Quarter After Eight kicks off fall reading series featuring alumni, graduate students

The Quarter After Eight (QAE) literary journal kicks off its Fall 2022 reading series featuring Ohio University's creative writing English graduate students and QAE staff reading their stories, essays, and poems on Oct. 26.

Free refreshments will be served, and issues of the Quarter After Eight journal will be available for purchase.

At each evening, several writers will present their work for 10-15 minutes each. This is the first of three readings, with the second reading on Nov. 2 and the last in the series on Nov. 30.

Oct. 26 readers

• Special guest: alumna Sarah Haak, who earned an M.A. in English (Nonfiction) in 2019 from the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio University. Haak is an essayist from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a doctoral candidate at the University of Cincinnati and an now an assistant editor at Acre Books.
• Ali Nowac
• Jessica Licker
• Laura Post
• Amy Strieter
• Austin Tucker

"We welcome you to turn up, find a comfortable armchair, and enjoy the work in an informal atmosphere. Afterward, you're welcome to chat with the writers about their projects, ask questions, and comment on what you noticed," said QAE co-editor Candace Walsh. 

Walsh noted that the reading series replaces English Department series that were not revived after the pandemic, including Moon Tunnel and Dogwood Bloom.

"Designing a reading series from the ground up gave us rich opportunities to do it differently. The setting, the 1804 Lounge, is a warm, carpeted space with cozy woodwork and comfortable, plush chairs. Because our readings will be taking place during dinnertime, we’ll be providing free food from Mauvette’s Jamaican Food Catering (vegan curry and rice) and Athens Bread Company (sandwiches and cookies), along with sparkling water. Unlike most readings, in which a writer reads from a stage or podium, elevated from the audience, our reading series’ atmosphere is that of a literary salon: intimate, supportive, and comfortable," Walsh said.

"Because Quarter After Eight is a student organization, we were able to apply for funding from Ohio University’s Senate Appropriations Committee via the Campus Involvement Center. The funding will cover free refreshments at each event and promotion," she noted.

About Quarter After Eight

"Quarter After Eight, a crucible for the ongoing experiment we call literature, is now offering a reading series where our community can come together and hear the writers who will define our literary future," says Eric LeMay, associate professor and Stocker Professor of Creative Writing and Quarter After Eight faculty advisor. 

Quarter After Eight is an English graduate student-produced journal focused on innovative and often experimental writing and art. It is committed to including writers from underrepresented groups, including Appalachians. Notable contributors over the past 28 years include Diane Seuss, Negesti Kaudo, Dani Putney, Mary Ruefle, Tobias Wolff, Denise Duhamel, Ander Monson, Peter Ho Davies, Michael Martone, Brenda Miller, and Oliver De La Paz.

"Our contributors have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and reprinted in anthologies, including the Best American series," Walsh noted.

QAE was chartered as a student organization in May 1994 by a small volunteer staff of English Department graduate students at Ohio University who conceived of and published the first issue. The journal’s name commemorates the start time of the founders' first official meeting.