SMOL Exclusive: Commercial Meets Experimental

When: Thursday, March 4, 2021, 6:00pm EST to 7:00pm EST
Where: Join vis Zoom https://tinyurl.com/y6zqdrcu (Attendance is limited to 100 people.)

​Having one’s work labeled “experimental” comes with the stigma of being difficult, outlandish, or just plain unpleasant to read while ignoring the potential and innovation these works bring to the literary scene. On the contrary, so-called “commercial” works are often overlooked as cliché, dumbed-down, or lacking in artistic value despite the immense enjoyment they bring to millions of people. The dichotomy between commercial and experimental is ultimately limiting for writers in all genres, who all too often feel pressured to avoid these extremes.

Janet Clare

Martha Engber

Melanie Faith

Jayne Martin

Joanne Nelson

Ian Rogers

Carolyn R. Russell

Gina Troisi

​These eight authors from Vine Leaves Press balance experimental and commercial elements in fiction and nonfiction to create work that both entertains and stimulates. How can writers innovate without alienating readers, and how can traditional narrative elements be revitalized to create unique works?

This online Zoom event features five-minute readings from eight prose writers:

• Janet Clare lives in Los Angeles. She studied at UC Berkeley and UCLA and she's had short fiction and essays published in literary journals online and anthologized. Time Is the Longest Distance is her first novel.
• Martha Engber is the author of Winter Light, The Wind Thief, and Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up. A Chicago native, she lives in northern California with her husband, bike, and surfboard.
• Melanie Faith is a Gen-Xer who wears many professional hats, including poet, prose writer, photographer, editor, and professor. She enjoys the clack of old-school typewriter keys and creating how-to craft books about diverse writing topics.
• Jayne Martin is a Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfictions nominee, and a recipient of Vestal Review’s VERA award. She is the author of a collection of microfiction, Tender Cuts.
• Joanne Nelson's writing appears in numerous anthologies and literary journals and she is a contributor to Lake Effect, her local NPR affiliate. She lives, writes, and teaches in Hartland, Wisconsin.  
• Ian Rogers lives and works in Toyama, Japan, and is the author of the chapbook "Eikaiwa Bums" from Blue Cubicle Press. His first novel, MFA Thesis Novel, is forthcoming in 2022.
• Carolyn R. Russell is the author of three books, and her stories and essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Dime Show Review. She lives on and writes from Boston’s North Shore.  
• Gina Troisi’s memoir, The Angle of Flickering Light, is forthcoming in April. Her stories and essays have appeared in Fourth Genre, The Gettysburg Review, Fugue, Under the Sun, and elsewhere. She lives in coastal Maine.

A Q&A will follow as time allows.  Attendance is limited to 100 people, and we hope to see you there.