Charles Blackstone reads from THE WEEK YOU WEREN’T HERE

Charles Blackstone reads from
THE WEEK YOU WEREN’T HERE
Saturday April 30th, 7PM
FREE
 
With a Proustian knack for recalling the smallest detail–from a superficial conversation to the exquisite pain of the perfect kiss–Hunter Flanagan deftly navigates past and present, simultaneously analyzing, deconstructing and torturing himself with memories of every girl he’s lost or loved. For Hunter, writing is easy; it’s love that comes hard. Even as he prepares to leave family, friends and Chicago–the city that made him–he never gives up on his pursuit of love and meaning. The Week You Weren’t Here is a poignant and wry portrait of a young writer closing in on the last of his undergraduate days. Charles Blackstone’s prose is a seamless match for Hunter’s fragmented stream-of-consciousness. From encounters with the persistent “stalker” Kate, to the elusive Dewey, and the surprisingly independent sorority girl, Lila, Hunter exemplifies our longing for the defining moment–as fragile and quixotic a dream as life itself.
 
Charles Blackstone lives in Chicago and teaches the subtleties of limited omniscience in short and long form prose at the University of Chicago’s Graham School of General Studies. Blackstone’s short fiction has appeared in BlazeVox 2K4, Rio, Wazee Journal (featured fiction selection), M.A.G, Whet Magazine (a serialized story), and others. He has a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Colorado, where, in 2001, he received the Barker Award. Currently, he is completing another novel and a collection of stories.