INAUGURAL NIGHT! The first "I Had It Bad" on January 21, 2009

The first "I Had It Bad" was held on January 21, 2009, and it was a smashing success. Readers Will Begeny, Caedra Scott-Flaherty, Rollie Hochstein and Rivka Galchen brought the house down with their phenomenal stories of thwarted desire. Four brave members of the audience also came forward with stories of crush-worthy Trader Joe's employees, girls with boyfriends in bands, and ill-advised softball playing. For their fearless sharing they were given drink tickets and love.

Below please find some charmingly blurry pictures from the evening and bios of the featured authors. Come out to the next "I Had It Bad," on February 18, 2009, from 8-10 PM at Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome Street at Forsythe in Manhattan's Chinatown.



Will Begeny reads from his story "Rodeo"


Authors Rivka Galchen and Caedra Scott-Flaherty engage in breaktime hijinks.


Rolaine Hochstein reads from her story "Gemini"


An audience member tells of poorly-considered athleticism in the name of love.


Rivka Galchen reads from her story "Wild Berry Blue"

JANUARY 21, 2009
FEATURED AUTHORS

Will Begeny is originally from Royal Oak, Michigan. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he is the editor of a travel writing website and lives in Brooklyn.

Caedra Scott-Flaherty is from Rochester, New York. A graduate of Brown University, she served as an AmeriCorps member in North Carolina, and is currently an MFA candidate at New York University's Creative Writing Program. She teaches playwriting and visual arts to incarcerated youth, and is a dancer and choreographer. She is the winner of Open City's 2008 RRofihe Trophy Award for short fiction.

Rolaine Hochstein has published two novels and 34 short stories, several of which have won awards including the O. Henry prize, the Pushcart prize and the Seaton First Prize of the Kansas Arts Council. Her articles on women’s issues (also humor and celebrity profiles) have been featured in leading national magazines. She has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the NJ State Council on the Arts, is a teaching artist with the NJ Writers Project and a five-time grandmother.

Rivka Galchen's first novel, Atmospheric Disturbances, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in June 2008. Her essays and stories have appeared in Zoetrope, The New Yorker, Open City and The New York Times.