Queens Library Event: June 11 at 2:30 p.m.

Another month, another Forgotten Borough event! This time, we're heading into Jamaica, Queens, this Saturday, June 11 for a reading at the Queens Central Library, starting at 2:30 p.m. The library is located at 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, and the event will take place in the auditorium.

Come on out for readings from contributors RON HOGAN, VICTOR LAVALLE, JOCELYN LIEU, MARGARITA SHALINA, JUANITA TORRENCE-THOMPSON, and MARISSA WALSH!

Entry to this event is FREE, and you can get to the library via the F train to 169th street. A number of buses also travel to the nearby 165th Street bus terminal. Visit queenslibrary.org for more info.

Click here to RSVP to the event on Facebook!

AWP Event News Flash: Victor LaValle Joins Us!

Fabulous news, folks: Victor LaValle will now be joining us at our AWP event at Toledo Lounge on Thursday, February 3! It's a can't-miss event if you'll be in DC for the festivities this year!

Our full list of readers now includes Victor LaValle, Robert Lasner, Molly McCloy, Irina Reyn, Margarita Shalina, and Mark Swartz!

Click here for more information and to RSVP!

Forgotten Borough at AWP 2011!

Forgotten Borough makes its debut on February 1 and you can score your own copy, hot off the press, if you're in town for this year's AWP conference in Washington, D.C.

We're celebrating with a reading on Thursday, February 3 at 6 p.m. at Toledo Lounge! Featured readers include ROBERT LASNER, MOLLY MCCLOY, IRINA REYN, MARGARITA SHALINA, and MARK SWARTZ!

Have a beer with us (some nachos, too) and indulge in a taste of Queens, NY! SUNY Press will provide copies of the book for sale and the readers will sign copies!

To learn more about the event and to RSVP, visit our Facebook event page: Forgotten Borough AWP Reading!

Labor on the Night Shift

Maspeth consists of warehouses, factories, Western Beef Supermarket, New Penn Trucking, Asian Import/Exporters, gas stations advertising diesel, garages, the surprise of nearly forgotten train tracks that still transport freight, junkyard cemeteries encapsulating the vestiges of dead cars, junkyard dogs roaring unexpectedly at fences. It's the workplace of men and women who perform physically demanding labor and retire with back problems and painkiller addictions. A place where black P.O.W./M.I.A. flags still hang proudly below the promise of, "You are not forgotten." The workplace of men and women on work release—convicts. The workplace of newly arrived immigrants with limited skill sets, who have yet to achieve fluency in English. The workplace of labor on the night shift.

—from Margarita Shalina's "The Maspeth Holders" in the upcoming anthology Forgotten Borough

Pre-order your copy of Forgotten Borough @ SUNY Press, Amazon, or other book retailers.

Above: "Moon over Maspeth, Queens" by LuckyRVA on flickr