The launch of the newest issue of Meridian will be feted with a reading during which contributors from across the nation will converge at the Bridge PAI for an evening of poetry, fiction, a dramatic interpretation of a creative non-fiction by Lisa K. Buchanan and previously unpublished poems by Breece D’J Pancake.

The slate of readers includes Mike Antosia, Lisa K. Buchanan, Miranda C. Dennis, Matthew Hotham and Yael Shinar. The readers will be introduced by Meridian editors Jazzy Danziger, Kevin Allardice, Memory Peebles, Jasmine Bailey and Hannah Holtzman. Light refreshments will be provided.

Mike Antosia lives and writes in Rhode Island. His most recent story, “The Last King of China” appeared in The Massachusetts Review.

Fiction and essays by Lisa K. Buchanan have appeared in numerous literary journals including Fourth Genre, Mid-American Review, The Missouri Review, New Letters, and Quick Fiction. She lives in San Francisco.

Miranda C. Dennis attends the MFA Program for Poets and Writers at UMass-Amherst, where she teaches college writing and eats the local apples.

Matthew Hotham received his MFA from Syracuse University in 2007. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Third Coast, Stone Canoe, 32 Poems, Copper Nickel, anderbo, and Verse Daily, among others. His chapbook, Early Art, was published in 2006 by Turtle Ink Press. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill and works as poetry editor for the online journal Slush Pile.

Yael Shinar was born in California and now lives near Cambridge, Mass., where she is working towards a degree of master of divinity at Harvard University. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Mid-American Review, The Drunken Boat, Slush Pile, Beloit Poetry Journal, Third Coast, and other publications.

Breece D’J Pancake (1953-1979) was a native of West Virginia and studied creative writing at the University of Virginia. He published six short stories in his lifetime, mostly in The Atlantic, and was posthumously nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake.

Founded in 1998, Meridian has featured the works of numerous Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award winners and established writers, including Charles Wright, Rita Dove, Yusef Komunyakaa, Seamus Heaney, Ann Beattie, John Casey, George Garrett, Heather McHugh, Richard Bausch, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Cathy Song and Eric Pankey. However, as a magazine edited by young writers, the publication values nothing more than showcasing tomorrow’s talent, often publishing a new author’s first story or poem.

For more information, please visit the website for the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative.