pan then read to us from his new book Hiccups. He took us with him on his journey around the country and around the world, demonstrating the lighthearted wit of his poems.

Karen Russell reading her essay on beepers and introducing Carey McHugh. Photo: Ian Lloyd

Following Pan was Karen Russell. She read to us from her essay Beeper World, originally published in Harper’s, a funny and poignant look at growing up in Miami in the nineties. She then introduced her dear friend Carey McHugh, saying “Each time Carey McHugh writes a poem, a Dodge in the desert bursts into flame.”

Carey McHugh reading from American Gramophone. Photo: Ian Lloyd

Rounding out the night was Carey McHugh, reading selections from her new book American Gramophone. We shared in her excitement as she saw her book, and we got to hear the story of the hog (not a pig!) gracing the cover, as well as her experience in Greenpoint seeing her own death.

We are very grateful to our readers Debora Kuan, Joe Pan, Karen Russell, and Carey McHugh, and to Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop for hosting the event. And, most importantly, to everyone who made it out to support Joe, Carey, and Augury Books! Our extended thanks, and we look forward to seeing you all at the next one!

Photo: Ian Lloyd

From left to right: Carey Wladis, Kimberly Steele, Mike Miller, cover designer of American Gramophone and Randall Horton’s Hook (forthcoming!), and Kate Angus. Photo: Ian Lloyd

Joe Pan, Debora Kuan, Kate Angus, Carey McHugh, Karen Russell, Kimberly Steele, Nicolas Amara, and Ian Lloyd. Photo: Carey Wladis

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Join Us for Oct 7 Book Launch of ‘American Gramophone’ and ‘Hiccups’

We are very happy to announce an October launch party for this year’s poetry titles: American Gramophone by Carey McHugh, and Hiccups by Joe Pan. Guest readers Karen Russell and Debora Kuan will help us ring in these two new books alongside McHugh and Pan. The launch will take place October 7th at Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop from 7 to 9 PM. Berl’s is located at 126A Front Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Please join us to have a drink, pick up a book, and be generally merry!

For updates and more information, please see the event listing.

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Randall Horton Featured in 2015 PEN World Voices Anthology

Carleton Watkins’ Among The Tree Tops Calaveras Grove (1829), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

We would like to congratulate Randall Horton on having an excerpt from Hook: A Memoir through Letters featured in the 2015 PEN World Voices Online Anthology. Hook is forthcoming from Augury Books in 2015. The PEN collection is comprised of prose, poetry, and dramatic writing from the participants of this year’s World Voices Festival. Among the other authors included are Nathalie Handal, Zoe Pilger, and Cormac James.

PEN’s World Voices Festival, running from May 4th to the 10th, celebrates literature from all over the globe. This year’s theme, On Africa, strives to make heard the voices of contemporary African artists.

The full PWV Anthology can be read online here. New writings are added weekly.

More on Randall Horton

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Parachute Literary Arts To Hold Poetry Reading on Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel

From Owen Jones’ Examples of Chinese Ornament (1867), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Parachute Literary Arts, an organization that celebrates the poetry community of Brooklyn, is hosting Poem-a-Rama on May 8th. The first poetry reading to ever take place on Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel, the event will feature over fourteen poets from New York City. While riding the wheel, they will read their works related to NYC, and more specifically, to Coney Island. The reading will serve as a benefit for Parachute Literary Arts’ writing workshops and for poetry libraries in the area.

Among the writers participating in Poem-a-Rama are Amber Atiya, Patricia Spear Jones, Ian Dreiblatt, Jen Fitzgerald, and Michael Broder. There will also be a performance by Soozee Hwang & The Relastics.

For the complete list of readers, visit Parachute Literary Arts’ website.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here.

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CLMP Firecracker Reading, Featuring Finalist Halina Duraj’s ‘The Family Cannon’

Space Colony Art from the 1970s, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses  (CLMP) is holding a reading this Sunday afternoon, featuring the finalists for their new Firecracker Awards, including Halina Duraj for The Family Cannon (Augury Books, 2014).

The reading will take place from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.,  during the 16th Annual Lit Mag Fair at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. Other finalists and publishers include, Bonnie Friedman (Etruscan Press), Vikas K. Menon and Dan Goldman (Rattapallax), Jesse Lonergan (NBM Publishing), Hubert & Kerascoet (NBM Publishing), Eric Hobbs and Noel Tuazon (NBM Publishing).

Winners of the Firecracker Award will be announced on May 27th at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Join Augury Books at Housing Works on Sunday as editor Kate Angus reads from The Family Cannon.

More on THE FAMILY CANNON

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PEN World Voices Festival 2015 Announced

A.J. Bormeester’s Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula (1684), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The dates and theme for the 11th annual PEN World Voices Festival have recently been announced. From May 4th through May 10th, 100 writers from various countries will come together in NYC to celebrate literature “On Africa.” The 2015 program, co-curated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, seeks to make heard the voices of contemporary African artists. Among the writers being featured are Teju Cole, Edwidge Danticat, Mona Eltahawy, and Alain Mabanckou.

PEN is an international organization dedicated to protecting free expression for writers and expanding a worldwide literary community. Each Spring, they hold their World Voices Festival, chaired by Salman Rushdie, to exhibit the works of writers cross-culturally and to “celebrate the written word.” To learn about or get involved with PEN, explore their website.

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Federal Dust Holds Twelfth Poetry Reading

Robert Thornton’s Temple of Flora (1807), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The Federal Dust Reading Series is holding its twelfth poetry reading on March 27th. Hosted by Matthew Zingg, the event will take place at Litmore in Baltimore, Maryland. Poets being featured during this event include Paige Taggart, Niina Pollari, Michael Morse, and Will Schutt.

Paige Taggart’s poems have been published by Augury friend Joe Pan‘s Brooklyn Arts Press. Joe Pan’s poetry collection is forthcoming from Augury in 2015.

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Frances Justine Post Reads for Poison Pen Series

Taken at the Poison Pen poetry reading, courtesy of Writespace Houston

Augury Books’ Frances Justine Post recently read for the Poison Pen Reading Series, hosted in Houston, Texas on the 29th of January. Several poets were featured, including Scott Blackwood and Tony Hoagland. Post presented pieces from her most recent collection of poems, BEAST. As Tony was her professor and dissertation director, Justine felt the experience of reading together was “extra special.”

Writespace Houston wrote of Justine’s reading:

Taking us backwards through the book, Post began with the darkest poems and worked her way into the light. Poems like “Hannibal,” seethe with both emotion and devastation. Imagery of a body broken into pieces for eating is juxtaposed with lines like “How does it feel to be an object?” The self-portrait series, of which there are twelve in the book, feature titles like “Self Portrait in the Shadow of a Volcano,” “Self Portrait in the Body of the Whale,” and the poem which features the title of her book, “Self Portrait as Beast.”

Read the full article on January’s Poison Pen Reading Series here.

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More on BEAST

 

 

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October 25: Augury Books Speaks at Poets & Writers LIVE: Independent Publishing Panel at LoC

Detail of Le Sortie de l’opéra en l’an 2000, by Albert Robida. Courtesy of Public Domain Review

This coming Saturday, October 25th, Augury editor Kimberly Steele will be featured on the next P&W LIVE panel, held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

Poets & Writers LIVE, developed by Poets & Writers magazine, aims to connect the independent literary community through a series of group panels featuring upcoming and established editors, publishers, and authors.

Other publishing companies represented will include Graywolf Press, Algonquin Books, New Directions, Black Balloon Publishing, Rose Metal Press, and Gival Press, as well as a featured reading by Charles D’Ambrosio.

Steele will be sharing her experiences as an editor of Augury Books at the Indie Editor Roundtable at 1:30. For more information about the day’s events, as well as P&W LIVE and how to register, head over to their site.

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Girls Write Now Celebrates International Day of the Girl

Taysha Clark, right, poses with her mentor, Mayuri Chandra. Clark is the Youth Board Co-Chair of Girls Write Now, and will be a panelist at Tishman Speyer on October 10th. Photo: Courtesy of girlswritenow.org

October 11th is International Day of the Girl. Girls Write Now, an organization of professional writers established to serve underserved high school girls, will celebrate this cross-cultural event on October 10th, with a special meeting at the United Nations. There they will debut their music video, “Ode to Malala,” on a global scale. The video, inspired by the life of a 15-year-old Pakistani education activist, is a celebration of the voices of girls and women worldwide, as much as it is a recognition of the dire need to support those voices.

Though the U.N. events are private, GWN will be holding a roundtable discussion and cocktail party afterward at Tishman Speyer in Tribeca at 6 PM. Representatives of Penguin Random House, Little Brown & Co., and Tumblr will be in attendance, as well as authors such as Robin Morgan and Bridget M. Davis. More info, as well as access to tickets, can be sought at Girls Write Now.

Watch “Ode to Malala” before it premiers globally.

Check out Breaking Through, the latest edition of GWN’s annual anthology of student writing.

Learn more about Girls Write Now.