Retaining the Roving Reader 🏃💨

Dear reader,   Thanks for being such good sports about last week's prank newsletter. Admittedly, it's a weird time to be making jokes, but I think a little levity is good for the spirit. There's a viral skit going around in which someone working from home takes conference calls as the news drones on in the background, anchors dryly announcing a total societal collapse. Nevertheless, the good employee carries on, Severance-style. It's a little on the nose, but I guess that's the point.    It's tempting to give into the bleakness of it all, to internalize the idea that nothing we write matters. Artists occupy an odd, often contradictory position — prophet and historian, entertainer and critic, thinker and activist. And that's assuming anyone is actually reading! The majority of writing happens in a darkness, in diaries and on hard drives, never to the see the light of day. So why should it matter if we write or not? Why not put the pen down and surrender to despair?   I think that writing, however compulsive, is ultimately an act of faith. It's an argument that life is inherently worth documenting. It's proof that we are not solitary beings, but part of a complex network of lovers, fighters, and builders. It's a spiritual exercise, an emotional outlet, and a historical document, no matter how small or silly or strange the outcome.    Let's not allow the bystander effect (in which everyone assumes someone else will respond to a call for help) obstruct our pens. Writing doesn't have to be good to be important, or important to be necessary. It just has to happen.   WHY DO YOU WRITE? ON THE STOOP *NEW* Poetry Reading Group: Our volunteer team is considering starting a poetry-centric reading group. If that piques your interest, fill out this brief survey so we can keep you in the loop. (FREE/VIRTUAL)   Wednesday, 4/9, 3:30 – 5:30 pm ET: Creative Coworking, both on Zoom and in-person at CultureWorks in Center City, Philadelphia. Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. Write, edit, read, daydream, or do whatever best serves your literary life. We'll open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Registration required. (FREE/HYBRID)   Thursday, 4/10, 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET: Thursdays on the Stoop presents "Retaining the Roving Reader" with Ernest Langston. In a world of short attention spans, authors must employ a variety of techniques to keep the reader engaged. In this free, hour-long workshop, we'll experiment with alluring openings, suspenseful scenes, and punchy endings to form the building blocks of your next short story. Expect writing prompts and illustrative examples from film and literature. (FREE/VIRTUAL)   Saturday, 4/26, 11:59 pm ET: Last day to register for From Query to Collaboration: How to Get an Agent, a 90-minute online class. Fiction is all sold out, but a limited number of seats remain in the nonfiction section. Financial aid is available! ($20–25/VIRTUAL) In solidarity,   Julian Shendelman Co-Director   P.S. Looking for more local literary connections? Check out our community calendar and resource pages. SUPPORT BLUE STOOP CLASSIFIEDS Got an event, organization, business, or book to promote?  Blue Stoop offers affordable ad space here and on our website.  BEYOND THE STOOP   Here's an excerpt from our community calendar. Adding an event is easy and free! ~~~~~~~~~   Event title Memory Piece: A Conversation between Lisa Ko & Emma Eisenberg   Start time 4/10/2025 6:00pm   Location Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine Street Philadelphia PA 19107   Description Join us for a conversation between two bestselling authors Lisa Ko and Emma Eisenberg on Ko's recently published Memory Piece, a visionary novel of friendship, art, and ambition that asks: What is the value of a meaningful life?   Link https://donate.asianartsinitiative.org/event/memory-piece-a-conversation-between-lisa-ko-and-emma-eisenberg/e670221   Contact info dave@asianartsinitiative.org   Cost Free   ~~~~~~~~~   Event title Poetry Month at Main Point: Ethel Rackin and Lisa Sewell   Start time 4/10/2025 6:30pm   Location Main Point Books, 116 N Wayne Ave, Wayne, PA 19087   Description In celebration of Poetry Month, Main Point Books welcomes poets Ethel Rackin, with her new book "In Time," and Lisa Sewell with her new book "Flood Plain." This event will be in our lower level event space. Reservations are requested via Eventbrite; walks-ins are welcome as space permits.   Poetry Month 2025 @ Main Point Books 04/10 Ethel Rackin & Lisa Sewell 04/17 Nathalie Anderson and M. Nzadi Keita 04/23 Amy Small-McKinney and Alison Hicks   Link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-month-at-main-point-ethel-rackin-and-lisa-sewell-tickets-1256696997549?aff=BlueStoop   Contact info events.mainpointbooks@gmail.com   Cost free   ~~~~~~~~~   Event title Dream Here Now with Jason Killinger, The Karen Smith Experience, and Marshall James Kavanaugh   Start time 4/11/2025 7:00pm   Location Abyssinia Upstairs, 229 S 45th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104   Description We invite you to join us on Friday, April 11th and Dream Here Now! A night of musical experimentation, jazz and spoken word inspirations, and mystical transfiguration. Performers include: Jason Killinger, The Karen Smith Experience, Marshall James Kavanaugh + Ma Ja Ka   This is a 21+ event. Abyssinia Upstairs is located at 224 S. 45th Street. It is on the second floor, up a flight of stairs. Not wheelchair accessible, but with notice we can help.   Link https://www.handstamp.com/e/dream-here-now-04112025   Contact info dreampoetforhire@gmail.com   Cost $10-20 Suggested   ~~~~~~~~~   Event title Poetry for Everyone   Start time 4/13/2025 2:00pm    Location Valerio, 2239 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA   Description H&H Books is starting a new book club: Poetry is for Everyone. We’ll read and discuss The Sisters by Jordan Windholz. Jordan will join us to talk about his collection, his process, and answer any questions readers may have. The Sisters “offers elegant, poetic tales that echo aspects of the bedtime story but end up on the other side of Aesop and Grimm, in the imaginative spaces reserved for grown-up poets with a taste for Calvino and Pessoa.” It was one of Kristen’s favorite poetry collections of 2024!   Link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-is-for-everyone-a-new-book-club-from-hh-books-tickets-1281293877479?aff=ebdsoporgprofile   Contact info info@theheadandthehand.com   Cost $23 with book, free without   ~~~~~~~~~   Event title Adrienne Brodeur: Reading and Conversation    Start time 4/15/2025 6:00pm    Location Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104    Description Adrienne Brodeur is the author of the memoir Wild Game, which was selected as a Best Book of the Year by NPR and The Washington Post and is in development as a Netflix film, and the novel Little Monsters, a New York Times editors choice and a Vogue best book of 2023. She founded the literary magazine Zoetrope: All-Story with Francis Ford Coppola, and currently serves as executive director of Aspen Words, a literary nonprofit and program of the Aspen Institute. She splits her time between Cambridge and Cape Cod, where she lives with her husband and children.   Link https://writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/0425.php#15   Contact info wh@writing.upenn.edu   Cost Free   ~~~~~~~~~ VIEW MORE EVENTS 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 300 Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences