Dearest Cupcakes,
We're sad to inform you that April was the final edition of Cupcake. In the nearly two years that the series existed, we were proud to have presented readings by some of New York's best women writers. The time has now come for each of us to move on to pursue other endeavors.
We thank you for having made Cupcake one of the many reasons that people look to downtown New York for cutting-edge arts and culture, and hope that you will continue to support talented women writers wherever you may find them.
Warmest
regards,
Cupcake
Cupcake, the reading series that presented some of New York's best women writers, was created by Lauren Cerand and co-founded with Jen Kirwin and Elizabeth Merrick in 2003. Lauren and Elizabeth co-directed Cupcake until its conclusion in April 2005.
And yes, we had a blog!
To contact Cupcake, email mail at cupcakeseries dot com.
Do visit fabulous, independent bookseller Bluestockings, which was kind enough to offer books for sale at Cupcake readings.
Aury Wallington, Phoebe Gloeckner, Jenny Davidson, Hannah Tinti, Jami Attenberg, Jessica DuLong, Kirsten Major, Donna Minkowitz, Heather Abel, Becky Donohue, Susan Choi, Laurie Sandell, Jennifer Gilmore, Suki Kim, Amanda Stern, Maggie Estep, Danyel Smith, Maud Newton, T Cooper, Zoe Heller, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Eurotrash, Emma Garman, Blaise K, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Maccers, Elizabeth Spiers, Marjane Satrapi, Joanne Jacobson, Monique Truong, Martha Witt, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nell Freudenberger, Dika Lam, Kate Walbert, Felicia Luna Lemus, Maxine Swann, Samantha Hunt, Ann Powers, Ariel Bordeaux, Megan Kelso, Paula Kamen, and Rene Steinke.
The New York Times, 3.6.05, The Guide: "FUNNY PAGES. The Cupcake series of readings by women tonight features two graphic novelists, whose work will be projected while being read. Megan Kelso's mid-90's comic book 'Girlhero' was a sassy feminist treatise; for the last few years, she's been serializing a long work called 'Artichoke Tales.' Ariel Bordeaux has a similar story; she now delivers irregular installments of 'Raisin Pie'."
Flavorpill, 3.8-14.05, Reading: Megan Kelso and Ariel Bordeaux: "Somewhere out there a 15-year-old girl likes to draw pictures of herself and her friends and tell funny, meaningful stories — and she's wondering if she's weird. But once she discovers the refined, incredibly direct (think Julie Doucet) comic books of Megan Kelso (Girlhero and Artichoke Tales), and sees how Ariel Bordeaux manages to find humor in the mundane in her Raisin Pie series, she's going to realize that she's just fine. Kelso and Bordeaux present multimedia readings as part of the inspirational (and always on point) Cupcake series, a perfect night for those of us still wondering after all this time."
Gawker, 3.9.05, To Do: Indie Movies, Indie Readings, Indie Sales: "Chick lit is soo 2k4: the next installment of the Cupcake reading series takes place tonight at Lolita, featuring comic book authors and illustrators Megan Kelso and Ariel Bordeaux. You can bet there won’t be any tales of young, professional women searching for love in the big city. Thank God."
Gothamist, 2.25.05, "Upcoming": "READING: We know, we said we didn't like readings. But we reserve the right to contradict ourselves at any time! That said, the Cupcake Series next reading (which is tonight) sounds pretty rad (we're bringing that word back). It's downstairs at Lolita [Broome & Allen] at 7:30pm and gives you a chance to share an evening with rock critic Ann Powers, in conversation with journalist Katherine Lanpher. Katherine Lanpher is co-host of "The Al Franken Show," heard on Air America Radio. And Ann Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s. She is the author of Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America and Tori Amos: Piece By Piece (co-authored with Tori), co-editor of Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop, and Rap. A pop critic for the New York Times from 1997 until 2001, and an editor for the Village Voice from 1993 until 1996. She is currently a curator at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. So basically that's what we want our bio to look like in about 20 years."
Tingle Alley, 2.9.05, "If I lived in NYC, Part 59": "Samantha Hunt’s The Seas is another book I’d love to see get more attention. Tonight Hunt reads with Maxine Swann (Serious Girls) as part of the fabulous Cupcake Series..."
Gawker, 1.12.05, "To Do: Spacey Art Talk, Fancy Readings, Or Adorable Lesbians": "... Kate Walbert's latest book, "Our Kind," was nominated for the 2004 National Book Award. Her literati pedigree (her fiction has been published in the Times and the Paris Review) backs that shit up, yo. Well, maybe not the Times part, but still. She appears tonight at Lolita as part of the Cupcake reading series..."
ms.musings
(Ms. Magazine's daily blog on women, media and culture), 12.22.04, "Still
Shopping?": "Best Books: Cupcake -- the New York-based reading
series for women writers -- has great suggestions for graphic novels, comic
books, memoirs, non-fiction and fiction -- all by women who have participated
in the series.
Cupcake co-founders Elizabeth Merrick and Lauren Cerand are proving themselves
a force to be reckoned with: they were recently named “Best Feminist Literary
Whistleblowers” in the Village Voice’s Best of New York 2004. Check
out Merrick's comments in Wesley Yang's New York Observer piece on new literary
journals edited by and featuring mostly men...
The
New York Observer, 12.20.04 edition, "Highbrow
Fight Club," pg. 1: "But the suspicion is that n+1’s freedom
to aspire to lofty things is merely the prerogative of privilege—notably,
gender privilege. The founding editors are all male, and out of 20 articles
in the first issue, 19 were written by men.
' These guys should know from their studies at Yale that, as Harold Bloom said,
every generation of young men comes along and kills the father and says they
are going to start a revolution and say the things no one has ever said before,'
said Elizabeth Merrick, the co-founder of the Cupcake Reading Series. Ms. Merrick
was recently named New York’s 'Best Feminist Literary Whistle-Blower'
by The Village Voice for criticizing the established journals of opinion—The
New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Review of Books—for their
80 to 90 percent male (she counts them up) cast of writers. Ms. Merrick admires
n+1’s writing, but 'the real revolution would’ve been to have
half women and half men. Another elite boys’ club—we have enough
of those already.'
Flavorpill, 12.14-12.20.04, "Cupcake feat. Nell Freudenberger, Dika Lam and Katherine Lanpher:" "Nell Freudenberger's acclaimed debut collection of short fiction deals neither with shoe sales nor weight loss, making her an exception among young, published women writers of late. Instead, the American expats of her Lucky Girls grapple with love and personal history in relative isolation while living abroad in Asia. Freudenberger reads alongside Dika Lam, whose forthcoming novel bridges a similar geographical gap. Afterward, journalist Katherine Lanpher moderates a discussion between the two authors in this latest installment of the Cupcake reading series, which combats the prevailing chick-lit trend by showcasing New York's best female literary talent."
The Elegant Variation, 12.10.04, "NYC Event: Cupcake Readings": "If you're around NYC this week, we can't think of a better way to spend your Tuesday than to check out the latest Cupcake..." and (1.11.05) "NYC Event: Cupcake Series": "Those fabulous Cupcakes are at it again..."
The Emerging Writers Network, 12.06.04, "Interview with the Bloggers." Elizabeth Merrick and Lauren Cerand are interviewed along with other writers from literary weblogs.
Bookmouth, 11.15.04: "An Interview with Lauren Cerand."
The Women's Review of Books, 11.04, "The Times is not a-changin,'" (4th item): "Author Elizabeth Merrick told us about three ways she believes women writers can stave off despair over this situation. One is to collect more data about women and writing. Merrick has begun to document the percentages of women writers included in what she calls 'the top echelon of American letters': Harper's, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Paris Review, The New York Review of Books, and the New York Times Book Review. She also tries to educate people about the disparities: She pointed out to the male editor of an e-mail book review newsletter the paucity of women authors in his mailings. He insisted that about 40 to 50 percent of the reviews he distributed were written by women-but when he actually counted and found the ratio to be only 30 percent, he was surprised and troubled. He then offered to help Merrick with her study. Merrick has also started a reading series with women friends 'as a way to avoid self-destruction out of frustration on this issue.' The series is called Cupcake and has a weblog at www.cupcakeseries.blogspot.com."
The Village Voice, 10.6-12.04, "The Best of New York City,"pg. 110: Best feminist literary whistle-blowers - ELIZABETH MERRICK, LAUREN CERAND. "Why are the best male writers getting their work published in well-respected literary magazines while their female peers whip up dating tips in the Glamour ghetto? ELIZABETH MERRICK and LAUREN CERAND, writers and two co-founders of the all-women Cupcake Reading Series, blog about women writers they admire and rail against chick-lit crap. Merrick also posts a regular "reckoning" wit. The New Yorker, in which she breaks down the sad men-to-women ratio of contributors with an appropriate level of piss and sass." -Emily Weinstein
A Socialite's Life (socialitelife.com), 9.14.04: "...a must attend if you live in NYC..."
Jane, 8.04 (not available online), "Dish", pg. 34: "At least they didn't call her an editrix. The press release for this new fiction anthology, The Paris Review Book for Planes, Trains, Elevators and Waiting Rooms ($15), boasts, 'The big story here is that for the first time in 51 years The Paris Review has a new Executive Editor [Brigid Hughes, right] and -- in contrast to the late great Founding Editor, George Plimpton -- she is a 31-year-old woman.' Seriously? Lit mags The Believer, One Story, Grand Street and Pindeldyboz have been women-run for a while. Brigid says she hasn't actually had to deal with any sexism from the old-guard tweedsters. But Elizabeth Merrick of the funny feminist literary blog www.cupcakeseries.com challenged me to tally up the contributors in Planes -- there are 33 men (such as Denis Johnson) versus 13 women (like Joy Williams). Sure, but the new McSweeney's anthology has 63 dudes and only 11 chicks. Maybe I'm just making excuses because Planes is a great read." -Kate Hambrecht
Maisonneuve, 7.04, Amanda Stern Piques Our Interest: "...I have read in a bunch of other people’s series and would love to read in some I haven’t even attended yet. But, I am quite fond of the Cupcake series..."
Beatrice, 6.04, Cupcake @ Lolita: "The Cupcake Series convenes on the second Tuesday of each month at the Lower East Side's Lolita (corner of Allen & Broome) so that two women writers can read from their work. There's not a whole lot of room in the basement, so the place was pretty packed, and justifiably so..." and 9.04, Blogging and Alcohol Do, Apparently, Mix Quite Well: "Cupcake does one of the most consistently excellent reading series in New York, focusing exclusively on women authors..."
The New York Blade, 6.03, From Literati to Litter: "...we wandered around the Lower East Side, ate some juicy pickles from the vendors on Orchard Street, then happened upon the two-years-old-but-looks-brand-new bar Lolita (home of the new women’s reading series Cupcake),..."
Below 14th, 6.03, Enjoy a Cupcake: "Lolita, long one of our fave watering holes, is hosting a new monthly reading series featuring 'kickass female writers.' The gathering, called Cupcake at Lolita, kicks off this Wednesday..."
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