Celebrations for the launch of Already Gone: 40 Stories of Running Away continued in Bethesda over the weekend. Editor Hannah Grieco and contributors Matt Barrett, DeMisty D. Bellinger, Michael B. Tager, Zach Powers, and Deesha Philyaw gathered alongside ASP staff at The Writer’s Center for a night of readings and book signings.
“In the summer of 2021, I decided I couldn’t take another full Pittsburgh winter…so I rented a house in Miami Springs for a month,” contributor Deesha Philyaw recounted while introducing her piece “Mother’s Day.” “So when Hannah invited me to contribute to an anthology about leaving, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about.”
“I kinda thought about my daughter when I wrote this…it seemed like as soon as she came out, she was ready to go,” DeMisty D. Bellinger said about her piece “Escape,” which is part of her novel-in-progress about climate change. If you missed this reading or want to hear more from the anthology, join us at Old Town Books in Alexandria, VA on January 13th at 5 PM for our 2024 launch! Or, if you want to delve into this wonderful collection of fiction and nonfiction right away, you can order Already Gone from our website. Bring some literary wonder to your day, or gift it to the book lover in your life!