This past weekend Plume hosted a reading event and anthology launch party at our favorite local independent bookstore, Bookworks. Dubbed Love Yourself, this event was all about treating yourself to good readings by women writers, good snacks baked by our very own Jennifer Simpson, and a good copy of Plume’s very first anthology, Dear Writer (And we are hard at work putting together packages for those who supported the Kickstarter! We can’t thank you enough for your belief in us and for your patience while we worked to make this project the best it could be). We’ll have anthology ordering info up soon once we get a full shipment of anthologies. In the meantime, if you’re in Albuquerque, Bookworks has a few copies for sale!
Three of our featured writers and anthology contributors read some powerhouse works of poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Albuquerque’s Poet Laureate, Michelle Otero read stunning poetry about women’s voices. Jennifer Jordán Schaller read this heartbreaking and subtly humorous essay about drinking with her mother when she was a young teen. Dawn Sperber read a magical short story and poem. Team Plume even shared some writing (I think all of these nonfiction writers are rubbing off on me because even though I consider myself primarily a fiction writer, I read an essay in progress about my student loans). My partner in all things Plume, Jennifer, read a sweet, sad essay about a VW Beetle her family had around the time that her mom passed away.
All in all, it was a magical event. And I didn’t even mention the raffle! We raffled off books from Bookworks, tea from NM Tea Company, and a massage from Remedy Day Spa. We can’t thank these vendors enough for their generosity. We were so happy to see so many Plumesters there, too! If you missed it, no worries! We’re already planning future events in Albuquerque & elsewhere (If you happen to be in San Antonio next month, we’ll be sharing a table at the AWP Conference with UNM’a Blue Mesa Review. Come say hi! We’ll be hosting another raffle, too).
Happy writing, all!
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