the literary reading

Literary readings are an interesting thing. People assemble in an ill-lit space sometime after dark, order drinks, and wait to listen to authors read from their recent work. In my experience, there are two different kinds of readings: readings in which attendees pay an admission fee to hear a well-known writer read, and then there's the kind I'd like to talk about here, where a reading usually involves an array of writers, many of them emerging writers or recent MFA graduates and maybe a few who've published books. It is the readings of the up-and-comings that I find so interesting.

The crowd at these readings is often comprised of many interconnected people: everyone knows everyone else. Or almost. People who come are friends of a reader, former classmates in an MFA program, family. The atmosphere, then, is quite jovial and social. Everyone is reconnecting, getting caught up on each others lives. Someone wants to buy you a drink, someone wants to introduce you to a friend they think you will like, someone wants to divulge the latest drama in their life. At times, it feels as though the actual reading is merely the excuse for being there, a side note in an evening that will usually last far after the reading is over.

I attended a reading last night with a friend who was my only connection to the reading. When we arrived, I realized in shock that I knew no one else there. This fact shouldn't have been a shock as I'm a recent San Francisco transplant, not yet involved in the literary community here the way I was in Boston. But I was at a literary reading and I knew no one. How had this happened? What I discovered is that readings are not so much fun when you're not there with all your friends. You listen to a reading--and the writers are hit or miss, as usual--but then there is no social time afterward for gossip and fun. Sure I enjoyed the reading. In fact, it was good motivation for getting back to work on my own writing, but there was something missing.

This Sunday, the magazine I used to read for back in Boston, Redivider, is hosting their fall launch party and reading. And I really wish I could be there.