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Just Buffalo presents Will Alexander, Alissa Nutting, and Gut Flora

Alissa Nutting

It'll Be a Big Night

It would seem that the summer season is very near its end, mere days from it. Pretty soon there will come a time so deep in snow and cold, so dependent on boots and shovels, that we’ll up and forget the heat and light of summer.

Between these seasons is autumn, which means flannel, apple cider, fallen leaves, and the beginning of Big Night. That’s right, the season premiere of Just Buffalo’s literary showcase is upon us. This Saturday (September 18), the Western New York Book Art Center (468 Washington at Mohawk) will host Just Buffalo’s Big Night featuring poet Will Alexander and fictionist Alissa Nutting. Music will be provided by the band Gut Flora, who play surprising, inventive, weird homemade non-instruments. Geoffrey Gatza, the poet and man behind BlazeVOX books and a chef at the Mansion’s restaurant, will provide the food for this event.

Will Alexander is a Los Angeles native who received the Whiting Fellowship for Poetry in 2001 and the California Art Council Fellowship in 2002. He is not only a poet but also a novelist, playwright, visual artist, and essayist. Earlier this year, his book of poetry, The Sri Lankan Loxodrome, was published. Alexander has also worked for Theatre of Hearts/Youth First, a nonprofit organization which seeks to assist underprivileged and troubled youth.

Alissa Nutting was the editor of Black Warrior Review at the University of Alabama, where she received her MFA degree. She is also the fiction editor of Witness, a literary journal, and managing editor of Fairy Tale Review. Nutting received received Cobain and Schaeffer Fellowships for Fiction while at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she is a Ph.D. candidate. Her work has appearing in numerous literary journals including Tin House and BOMB.

Saturday’s Big Night reading at WNYBAC begins at 8pm. The event is free for members of Just Buffalo, CEPA, WNYBAC, Big Orbit, and UB students with ID. All others, $5. There will be free food and a cash bar. As you find yourself rummaging through your apartment in search of your favorite scarf, coat, or cherished copy of Leaves of Grass, remember: The end of summer means the beginning of a Big Night.

peter vullo

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