Introducing Strange Pilgrims Club

You're invited! | Free, online, close readings & literary conversations with friends

Hello fellow strange pilgrims,

As you might know, Karan and I are both writers, and we love being writers, and now we’ve also been editors for quite a while. First and foremost though, we feel ourselves to be readers. Without a desire to read (and understand what you read), the first two things — writing and editing — are virtually impossible. We’d very likely be terrible writers and editors if we were terrible readers.

We don’t really do date nights, the two of us, but as a family (along with our daughter) we do lots of story nights. And because we edit two magazines together, we also read and talk about so much exciting, weird, beautiful contemporary fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Beyond that, we do the same for what we read for leisure and pleasure (which, yes, of course we make time for). It’s one of our favorite things — to argue about what works in a story or a poem and why, to vibe with the stuff we both love, to try to trace out some kind of critical analysis that might inform our own work.

With all of this in mind, we thought… wouldn’t it be cool to have some kind of a reading club? There are many cool writing clubs around, and spaces, and workshops, and programs. We run some of those too. But we haven’t really done something strictly focused on the wonders and joys and literary sweetness that springs forth from a really good, close read.

If you’ve done an MFA or are in the process of one, you might be familiar with the Close Read. Reading a piece of writing beforehand, making notes, then coming into class to discuss the work, the whole session generally led by, if you’re lucky, an experienced instructor who can offer the proverbial magical magnifying glass that’ll get to the heart of the work and help it open up for you like never before.

I’ve seldom had such an experience in an academic setting. But at home, during our story evenings, it happens all the time. And that’s kind of what we want to try and offer you. Though we’d love to run these sessions in person, for now we’re going to experiment with an online format, to allow for maximum accessibility.

Here’s what we’re thinking

Our first Strange Pilgrims Club meet will happen on Thursday, April 23rd at 7pm EST, over Zoom.

Since this is a test run, we’ll keep the group small. We’ll save 5 slots for paid subscribers, first-come first-serve, and the remaining 5-10 seats will be open to everyone, also first-come first-serve. After that, there’ll be a waitlist. To enroll, sign up here:

The story we’ve picked for this inaugural session is Kelly Link’s “Prince Hat Underground.” The reason is, one: I fucking love this story. Two: it represents very clearly what kind of work we love to publish. And three: there’s a lot in it we can dig into and try to understand in ways that might inform our own writing and creative decisions.

Before the session:

• I’ll send the PDF to everyone who signs up

• Based on the first-come-first-serve basis, I’ll send a Zoom link to those who’ll be attending live

• Read the story once, sit with it, annotate if you wish. Everyone will be given the opportunity to share, but if you’re more of a lurker (high-five) that’s totally fine too.

During the actual session:

• We’ll do quick introductions

• I’ll share a brief presentation to assist our close read

• We’ll read out loud specific sections of the story and dig into them together

• Among other things, we’ll discuss what Link is doing with the fairy-tale bones, where the strangeness is coming from, the nature of whimsy vs. the surreal vs. logic in her tale, how larger themes like love and grief are explored without cliché

• Open yet structured conversation

I want this to feel like the best kind of workshop classroom. The part I’m most looking forward to is where it opens up into everyone talking about the story, and about what literature is doing right now.

The session will run for about 60-90 minutes. If the conversation is thriving I won’t end it prematurely, and anyone who needs to drop off at the 60-minute mark is free to do so (ought to go without saying that I won’t hold you captive before this either, but I want to nurture a sustained space for conversation and analysis, so I’d encourage you to stay for the full 60-90 minutes at least).

The session will be recorded. Paid subscribers will get the recording afterward, so if you can’t make it live, you’ll still have a way in.

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Alrighty, well…we really aren’t sure if there will be any interest at all, so there might be just 3 of us hanging out together. But something tells me there are more of you out there who appreciate the Close Read and want to invigorate your own reading and writing practice.

Without much further ado then, you’re invited to join in on the first ever Strange Pilgrims Club!

Yours,

Shannan & Karan