This unique open mic focuses on storytelling and fiction -- no poetry or music. So come share your finest prose, or if you're just in the mood for listening, catch some tales from our area's wordsmiths.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Readings will begin around 7 p.m.
Featured readers will kick off the night, followed by open mic slots. Open mic readers get 10 minutes and will be timed. We encourage all readers to stay to the end and support everyone who signs up to share their work.
This month's featured readers are Pat Spears and Glenda Bailey-Mershon.
Pat’s fiction has been published in the North American Review, Appalachian Heritage, Common Lives Lesbian Lives, Seven Hills Review, Habersham Review and the anthologies Bridges and Borders and Saints & Sinners: New Fiction from the Festival 2012. Her short fiction is also forthcoming in Snake Nation Review and the anthology titled "Crimes and Misdemeanors" scheduled for publication in June 2014 by Main Street Rag.
Her short story “Whelping” was a finalist for the 2013 Rash Award, and her story “Stranger at My Door” received honorable mention in the 2013 Lorian Hemingway Short Story competition. Her debut novel, Dream Chaser was released in 2014, and a collection of her short stories, "More of There and Less of Here," comes out this year. In 2009, she was nominated for a United States Artists Grant.
Glenda Bailey-Mershon is an American poet, essayist, novelist, cultural historian, and human rights activist. Born in Upstate South Carolina to a family with roots in the Southern Appalachians, she has explored in poetry and fiction her European, Native American, and Romani heritage. Her published works include the novel, "Eve's Garden"; "Bird Talk: Poems"; "saconige/blue smoke: Poems from the Southern Appalachians"; "A History of the American Women's Movement: A Study Guide", and four volumes as editor of the Jane's Stories anthologies by women writers, including "Jane's Stories IV: Bridges and Borders" (Jane's Stories, 2013), which includes work by women in conflicts around the world.
Her first novel, "Eve's Garden", is the story of three generations of women from a rural North Georgia family who cope with being outsiders in a harsh social environment by clinging to friendships and family. It was published in September 2014 by Twisted Road Publications.
Glenda has been a finalist in Our Stories fiction contest; featured author at the Illinois Book Fair; and a grant recipient from both the Illinois and Florida Humanities Councils as well as the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
Suggested $5 donation at the door.