I’ll be reading several of my ghost stories as part of a live pre-Halloween podcast production at Little Rock’s Ron Robinson Theater. The event is on the evening of Wednesday, October 16, beginning at six o’clock, and will also feature the novelist John Hornor Jacobs, the director Jason Pitts, the Haunted Arkansas Ghost Tour guides, and many other spooky, horrifying, mysterious, and ghoulish presenters. It’s an all-ages show, and there will also be trick-or-treating in the lobby. You can read more about it and RSVP here.

2024 marks the twenty-first Six Bridges Book Festival (formerly the Arkansas Literary Festival) and also my twenty-first appearance on the roster. This year, I’ll be inaugurating the week with a solo event at the Ron Robinson Theater, where I’ll be reading an essay about animals and literature from a collection of essays-in-progress, then chatting with the estimable Steve Straessle, taking questions from the audience, and signing books. You can read more about the event here.

I’ll be visiting Minnesota State University in Mankato for a series of events as part of their Good Thunder Reading Series: a workshop from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., a craft talk from 3:00 to 3:50 p.m., and an off-campus reading at the Carnegie Art Center from 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. All of these events are free and open to the public. You can read more about them here.

I’ll be giving a reading at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN, on the evening of Monday, September 16, at 7:00. The event is free and open to the public and will be held on campus, in Charter Hall Room 201.

I’ll be conversing with the inestimable Little Rock writer Jen Fawkes at the launch event for her debut novel, Daughters of Chaos, at WordsWorth Books on the evening of Tuesday, July 9. You can read more about the novel and RSVP for the event here.

I’ll be joining the other members of the Paris Writers Workshop faculty (Lan Samantha Chang, Diane Lake, and Jennifer Lauck) for a discussion of “The Writer’s Life: A Balancing Act” in the Salle de Conference on the ground floor of Reid Hall at the Columbia Global Centers in the 6th arrondissement on the evening of Monday, June 3:

Our faculty will discuss the ebb and flow of life as a writer. How do we balance it all? How do we handle "writer's block," seeking feedback, dealing with literary agents and editors, juggling family, earning a living? Why is it important to separate the act of writing from the business of publishing, building a career and/or making money? Our panelists will offer their experiences both good and bad, as well as the advice they wish they'd been given when they started out. To be followed by a Q&A.

The event is open to guests who pre-register, which you can do by contacting admin.pww@wice-paris.org.

On November 17, the Central Arkansas Library system will be hosting a conversation with Kristi McKim about her newly published BFI Film Classics consideration of Wes Anderson’s (best) movie Rushmore. I’ll be moderating the event, which will be preceded by a screening of the film at the Ron Robinson Theater. You can register and read more about it, and about that weekend’s “Wes Fest” celebration, here.

I’ll be reading in Russellville, AR, on the campus of Arkansas Tech University, on Monday, October 9. The event is part of the University’s Second Monday Author Series and is scheduled to begin at 6:00 in the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, room 300B. It will be free and open to the public. You can read more about it here.

This is the Six Bridges Book Festival’s twentieth-anniversary year, and will also mark my twentieth appearance on its roster. It’ll be a solo event for me this time, moderated by the gifted Little Rock writer Jen Fawkes. I’ll be reading a new short story, “The Library of Nathan Liu,” and then chatting with Jen, taking questions, and signing books. The reading will be at the Ron Robinson Theater on the main campus of the Central Arkansas Library System from 6:30 to 7:30 on October 1.

Afterward, to inaugurate this year’s Banned Books Week, NPR critic Maureen Corrigan will be appearing in the same space to talk about “Banned Books; Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works,” which—not entirely by coincidence—is also one of the subjects of my story.

You can read more about my event (and click through to investigate the Festival’s complete schedule) here.

I’ll be participating in a conversation with Arkansas native Sara Flannery Murphy, author of the recently published novel The Wonder State, at Little Rock’s WordsWorth Bookstore on the evening of July 25. You can read about the event and RSVP here.

I’ll be moderating an in-person event at Iowa City’s Prairie Lights Bookstore with Stephen Markley, author of the extraordinary new novel The Deluge, which is certain to be one of the best books of 2023. That’s what I think, and so does Stephen King.

I’ll be delivering a craft lecture I’m calling “An Animal Within to Give Its Blessing: On the Value of Nonhuman Creatures in Fiction” at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. It’s inspired by an unusual—but I think correct—assertion Joy Williams makes about the importance of an animal presence in short stories.

I’ll be making my (nineteenth) appearance at the (nineteenth) Six Bridges Book Festival this October. My event is scheduled for Saturday, October 29, from 1:00 to 2:00 in the Main Library’s Darragh Center. You can read more about the roster for this year’s Festival here. This year I’ll be sharing the stage with Kim Fu, author of one of this year’s finest story collections, the extraordinary Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century. You can read one of Kim’s stories and find me praising it in this Electric Literature feature.

My first no-fooling, in-person, post-publication local reading from The Ghost Variations has been scheduled for Saturday, September 17, 2022, in North Little Rock. The event will mark the official relaunch of the free, monthly Argenta Reading Series after a two-and-a-half-year pandemic hiatus. Here’s the Facebook listing. If you live in central Arkansas, please come!

_{*I’ve attended these events regularly since the series was founded. See if you can spot me in the photo to the left.}

I’ll be reading in the Frank Conroy Reading Room at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop alongside Melissa Febos, who just published Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative and who recently won the National Book Critics Award for Criticism for last year’s Girlhood. The event will be in-person but should also be viewable live via this Zoom link.

I’ll be reading briefly from The Ghost Variations and conversing about that book, my others, and my life as a writer and reader for Lifequest of Arkansas at noon (CT) on Wednesday, February 23. The event is virtual, and you can view it without registration via Lifequest’s Facebook page.

On December 18, at 6:00 Central Time, I’ll be reading from The Ghost Variations and discussing my favorite ghost stories in fiction and film as part of the Second Annual New York Ghost Story Festival. The event is virtual and will be hosted by Daniel Braum. I’ll be appearing alongside the writers John Langan, Sarah Langan, and Angela Slatter. You can join us via this YouTube link.

I’ll be reading with K-Ming Chang, the author of Bestiary, as part of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Writers’ Week. The event is virtual and begins at 6:30 Central time, 7:30 Eastern. There’s no need to pre-register. You can attend by clicking the “Join Online Event” button here and using the meeting ID and passcode provided.

Just in time for Halloween, Fayetteville, AR’s, brand-new independent bookstore, Pearl’s Books, will be hosting me for an in-person reading from The Ghost Variations. I’ll also be answering questions and signing books. If you live in the area, I hope to see you there. Because the seating will be limited, the bookstore is recommending that you register for a spot ahead of time, which you can do by emailing hello@pearlsbooks.com.

For the eighteenth annual Six Bridges Book Festival, I’ll be presenting a selection of stories from my most recent book, The Ghost Variations: One Hundred Stories, and conversing with Lauren Groff, who will be discussing her latest novel, Matrix, which has been longlisted for a National Book Award and is a New York Times bestseller. The event will take place virtually, and you can register to attend here. (If you’re curious, you’ll find the video archived here.)

I’m scheduled to conduct the very first in-person reading from The Ghost Variations in mid-October, at my alma mater, Missouri State University. The reading is free, will be followed by a Q&A and book signing, and will take place at 7:00 on Thursday, October 14, in the Union Club on the fourth floor of Plaster Student Union. Here’s a recording of the event.

I’ll be conducting a master class for StoryStudio Chicago on September 21 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM Central. The seminar will take place via Zoom, and the enrollment is limited to thirty participants. It’s a paid class. If you’re interested, you can read more about it and register at the StoryStudio website. You’ll find a full description of the event if you click on either the title or the image.

I’ll be conversing with the extraordinary fiction writer (and my one-time student) David Hoon Kim about his debut novel Paris Is a Party, Paris Is a Ghost in a virtual launch event via San Francisco’s Green Apple Books at 6:00 Pacific Time, 8:00 Central. The free registration link is here.

I’ll be discussing Arkansas literature and my own contributions to it with Tom Dillard and Tim Nutt for their monthly Third Thursday program “about all things Arkansas.” There’s no need to register ahead of time. You can attend the event virtually at 7:00 on Thursday, July 15, via this Zoom link or view the archived video here.

Benjamin Percy and I will be conversing and reading from our new books (his is The Ninth Metal, the first volume of a trilogy called “The Comet Cycle”) in a virtual event for Chicago’s newly housed Exile in Bookville. The video of the event is now archived here.

Philadelphia’s Blue Stoop will be hosting me online as I read from The Ghost Variations and converse with the celebrated writer (and my former student) Carmen Maria Machado. You can register for the virtual event here.

Kelly Link will be reading from her work at the invitation of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and then participating in a conversation with me. You can attend the event, virtually, via this link.