Reading Den

Join us on July 29 at Fort Greene for the next installment of the Reading Den series.

The event is free and open to the public, and begins at 7pm. We are no longer requiring free registration for our events. Just show up and enjoy the readings and community.

Rachel León is a writer, editor, and social worker, who serves as Managing Director for Chicago Review of Books and Fiction Director for Arcturus.Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Lit Hub, Electric Lit, and elsewhere. Rachel’s debut novel, How We See the Gray, deals with the foster care system, which she has worked in for nearly two decades. 

Grace Spulak is the author of the short story collection, Magdalena Is Brighter Than You Think (April 2026), winner of the 2025 Autumn House Press Rising Writer Prize. A writer and attorney based in her home state of New Mexico, she holds an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers and a JD from Harvard Law School. Her writing was awarded Witness Magazine’s 2021 Literary Award in Fiction, has appeared in the Ploughshares blog, Nimrod International Journal, and Southwest Review, among others, and has received support from Trillium Arts, New Mexico Writers, and Poets & Writers. Grace is a 2026-2027 Fulbright Grantee to Italy in Literature-Creative Writing.

Chrissy Martin is the author of Whole, Holy, Hot (Write Bloody, 2026). She is an Assistant Professor of English at Centenary College of Louisiana. She holds a PhD in poetry from Oklahoma State and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia College Chicago. She is the Poetry Director and a founding editor for Arcturus. Her work has appeared in Harpur Palate, Cherry Tree, Cream City Review, and the minnesota review. She lives with her partner, Ryan, and teacup poodle and muse, Toby.

Liza Sparks (she/her) is a writer, poet, and creative. Her work is informed by her intersecting identities as a brown-multiracial-neurodivergent-pansexual-woman. Liza was a student in the 2025-2026 Poetry Collective at The Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, Colorado. In the program she completed a full-length manuscript, entitled, Religiosity: a poetic memoir, with the support of Suzi Q. Smith, Andrea Rexilius, the other mentees. Liza’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Allium, CALYX, TIMBER, Split This Rock, Pangyrus LitMag, The Pinch, and many others. She is a Pushcart Prize and a Best of the Net nominee. Liza was a finalist for both Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club Essay Contest and Short Story Contest in 2024.  She has two forthcoming poetry chapbooks with Gnashing Teeth Publishing and Finishing Line Press, respectively.

Polly Holyoke is the award-winning author of the MG sci/fi Neptune Trilogy (Disney/Hyperion) and the MG fantasy series, Skyriders (Viking Children’s Books). A former classroom teacher, Polly has presented at hundreds of schools and believes kids need to read, write, unplug from their gadgets, and spend more time… daydreaming!

J.E. Thomas grew up near Colorado’s Front Range mountains. She spent her early summers stuffing grocery bags with books at the local library, reading feverishly, then repeating the process week after week. J.E. has bachelor’s degrees in Mass Communications and Political Science, as well as a master’s degree in Public Communications. Her first book, Control Freaks, was a People Magazine Summer Must-Read and a “Best of the Best” pick by the Black Caucus of the ALA.