Show Your Work: Readings at The Rosedale

Reading is encouraged, not required.

You’re welcome to come and listen.

If you’re working on an essay, short story, novel, poem, or something that doesn’t fit neatly into a category, bring a 5 to 7 minute excerpt to read.

We’ll put names in a hat and draw at random. We’ll hear as many pieces as we can in 90 minutes. Expect around 10-12 readers.

Doors open at 6:00pm, grab a drink, and get settled. Readings begin at 6:30pm sharp and afterward, we’ll hang around and talk.

Why do this instead of just working alone?

Because your ear catches what your eyes miss.

When you read aloud, you notice repetition, weak transitions, sentences that are longer than you thought, jokes that don’t quite work yet. You also notice what’s strong. Where people focus. Where they look up, and where something just works.

It’s also practice. Most of us write in private. Reading your work aloud is a skill.

If you’ve been writing alone and want to see how your pages land in real time, this is a good place to do it.