Saturday, June 13, 3 pm

BBQ and Mike Edison book burning

Mike Edison, author of I Have Fun Everywhere I Go , returns to rant and flip burgers in our backyard.

Backed up by his Rocket Train All Stars, Mike promises to grill his latest paperback edition while expounding on his past relationships with: Evel Knievel, Ozzy Osborne, the Raunch Hands, Reagan Youth, GG Allin, Larry Flynt, Liberace, and Joe Franklin (not to mention strippers, wrestlers, LSD-sodden punks, picturesque drunks, and comically dysfunctional potheads than have ever been assembled in one book!).

“This book is beyond blurbs, so let’s just get to the jack. If you have any interest in pot, pornography, punk rock, or professional wrestling, just buy this fucking thing. Much more important than food for the table or the starving children of wherever.”— Nick Tosches


Sunday, July 19, 7 pm

Dirk Wittenborn reads from his recent novel PHARMAKON… or The Story of a Happy Family

“What’s best about ‘Pharmakon,’ beyond the curiosity value of its unusual premise and atmosphere, is Mr. Wittenborn’s colorful, affectionate evocation of a complex family story …a smart, eccentric coming-of-age story.”
The New York Times

Dirk Wittenborn is the Emmy-nominated producer of the HBO documentary Born Rich. The Lucky Ones, a movie starring Rachel McAdams and Tim Robbins, which Wittenborn co-wrote and co-produced, was released last fall. His two previous novels, Zoe and Fierce People, have been published in more than a dozen countries. He lives in New York City.

Sunday, August 30, 7 pm

Michael Taeckens reads from the new essay collection, Love Is a Four-Letter Word

Fron Junot Diaz, Lynda Barry, Gary Shteyngart, and Kate Christensen to popular up-and-comers like Dan Kennedy, Wendy McClure, and Brock Clarke, Love Is a Four-Letter Word is a contemporary collection of true stories of seduction, heartbreak, and regret. Fearlessly revealing their shattered hearts and crushed egos; their indiscretions and indignities; their delusions, desperation, and disappointments, these talented writers capture the dark side of love in prose ranging from comic to poetic, poignant to cringe-inducing. Also featuring three cartoon/graphic essays as a sixteen-page color insert, this anthology is perfect for anyone who's ever loved and lost.

Contributors include Neal Pollack, Junot Díaz, Wendy McClure, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Dan Kennedy, Kate Christensen, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Maud Newton, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Margaret Sartor, Michael Taeckens, Lynda Barry, Emily Flake, Patty Van Norman, Gary Shteyngart, Michelle Green, Brock Clarke, Jami Attenberg, George Singleton, D. E. Rasso, Pasha Malla, Amanda Stern, Dave White, and Wendy Brenner.

Past Freebird Readers, Performers, etc... in no particular order.


Watch David Hajdu and Lou Masur (past speakers at Freebird) discuss their books on Titlepage.tv

Brian Francis Slattery, author of Liberation (November 20, 2008)--hear the podcast
Gregory Pardlo and Priscilla Becker (November 16, 2008)
John Joseph Adams, editor of Wastelands (October 23, 2008)
Matthew Sharpe, author of Jamestown (September 25, 2008)--hear the podcast
Moustafa Bayoumi, author of How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? (September 18, 2008)--hear the podcast
Jonathan Miles, author of Dear American Airlines (July 30, 2008)--hear the podcast
Pat Willard, author of America Eats! (July 27, 2008)
Nuar Alsadir and Nick Flynn (July 6, 2008)
Jess Winfield, author of My Name Is Will (July 19, 2008)--watch the video
Lara Vapnyar, author of Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love (June 26, 2008)
Mike Edison, author of I Have Fun Everywhere I Go (June 12, 2008)--watch the video
Joshua Furst and Jim Shepard (June 8, 2008)--hear the podcast
Sarah Goodyear and Fiona Maazel (May 18, 2008)--hear the podcast
David Hajdu, author of The Ten-Cent Plague (May 8, 2008)--hear the podcast
Thomas Pynchon birthday fax (May 4, 2008)--see the press
Anya Ulinich, author of Petropolis (April 24, 2008)
Gregory Gibson, author of Hubert's Freaks (April 3, 2008)--hear the podcast
Ken Wohlrob, Brian Cogan, Tim Hall, and Mike Faloon (March 22, 2008)--watch the video:

Louis Masur, author of The Soiling of Old Glory (March 20, 2008)--hear the podcast
Richard Zoglin, author of Comedy at the Edge (February 28, 2008)--hear the podcast
Ian Toll and Jordan Zinovich (February 24, 2008)
Matvei Yankelevich (February 21, 2008)--hear the podcast
The Indypendent's Arun Gupta, Nick Powers, and Steven Wishnia (February 7, 2008)--hear the podcast
Thomas Kerr (March 2, 2006)
Lee Klein
Samantha Hunt
Amanda Gersh
Alex Dezen
Howard Fishman
Gillian McCain
Aracelis Girmay
Julian Velard
Gary Gattullo
Thomas Sayers Ellis
David Gates
James Mason
Arthur Bradford
Priscilla Becker
Colum McCann
Gindy Bladen
Michael DeCapite
Jim O'Brien
Gregory Pardlow
Douglas Goetsch
Travis Caine
Kythe Heller
Laure-Anne Bosselaar
Anne Landsman
Brian Blanchfield
Robert Lopez
Beth Zasloff
Maxine Swann
David Hollander
Dennis Diclaudio
Tim Mcloughlin
Tara Bray Smith
Thisbe Nissen
Luciano Guerrero
Justin Jamail
Jonathan Dixon
Christian Hawkey
Starlee Kine
J Milligan
Martin Dockery
Meghan Hatch
Eric B. Martin
Johanna Wagner
Dayne Sherman
Amanda Fillipacchi
Rene Steinke
Amy Blair
Christopher Sorrentino
D. Gaitling Price
Joseph Salvatore
Patrick Phillips
David Roth
Jane Greenway Carr
Jonathan Ames
Amanda Stern
Lisa Selin Davis
Jeremy Mercer
Kirstin Allio
Leslie Campisi
Tom Lombardi
Nikki Westfall
D. Foy O'Brien
Karen de Weille
Kara Kramer
Mike Albo
Heather Cox
Robert Sullivan
Phillip Lopate
Kathryn Harrison
Alex Lemon
John Haskell
Brian Cogan,
Ken Wohlrob
Mike Faloon
Gina Zucker
Davidson Garett
Yojimbo