Tuesday, April 6, 2010

My First Reading

This past Friday the UC Berkeley Re-Entry Center held a small reception/ celebration for the Judith Stronach Fiction Prize on campus. As one of last year's co-winners, I was invited to come read my winning story "Blackstone Advertising" aloud. I was nervous, because not only have I never read fiction to an audience before, but my story was 18 pages long (double-spaced) and they wanted me to read the whole thing. When I timed it out at home, that meant 25 minutes, which I imagined would put everybody to sleep.

But it didn't! I had a fun time reading, and everyone seemed entertained. My hamminess delighted in getting to "perform" a story aloud. I got to meet the donor and other facilitators of the prize in person, which was a great honor. And let's not forget they had wine and snacks. The other winner of the prize was Angelene Smith, who I've been lucky to have in a couple creative writing workshops, and it was awesome to hear her read her winning story "The Ticket." All in all, the whole thing was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to read again.

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