I have writer’s block. No, no, don’t panic. I’ll be just fine here in my bodacious funk, stress levels slowly simmering in nonchalance before the cataclysmic boiling point of panic froths all over my inner and proverbial creativity cook stove. This happens all the time – especially on Saturdays. I don’t much like Saturdays…or Sundays. Yuck. These must be residual feelings from childhood that have sunk their sharp, little teeth into my adult idiosyncrasies: the hairy beast of Homework looming in the corner, the rancid smell of Church threatening the lazy purity of my Sunday air. But Friday? Yeah, Fridays are good. Fridays are good because you have The Whole Weekend glowing before you – you all dewy-eyed and young – and the concept of “The Whole Weekend” in all its potential and future glory is so much better and empowering than just plain ol’ “Saturday” and “Sunday”. You know what else is groovy about Friday? Friday night is Poetry Night (a successful segue; I think we’ll be ok now).
Bask in the warm delight of Friday’s promises, my friends! Head out to The Bard’s Town for the InKY Reading Series and serve yourself a slice of sweet scribblings. This upcoming Friday, March 9th, is another chance to dig local, regional and national talents as they share their words – both written and sung. Following some tunes by local musician, Joan Shelley, writers Nicole Louise Reid and Patrick Wensink will take the stage starting at 8pm.
Currently teaching creative writing at the University of Southern Indiana, writer Nicole Louise Reid is the author of the short story collection, So There!, as well as the two fiction chapbooks, If You Must Know and Girls. A recipient of the 2010 Dana Award in Short fiction and the 2011 winner of the Burnside Review Fiction Chapbook Competition, Reid’s acclaimed works of short fiction have landed in the pages of the Southern Review, Other Voices, Quarterly West, Black Warrior Review and Meridian. Reid also directs the RopeWalk Reading Series at the University of Southern Indiana, is the editor of RopeWalk Press and fiction editor of Southern Indiana Review.
Also adding to your Friday night fancy is writer and novelist (and the decidedly humorous) Patrick Wensink. A recipient of the Patrick Wensink Foundation’s 2012 Nobel Prize for Good Looks, Wensink is also an intrepid entrepreneur, selling his own delicious line of Wentastic BBQ Sauce (no word on the availability of samples). His literary repertoire includes the novels Broken Piano for President and Black Hole Blues, as well as the short story collection, Sex Dungeon for Sale! (which, this writer would like to note, was published by “Eraserhead Press”, the potential connotations of which make her both nervous and highly intrigued. Wouldn’t you agree?). When he is not busy taking his marital vows in a doughnut shop (although, granted, this has only happened once), he can be found inhabiting our own lovely Louisville.
Whether you seek to escape the worrisome woes of writer’s block or just simply wish to indulge your Friday fantasies with some (free) fun, this month’s InKY Reading Series has got your best medicine on hand in spades.
The Bard’s Town is located at 1801 Bardstown Road
Photos: Courtesy of Louisville Literary Arts website www.louisvilleliteraryarts.org
