The Kansas Bathtub Writers Collective, are hosting their second annual “Bathtub Benefit” at Genovese Italian Restaurant (941 Massachusetts St.) on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Many MFA and PhD students from the KU English department who are members of the collective will be traveling to the 2010 AWP Conference in Denver next month and presenting a panel titled “Bathtub Kansas Writers’ Collective: A Community of Writers.” The proceeds from this benefit will help to fund that trip, and other community projects, including a Writers in the Schools (W.I.T.S.) program organized with teachers from Lawrence High School.

The festivities at Genovese will include readings by featured national and local writers, and members of the collective. There will also be a silent auction of goods and services from local businesses, art from local artists, a raffle and Genovese appetizers.

Readers include Tao Lin, Linda Rodriguez (author of Heart’s Migration and Skin Hunger), and Shannon Draper-Gard (poet and English teacher at Lawrence High School), as well as several Bathtub members.

This past Thursday, author David Ohle participated in the Raven’s Big Tent Reading series. It was a real treat. Afterward, more than one audience member was overheard saying they thought they were going to pee their pants from laughter. Mr. Ohle recently released a book titled BOONS & THE CAMP, which is available at The Raven along with his cult classic MOTORMAN. Derek White at 5cense, who did the artwork for the book, also created trailers for BOONS & THE CAMP. Enjoy.

THE CAMP

BOONS

Denise Low, 2nd poet laureate of Kansas, revives the British tradition of one-page publications, called “broadsides,” as a way to present poetry. Her web-based broadsides include over forty poets with Kansas connections: Gordon Parks, William Stafford, James Tate, B.F. Fairchild, Diane Glancy, Albert Goldbarth, Jo McDougall, and Kevin Young to name a few. This book collects her Ad Astra Poetry Project broadsides in print form. Each entry presents a biography, poem, and commentary about the poem in concise form, easily accessible for readers. The 3rd Kansas poet laureate, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, adds discussion questions for those who wish to use this book for classes or other groups. Clear discussion of the poems, free of jargon, makes this ideal for sharing with students and friends. Low selects poems that comment, in some way, on Kansas experience. These Kansas poetry publications-available to arts organizations, schools, libraries, and newspapers throughout the state-have attracted a national following. Paperback, $12.00

Local author John C. Ralston (and employee at The Raven) is celebrating the release of his young adult novel, THE SECRET OF INVISIBILITY.  Published by the Kansas City Star, the story takes place in Lawrence and includes illustrations.  You can pick up your copy at The Raven ($9.95).

John will be signing copies this Sunday, December 20, from 2-4PM.  Stop in and pick up a personalized copy of this book — it’s the perfect time to get a great gift for the holiday season!

THE SECRET OF INVISIBILITY:

Having just moved to Lawrence, Kansas, ten-year-old Thomas Wax finds a mysterious scroll in his new house—a house once owned by an explorer. Decoding the scroll leads to the secret of invisibility. How is that possible? It’s ridiculously easy, if you’re a reader.

Thomas and his new friend Fred Estre have a great time sneaking around invisible. They scare his sister at a slumber party, sneak into a life drawing class, and learn magic tricks from a strange magician. But who is stealing jewels all over town in broad daylight? Why is even the underworld quaking in its boots? Are Thomas and Fred the thieves? Or is it all just a big misunderstanding?

When they realize that someone’s on their trail—someone dangerous, someone invisible—can they keep themselves hidden long enough to save the town… and themselves?

OCTOBER 23 Friday 7PM
@ THE RAVEN
Wallace Cochran
Reads from his new book
THE MOON FOR ITS CITIZENS

The Moon For Its Citizens, A History of the Rocket From Hermes Trismegistus to the 23rd Century traces the development of rocket technology from pre-historical Egypt and China to the modern day of the future. It is divided into two sections. Part one: All Our Ways Rooted in Novelty, concerns itself with the psychic effect of intestinal flora and occultism on the development (and developers) of thermodynamic theory, propulsion engines, and historical study. Part two: The 20th Century, is an account of the so-called space race between the Soviet Union and the United States, 1952-1975. It is a work of fiction.

Wallace Cochran performs in the band Drakkar Sauna. He lives and works in Lawrence, KS. This is his first book.

Fourth Thursdays
BIG TENT: Stories & Poems in Three Acts
7PM @ The Raven

BIG TENT in OCTOBER

Thursday, October 22
7PM @ The Raven

Act 1: Adam Desnoyes prose
Act 2: Krista Gammper prose
Act 3: Jennie James poetry

OCTOBER 8 Thursday 7PM
@ THE RAVEN
TALK ABOUT LOVE POETRY!
Denise Low & Robert Day in a Poetic Dual/Duet

To celebrate the publication of Mammoth Press of WE SHOULD HAVE COME BY WATER, a limited letterpress edition of ten poems by Robert Day, The Raven is hosting a nontraditional reading by Robert Day and Denise Low. Denise will read love poems by women and Robert love poems by men. Then they both duck! Should be a splendid evening and we hope you will join us!

Read more in EVENTS.

OCTOBER 4 Sunday 3PM
@ THE LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Co-sponsored by The Raven
READING, SIGNING AND FUN EVENT

Stephen Johnson
MY LITTLE RED FIRE TRUCK
Award-winning artist and author Stephen Johnson has created a new movable board book, My Little Red Fire Truck. Stephen will read the book and talk about how it was created. Firefighters from the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical will be on hand to talk about fire safety and show off a real fire truck!

Read more about Stephen Johnson.

Fourth Thursdays
BIG TENT: Stories & Poems in Three Acts
7PM @ The Raven

BIG TENT in SEPTEMBER

Thursday, September 24
7PM @ The Raven

Act 1: Cyrus Console poetry
Act 2: Mark Cunningham prose
Act 3: Nancy Hubbell poetry

More information in BIG TENT.

SEPTEMBER 9 Wednesday 7PM
@ THE LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Co-sponsored by The Raven
READING & SIGNING

Bryce Benedict
Jayhawkers: The Civil War Brigade of James Henry Lane

Author Bryce Benedict brings us the first detailed investigation into the activities of the ragtag group of free-state fighters who followed the mercurial U.S. senator into many skirmishes and raids along the Kansas-Missouri border during the early part of the Civil War.

Bryce Benedict served for twenty-one years in the U.S. Army and the Kansas National Guard and is now lead defense counsel for the Kansas State Self Insurance Fund. His historical articles have appeared in the Plains Guardian, the newspaper of the Kansas National Guard. Read about the book.