Paul LuikartVisitors to Star Line Books, 1467 Market St., can hear excerpts from a new book read by the author and share favorite poems in separate events coming up at the downtown bookstore.
* Book signing: Paul Luikart, author of the new short-story collection “Animal Heart,” will read from the book and sign copies from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday, May 27.
According to an online bio, Luikart now lives in Chattanooga after spending most of his adult life in Chicago. He studied fiction writing at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, the Writers’ Studio at the University of Chicago and Seattle Pacific University. His work has appeared in a variety of literary magazines in the last several years.
The stories in “Animal Heart,” according to the publisher, address lives in transition, focusing on raggedy characters in need of redemption, whether they realize it or not.
* Poetry reading: My Favorite Poem, scheduled 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, is the latest program in the bookstore’s Fifth Tuesday series. The evening will begin with four specific readings, and then the floor will open to readings by others who wish to take part. Sign-ups start at 6:45 p.m. Visitors are welcome to read or just listen. Selections may range from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost to a beat classic such as “Mexico City Blues” to a haiku by Matsuo Basho.
Organizer Ray Zimmerman, a local author, says Tuesday’s program is not affiliated with the Favorite Poem Foundation or the national Favorite Poem program launched in 1997 by Robert Pinsky when he served as U.S. poet laureate. However, it is inspired by that program.
“My Favorite Poem is a local project,” Zimmerman explains. “We may not publish books or videotapes [as Pinsky did], but we will gather for this one night to publicly read great works of poetry, our favorite poems. We may follow the reading with a discussion of possibly holding My Favorite Poem readings as a regular event.”
For more information, call the bookstore at 423-777-5629 or visit www.starlinebooks.com.