April 27: Cara Hoffman & Chloe Angyal at Greenlight
I’m about halfway into So Much Pretty, the debut novel by Cara Hoffman, now and I’m really looking forward to meeting her on Wednesday, April 27, when she comes to Greenlight Bookstore for the Author/Blogger series—she’ll be joined by Chloe Angyal, the interview editor for Feministing, a website that’s described as “the world’s most-read feminist publication.” So Much Pretty is a literary thriller that raises unsettling questions about violence against women, teen violence, and community complacency; as I’ve been reading it, one of the things I’ve been reminded of is the outrage last month over New York Times coverage of a Texas case of group sexual assault on a minor—the first article the Times filed about the case basically shaped the narrative from the perspective of residents’ “how are our town’s young men going to live with this hanging over them, and, really, that 11-year-old girl was running around unsupervised, practically dressed like an adult” attitude. (It’s a case Angyal has written about, and though the Times did redeem itself slightly by putting another reporter on a follow-up story, it’s truly appalling that things had to come to that.)
Greenlight Bookstore is located at 686 Fulton Street in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene nieghborhood, right next to the C train, one block away from the G train, and a five-minute walk from all the trains that stop at Atlantic and Pacific Avenues. Cara Hoffman will read from So Much Pretty shortly after 7:30 p.m., after which Chloe Angyal will engage her in a conversation that’s sure to be thought-provoking, and we’ll also leave plenty of time for your questions. You don’t need to RSVP on Facebook, but it’s always helpful to have an idea of how many people might show up, so you may want to check in. I’ll look for you there!
25 April 2011 | events |
If You’re in Albany This Saturday…
I’m headed upstate this weekend to take part in the second annual Empire State Book Festival, and it’s looking like we’ll have a pretty good time. I’m participating in two panels: First, I’ll be discussing “genre, gender, and race” in the context of the new publishing and bookselling landscapes—my contributions will probably touch upon how social networking tools enable authors and publishers to connect with readers who share an affinity for certain types of stories, even if those stories aren’t covered extensively (if at all) by mainstream literary outlets. Later that afternoon, I’ll moderate a panel called “Romance: [Publishing’s] Red-Headed Stepchild,” where I’ll talk with novelists Lauren Willig and Cara Elliott, and Sourcebooks editor Leah Hultenschmidt, about how this genre keeps big publishing afloat but still gets barely any respect—from there, we’ll hit upon some of the most popular trends in current romance publishing, as well as the eternal verities.
There’s a lot else to see Saturday—one panel alone consists of Jonathan Dee, Martha McPhee, and Teddy Wayne, and the afternoon keynote speaker is Rosanne Cash—so if you can make it to the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany, I hope you’ll drop by! (You can’t miss it; it’s the group of buildings that looks like the set of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. We’ll be in the underground meeting rooms, which you can access through the building that looks like an egg turned on its side.)
31 March 2011 | events |
Our Endless and Proper Work is my new book with Belt Publishing about starting (and sticking to) a productive writing practice. 
