Short stories, performed

With a nod to Short Story Week over at The Millions, and the “Save the Short Story” campaign launched by One Story, here’s another great event happening in New York next week:

COMING OF AGE AROUND THE WORLD

Wednesday, February 27 at 7:30 pm at Symphony Space

PEN American Center co-presents this evening of powerful new short fiction by emerging writers Uwem Akpan and Nam Le about the challenges of growing up in the modern world. Readings are performed by Robin Miles and Ken Leung.

Uwem Akpan (above) was born in southern Nigeria and was ordained a Jesuit priest in 2003. He has a story collection coming out in June. You can read his story “An Ex-Mas Feast” over at The New Yorker. Nam Le (right) was born in Vietnam and grew up in Australia. His collection comes out in May.

This is part of the ongoing series, Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story. The performances are recorded and broadcast on public radio around the country. (In New York, the show is on at 4 PM on Saturdays and Sundays on AM 820.) There’s also a free podcast over on iTunes.

PS. PEN members get a discount to this event. Send an email to nick@pen.org for details.