The Center for Fiction

Last night, I attended, Beatrice@TheCenter, a reading series curated by Ron Hogan in partnership with The Center for Fiction.  Ron is one of the very first people to have an online literary site, Beatrice.com  In fact, he interviewed me for The Erotica Project. 

Jonathan Dee, Leslie Jamison and Amy Green read gorgeous excerpts from their novels.  The Center for Fiction began as the Mercantile Library in 1820.  It's a classy organization; the atmosphere is very warm and inclusive, part library, part social club.  I spoke to Ron after the reading to thank him for his tweet for Tales from the Velvet Chamber, and also of course to congratulate him for a lovely evening. 

We spoke briefly about revisioning myth and fairy-tale for the anthology from the Western canon, but outside it as well; Asian, African, Egyptian, Indian, etc.  I'd also like the anthology to possess a pan-sexual spirit; hetero, homo, trans, and whoever else is out there.  The spine of the book is to subvert the classics for feminist ends--- and like the Center for Fiction, this mission is inclusionary and global.

Image: Center for Fiction, from the New York Commercial Advertiser November 2, 1820.