Black Swan Books & Music team with the SWAG Writers (The Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta Group of the Virginia Writers Club) Reading Series to present a reading by fiction writers Clifford Garstang (What the Zhang Boys Know and In an Uncharted Country) and Steve Weddle (Country Hardball). The reading will take place on Thursday, May 8 at 6 p.m. at Black Swan Books & Music, 1 E. Beverley St., Staunton. The reading is free and open to the public.
This event is the latest public reading sponsored by SWAG organizers who hope to elevate the profile of area writers and promote the literary arts in Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County by providing a forum for local and visiting authors to share their work. SWAG Writers is made up of professional, aspiring, and hobby writers who also host a monthly mixer at Black Swan where members meet to network and socialize and read short excerpts of their work at an open mic. Writers interested in joining the group can contact Cliff Garstang at [email protected]. Black Swan Books & Music in Staunton, sister store to Black Swan Books in Richmond, specializes in used and rare books and records and frequently sponsors literary events.
About the Featured Authors:
Clifford Garstang’s novel in stories, What the Zhang Boys Know, won the 2013 Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. His first book, In an Uncharted Country, a collection of linked short stories, won the Maria Thomas Prize for fiction. His work has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Blackbird, Virginia Quarterly Review, Cream City Review, The Tampa Review, and elsewhere. In addition to an MA in English and a law degree, he holds an MFA in Creative Writing. He is the co-founder and editor of Prime Number Magazine and is also the editor of Everywhere Stories, a short fiction anthology that will be published later this year. He lives just outside Staunton.
Steve Weddle grew up on the Louisiana/Arkansas line, holds an MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University, and currently works for a newspaper group. His debut novel, County Hardball, was just published by Tyrus Books. He lives in Charlottesville.