Hello, here is our latest press release. For media inquiries, contact lastexitliterary / AT / gmail / DOT / com, or juliaevans / AT / gmail / DOT com.
Local reading series brings national literary stars Kristen Arnett, Sarah Rose Etter, Tommy Pico and Lilliam Rivera to San Diego
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAST EXIT is a one-year-old literary reading series, workshop and online literary journal based in San Diego, for San Diego. Our next reading will be Saturday, July 27th, featuring Kristen Arnett (Mostly Dead Things, 2019), Sarah Rose Etter (The Book of X, 2019), Tommy Pico (Junk, Feed and more, and originally from the Viejas Indian Reservation of the Kumeyaay nation), Lilliam Rivera (Dealing in Dreams, 2019, and The Education of Margot Sanchez, 2017) and San Diego’s Mike Sakasegawa (host of the “Keep The Channel Open” podcast).
The reading will be held at 8 p.m. on July 27th at You Belong Here, a community arts space in Normal Heights. The reading is free.
Issue Two of Last Exit will launch prior to the reading, featuring stunning poetry, fiction, nonfiction, reviews and more from both San Diego writers and writers around the globe.
Accompanying low-cost workshop details to come.
==previous press releases===
LAST EXIT: November 3rd Writing Workshops and Literary Reading: a new project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAST EXIT: November 3rd, 2018
San Diego Downtown Library
330 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
lastexit.org
lastexitliterary / AT / gmail / com
LAST EXIT is a new project in San Diego dedicated to showcasing local and visiting writers, providing low-cost workshops and readings to San Diego, and building community through editorial apprenticeships. LAST EXIT is so happy to partner with the Library Shop.
The November 3rd programming at the San Diego Central Library includes an evening reading and two public writing workshop offerings.
“San Diego is often overlooked by touring authors promoting their books, “ says founder Julia Dixon Evans., “and I wanted to create a space where local writers could read with these touring authors and bring great literature into the hearts of San Diegans.”
The reading, at 7 PM, in the downtown library’s airy Mary Hollis Clark Conference Center, features Allie Rowbottom (author of JELL-O Girls), Bud Smith (author of WORK), Michael J. Seidlinger (author of My Pet Serial Killer), T. Greenwood (author of Rust & Stardust) and Stephanie Westgate (Last Exit’s editorial apprentice and poet).
The midday writing workshop is “Speedwriting for Battling Writer’s Block,” taught by visiting writer Michael J. Seidlinger, from 11-1:30 pm (tuition: $30), and the afternoon writing workshop is “Practical Approaches for Writing & Editing a Novel” taught by visiting writer Bud Smith, from 3-5:30 pm (tuition: $30). Advanced online registration is required, and scholarships are available.
“Our low-cost workshops, while being an important offering for our San Diego communities, are also a way to foster community in the larger literary world,” says Evans. “It’s a way of supporting touring writers and luring them to our city, as if to say: here’s a chance for you to teach and support yourself.”
Last Exit also publishes an online journal, featuring poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and book excerpts from writers across the globe and in our San Diego community. The journal operates on an apprenticeship model, helping to foster emerging editorial talent and build new leadership. The next issue will launch in late October at lastexit.org.
For more information, visit lastexit.org.
For workshop online registration, visit squareup.com/store/last-exit/
Special thank you to the San Diego Library Shop
LAST EXIT: A READING
Saturday, November 3rd, 2018
7 p.m.
San Diego Downtown Library
1st floor Mary Hollis Clark Conference Center
330 Park Blvd, San Diego
FREE
Featuring:
Allie Rowbottom
Bud Smith
Michael J. Seidlinger
T. Greenwood
Stephanie Westgate
hosted by Julia Dixon Evans
== ABOUT THE READERS ===
ALLIE ROWBOTTOM’S debut book, JELL-O GIRLS is out now from Little Brown. Her essays can be found in Vanity Fair, Salon, No Tokens, The Rumpus, and elsewhere, and received “notable” mentions in The Best American Essays of 2015 and 2016.Allie holds a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston, and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Jon, French bulldogs Butter and Jammy, and Ham the Morgan horse.
BUD SMITH is the author of TEENAGER (Tyrant Books, 2018), DOUBLE BIRD (Maudlin House, 2018), WORK (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2017), DUST BUNNY CITY (Disorder Press, 2017), CALM FACE (House of Vlad, 2016), among others. He lives in Jersey City, NJ, and works heavy construction. He blogs in the secret underground blogging ring known as tinyletter, follow him there, oh gawd. We give Bud Smith 3 stars.
MICHAEL J. SEIDLINGER is an Asian American author of a number of books including STANDARD LONELINESS PACKAGE, MY PET SERIAL KILLER, and THE FUN WE’VE HAD. He serves as Library and Academic Marketing Manager at Melville House, Editor-at-Large for Electric Literature, and is a member of The Accomplices. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he never sleeps and is forever searching for the next best cup of coffee.
T. GREENWOOD has published twelve novels, and received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council. She has won three San Diego Book Awards. Five of her novels have been BookSense76/IndieBound picks. BODIES OF WATER was finalist for a Lambda Foundation award. Her twelfth novel, RUST & STARDUST, is out now from St. Martin’s Press. She teaches creative writing for San Diego Writer’s Ink and online for The Writer’s Center. She and her husband, Patrick, live in San Diego, CA with their two daughters during the school year and spend their summers at her family’s camp on Newark Pond in Vermont.
STEPHANIE WESTGATE is Last Exit’s editorial apprentice, and is the former lead poetry editor for Grossmont College’s literary Magazine THE ACORN REVIEW. Stephanie is a trans poet, and is super influenced by comics, and has work forthcoming in MADWOMEN ETC and poems in THE ACORN REVIEW.
LAST EXIT WORKSHOPS
Our workshop program launches this November 3rd with two amazing offerings, hosted at the downtown San Diego Public Library. In partnership with the San Diego Library Shop.
Register now for your favorite workshop (or register for both for a nice scholarly day). Then join your teachers in the evening for LAST EXIT: A Reading at 7 PM. Scholarships available. (application due October 20th)
midday workshop:
SPEEDWRITING FOR BATTLING WRITER’S BLOCK
by MICHAEL J. SEIDLINGER
Saturday, November 3rd, 2018
11-1:30 PM | tuition: $30
at the San Diego Public Library, Downtown/Central Branch, 330 Park Blvd
ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Register now.
Description: There are countless distractions, be it social media, or self-doubt itself, keeping you from getting the words onto the page. Thankfully there are life-hacks to be had for writers everywhere. If you’re looking to jumpstart an idea or simply get back on track with your work-in-progress, we’ll discuss and try out different routines and techniques to keep you on your toes, keep you motivated, and most of all, get the damn words on the page.
About the instructor: MICHAEL J SEIDLINGER is an Asian American author of a number of books including Standard Loneliness Package, My Pet Serial Killer, and The Fun We’ve Had. He serves as Library and Academic Marketing Manager at Melville House, Editor-at-Large for Electric Literature, and is a member of The Accomplices. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he never sleeps and is forever searching for the next best cup of coffee.
afternoon workshop:
PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO WRITING & EDITING A NOVEL
by BUD SMITH
Saturday, November 3rd, 2018
3-5:30 PM | tuition: $30
at the San Diego Public Library, Downtown/Central Branch, 330 Park Blvd
ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Register now
Description: Novel Writing: Practical thoughts on turning your idea into a rough first draft and then how to hone that draft in successive drafts. This workshop will talk about the real-life experience of having a day job and pursuing art, how to manage time and get the most out of every day.
About the instructor: BUD SMITH is the author of nine books, most recently Teenager, a novel from Tyrant Books, as well as a short story collection Double Bird from Maudlin House, and a memoir about the intersection of creativity, family, and having a demanding day job. Bud Smith works in an oil refinery as a welder and rigger, and he will show his method for generating new work while being without computer access for long stretches of time.
last exit 