lit life
Nick Courtright and Julie Choffel bring two nights of poetry to Austin this week
As we enter the summer's hottest, stickiest stretch, there's nothing better than a good book (and a cold drink) to get us through those hazy afternoons and all too short weekends.
And since we're in the creative capital of Texas, sometimes we're lucky enough to get a guided tour of the literary worlds we love to get lost in. This week, two of our favorite poets are teaming up for two nights of literary fun to celebrate their latest releases.
On Thursday, June 28, poets Nick Courtright and Julie Choffel will be reading at BookPeople, and on Friday, June 29, they’ll be at Domy Books. Both events are at 7 p.m.
On Thursday, June 28, Nick Courtright and Julie Choffel will be reading at BookPeople, and on Friday, June 29, they’ll be at Domy Books.
An Austin native and Texas State alum (as well as a graduate of the University of Massachusetts – Amherst’s acclaimed MFA program), Choffel currently lives in Connecticut, where she teaches creative writing. Her first collection, The Hello Delay, which she’ll be reading from this week, was selected by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge for the 2011 Poets Out Loud Prize.
Regular readers of CultureMap’s Literature section will recall that, last fall, we excerpted local writer Nick Courtright’s Punchline, a collection of poems now available from Gold Wake Press. As the Interviews Editor at Austinist, and as a professor of literature at several universities around town, Courtright is an active leader in the city's literary scene, and this collection certainly cements his role as one of its brightest talents, too.
Revisit our exclusive coverage of Courtright’s Punchline, starting with an interview with the author; here are parts one, two, three and four of our excerpts. And check out this trailer for Choffel’s collection Hello Delay:
Cowboix Hevvven's jukebox will feature 30 tracks recorded by Texas artists.
Photo by Kate Russell
