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Charlottesville Reading Series returns Friday at New Dominion Bookshop

Crystal Graham

reading series sept 2023 The Charlottesville Reading Series will host a reading on Friday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. at New Dominion Bookshop.

The event will feature readings by poet Joumana Altallal and novelist Sara Read.

The event is free to attend and open to the public.

Altallal is an Iraqi-Lebanese writer, researcher, and artist who was born in Baghdad and grew up in Charlottesville. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan. Joumana is currently working on her first book, which focuses on American spectatorship and the commodification of violence in post-2003 Iraq.

Read got a degree in women’s studies from UC Santa Cruz. She moved to rural Virginia to become a flute-maker’s apprentice and traditional fiddle player. Some years later, she returned to school for a masters in nursing and worked in labor and delivery, oncology and nursing education. Her short stories have been featured in The Missouri Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, and Zone 3 Press, and she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Johanna Porter Is Not Sorry is her debut novel. Her next book, Principles of (E)motion, is due out in early 2024.

The Charlottesville Reading Series was founded by Julia Hoppe and Amie Whittemore in 2014. The series presents in-person readings of poetry, prose, and song in a monthly event for community members in Charlottesville.

The New Dominion Bookshop is located at 404 East Main St. in Charlottesville.

For more information, visit ndbookshop.com.

Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is the regional editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of Virginia Tonight, a nightly TV news show. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television.