Last night’s KGB Fantastic Fiction Series was very well attended. There were 40 or 50 people there, which is just a few more than the room actually holds (I was standing in the hall; of course, I arrived about five minutes before the program started).
It was a great crowd, there to hear some very good readings and enjoy a nice gathering of like-minded people. This reading was a special event, celebrating the publication of The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. Rather than the usual two, there were seven readers, so each had a much shorter time at the podium. The readings kicked off with Geoffrey Goodwin reading “Stadyachou.” He was followed by co-editor (and series co-curator) Gavin Grant, who read Richard Butner’s “How to Make a Martini.” The last reader of the first half was Veronica Schanoes reading her “Serpent.” There followed a ten-minute intermission (the reading is, after all, in a bar), and then four more readers. D.M. Gordon read two of her poems; Karen Russell read a funny “Help Wanted”; Kelly Link (the book and magazine’s other co-editor) read poems by several contributors; and finally, Jeffrey Ford read part of his “What’s Sure to Come.”
There were almost too many people to talk with, but I did get to chat with several friends and colleagues, and I got to meet a few new people, too. After the event, more than half the crowd adjourned to a nearby Chinese restaurant where the conversation continued for another hour or two over some very good food. As I said in my previous reading review, this is a great very affordable cultural event that remarkably few people take advantage of. Sure, the room was packed, but a scant fifty people is very few. I also found it interesting that there were only two or three people at this reading who were at the previous one (that is, the NYRSF reading earlier in the month; not the previous reading at KGB. After posting this article, I heard from several regulars that half the crowd at this reading were regulars).
The next reading in this series will be 17 October, and feature F. Paul Wilson and Thomas Tessier, and if you want a seat, try to get there earlier than I did.
Ellen Datlow (the other co-curator) always takes lots of pictures, and last night was no exception. Her photos are available on this page.