Functionally Literate

Functionally Literate is Burrow Press‘ quarterly-ish reading series that aims to connect, entertain, and possibly intoxicate, Orlando’s community of writers, bookworms, lit nerds, and the intellectually curious. Each Function pairs the best writers in Central Florida with visiting writers from all over the world. This event was held at The Gallery at Avalon Island.

This sketch is of John King who earned his MFA from New York University in 2010. His work has appeared in Palooka, Gargoyle, The Newer York, the 15 Views of Orlando
project
, and others. He is currently a composition Sherpa at the
University of Central Florida, and he is the host of the amazing writing
podcast, The Drunken Odyssey.

I always love sketching these readings because as I sketch, my mind wanders allowing me to imagine the scene the author is painting. This is what a creative community is all about. An intimate audience gathering to share stories. The next Functionally Literate event will be held on January 16th at 7pm at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 East Rollins Street Orlando FL). Authors will include Matthew  Salesses and Kristen Arnett.

Horror Movie Poetry Night 2: The Return of Bloody Verse.

Writer’s Atelier 336 Grove Ave, Winter Park, Florida. The Drunken Odyssey: A Podcast About the Writing Life presents another evening of verse inspired by that most poetic of film genres: Horror!

Featured artists were,  Mark Purcell, Teege Braune, Anna King, Vincent Crampton, Genevieve Anna Tyrrell, Tom Lucas, Susan Fallows, and the host, John King.

One of my favorite stories was about Rosemary’s baby told from the viewpoint of the adoring mom. She felt that her love could sway her son from his demonic future. All the store related to Horror films that we all love or hate. It was a fun night of horror stories right before Halloween.