Eckhard Gerdes at Quimby’s!
Wednesday, October 24th, 7:00 PM
FREE

Join Eckhard Gerdes as he reads from and signs copies of his new novels “The Million-Year Centipede” (Raw Dog Screaming Press), “Przewalski’s Horse” (Red Hen Press), He also recently released a  CD of fiction readings “Scuff Mud” (JEF/CD Baby), and a new issue of “The Journal of Experimental Fiction” (Six Gallery Press).

Eckhard Gerdes earned an MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but not before one teacher threatened to choke Eckhard to death for producing writing that was too innovative.  Eckhard’s true teachers have been the voices he heard through literature—Brautigan, Patchen, Joyce, Beckett, Federman, Barth, Jaffe, Burroughs, Acker, Moorcock, Calvino, Ionesco, and the amazing Arno Schmidt, to name a few—and the voices he has heard through other art forms, such as Clyfford Still, Picasso, Pollack, Kraan, Captain Beefheart, Firesign Theatre, Pere Ubu, Stockhausen, Webern, and, of course, the Doors.  These are the voices of the idiosyncratic.  They will be heard long after the weak voices have faded.

He lives near Chicago with two of his sons, Ludwig and Ulysses.  His oldest son, Sterling, is away at college at Georgia Tech.  Occasionally, Eckhard publishes The Journal of Experimental Fiction.  At times, he writes about literature for The Review of Contemporary Fiction,  American Book Review, and Electronic Book Review.  His fiction appears in various journals every now and then. Przewalski’s Horse and The Million-Year Centipede are his fifth and sixth published novel.   Two more, Nin & Nan and The Unwelcome Guest are scheduled for fall 2007 publication by Six Gallery Press.  Scuff Mud, the CD of reading accompanied by experimental musicians Shelf Life, is his first recording.

Ken Foster author of The Dogs Who Found Me
Saturday, October 20th, 7:00 PM
FREE

Join Ken Foster, author of The Dogs Who Found Me and special guest Elizabeth Crane, author of When the Messenger is Hot. For an evening or readings and dog hijinx.

Ken Foster will read a Chicago-based essay from his forth-coming collection DOGS I HAVE MET: And the People They Found.  As he reads, he will be interrupted by the people and dogs he has written about, as they attempt to correct his memory of the events.

Disaster-prone writer and reluctant dog rescuer Ken Foster finds himself adopting an ever-growing collection of stray dogs, from a beagle abandoned in a New York City dog run to a pit bull in a Mississippi truck stop. Their circumstances offer a grounding counterpoint to his own misfortunes: the shock of New York City after 9/11, the evacuation of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and the day his heart nearly stopped for good. KEN FOSTER is the editor of two anthologies, including Dog Culture. His collection of short stories, The Kind I’m Likely to get, was a New York Times Notable Book. His work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, and The Believer. For more information, visit www.dogswhofoundme.com.