Monthly Archives: April 2011

It’s going to be a big night for Baltimore on the 30th. Our reading ends at 6, and  somehow without creating a scheduling conflict, Across Words — an evening of storytelling and art — comes to the Student Center Theater at the University of Baltimore.

The Windup Space, which hosts our events, will be hosting events as part of the Transmodern Festival on April 30th.  That is, as some of you know, a four day, not-to-miss extravaganza of experimentation and provocation. Starting at 6 pm, the Windup Space will be hosting the Failure Support Group. It sounds interesting: An evening of presentations about failed projects and processes. This project is a collaborative effort of Marian April Glebes, Kelley Bell, Jaimes Mayhew and The Institute for Infinitely Small Things. And it may be a serendipitous scheduling conflict. Freelance writing in Baltimore is, by definition, a failure support group. So let’s unite with our soul brothers. To make the transition easier, our New Mercury Reading on that day will begin at 4:30 sharp! Enjoy, and stay on, because the arts district will be rocking.

Photo by Bill Hughes

One week to go before the next Windup Space meetup, for writers, readers, listeners, and hangers-on, and anyone else who wants to listen to some of the nonfiction that this area has to offer. Time flies. It’s going to be a year since Deborah and I started this thing, a little over a year, actually, and the list of readers and fans keeps getting longer. We have a page now, or if you like, a hall of fame, of all those journalists, indie writers, musician-writers, memoirists, essayists, and authors who have come up our way, either in Federal Hill, or, now, in the Arts District. On April 30th, we have three more: Sandy Asirvatham, Curtis Smith, and Dario Dibattista. We’ll be meeting at the Windup Space, 4:30 pm till6:00 pm. Afterwards, we head over to the upper floor of the Club Charles. Come, exchange cards, get on our list, meet more writers.

Sandy Asirvatham is a writer, musician, and compulsive chaser of whims. As a columnist for CityPaper in the late 1990s, she occasionally mentioned her late-blooming obsession with jazz improvisation–a hobby that eventually led to a full-fledged second career as pianist, singer-songwriter, and bandleader. She released a debut CD entitled MEMOIR in 2007; the jovially cynical title track was inspired by author James Frey’s famous fabrications and similarly fictional “nonfiction” writing. Somehow, despite her fundamental mistrust of the genre, she has bowed to the zeitgeist and now finds herself with the completed manuscript of her own literary memoir, SONGS CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE, from which she’ll read.  Here’s a link to her website.

Iraq War veteran Dario DiBattista has been featured in The New York Times and he has spoken on Connecticut Public Radio about his writing and the plight of veterans. His literary nonfiction or poems have appeared in The Washingtonian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Connecticut Review, World Hum, and The Johns Hopkins University Arts & Sciences Magazine. Dario is also a featured blogger and documentarian for www.notalone.com, which is resource website for returning veterans dealing with combat stress and PTSD. He has finished two books—a memoir and a novel—and currently receives literary representation with Writer’s House Literary Agency.

(Clockwise, from Upper Left): Christopher Corbett, Deborah Rudacille, Lionel Foster, Alec Mackaye, John Barry, Carol, Betsy Boyd, Rosalia Scalia, Ditty Barry

Another Reading Down: Christopher Corbett debunked the mythology of the Pony Express; Lionel Foster read from a few of his City Paper Columns; Alec Mackaye introduced us to a now-departed friend; Rosalia Scalia explains why green cards and marriage don’t always mix. Photographs, as always, courtesy of Bill Hughes. Check out his flickr display of audience members, readers, and other assorted patrons here. Once again, thanks to the Windup Space and all supporters of indie writers everywhere.

Peggy Hoffman (co-proprietor of Minas) and Betsy Boyd (Baltimore writer)

Two Books by Christopher Corbett

Deborah Rudacille and Lionel Foster

Alec McKaye

Rosalia Scalia