#ArtLitPhx: A Reading with Todd Mitchell

Join the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing for a community reading and book signing with young adult author Todd Mitchell on Friday, May 17, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Changing Hands Tempe, 6428 S. McClintock Drive, Tempe.

While encouraged, RSVPs are purely for the purposes of monitoring attendance, gauging interest, and communicating information about parking, directions, and other aspects of the event. You do not have to register or RSVP to attend this event. This event is open to the public and free.

Todd will be teaching his class, “Wild Transformations: Vital Secrets for Creating Compelling Narratives” on Saturday, May 18, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Piper Writers House. To learn more about Todd’s class, visit our website at https://piper.asu.edu/classes/todd-mitchell/wild-transformations.

About the Book 

The Last Panther follows the adventures of Kiri, an eleven-year-old girl who lives in a post-climate disaster swamp with her scientist father and her pet rat, Snowflake. When Kiri helps her father capture the last known wild panther, her life in the swamp becomes threatened by poachers and collectors, and she embarks on a dangerous journey to save the panther and herself. Giant sea turtles, climate refugees, and mystical encounters with the Shadow that Hunts populate this fast-paced, heart-pounding tale. (For ages 9 & up.)

About the Author 

Photograph of Todd Mitchell with dog

Todd Mitchell

Todd Mitchell is the author of several award-winning books for young readers and teens including The Last Panther (2018 Colorado Book Award Winner and Green Earth Honor Book Award winner), The Traitor King, The Secret to Lying (Colorado Book Award Winner), and Backwards (CAL Award Winner). He created the graphic series Broken Saviors (available on Comixology), and co-wrote the graphic novel A Flight of Angels(Vertigo, a YALSA “Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens”). Currently, he serves as Director of the Beginning Creative Writing Teaching Program at Colorado State University. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife, dog, and two wise daughters. You can visit him (and learn about his squirrel obsession) at www.ToddMitchellBooks.com.

For more information about this event, click here.

#ArtLitPhx: Storyline Slam: “Crushing It!”

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Date: February 15, 2019
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Changing Hands Phoenix, 300 West Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013
Cost: TICKET (admits one) is $6 in advance, $8 on event day/at the door of Changing Hands Phoenix.

Get tickets here.

Event Description:
10 STORYTELLERS. 6 MINUTES. 1 WINNER

Ten tellers will have 6 minutes each to share a story based on the theme “Crushing It!”

Sign up on TheStoryline.org January 19th through Saturday, February 9th to tell a story. Eight names will be drawn on Sunday, February 10th and posted on the TheStoryline.org SLAM lineup page. Two more names will be drawn live at the beginning of the show.

Five members of the audience will be the judges and the story with the most points at the end of the show receives a $30 cash prize.

Learn more about the event here.

ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE
THE STORYLINE SLAM is a monthly slam competition hosted by Dan Hoen Hull and Joy Young aimed to further storytelling in The Valley and foster a spirit of fun in the community.

#ArtLitPhx: POETRY WORKSHOP – Merle Nudelman: “Ekphrasis Poetry”

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Date: February 12, 2019
Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: Changing Hands Tempe, 6428 South McClintock Drive, Tempe, AZ 85283
Cost: $25+

Register for the event here.

Event Description:
Poet Merle Nudelman hosts a creative writing workshop on ekphrasis poetry.

Ekphrastic poems are written in response to works of art and engage with the subject piece. Ekphrasis dates back to Homer’s description of Achilles’ shield in the Iliad. For the past eleven years Merle Nudelman has been part of a collaboration between the Long Dash Poetry Group and studio artists of the Women’s Art Association of Canada. Many of the poems in Merle’s most recent collection, The Seeker Ascends, were born of this artistic exploration. The Seeker Ascends follows the poet’s emotional and spiritual journey during and after her son’s arduous battle with cancer. The Seeker Ascends is a meditation on strength, survival, healing, and love.

Merle Nudelman will discuss the process of crafting ekphrastic poems. She will illustrate this literary form with some of her own ekphrastic poetry from The Seeker Ascends accompanied by the paintings that inspired these poems. Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to experience this creative process directly by writing their own ekphrastic poems in dialogue with original paintings that will be displayed. Participants will also have the option of sharing their poems with the group.

WORKSHOP DETAILS
Cost: $25 + fees.
Refunds will not be issued within one day of the event.
Bring pen/pencil and a notebook.

ABOUT THE HOST
Merle Nudelman is a poet, essayist, memoirist, educator, and lawyer. She has written five books of poetry ̶ most recently The Seeker Ascends. Merle’s first collection, Borrowed Light, won the 2004 Canadian Jewish Book Award for Poetry and a prize in the Arizona Authors Association 2004 Literary Contest. Merle’s prize-winning poems appear in literary journals, zines, and anthologies in Canada and in the United States and her essays have been included in academic texts. Merle teaches memoir and poetry writing and gives workshops on healing through writing. For the past eleven years Merle has been part of a collaboration between the Long Dash Poetry Group and studio artists of the Women’s Art Association of Canada. Many of the poems in Merle’s most recent collection, The Seeker Ascends, were born of this artistic exploration.

#ArtLitPhx: The Great Storytelling Mashup of 2018

#ArtLitPhxThe Great Storytelling Mashup of 2018

Location: The Newton 300 W Camel Rd, Phoenix Arizona 85013

June 22nd

7pm-9pm

 

Local storytelling hosts come together for a night to share a story, a song, and a stage. The Storyline SLAM host, Dan Hoen Hull has collected an all star lineup composed of hosts from THE MOTH: Phoenix StorySLAM at Crescent Ballroom, The Storytellers Project, Bar Flies, Chatterbox, Vinyl Voices, Untidy Secrets Storytelling, and The Whole Story! Each storyteller will share a story and play a music video that inspired the story.

Purchase tickets through the link below for $6 or at the door for $8.
https://www.changinghands.com/event/june2018/great-summer-storytelling-mashup-2018

Featured Storytellers:
Jessie Balli (Chatterbox)
Rachel Eseoghene Egboro (The Whole Story)
Megan Finnerty (The Storytellers Project)
Elle Murtagh (Vinyl Voices)
Sarah Maria Rainier (Untidy Secrets Storytelling)
Amy Silverman (Bar Flies)
Sarah Ventre (The Moth SLAM)
Joy Young (The Storyline SLAM)

#ArtLitPhx: Alejandro Zambra in Residency

Alejandro ZambraAlejandro Zambra will be in residency the first week of October – Cardboard House PressCALA Alliance, and Palabras Bilingual Bookstore is hosting three free events with Zambra throughout the week. These events include a bilingual workshop, a visit to ASU, and a talk at Changing Hands in Phoenix.

The New York Times Book Review named Zambra “the most talked-about writer to come out of Chile since Bolaño.” He has published poetry and five novels: Multiple Choice, Bonsai, The Private Lives of Trees, Ways of Going Home and My Documents. His stories have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Harper’s, Tin House, and McSweeney’s. He was also named one of Granta’s Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists in 2010. Born in Chile in 1975, Zambra’s fiction often explores how a society is haunted by legacies of the past. He often toys with originality and humor – his new book, Multiple Choice, is even written in the structure of Chile’s Academic Aptitude Test, the standardized college admissions test in Chile until 2003. In it, he explores how education and testing restricted art and ideas during the dictatorship.

The first event is a bilingual workshop titled “How To Forget How to Write Fiction.” The 12 workshop participants will “explore and break conventions of fiction writing based on a text about their first memories.” The workshop will be conducted in both English and Spanish, and it will take place October 3-6. Unfortunately, the deadline to apply for the workshop has already passed. However, if you missed the opportunity to apply, you can still attend the other two events!

The second event is a visit to ASU, in which Zambra will discuss his works and fiction. It will take place on Thursday, October 5 from 12:00pm to 1:15pm on the ASU Tempe campus in COOR 184. For more information, check out the Facebook page.

The third event is a bilingual talk and reading at the Phoenix Changing Hands Bookstore (300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, Arizona 85013). It will also take place on Thursday, October 5 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. For more information, check out the Facebook page.

#ArtLitPhx: Rosemarie Dombrowski presents “The Art of Memory in 750 Words or Less”

Rosemarie DombrowskiRosemarie Dombrowski will be hosting a two-part writing workshop on flash memoir, titled “The Art of Memory in 750 Words or Less.” The workshop will take place at Changing Hands in Tempe from 6pm to 8pm on September 11 and September 25. Admission is $35 for both sessions.

During the first class, attendees will read and discuss examples of flash fiction and participate in a writing exercise. They will then receive a take-home writing prompt. In the second class, attendees will workshop their new, original piece of flash memoir and receive individualized feedback.

Rosemarie Dombrowski is a writer with a long list of accomplishments. She is the co-founder of the Phoenix Poetry Series, a poetry editor for Four Chambers Press, the founder of Rinky Dink Press, a three-time Pushcart nominee, and the inaugural Phoenix Poet Laureate. She is also a Senior Lecturer at Arizona State University’s Downtown campus. You can read more about her accomplishments on her website.

For more information about the workshop and to register, click here.

#ArtLitPhx: Changing Hands Presents Nora McInerny Purmort

Book cover for It's Okay to LaughOn Thursday June 29th at 7PM Changing Hands Phoenix will host Nora Mclnerny Purmort to discuss her new memoir, It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too). Nora is the Gracie-award winning host of the podcast, Terrible, Thanks for Asking. Her memoir follows her husband Aaron’s battle with cancer, and Nora’s views on mortality and resilience.

Find out more about the event here. Changing hands Phoenix is located at 300 W Camelback, Phoenix, AZ 85013.

 

#ArtLitPhx: Changing Hands presents Paul Brinkley-Rogers

Paul Brinkley-Rogers bio pictureOn Wednesday June 14th at 7PM, Changing Hands Phoenix will be hosting Paul Brinkley-Rogers as he discusses his new memoir, Please Enjoy Your Happiness. The memoir focuses on his time in 1959 when he had a love affair with an older Japanese woman while serving aboard a US Navy vessel outside of Yokusaka. Paul is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and veteran war correspondent that worked for many years in Asia, covering the war in Vietnam and Camboadia for Newsweek. 

Find out more about the event at Changing Hands’ Phoenix location (300 W Camelback Phoenix, AZ 85013) here.

#ArtLitPhx: Laurie Stone: My Life as an Animal: Stories

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Changing Hands Bookstore, ASU Master of Liberal Studies and Superstition Review present author and performer Laurie Stone. Stone will be presenting her new book My Life as an Animal: Stories on Tuesday, November 15 at 7 p.m. at Changing Hands Phoenix.  Patricia Colleen Murphy, founder of the literary journal, will be discussing autobiographical fiction with the author. For more information please visit the event website.

Laurie Stone is author of My Life as an Animal: Stories (TriQuarterly Books, Northwestern University Press), Starting with Serge, and Laughing in the Dark (Ecco). Former theater critic for The Nation, critic-at-large on Fresh Air, and decades-long writer for the Village Voice, she’s editor of and contributor to the memoir anthology Close to the Bone (Grove). She won the 1996 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing from the National Book Critics Circle. Her memoir essays and stories have appeared in Fence, Open City, Anderbo, The Collagist, Nanofiction, The Los Angeles Review, New Letters, Ms.,TriQuarterly, Threepenny Review, Memorious, Creative Nonfiction, St Petersburg Review, and Four Way Review. Her short fiction and nonfiction’s been anthologized in They’re at It Again: Stories from Twenty Years of Open City, In the Fullness of Time, The Face in the Mirror, The Other Woman, Best New Writing of 2007, Full Frontal Fiction, and Money, Honey, among others. She lives in New York City.

#ArtLitPhx: Benjamin Rybeck: The Sadness with special guest Matt Bell: A Tree or a Person or a Wall

The-sadnessA-tree-person-or-a-wallBenjamin Rybeck presents his debut novel, The Sadness, on Wednesday, October 19 at 7 p.m. Arizona State University creative writing instructor Matt Bell joins Rybeck, with his latest work, A Tree or a Person or a Wall. The event takes places at Changing Hands Phoenix.

Benjamin Rybeck is the marketing director at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, TX. He received an M.F.A. from the University of Arizona. His work has appeared in Kirkus Reviews, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Literary Hub, The Nervous Breakdown, and elsewhere. The Sadness is his first novel. He lives in Houston, TX.

Matt Bell is the author of the novel In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods, a finalist for the Young Lions Fiction Award, a Michigan Notable Book, and an Indies Choice Adult Debut Book of the Year Honor Recipient, and the winner of the Paula Anderson Book Award. He is also the author of two previous books, How They Were Found and Cataclysm Baby, and his next novel, Scrapper, was published in September 2015. His stories have appeared in Best American Mystery Stories, Best American Fantasy, Conjunctions, Gulf Coast, The American Reader, and many other publications. He teaches creative writing at Arizona State University.

For more information, please visit the Changing Hands website.