What we’re about
Hello hello hello literary fiction lovers of the greater Austin Area! Are you a sexy bookish type that loves to keep up with The New Yorker's short story of the week? Interested in meeting up with others to exchange thoughts on the vicissitudes of life, love, and contemporary short fiction? Miss reading and having friends who read, but don't have the time to linger over a 300-page novel?
Welcome: We have been searching for y'all and would be pleased to co-create a fun lil literary community together! Come join our group weekly for a lively, thoughtful in-person discussion of the latest and greatest work of short fiction from The New Yorker. We always read the latest story posted in the online version of the magazine, which is a week ahead of the print edition.
Whether you're a longtime lover of literature or just curious to see what all the fuss is about when it comes to Murakami and pals, you're welcome all the same :-) Reading is more fun when you have people with whom to share in the delight of glorious aesthetic experiences!
Please note that this is an inclusive community space, welcoming of LGBTQIA+, queer, transgender, and nonbinary people. Event attendees will be asked to share their preferred pronouns and to respect the preferred pronouns shared by other discussion participants. If that makes you uncomfortable, please don't attend, as tbh, the group vibes are just pretty fruity overall.
People of color seeking a diverse community and reading selection are also especially encouraged to attend. Not that they're perfect (or that we are, for that matter), but part of the reason why we read The New Yorker's short stories is that the editorial staff has done a fairly good job in recent years of publishing writers of color and promoting, more generally, a varied array of American & international literary voices. Our reading group is also fairly diverse in terms of ethnic and cultural background, although like most social communities in Austin, there's more that we could be doing in terms of community outreach and I (Rachel) would be happy to take suggestions in this regard, if y'all have any.
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Cover photo by Le Travelling Fork: A Food and Travel Journal by K.
Cover illustrations by Diobelle Cerna and Tabitha Brown
Upcoming events (3)
See all- The New Yorker Weekly Short Story Club (Free Copies, First Hour for Reading)Central Market, Austin, TX
Calling all literary fiction lovers of the greater Austin Area for our 137th event!
We are reading the story "The Bridge Stood Fast" by Anne Enright. Link is provided in the comments section below and will be visible once you sign up for the event.
Our Discord Server: join our community to chat and hang in between meetups!
Interested in being a part of meaningful conversations on life, love, and contemporary short fiction? Are you a bookish type that loves to keep up with The New Yorker's short story of the week? Miss reading and having friends who read, but don't have the time to linger over a 300-page novel?
Welcome: We have been searching for y'all and would be pleased to co-create a fun lil literary community together! Come join our group weekly for a lively, thoughtful in-person discussion of the latest and greatest work of short fiction from The New Yorker.
Whether you're a longtime lover of literature or just curious to see what all the fuss is about when it comes to Murakami and pals, we’d love to have you either way; reading, like most everything else in life, is just more fun with friends!
Please note that this is an inclusive community space, welcoming of LGBTQIA+, queer, transgender, and nonbinary people. Event attendees will be asked to share their preferred pronouns and to respect the preferred pronouns shared by other discussion participants.
People of color seeking a diverse community and reading selection are also especially encouraged to attend. Not that they're perfect (or that we are, for that matter), but part of the reason why we read The New Yorker's short stories is that the editorial staff has done a good job in recent years of publishing writers of color and promoting, more generally, a wide-ranging selection of American & international literary voices. Our reading group is also fairly diverse in terms of ethnic and cultural background.
- End of Summer Get-Together at The Front Festival @ Laguna Gloria!The Contemporary Austin Laguna Gloria , Austin, TX
We invite you to an end of Summer get-together / picnic!
We will be hosting it at the Front Festival Independent Film Showcase. Let's come and indulge in some good old-fashioned late-summer merry-making with other gentle souls from our community!
In addition, our friends from the Avant-garde Cinema will also be joining us.
Things To Know:
When: August 30th, Saturday 7:00pm-11:00pm. See below for the full schedule
Where: The Contemporary Austin at Laguna Gloria, 3809 West 35th Street Austin, TX, 78703
There is a $25 entry charge, tickets can be purchased online or at the door
There will be alcholic drinks and liquid death brand water available for purchase. We will also be free to explore the grounds, and check out the art.
VERY IMPORTANT: The transactions will be made using a card. It is possible that they won't accept cash.
How To Find Us: Message the discord or post here. I will try to find an easy to find spot to claim and post its location. Keep this number to text us: 804-573-9168
Below is the program for the evening. The actual screening of the short-films won't commence until 8:45pm so we will have plenty of time to hang out and socialize.
2025 FILM SCHEDULE
★ 7 PM — COMMUNITY PANEL
Ahead of the film screenings, join us for a panel produced in collaboration with The Contemporary Austin.
★ 8 PM — SUNSET PERFORMANCE
★ 8:45 PM — THE FRONT FESTIVAL FILM SHOWCASE
Gather in the outdoor amphitheater for our two-hour short film showcase, featuring 13 films by women and LGBTQ+ directors, editors, producers and talent in Texas. This year’s lineup is coming soon. - October Book-Club & Dinner Event: A Sport And A Pastime by James SalterArpeggio Grill, Austin, TX
Come join us for a mediterranean style dinner and to discuss a novel by James Salter, "A Sport And A Pastime"!
Join our Discord for literary chats!
https://discord.gg/aJPphPsQ?event=1371135037550100500Book synopsis from the publisher:
"As nearly perfect as any American fiction I know," is how Reynolds Price (The New York Times) described this classic that has been a favorite of readers, both here and in Europe, for almost forty years. Set in provincial France in the 1960s, James Salter's A Sport and a Pastime is the intensely carnal story—part shocking reality, part feverish dream —of a love affair between a footloose Yale dropout and a young French girl. There is the seen and the unseen—and pages that burn with a rare intensity."
--Macmillan, Imprint Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux"It seems to me that the writers we love most are those who manage to capture something we ourselves have thought and rejected, for being forbidden, dangerous, elusive, something that if we made room for it would undo something else we want to keep, so we force it away—literature as a catalogue of rejected thoughts. For the way they can hold onto what the rest of us would put away as dangerous, they become heroes, the ones who emerge with the one thing we hoped to keep secret, but know we need. When I say to you James Salter is one of my heroes, that is what I mean."
-- Alexander Chee, Paris ReviewBook link from the Publisher
Meetup Structure:
We will meet at Arpeggio Grill to discuss the book over dinner. We are expected to order food and drinks at the venue. After Introductions, we will have an open discussion on the book. Multiple copiess of the book are available at Austin Public Library.
