Catch a play this weekend by Philly Fiction author Walt Vail

Walt Vail, author of "The Red Truck" in the original Philly Fiction anthology, is a well-produced local playwright. Catch one of his plays, "Neighbors," at the Walking Fish Theatre in Fishtown/Kensington. Running through June 19, the play is part of A Jeffrey James Repertory Production, Funny/Dangerous, presented by B. Someday Productions.

Directed by Kenneth McGregor, Funny/Dangerous features two one-act plays, Vail's piece and another, “Within the Skins of Saints” by Mark Borkowski. In “Neighbors," a couple with a new baby is having marital problems. Their neighbors have been watching through the curtains.

Walking Fish Theatre is a small neighborhood theater located on the Frankford Avenue Arts Corridor at 2509 Frankford Avenue. Shows run Tuesday through Saturday at 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm, now through June 19. Tickets are $9-$18. Visit WalkingFishTheatre.com for more information.

Read Benjamin Matvey's "Piece of Mind" on Fictionaut

The story "Piece of Mind," a version of which appeared in Philly Fiction 2, is one of the top reads of the year at online community magazine Fictionaut. In Benjamin Matvey's touching and intriguing piece, set in Philly's Mutter Museum, two brilliantly dysfunctional young people are wondering that age-old question, "Is (s)he thinking what I'm thinking?" A couple people told us it was their favorite piece in the collection (but, then, we heard that about quite a number of the stories... Philly Fiction rocks!). We've had the privilege of reading some of Matvey's other fiction, and it's uniformly excellent. He recently finished his first novel; it is much anticipated. Check out "Piece of Mind." You'll like it.

Calling itself "a literary community for adventurous readers and writers," Fictionaut is an invite-only social media site for fiction authors. Reader responses make this a self-selecting magazine "highlighting the most exciting short stories, poetry, flash fiction, and novel excerpts".

A Brief History of Baseball in Philadelphia

On Saturday, the Phillies wore the uniforms of the Philadelphia Stars, a successful team from the Negro Leagues (as the segregated all–African American baseball competitions were known). Read Philly Fiction editor Christopher Munden's story about the history of baseball in Philadelphia, which touches upon the Stars and other now-defunct Philly baseball teams.

The article includes links to some good books about baseball in the city, including Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America, by Daniel Biddle and Murray Dubin. Tasting Freedom is the first full-length biography of Octavius Catto, a star short-stop and baseball manager who was better known as a pioneering activist for voting rights and equal rights for African Americans in the years after the Civil War. Catto's struggles, which ended in his assassination on election day in 1871, closely mirror those which occurred in the American South a century later (Indeed, despite Pennsylvania's fight on the right side of the Civil War to end slavery, the racial climate in the state in the 1860s closely mirrors, and in many ways was worse than, that in the South 100 years later.) Catto is probably the only person who has been compared to both George Steinbrenner and Malcolm X. His is a great story and one which deserves to be more widely known.

A version of  "A Brief History of Baseball in Philadelphia" previously appeared in the Where Guestbook Philadelphia 2010/2011 as "In the Swing". Rights reverted to the author in May 2011.

Lit Reading featuring PF2 author Kelly McQuain

Kelly McQuain

Local lit mag Painted Bride Quarterly is hosting a reading Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 7:30pm – 9:00pm at the Black Sheep Pub in Center City Philadelphia. The reading will feature writing by Kelly McQuain, author of the story "Erasing Sonny" in Philly Fiction 2 and the piece "Blue Boy," recently selected for inclusion in the forthcoming South Philly Fiction.

Kelly McQuain  holds an MA from Temple University and an MFA from the University of New Orleans. He is a two-time recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship and a winner of Philadelphia City Paper Writing Awards in both fiction and poetry. His work has appeared locally in the Fringe Festival and Writing Aloud. Recently he juried the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. He co-coordinates the Poets & Writers Festival at the Community College of Philadelphia.

The event will also feature work by local poet Jeff Markovitz.

Lit Reading -- Boo Ya
Featuring Jeff Markovitz and Kelly McQuain
Black Sheep Pub
247 South 17th Street, Philadelphia 19103
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
7:30pm-9pm

Shad Fest and Bad Poetry Slam, April 23

It's an exciting weekend for the folks at Don Ron Books. After a long winter lay-off, we will be back on the sales path this Saturday at the 2011 Fishtown Shad Fest. Held at Penn Treaty Park along the Delaware from 11 am to 6 pm, the festival features live music, local arts & crafts vendors, environment education kiosks, kids activities, food, beer, the Kenzinger Challenge Run, shad sandwiches, and much more! Proceeds go the Friends of Penn Treaty Park. Last year was a blast; come out on Saturday and see us.

Stick around that area in the evening for some brilliantly bad poetry at the Highwire Gallery at 2040 Frankford Avenue (Between E. Norris & E. Susquehanna). Philly Fiction editors Josh McIlvain and Christopher Munden are hosting a special Bad Poetry Slam. Write some bad verse or find some from your favorite celebrity and read it in-front of a captive audience. The night will also feature music by Josh and his band the Generals of SEXCOP and by Chris Munden, as well as a interactive choreography by Annie Wilson, whose story "Hoagie" was included in Philly Fiction 2. The Bad Poetry Slam is a free event, with free beverages/byob; socializing at 7:30pm, starts at 8pm, April 23, 2011. Visit highwiregallery.com for more details.

Philadelphia Noir, hardboiled Philly Fiction

With the Philly Fiction series, Don Ron Books hopes to encourage Philadelphia writers to use Philly as the backdrop to their stories. We love reading short stories set in Philadelphia, so we're delighted with the recent release of Philadelphia Noir, a collection of 15 works of hardboiled fiction, all of which take place in neighborhoods around the city.

The anthology, edited by Inquirer writer Carlin Romano, is part of a series of mystery collections published by New York-based Akashic Books. It features the story "Your Brother, Who Loves You" by author Jim Zervanos, whose piece "Georgie" graced the pages of the first Philly Fiction and whose 2009 Philly-set novel Love Park received rave reviews (including in a post on this blog). (Find out more about Jim and his writing at JimZervanos.com.)

Philadelphia has a good pedigree in the field of hardboiled literature. The first part of the 20th century saw bestselling authors such as William P. McGivern, David Goodis, and John McIntyre use Philadelphia as a setting for their hardboiled prose. McGivern's The Big Heat was made into a classic film noir of the same name, while Goodis's Down There was the source material for the French new wave masterpiece Shoot the Piano Player. Even the master of noir, Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man), spent part of his childhood in Philly, though as Philadelphia Noir contributor Duane Swierczynski details on his blog, the stay was fairly brief and left little mark.

We welcome Philadelphia Noir into the growing canon of recent Philly-based fiction releases. Our own new entry, South Philly Fiction, is coming along nicely and should be out before too long. Let's hope the list continues to grow. 

Merry F***ing Christmas: December 17 and 18 at Quig's Pub

I was sitting in a Locust Bar booth a few years ago, perhaps three places into an ambitious dive bar tour of Center City, trying to explain to a visiting English friend that particularly Philly attitude --- friendly, sure, but with a healthy dose of no-bullshit grittiness. At a bar stool near us, a barfly was railing the familiar refrain against politically correct festive greetings, complaining having to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." An attractive young businesswoman came into the bar, too well dressed for the place, and walked toward a booth at the back at the room. The barfly greeted her: "Merry f***ing Christmas," he said. "You got a problem with that?"

"That," I said to my friend, "is what I'm talking about."

With that same festive Philly sentiment, Josh McIlvain, editor of Don Ron Books, is presenting a seasonal theater event, Merry F***ing Christmas and other short plays about holiday cheer . Produced by SmokeyScout Productions, the production company run by Josh and his wife Deborah, Merry F***ing Christmas is an irreverent, shocking, and hilariously disturbing antidote to the holiday season. Written and directed by Josh, the eight short plays are performed by an ensemble of Philadelphia's finest theater artists: Chris McGovern and Domenick Scudera of the Waitstaff (The Real Housewives of South Philly), Jennifer Summerfield of Curio Theater (The Iliad) and SmokeyScout (Boat Hole), Anna Watson of Theatre Inbetween (Teenager: Anne Frank), and John Rosenberg of hellafreshtheater (Cheap Guy Hall of Fame).

It was hilarious in rehearsals, so make sure you catch one of the two performances this Friday and Saturday (Dec. 17th and 18th) at Quig's Pub, upstairs at Plays and Players Theatre. Doors open at 6:30, plays begin at 7pm sharp. See Jesus and Santa Claus battle for Christmas supremacy, a wholly inappropriate secret Santa, and the unholy origins of Christmas II. Plus, you won't believe what Jesus does to the poor lamb!---cpm

Details:
Merry F***ing Christmas and other short plays about holiday cheer
written and directed by Josh McIlvain
SmokeyScout Productions
December 17 + 18, 2010
Doors (and bar) open at 6:30. Plays begin 7pm (45-60 minutes running time)
Quig's Pub Stage, above Plays and Plays and Players Theatre
$10 advance and at door
click here for tickets (no fee)

Philly Fact: DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mayor Nutter perform Rapper's Delight

Er, this really happened. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was at the opening party for local retro sportswear maker Mitchell & Ness at their new flagship store on Chestnut Street. Hugh Dillon of PhillyChitChat filmed him performing a section of hip hop classic "Rapper's Delight" with Philly legend DJ Jazzy Jeff. The result is pretty special. This is not Philly Fiction, it's Philly fact.

Collingswood Book Festival

Join Don Ron Books this Saturday, October 2nd, 10am to 4pm, as we cross the Delaware and take Collingswood, New Jersey by storm. It's the 8th annual Collingswood Book Festival, the culmination of a week of literary activity in this pleasant suburban enclave.

As the brochure says:

Festival-goers will have an opportunity to stroll more than six blocks of the main street filled with nationally recognized authors/speakers for adults and children, as well as booksellers, storytellers, poetry readings, workshops, exhibitors, kid-friendly activities, and entertainment for all ages. All events are free.

We will be selling the critically acclaimed Philly Fiction and Philly Fiction 2 books, and some related volumes.

The festival takes place from 10am to 4pm along Haddon Avenue in Collingswood (or in Collingsood High School in case of rain). Philly residents can take the PATCO to Collingswood (Haddon is one block from the station), or follow directions on the festival site.

Reading South Philly stories and Martin Amis

We’re in the middle of wading through the submissions for South Philly Fiction, a forthcoming collection of short stories highlighting South Philadelphia as a literary backdrop. There’s some real gems in the bunch, should be a good and surprisingly varied collection. We’ll start letting selected (and, unfortunately, rejected) authors know “soon.”

This editor has been alternating South Philly Fiction submissions with essays and articles by British novelist Martin Amis (favorite books include Time's Arrow and Dead Babies). Came across a quote, the conclusion of “Short Stories, From Scratch,” a 1983 article from the Observer newspaper about his experiences judging the Whitbread Price for short stories (reprinted in Visiting Mrs Nabokov and Other Excursions). It nicely captures the joy of reading submissions, even ones that won’t make it into the finished book:

For me the biggest surprise was how rarely I was bored by these fragments, how little I disliked the work, and how fixedly I followed every story to the end . . . often, certainly, it was human interest, not literary relish, that compelled. I was reminded how astonishingly intimate the business of fiction is, more intimate than anything that issues from the psychiatrist’s couch or even the lovers’ bed. You see the souled, pinned and wiggling on the wall. And you see a very personal view of South Philly, in all its gritty glory.

Well, maybe Amis didn’t write the last sentence, but it’s true. Check back here or visit phillyfiction.com for updates on the forthcoming book.