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We convene for the release of the 30th installment of THE2NDHAND’s broadsheet series, marking the magazine’s ninth anniversary and eighth year of hosting Quimby’s events, coincidentally, for which opportunity we are always grateful, if not quite gracious in our gratefulness at all time. Yes, there were pork chops involved, unfortunately, at one time.

THE2NDHAND No. 30 features the “Gives Birth to Monsters” short by Spencer Dew, a tale of one man’s small heartbreak, the backdrop to a contemporary landscape of well-meaning but ultimately shallow political activism, fractured communicative lines, and more ultimately enduring drives toward total inebriation. In classic Dew fashion, he’ll have you laughing all the way to brink of the void.

The issue also features excerpts from THE2NDHAND’s David Foster Wallace collaborative mini-tribute by THE2NDHAND editor Todd Dills and Bellingham, Wash.-based Doug Milam, author of our 27th broadsheet. Chicago editor C.T. Ballentine hosts this release event, featuring Dew, THE2NDHAND contributors Jill Summers and Y.Z. Chin, and Ballentine himself. This event is supported in part by Poets & Writers Event Grant Program by a donation from an anonymous donor.

The Performers:

Spencer Dew is the author of the short-story collection Songs of Insurgency (2008) and much else besides — he’s a prolific contributor to many literary venues, including THE2NDHAND’s online magazine, www.the2ndhand.com

Jill Summers’ audio fiction has been featured internationally by Chicago Public Radio, the Third Coast International Audio Festival, and New Adventures in Sound Art. Her work has appeared in Stop Smiling Magazine, Ninth Letter, VAIN magazine, littleBANG, Gapers Block, Annalemma, and The 2nd Hand, where she’s a somewhat frequent contributor. She is the author of three collections of audio shorts, Cohabitation, Les Petites Tristes, and In The Realm of Normal Sized Things.

Y.Z. Chin lives and writes in Chicago, is a former editor with Rhino Magazine and studied writing at Northwestern University.

C.T. Ballentine studied down on Iron St. under the tutelage of Nova Capone, or Eric Graf, as he is sometimes known. His acumen, in so many respects, is world renowned.