authors Anne Raeff & mira t. lee, readers Allyson Finn & Yuri Tajiri, opening night, 2/23/18

Authors Anne Raeff & Mira T. Lee, readers Allyson Finn & Yuri Tajiri

We’re back! On Friday, February 23! It’s our 9th season, and we’re thrilled to bring you new work from authors Anne Raeff and Mira T Lee, performed by readers Allyson Finn and Yuri Tajiri.

Friday, February 23, 2018
The Clara Auditorium
1425 24th Street, Sacramento
Doors open at 7PM. Readings begin at 7:30.
$10 donation is suggested. 

About our writers 
Anne Raeff's second novel, Winter Kept Us Warm, will be published February 13 by Counterpoint Press and has already earned praise from Kirkus Reviews for its “haunting events and slow-burning passions.”  Anne is a child of immigrants and much of her writing, including this novel,  draws on her family’s history as refugees from war and the Holocaust. Her short story collection, The Jungle Around Us won the 2015 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, was named a finalist for the California Book Award, and appears on The San Francisco Chronicle’s 100 Best Books of 2017 list. Her stories and essays have appeared in New England Review, ZYZZYVA, and Guernica among other places. Her first novel, Clara Mondschein’s Melancholia, was published in 2002 (MacAdam/Cage).  Anne is a high school teacher, working primarily with recent immigrants, and she lives in San Francisco with her wife and two cats.

Mira T. Lee's debut novel, Everything Here is Beautiful,  published in January, was selected by the American Booksellers Association as one of Winter/Spring 2018’s Top 10 Debut titles. “An evocative and beautifully written debut,” says Kirkus Reviews, and from O Magazine: “Not a false note to be found, and everywhere nuggets to savor…”  Mira T. Lee’s short fiction has appeared in journals such as the Southern Review, the Gettysburg Review, the Missouri Review, Triquarterly, Harvard Review, and American Short Fiction, and has twice received special mention for the Pushcart Prize. She was awarded the Peden Prize for Best Short Story by The Missouri Review (2010), and an Artist’s Fellowship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (2012). In her previous lives, Mira has also been known as a graphic designer, a pop-country drummer, a salsa dancing fanatic, and a biology grad school dropout. Mira is an alum of Stanford University, and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachuetts.
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About our readers 
Allyson Finn has appeared in short films from the Art Institute of Sacramento and as an Elf in Morgan and the Magical Christmas Train, and as the reader for the Stories on Stage/Community of Writers event featuring the novelist Janet Fitch. She’ll be seen at a variety of venues this spring, including Freefall Stage (4 Deaths and a Wedding,) EMH Productions (Fragile Things) and ComedySportz. When not stepping into the spotlight, Allyson consults and coaches business clients through her home based business, Business Mastery by Finn.

Yuri Tajiri's past favorite roles have included the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show (Green Valley Theatre) and Linda in Evil Dead The Musical (Sutter Street Theatre). Yuri holds a BA in Theatre Arts from CSU Sacramento and works as a photographer and model when not onstage.