We will be hosting an outdoor feature and open mic this month at Hardesty Park in Akron! There is a pavillion for shade or shelter from any inclement weather, but please bring your own folding chair, as picnic table seating is very limited.
We are looking forward to featuring Alex DiFrancesco this month! An open mic reading will follow Alex's feature.
This event will be in-person and outdoors, but please respect others' need for precautions and distancing. If you are not fully vaccinated, we ask that you wear a mask.
Alex DiFrancesco is a multi-genre writer who has published work in Tin House, The Washington Post, Pacific Standard, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The New Ohio Review, Brevity and more. In 2019, they published their essay collection Psychopomps (Civil Coping Mechanisms Press) and their novel All City (Seven Stories Press), which was the first finalist for the Ohioana Book Awards by a transgender author. Their short story collection Transmutation (Seven Stories Press) is forthcoming in 2021. They are the recipient of grants and fellowships from PEN America and Sundress Academy for the Arts. They are an assistant editor at Sundress Publications. DiFrancesco is the human companion of a rescue Westie named Roxy Music, Dog of Doom.
The New York Times said Alex's new short story collection, Transmutation, "captures moments of in-betweenness (often fraught, sometimes magical)". Publisher's Weekly called Transmutation a "whimsical exploration of various types of change". And Kirkus said, "The stories in DiFrancesco’s book flirt with both, moving between realistic situations and gothic plots to show us characters in the midst of becoming their real selves, changing into something new, or even being altered."
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