Tomorrow is the first episode of Brooklyn Reading Works, a reading series curated by me at Fou Le Chakra.

Brooklyn Reading Works is just a little thing I threw together at the urging of Mary Warren, owner of that tiny shop and cafe at 411 Seventh Avenue between 13th and 14th Street.

Ms. Warren had the inspiration to turn her new cafe/clothing shop into a sometime salon. A salon!

Whoo hoo: We were off and running with that concept: literary readings, art shows, portrait sittings, musical performances, stand-up comics, new age workshops, trunk shows…

We were down with that idea.

And so Brooklyn Reading Works was born. Immediately I had a vision of what I wanted it to be: a cozy evening once a month for stories, memoir, and poetry in a candle-lit atmosphere with music, wine, tea, and succulent sweets.

And I knew I wanted it to be a place for all the "underground" writers of Park Slope to come out of their writing rooms and share what they’ve been doing. It seems that there are plethora of readings by the usual suspects. And by usual suspects I mean our media-adored and much-esteemed  literary neighbors like Paul Auster, Jhumpa Lahiri, Siri Hustvedt, Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Elissa Schappell. Love them all as I do, I wanted to make a space for all the others.

Because there are so many other writers in our midst that nobody ever sees,  that nobody even knows are here. So I started making phone calls. And before I knew it I had a full roster of really interesting writers with published work or work-in-progress through July and a list of writers ready to go for next fall.

I even heard through the grapevine that Elissa Schappell is interested in doing a Brooklyn Reading Works and is wondering why I didn’t ask her.  Go figure.

Of course, the first call I made was to the writer I’ve know the longest: Pamela Katz is my great friend and creative co-hort since fifth grade at the New Lincoln School in Manhattan. We even interviewed children’s science fiction writer Madeleine L’Engle in her office at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine when were in 7th grade.

We’ve been putting on shows of one kind or another, running around town, makin’ michief, producing films, talking, talking, talking, and being the best of friends for 36 years now.

A few years back, she wrote AND SPEAKING OF LOVE (Aufbau-Verlag) that was called by Jay Parini " a compelling and beautifully rendered novel about the astonishing life of Lotte Lenya." She is now revising it for its American publication. She also wrote the screenplays for the films "Rosenstrasse" and "The Other Woman," both directed by Margarethe von Trotta and shown at the Museum of Modern Art and on German television.

When I told my very readerly and knowledgable friend Adam that I was doing this reading series, the first name that came  to his mind was the poet and fiction writer Michele Madigan Somerville. Her book-length poem, WISEGAL (Ten Pell Books) was described by poet Thaddeus Rutkowski as "a post-beat odyssey through present day New York…full of joy and
wonder at the sheer saltiness and sexiness of life." I was thrilled when she accepted with great enthusiasm my invitation to be part of the first show of Brooklyn Reading Works.

It should be a great night. Come on down.

-Louise X. Crawford