A few new things.

I’ve been coordinating a project called the Art Cart for Gallery Gachet in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The Art Cart is a hand-pulled or bike-towed mobile sales shop or art gallery or workshop space (it folds out into a table!). This Sunday we’re presenting an outdoor poetry reading at the Downtown Eastside street market. Three poets will read their work exploring issues of systemic poverty and gentrification: Karen Ward, Cherise Clarke and Peter Bracking. This is the LAUNCH of Peter Bracking’s chapbook of poems, ‘Rent In Four: keep your ass out of the acid rain,’ produced for this event. This is part of the Rent Assembly Conference, presented by KSW and The Mainlander. All the info is on the Gallery Gachet website here.

Look for our blue awning near the corner of Carrall and Cordova. 2 PM!

I’m going to the Lambda Awards ceremony in New York for my nomination for Debut Fiction and then reading at the Resonance series in Montreal on June 4th.

Resonance Reading Series
9 PM
Resonance Cafe, 5175A Avenue du Parc
Montreal
Alex Leslie
Jacob Spector
Peter Steiner
Pamela Fillion
Hosted & organized by Karla Du Plessis
The Facebook event listing is here.

I’m also reading in Vancouver with Australian queer writer and artist Tom Cho.

Bombyx Batryticatus Productions Presents: A Reading by Tom Cho and Alex Leslie
Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC
Thursday, June 13
Doors: 7pm
Reading starts: 7:30pm
The Facebook event is here.
Hosted & organized by Larissa Lai.
Copies of my book & chapbook will be for sale.
Free admission!

About my co-reader, Tom Cho: Tom Cho is an artist from Melbourne, Australia. He writes fiction, freelances as a writer and performs his words onstage. He’s also produced arts projects, both as an independent producer and for Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne Fringe and other organizations. He’s writing his second book (working title: The Meaning of Life and Other Fictions). His first book is the collection of fictions Look Who’s Morphing (Giramondo, 2009). It was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (South East Asia and Pacific), 2009 Age Fiction Book of the Year and Melbourne Prize Trust’s 2009 Best Writing Award. Website: tomcho.com

Last thing: as a contributor to The Capilano Review‘s narrative issue I was asked to write a couple blog posts. Here’s the first one, on my library habits.