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We have two reading series!
The House Party Reading Series
a salon-style reading
Hosted at a private residence in Durham, NC, the House Party Reading Series is a chance for writers and readers to hear some of the most exciting voices in contemporary letters… and then have a party. Head chef Ashley Nissler prepares the spread and the Bull City Press gang brings authors from all over the country to read new work.
Join the mailing list to receive an invitation: https://bullcitypress.com/reading-series/join-the-mailing-list/
Bull City Press Presents
Located at Mettlesome Theater (in Golden Belt, 800 Taylor Street, Suite 9-156, Durham, NC, 27701), Bull City Press’s downtown reading series brings you poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from established and emerging writers. It’s paired with Golden Age, a comedy show that features one of our readers inspiring improv comedy. Free to the public if you arrive on time, $8 if you arrive when Golden Age begins.
Upcoming Readings
April 26 at 7:00 pm (book signing at 6:45): Mackenzie Kozak & Erin Miller with Golden Age Comedy
Mackenzie Kozak is the author of no swaddle (University of Iowa Press, 2025), selected by Brenda Shaughnessy for the Iowa Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in Boston Review, Colorado Review, DIAGRAM, Missouri Review, Sixth Finch, and elsewhere. Mackenzie serves as an associate editor at Orison Books and works as a grief therapist in Asheville, North Carolina.
Erin L. Miller is a queer poet working in tech. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Bowling Green State University. Her poetry and reviews have appeared in Best New Poets, The Pinch, Whiskey Island, Bluestem, Black Warrior Review, and others. Her first chapbook, Inner Species, will be released in April by Unicorn Press. She lives in Durham, North Carolina.
Golden Age is an all-star cast of improvisers. Each night, they welcome one special guest to share art and insights. Their experiences inspired their work, now they inspire hilarious conversation and comedy.
May 10 at 8:00 pm (doors open at 7:00): Jennine Capó Crucet, Destiny Hemphill, Caroline M. Mar, & Derek Palacio
This event is at a private residence. You must RSVP to receive location and parking information.
Jennine Capó Crucet is a novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. She’s the author of four books, including the novel Say Hello to My Little Friend and the novel Make Your Home Among Strangers, which won the International Latino Book Award, was named a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice book, and was cited as a best book of the year by NBC Latino, the Guardian, the Miami Herald, and other venues; it has been adopted as an all-campus read at over forty U.S. universities. Her other books include the story collection How to Leave Hialeah, which won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize, the John Gardner Book Award, and the Devil’s Kitchen Reading Award; and the essay collection My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education, which was long-listed for the 2019 PEN America/Open Book Award. Photo credit: Carolyn De Berry
Destiny Hemphill is the author of motherworld: a devotional for the alter-life (Action Books, 2023). The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program, Callaloo, Tin House, and the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, she lives in Durham, North Carolina. Photo credit: Love Önwa
Caroline M. Mar is the great-granddaughter of a railroad laborer and the author of Special Education (Texas Review Press) and the chapbook Dream of the Lake (Bull City Press). Her second collection, Water Guest, was released by Wisconsin University Press in 2025. Carrie is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, a member of Rabble Collective, and teaches high school health education in her hometown of San Francisco. She has been granted residencies at Hedgebrook, Ragdale, and Storyknife, among others, and is a member of the board of Friends of Writers. Photo credit: Jessica Tong-Ahn
Derek Palacio is the author of the novella How to Shake the Other Man and the novel The Mortifications. A 2024 NEA Creative Writing Fellow, he teaches in the MFA program at UNC Greensboro. He lives with his family in North Carolina.
May 24 at 7:00 pm (book signing at 6:45): A. Kendra Greene & Joanna Pearson with Golden Age Comedy
A. Kendra Greene is the author and illustrator of The Museum of Whales You Will Never See and No Less Strange or Wonderful. At eighteen, she interned at Chile’s national zoo because there was no more sensible place to send a philosophy major. She became an essayist during a Fulbright in South Korea while she was supposed to be making photographs. She has an MFA in nonfiction and a graduate certificate in book arts from the University of Iowa, where she was both a Jacob K. Javits fellow and costumer to a giant ground sloth. Briefly a high school math and science teacher, she has since taught creative writing, with a bent for text and image and object, at the University of Iceland, UNC Chapel Hill, and UT Dallas.
Joanna Pearson’s debut novel, Bright and Tender Dark (Bloomsbury, 2024), was an Indie Next Pick and an Amazon Editors’ Pick. She’s also the author of two short story collections, Now You Know It All (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021), chosen by Edward P. Jones for the 2021 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and Every Human Love (Acre Books, 2019). Her fiction has recently appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery and Suspense, The Missouri Review, The Southern Review, and other places. She lives in Carrboro, NC. photo by Danelle Beede
Golden Age is an all-star cast of improvisers. Each night, they welcome one special guest to share art and insights. Their experiences inspired their work, now they inspire hilarious conversation and comedy.
June 14 at 7:00 pm (book signing at 6:45): Kayla E. with Golden Age Comedy
Kayla E. (she/her) is an award-winning Texas-born artist of Mexican American descent. She works as creative director at Fantagraphics and is a recipient of a 2023-2024 Princeton Hodder Fellowship. She is the co-founder and former President of Nat. Brut Inc., a non-profit that produces an art and literary magazine, of which she was the Editor-in-Chief for nine years. She earned her B.A. in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University, where she served as the Art Director for the Harvard Lampoon. Precious Rubbish, her graphic novel debut, is a work of trauma recollection told in the style of post-war children’s comics. Kayla lives in North Carolina with her wife and two dogs. You can find her at kaylaework.com and on Instagram @precious.rubbish.