January 25, 2012
6pm
Kelly Writers House
3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Join us (Melissa and Meaghan) at Kelly Writers House to talk Coming & Crying, writing, feminism, and ladybiz. There will be a reception and there will be books!

ABOUT THE SERIES

Feminism/s is an interdisciplinary series exploring how art, criticism, political action, and community building can create structural and cultural solutions to gender hierarchies. Feminism/s aims to give voice and consideration to the (macro) micro that surround contemporary feminisms in all their pluralities. Feminism/s supports conversation, analysis, philosophy and community connection related to structural and cultural solutions to the gender hierarchy. Feminism/s is a group-curated series supported by the Fund for Feminist Projects at Kelly Writers House.

ABOUT KELLY WRITERS HOUSE

Founded in 1995 by a group of students, faculty, staff and alumni, the Kelly Writers House is an actual 13-room house at 3805 Locust Walk on Penn’s campus that serves as a center for writers of all kinds from Penn and the Philadelphia region at large. The intrepid band of students, faculty and Penn staff who formed the Writers House in the fall of 1995 were committed to a form of literary communitarianism.

jonthewallflower:

Three months, two ice storms and one set of roommates later and I finally got my copy of Coming & Crying!

yeuxcouverts:

(To be a good writer you have to read. I don’t care what anyone says. But this list is probably partial and really for this moment because the list changes a lot.)

1. Coming and Crying Edited by Melissa Gira Grant and Meaghan O’Connell

I take it everywhere I go, and when I read it on the train people look at me funny. It’s an amazing compilation of stories, go get the book. And it’s about a lot more than sex.

miraclesandmermaids:

Look at the surprise I got in the mail today!

Back in November I sent Melissa and Meaghano a letter as per their suggestion because they said:

Dear Internet,

Back in—gulp—FEBRUARY we were in the middle of Kickstartering and raising money and had little to no idea of the realities of the post office, or, to be fair, the realities of how wonderful making a book and talking to you would be. But back in February as we were asking you for money we felt a little weird about it, when we thought about it too much. What we wanted was for people who wanted the book to have the book. We may have said “needed” as in, “we need this book,” because when making something from nothing, telling yourself, “this needs to exist,” is often the only reassurance that offers real consolation.

This evening I got home, peeled off all of my winter layers and slowly unwrapped my package, hoping it was a copy of Coming & Crying. All I did was mail them a letter and they sent this to me for free! There is even a handwritten note inside that put the biggest smile on my face. I am too excited to even read the book right now, just hold it and marvel that it is in my hands.

(via justineful-deactivated20111008)

We’re making big future plans and lists and there’s even a spreadsheet. But first, a question for you:

What are your favorite indie bookstores? What’s the McNally Jackson in your neighborhood? Where would you most like to see Coming & Crying on the shelves in 2011?

allisonweiss:

Coming & Crying

I don’t think I ever blogged about how much I fucking love this book.

I’m only halfway through, but it’s not because I’m not obsessed with it. It’s just so perfect that I have to be in a specific mood to sit down and read it. I’ve got to be ready to have my heart ripped out in the most awesome way possible. I started it back in August when I got it in the mail. I would wake up every day for a week and open my blinds and put on a record and read one of the stories, getting completely lost in it all and wanting to live a more adventurous life of love and lust and heartbreak, etc. I just want to make it last as long as I can, so I’ll leave it next to my bed and wait for the right moment to finish it.

heysean:

“I wanted to join Julian at the bar. I wanted to see him drink a beer, I wanted to know how he held the glass neck with his fingers and I wanted to see him with his friends. I wanted to be with him in every situation and every circumstance. My curiosity made me frantic. After only ten minutes together, Julian’s mere existence and sown necessary chaos in my world.”

— Charlotte Shane, Julian, Coming and Crying

Everytime I read this one I find something else that’s perfect.

electronicalrattlebag:

Look what came on Xmas Eve!!!

Thanks Santa Melissa and Meaghan!

x

x

How happy am I?

Very.

“so so happy, look what my best friend gave me for christmas” (via marthadear)