Bernard Cox Published in Up the Staircase Quarterly...and more!

Bernie "Getting Published Everywhere Lately" Cox!

Fiction MFAer, Bernard Cox (or, as we call him here at Roosevelt, Bernie), has been enjoying the publication wave lately! His story, "The Memory of a Salt Shaker" has been published in Up the Staircase Quarterly. It's his first publication! His second, "A Summer Friend" is forthcoming in Blood and Lullabies this month! 

That's not all! His work has also been accepted and will be appearing throughout next year in Collective Fallout, A capella Zoo, and Red Lightbulbs! Check back here for details as the stories and poems (yes, poems!) are published! Did you also know that Bernie is the Assistant Artistic Director at the Tamale Hut Cafe Reading Series? Read more about the wonderful monthly series here! 

Just this past Thursday, Bernie was one of the proud Graduates reading from their theses at the Graduate Reading, and was able to show his fantastic oratory skills! He will end his studies at Roosevelt with a bang (!) by carrying the processional banner for the College of Arts and Sciences during commencement! If you're lucky enough to go, make sure to wave at him! 

Would you like some Gender Discourse with your Tamales?

This Saturday, the Tamale Hut reading series (Run by current fiction MFA-er Bernie Cox) continues its run of combining thought provoking, always-entertaining readings with Michelle Obama's favorite food.  This month's reading features two editors of the recently released anthology Men Undressed: Women Writers on the Male Sexual Experience, Cris Mazza and Gina Frangello. 

Science has proven that readings are 300 percent more riveting in the presence of Tamales.

Both Cris and Gina are authors in their own right.  Cris Mazza has authored sixteen books, most recently Various Men Who Knew Us as Girls, a novel.  Her other fiction titles include Waterbaby, Trickle-Down Timeline, and Is It Sexual Harassment Yet?  In 1995 & 1996, Mazza was co-editor for the original Chick-Lit anthologies: Chick-Lit: Postfeminist Fiction, and Chick-Lit 2: No  Chick Vics.  In 2006, her essay “Who’s Laughing Now: Chick Lit and the Perversion of a Genre,” explaining the co-opting and corrosion of the title, appeared in Poets & Writers Magazine.  In addition to fiction, Mazza also has published a memoir, Indigenous: Growing Up Californian, and has another hybrid memoir, Something Wrong With Her, forthcoming from Jadid Ibis Press.  A native of Southern California, Mazza grew up in San Diego County.  She currently lives 50 miles west of Chicago and is a professor in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Gina Frangello is the author of three books of fiction: My Sister’s Continent; Slut Lullabies, a ForeWord magazine finalist for 2010′s Best Book of the Year; and A Life in Men, forthcoming from Algonquin Books in 2013.  The longtime editor of the literary magazine, Other Voices, she now serves as the Executive Editor of its book imprint, Other Voices Books, which she co-founded in 2004.  She is also the Fiction Editor of the popular online literary collective, The Nervous Breakdown.

To miss out on this would lead to a saturday night devoid of intellect, humor, and most terribly, tamales.  The reading happens this Saturday, November 12, at 7 PM at the Tamale Hut.  

Tamale Hut Reading Series Provides Scares and Tamales

Readings Should Always Have Tamales! And People Reading!

This Saturday, October 15th, celebrate Mid-Halloween (TM) right at the Tamale Hut Cafe! Their long-running reading series continues and promises scares (and Tamales) at their special Halloween Edition of the Tamale Hut Cafe Reading Series. 

Kara Taylor, Double Mastering Scary Story Reading Machine

Reading will be current Roosevelt MA Candidate and Chicago State University MFA Candidate (double grad student - WHAT!) Kara Taylor. Her inspirations include Alice Sebold and Stephen King, so don't expect any happy endings! 

Chris Hyatt, Award Winner for Best Director for the film, Eye of Cruelty Machine

Chris Hyatt, writer and director of two feature length films, Eye of Cruelty (International Festival of Horror 2004 winner for Best Director), and the upcoming, Bloody Baby, will also be reading! After their readings, there will be an open mic! So bring something to read! Something scary!! 


The Tamale Hut Cafe Reading Series is a monthly event in North Riverside, IL, that was started four years ago by Jenny Seay, and is run by her and current Roosevelt MFA candidate, Bernard Cox. It offers a great opportunity for both established and emerging writers to come together in a supportive literary community! Come hear Kara and Chris read this Saturday, at 7:00, at 8300 W Cermak Road, North Riverside, IL 60402!